Sunday, December 10, 2017

My Ward has the potential to be awesome.

Last month we traveled to Auckland to my nephews baptism. I played the piano at the baptism. The sacrament hall was smaller than ours and there were maybe, 50 people present. I was blown away by the power of the opening song. It sounded like a chorus of easily two hundred and not just adults were singing, I could hear children's voices just as powerful as the adults.

I counted today 52 regular adults in our congregation. It's probably doubled when you add in everyone's kids. Our ward has been dull for a while, but today I got quite angry about it and recalled a time previously when one of my Bishops stopped the opening hymn, half way through it, to announce that everyone needed to sing.

It was one of those days in the ward. I will admit for about 4 years since being home, I lip synced my way through the hymns, but when I realized how pathetic the singing was in the ward my feelings changed. What made me angry was that our Stake President was sitting up on the pulpit and his whole stake entourage were seated a few seats behind us. They would have heard what I heard.

My ward is full of critical people who are prone to cast doubt on the callings and assignments of others in the ward. I'm guilty of it. I concluded today, how is anyone supposed to magnify their calling when going to church has become shaky ground?

Enter the Bishop. He is the foundation of the ward who is there to still the shaky ground. Who stabilizes when doubt is cast.

But how can he compensate and balance that weight, enabling him to do his part, when the favor is not returned by singing, by accepting assignments, by going to church, by going to the temple, by participating in activities, by sustaining him wholeheartedly and not just raising your hand because everyone notices the one who doesn't raise their hand out of spite.

A Bishops purpose is not to fulfill our needs. This is why there are auxiliaries in the ward. Each will give a different kind of direction you need at the time. He is not there to be burdened with trivial stuff. You have home teachers and visiting teachers for that reason. He has priorities of his own. He gets tired too and has his own set of weaknesses and strengths.

A Bishop is human too.

I heard my Bishop pleading for that support today.
True story.
"Let’s talk about what such faith means for a bishop. A bishop is sometimes called to serve people who know him well. Ward members know something of his human weaknesses and his spiritual strengths, and they know that others in the ward could have been called—others who seem better educated, more seasoned, more pleasant, or even better looking.
These members have to know the call to serve as a bishop came from the Lord, by revelation. Without their faith, the bishop, who was called of God, will find it harder to get the revelation he needs to help them. He will not succeed without the faith of the members to sustain him"
A Bishop is not perfect, but he is the best man for the job because God said so and if we all claim to believe in that same God who called him into his position, then we know what we need to do.

Come on Korongata Ward.

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