This thread has been done a couple of times in the past, but since we constantly get new contributors (as well as lurkers) here, I thought I’d start it again.

For those who may believe that we never had the knowledge and/or commitment to truly understand the “restored gospel,” I thought we could list our past callings.

As for me, in addition to serving a full-time mission:

I had a couple of Stake callings. One was a unique situation where I was the liaison between the Stake President and a large foreign speaking branch that was struggling. I also served as a Stake Missionary (back when there was such a thing).

My Ward callings included:
First Councilor
Executive Secretary
Ward Clerk
Sunday School President
Gospel Doctrine teacher
Deacon’s Quorum Advisor
Elder’s Quorum Secretary
Sunday School teacher

Anyone else care to share?

elders quorum president
gospel doctrine teacher
senior missionary
sunday school president (twice)
family history consultant
executive secretary

CrispingPin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Anyone else care to share?

I don't care to remember any of them.

Social Mormon: "It's just amazing that you were able to fake your way through all those callings without having a testimony."

TBM: "Get away from me Satan! Son of perdition! Off to the eternal darkness with you!"

The first (social) is being nice and claiming that you never had a testimony.

The second (TBM) claims that you did know the truth, but willfully denies it, therefore becoming a son of perdition, equal to Satan himself.

D&C 76:32 They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born;

Deacon's quorum president
Teacher's quorum president
Priest's quorum First Counselor
Full-time missionary (2 years)
Sunday School teacher -- the calling I refused after my mission, when I decided to leave (but I'll still count it as "called"!).

ificouldhietokolob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Priest's quorum First Counselor


There is no such calling. The title is "First Assistant."

Oops

Aloysius Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ificouldhietokolob Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Priest's quorum First Counselor
>
>
> There is no such calling. The title is "First
> Assistant."
>
> Oops

It was First Counselor back in the 70's when I was in.

Oops yourself.

Evidence?

The Bishop is the president of a quorum of priests. In the latter days, one must hold the Melchizedek priesthood to be a Bishop (unless one is a literal descendent of Aaron (D&C 68:16)).

A person who holds only the Aaronic priesthood cannot be a counselor to a person who holds the Melchizedek priesthood. Teenagers ordained to the office of priest hold the Aaronic priesthood only. Therefore, they are called to be "assistants" to the quorum president (i.e., the Bishop), not "counselors." The Bishop has counselors in the bishopric already, so the teenage priests cannot be his counselors.

If you don't believe me, check out the official handbook:

https://www.lds.org/handbook/handbook-2-administering-the-church/aaronic-priesthood/8.3?lang=eng#83

https://www.lds.org/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-14-priesthood-organization?lang=eng

Are you saying that these doctrines did not exist in the '70's? Did the D&C not exist back then? Did the entire logic and reasoning behind church priesthood organization suddenly spring into existence within the last 40 years and you're the only one who remembers it. If so, show some evidence.

The organization hasn't changed, but the titles have changed.

Yes, the Bishop is the president of the priests quorum (unlike deacons and teachers which have young men as presidents). The young man who is the de facto quorum president is currently called First Assistant, but that hasn't always been the case. Back in the 1970s, that position was called "Priest Group Leader," and that person had councilors.

Was the title "Priest quorum first counselor"? No. It was not.

ificouldhietokolob is wrong and he cannot be allowed to make false statements. No one should cover for him or try to help him by rationalizing his inaccuracies.

I'm not rationalizing anything or covering for anyone. I'm just pointing out that the title of that position has changed.

Rather than looking at this as a black/white. right/wrong argument, consider this perspective: In 1974-1975, I was priest group leader in my ward. I had a first councilor named Matt. I doubt that anybody ever referred to Matt as the "first councilor to the priest group leader," but I'm sure many people referred to him as "priest quorum first councilor." Not technically accurate, but everyone knew what was meant.

Who gives a shit.

Are you calling him a liar, or just obsessive about semantics?

I am not calling him a liar. I am calling him wrong.

A lot of very impressive callings here!

My list:

Priest's quorum leader
Seminary president
Branch president counselor
Ward exec secretary (twice)
SS teacher (twice)
YSA FHE coordinator
Full time missionary
Name extraction Missionary (yes, it was a real, set-apart mission calling. So I served two real missions)

So no, Gordon Hinckley, I was not a "critic on the sidelines". I was a fully-active member who wanted some degree of decision-making authority.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2019 08:13PM by slskipper.

wife of a bishop i.e. mother of the ward...I was 27 years old.

YW counselor
RS counselor
primary teacher
nursery leader
RS Cultural Refinement teacher
Ward program maker
Mia Maid leader(my last calling before I left)

My list is short as I was a dyed in wool mormon for a short time (thank Anana).

