I hereby report that last night a meeting at the local stake center, in which members of all its wards were persuaded (if not required) to attend, was held to herald that a local branch situated in an inner-city neighborhood is KAPUT, effective immediately, and that two other wards would absorb its members. According to the presiding stake official, the reasons were to "balance the number of Melchizedek Priesthood holders as well as seek out inactive members". Boundaries would be gerrymandered as displayed on a screen, and the members in attendance would sustain the proposal, which would be submitted to the First Presidency (I'm assuming Dieter, Hank and Uncle Tommy, right?) for a rubber-stamp.

The rearrangement resulted in bloodletting, as the bishop-pricks and those serving in callings found themselves out in the cold. The president of the dissolved branch and the bishop of one ward had their heads cut off, and they and the others released from their callings had the joy of being called to the lectern to bear their testimony. Couldn't they be given at least a gold watch or something? Copies of a list of names of members of the affected wards as well as new boundaries were passed out to the congregants. Based on counting the names listed, is it true what some say here that two-thirds of those listed as members are inactive? There did seem to be a lot of names. There's one with a very funny name but I think it's impolitic to reveal it on this message board. Anyhow.....

The same presiding official declared that attendance in all the wards combined was down 10% over the past three years. Also, it's official.....there will be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as well as a Seventy will come to town for a stake conference next month. The bishops will get details on who it is very shortly. Anyone here could speculate on which one it is? Seems very tempting.....

Anyone have any information or stories to tell about how these ward-branch dissolutions come about would be very welcome.

I'm not sure how the dissolutions come about but we had similar issues where I live in NJ. Our spanish speaking branch grew so they remodeled the building. In the processes, they decided to split the branch. The one branch eventually grew into a ward but mine did not. In college (about 7-8 years after the split), the branch combined most things with the English ward they shared the building with. So now they have separate sacrament meetings but primary-ysa is combined. Some adults hated it (since English is not their first language) and others loved it... so much so that they switched from being part of the Spanish branch to the English ward. I was the primary 1st counselor in when they combined with the English ward, we found out a week or 2 in advance. The English ward kept us in the presidency "on call" for about a month in case they needed back up teachers or had issues with the kids blending in.

I know since I stopped attending, about 8 years ago (just after the merger), one English branch and one English ward were dissolved in the stake and absorbed by near by wards. In NJ, that means driving about 30 minutes to church since lds chapels are very few and quite scattered.

In other churches one may choose where they attend and one can find a small homey church, one of medium size, a large one, or a mega-church, a very simple chapel or a cathedral, whatever feels most spiritual to you.

My branch in PA where we lived several years ago was dissolved as well. Reasons given were lack of sufficient priesthood and lack of money to sustain the branch. We were shoved into the closest ward which already seemed overcrowded. I stopped going regularly after that. I loved the branch, I grew up in a branch, not a ward. It felt more homey to me, and everyone knew everyone and you were friends with everyone. I've always felt like wards were too busy, too impersonal, too cold. I met the bishop of our new ward once. He kept introducing himself to me and my husband every Sunday because he couldn't remember who was who in the ward. Just too many people.

I want to thank you for using the word lectern instead of the word podium.

Omg you're absolutely right.

Podium.

Lord.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2015 09:49PM by Dave the Atheist.

podium pounder

lectern leaner?


stand on a podium; lean on a lectern


my online dictionary tells me that a podium can also be called a lectern.

Thanks. I think I read about that at some copywriting site, and I try to remember it.

For the likely THOUSANDS of times over the decades I have heard someone being invited to rise to the PODIUM to speak, I did not once stop to consider the distinction between the LECTERN behind which he stands (of course "HE" with only the rarest exception...none of which come immediately to mind) and the PODIUM upon which they rest.

I'm sure there are some who may think, "Ah, ...Potato...Tomato... what's the big deal?" But there are others who do appreciate the value of clearly understood communication. So, my thanks to you and old Wiki.

Consider me a tick and a tad more educated than yesterday.

My stake dissolved a branch a couple of years ago and its members were absorbed into adjoining wards. There are several wards that are having trouble filling all the callings, especially those that require temple recommends. While this is apparent in priesthood leadership meetings it is somewhat 'taboo' to point out the elephant in the room.

Well I was just informed by a close family member who is an elder that he had been invited to be an honorary HP and sit in group meetings to help asuage the shortage of HPs.

He further said the dearth of HPs was due in large part to drug, alcohol and sex abuse issues.

Methinks dais is a better choice.

Few Mos would know what you are talking about however.

That sounds like quite a ward. You mean a lot of high priests are inactive because of sex, drugs, and alcohol? Or that few in the group are "worthy" because of sex, drugs, and alcohol?

probably a little rock n roll too.