Die Überraschung kommt noch!
It is General Conference weekend for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In the spring we saw the introduction of the ministering program, to replace home and visiting teaching. They also changed it so that instead of having the Priesthood session and the Relief Society session twice a year (the RS session the weekend before), they now have the Priesthood session in the spring and Relief Society/General Women's session in the fall.
Today it was announced that regular Sunday meetings will now have Sacrament meeting weekly, but Sunday School and Relief Society/Priesthood will alternate weeks. Two hour church guys. Two hour church!
When there were fewer buildings than could serve the congregations here they shortened the meeting times to two and a half hours, which was great (well, we thought it was great!). Once the number of buildings caught up we were back to three hours. Earlier this year we ended up with a 2pm time slot because we had four wards meeting in our building. Probably the worst time slot possible. Once the new stake center was finished two of the wards left and we were down to 10am, which is a lot more reasonable.
The change was presented as encouraging more family-centered gospel lives and the physical church being supportive to that. Not only does this make church shorter, but it eases demands on those who serve in the capacity of teachers in Sunday School, Relief Society, and Priesthood meetings.
So much for President Nelson being an old guy who was going to keep up the status quo, eh? For reference, the prophet before him, President Monson, was 89 when he passed. Nelson is coming 94.
So it feels like the Church is stepping back and providing more of a framework for people to work in and around than setting up a rigid structure. Making it more personal and personable. Asking people to be more self-accountable.
I think it's a good thing. And not just because I have three small children and three hours of church is a lot, though that is a bonus!
Completely unrelated Marty and Dave are picking up Young Haflinger # 2. They acquired # 1 Wednesday and she is hanging out in the boarder area for quarantine. Young Haflinger # 2 will be joining her today (in a separate but adjacent pen). The second one is a mostly unhandled two year-old who may be pregnant as she was turned out with a colt and he apparently got three other young mares pregnant (further backstory the people picked up 30 [yes THIRTY] Haflingers from a breeding program in Florida that had 90+ head that needed disperaal, they're down to a half dozen or so needing placement). The first is broke to ride and supposedly broke to drive and is three years old. I made it clear that I do not have time to work them pro bono because Jasper and Tru-D come first.
Today it was announced that regular Sunday meetings will now have Sacrament meeting weekly, but Sunday School and Relief Society/Priesthood will alternate weeks. Two hour church guys. Two hour church!
When there were fewer buildings than could serve the congregations here they shortened the meeting times to two and a half hours, which was great (well, we thought it was great!). Once the number of buildings caught up we were back to three hours. Earlier this year we ended up with a 2pm time slot because we had four wards meeting in our building. Probably the worst time slot possible. Once the new stake center was finished two of the wards left and we were down to 10am, which is a lot more reasonable.
The change was presented as encouraging more family-centered gospel lives and the physical church being supportive to that. Not only does this make church shorter, but it eases demands on those who serve in the capacity of teachers in Sunday School, Relief Society, and Priesthood meetings.
So much for President Nelson being an old guy who was going to keep up the status quo, eh? For reference, the prophet before him, President Monson, was 89 when he passed. Nelson is coming 94.
So it feels like the Church is stepping back and providing more of a framework for people to work in and around than setting up a rigid structure. Making it more personal and personable. Asking people to be more self-accountable.
I think it's a good thing. And not just because I have three small children and three hours of church is a lot, though that is a bonus!
Completely unrelated Marty and Dave are picking up Young Haflinger # 2. They acquired # 1 Wednesday and she is hanging out in the boarder area for quarantine. Young Haflinger # 2 will be joining her today (in a separate but adjacent pen). The second one is a mostly unhandled two year-old who may be pregnant as she was turned out with a colt and he apparently got three other young mares pregnant (further backstory the people picked up 30 [yes THIRTY] Haflingers from a breeding program in Florida that had 90+ head that needed disperaal, they're down to a half dozen or so needing placement). The first is broke to ride and supposedly broke to drive and is three years old. I made it clear that I do not have time to work them pro bono because Jasper and Tru-D come first.