Primary teacher (I thought my group of kiddos were rude spoiled brats who did not want to be there and showed it)

MIA teacher (Gossiping, nit-pickin girls who drove me crazy)

Den leader (Found the 5 or so boys in the group very fun and sooo refreshing from the Mutual girls)

Most of the time I had a calling with the Young Men. In fact I was the Teacher’s Quorum advisor when I left. A few of my callings “highlights” that I recall -

Ward Activities Specialist - I was called to this when it was first established and nobody really knew what the position was for. All the auxiliaries in the Ward thought I was supposed to originate, develop, plan, and execute their various parties/events for them. Pissed a lot of folks off because it didn’t work that way. The calling almost drove me from the church.

Stake Athletic Director (Twice) = The first go-around I actually had a nose-to-nose screaming match at a Stake softball tournament with the Stake Prez. I won. Second go-around when the Stake High Counselor interviewed me I gave HIM a list of things I would require in order to accept the calling. Stunned, he gave me around 80% of what I asked for.

Blazer Instructor - One of my best callings. I took over a group of rowdy 11-year old boys that nobody else could handle. Tamed them in two weeks. When asked at a leadership meeting how I did it, I revealed my secret…bribed them to be good with baseball cards. Gave one card away that is worth around $300 today.

I was asked to teach Elder’s Quorum ONCE. At the end of my lesson, when I was giving my testimony in my best “choking back tears” voice, I said, “And if there is any one of you that I might have offended in some way over the years…deal with it.” Was never asked to teach again. LOL!!

Webelos leader.

Statistical clerk. I counted the people at sac meeting

Stake Sunday school presidency counselor.

Primary teacher. I enjoyed it most of the time. I was released when they found out I enjoyed it

Sunday school teacher for 15 year olds. The kids were great. I was one of the few that would really study for the lesson. Reading the Bible twice was the start of my awakening

Moved into new area. Have been inside ward building a few times but I won’t be going back to that church.

I didn't have many during the Aaronic Priesthood years. I think I was always the secretary with those god-awful 6 inch binders. I think I gravitated towards 2nd Counselor/assistant as a priest. I remember that the YM prez had checked the records and discovered to his **horror** that I hadn't said a closing prayer in priests' quorum for more than 6 months. This was Elder Blowhard's way of humiliating people for their own good.

Forever called to be a clerk.

EQ secreatry
membership clerk
asst. membership clerk
ward clerk (in multiple wards and branches)

Primary teacher
They liked me working with the Blazer boys and scouting.

ward activity director-person (I wouldn't show up for baketball games and was called to repent!)

https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1987979,1988010#msg-1988010



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2019 02:07PM by messygoop.

Home teacher...twice. I quit after 3 months the second time around. I may have served the Aaronic priesthood quorum presidencies but that was a long time ago.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2019 02:53PM by Lethbridge Reprobate.

Ward Clerk (3 times)
Primary Teacher
Youth Sunday School Teacher (3 times)
English Class Gospel Doctrine Teacher

Deacons Quorum President
Teachers Quorum President
Priest Quorum 1st Assistant
Full time missionary
Primary teacher (3 or 4 times)
Ward membership records clerk
Stake YSA rep
Ward YSA Rep
Sunday School presidency
Stake missionary
Ward mission leader
Elders Quorum presidency
Stake YM Presidency
Library
Nursery

Elders quorum president.twice
Councilor EQ
Ward mission leader
High Priest Group leader

Branch president for three weeks.

Homemaking leader twice
Primary teacher for years
2nd counselor Primary
1st counselor Relief Society.. left the church

I would like to know which of these callings no longer exist!

There's no "high Priest" quorum, anymore, right?

Someone mentioned no more Stake Missionaries, so maybe no more Ward missionaries, either.

What are "Blazers?"

No activities anymore, so probably no activity-directors, right.

No more Webelos

No more Scouts of any kind.


My callings were:
Ward organist forever, and sometimes Stake organist.
Visiting Teacher
Janitor
Fruit-picker
Cannery worker

All the other callings were added on top of those 5 standard base jobs. It was typical for active members to have 2 major callings, unless you were the bishop or his wife.

--Organist (demanding, but fun, until TSCC correlated the music)
--Primary pianist
--Road show pianist, ward and stake choir accompanist, Christmas party pianist, sacrament meeting performance accompanist, RS pianist, director of "The Singing Mothers" which no longer exists, director of the ward Christmas choir, Primary music director, pianist for Mormon fashion shows, weddings, etc., until I burnt out, and have barely touched the piano or organ since.
--Cub Scout Den Mother for 7 years (fun)
--Young Women's advisor for the Laurels
--RS teacher, until I couldn't find one lesson in the entire manual that was not about the temple or "honoring the priesthood". As a divorced single working mother, I could not relate, and told them I couldn't teach that stuff.

--Sunday school teacher of whatever teen class was "difficult." My secret weapons were class discussions, Q&A sessions, having class out on the lawn, class parties, and not sticking to the manual, which was too dumbed-down for these bright kids. They had strong personalities, and humor, too. The ward was so glad to dump these kids off onto me, that they didn't pay attention to what I was doing. All of my techniques are against their rules. I taught Christianity, because that's what I believed in. Those were good times!

I bribed kids with treats. I wish I'd thought of baseball cards!

Primary--I hated lying to kids, hated the lessons based on fear and threats, hated disciplining, hated the brainwashing and chanting, hated the song lyrics--well, I just didn't do it! I told Bible stories in class, let the kids share their own stories, kept them happy in an unhappy situation, showed them attention, love and acceptance. I quit for good, from there, and took my children out with me,

As an exmormon I am more impressed by what one does outside of mormonism than what they did while they were controlled by it.

Helping a destructive cult doesn't do much to inspire me.

Cheryl,

I agree with you 100%. With my lengthy list I feel like a part of the problem. This was not meant to impress but maybe to confess.

It has been a while since I have s served in any serious way. In the last few years I just say no as often as I can. I try to help in ways that are actually humanitarian.

Even then I feel like I am giving credibility to a disgusting organization. I just try to stay anonymous and to get along with people.

To be proud of an LDS calling is like being voted the smartest guy at a three stooges convention. (With apologies to fans of the stooges.)

ha ha Yes, I was. I wasn't in the ward mormon royalty, but we had a good bishop at the time. Not someone who was trying to be in the ward clique.

I played the piano for mutual and primary while in high school. I had to hurry to primary after school.

Primary teacher too many times.
YW counselor
Sports Director (and I'm not good at sports)
Referee (again, I'm not good at sports)
SS teacher
I was called as a YW leader again after I went inactive TWICE.
RS teacher for a long time. That was the calling I had when I went inactive.

My husband was always in a clerk position or ex. sec. It was when the bishop called me in to talk to me about my husband being the next bishop or the one after that that I went inactive. My husband was cheating with other men and I knew that he'd never be called with an inactive wife. He went inactive when he was released from ex. sec.

Prothet, Seer, revelator....But my most important calling was that of Home teacher...Let me tell you a story of the elderly Siter Brown to whom I was assigned.....

This was a real trip down memory lane!

Bishopric 2nd Counselor
Elders Quorum President
High Priest Group 1st Assistant
High Priest Group 3rd Assistant (yep)
High Priest Group Secretary
Ward Young Men's President
Ward Clerk
Financial Clerk
Membership Clerk
High Council
Sunday School Teacher
Primary Teacher
Seminary Council
Home Teacher
Stake Missionary
Ward Missionary
Varsity Scout coach
Scout Committee member
Full Time Missionary (came home early)

Friggin Idiot (more of an assignment than an official calling.)

I have been in the church for over 35 years and I guess they did not know what to do with me.

Looking at this list makes me feel like a total jerk.

Also, how can anyone say I did not try to fit in?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2019 06:20PM by Lowpriest.

[deleted]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2019 08:07PM by severedpuppetstrings.

Primary.Three times.
Every time the bishopric said that they had a calling for me it was ALWAYS for primary.

Probably because I was a single woman who didn't make much money.

I was a TBM for 48 years.
My callings, in chronological order:
Teachers Quorum Presidency, 2nd Counselor
Assistant Scout Master
Mission, Dominican Republic
Branch President (on Mission)
Sunday School Teacher
Sunday School Presidency, 1st Counselor
Elders Quorum Counselor (two times)
Temple Veil Worker
Primary Teacher (two times)
Elders Quorum President
Ward Missionary
Elders Quorum Instructor (two times)
Assistant Ward Clerk
YM President
I'm sure there are more, but this is all remember.

Hadn't thought much about this for 20 years...

President/counselor as a Beehive, MiaMaid and Laurel (can't remember which or when)
Relief Society piano player for young singles ward
Greeter coordinator for BYU student ward (seriously,I was in charge of getting two girls to stand at the door of the relief society room and provide a center piece for the table).
Relief Society secretary for BYU student ward
Ward Librarian for BYU married student ward
Activity leader for BYU married student ward
Primary teacher on and off for various ages
Relief Society teacher
Sunday school teacher for 14-15 year olds because nobody wanted them but was actually my favorite calling
Mia Maid teacher (I refused to be the advisor because I didn't want to do Personal Progress reviews)
Primary chorister- my final calling before I left

Because I doggedly researched the scriptures for my lessons, I ended up studying my way out of the church without reading a single anti book or an internet search.

Lemmme see...

-Nursery leader
-Webelos leader (also best calling...just let the kids be kids)
-Elders Quorum president (nothing but helping people move. Benefit was that I assigned home teaching and excluded myself, lol.)
-Ward Clerk
-Second Counselor bishopric
-First Counselor bishopric

Can't remember the others.

Finally asked to be released from first counselor position after years because the hours upon hours every Sunday and Wednesday evenings were shitt*. Called to be High Priest secretary after that and declined--no way I wanted to be the lackey for those old farts. Not long after I left, never returned, and had my name removed.

From the LDS Handbook

The bishop calls his assistants in the priests quorum. He or an assigned counselor calls deacons and teachers quorum presidencies and quorum secretaries.

When a member of the bishopric calls a young man to serve as a deacons or teachers quorum president, he asks that young man to recommend whom to call as counselors and a secretary.