Church organization
Email to a friend: "Hey Rusty, I got to meet Brother Baird at the Stake Temple Day today. He's a great guy. It's good to have someone who knows what they are doing, right? That's why we have specialists: welfare specialists, housing specialists, especially employment specialists. Hey do we have a stake relationship/dating specialist? I could sure use their help."
In our church, we try to do everything we can to help each person reach their full potential spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally. Well, mainly we try to help them spiritually, but we encourage them to reach their potential in all of these ways. Obviously, physically, our encouragement is limited: we don't have physical education classes or required conditioning. As well, I think our efforts to support each other in emotional development sometimes take an unfortunate backseat to demanding submission to a particular order, saying that this order will solve the problems. Well, sometimes, when you are sad you are sad and people should just let you cry about it.
Anyway, my point is that we have lots of structures in place to support each other in our path toward personal development. We have classes that teach us about our relationship to God and about our roles as spiritual beings in a physical world. We gain knowledge. We also have the opportunity to practice our ideals serving others; we get callings, responsibilities to fulfill certain tasks in the church organization. These tasks are ways in which we offer the support I was talking about. As individuals, we have roles to support others in their personal development. One person might teach others about living a more Christlike life while another has the task of instructing in family care or home maintenance. Usually the person instructing or encouraging the other is an admitted amateur at the tasks; we don't pay anyone to do this stuff, so they are professionals (by my definition at least). Sometimes there is a fluke and the person teaching about the Old Testament happens to have an advanced degree in the subject, but not usually.
Because those who help the church organization move forward in this way are qualified mainly by their desires to help and not their resume, sometimes things don't always go forward so smoothly. But, hey, that's what church is all about: learning to love people enough to let them make mistakes and learning to fix whatever got stuck. If we can learn it in an organizational setting (how to have patience, accept flaws, and fix them), then we can learn it in spiritual and personal sense (repentance), right?
Right now, I'm realizing that this is an extremely round about way of getting to the point I want to make. It's just that I feel like this information is important to understand where I am coming from, the system from within which I make my points.
So, we have positions of responsibility. For example, some members of the organization are called to teach children. Some are called to watch over and mentor the adolescents. Some members are called to motivate and teach the men, some the women. There are those who are called to take care of the building and physical facilities. Others have the responsibility of teaching and encouraging members in missionary work. Usually a congregation has a family history specialist who helps members understand and research their family history. Many congregations also have welfare specialist. These individuals help those who receive church assistance to gain skills that will allow them to become financially self-reliant. If an individually is have difficulty with emotional issues, the leader of the congregation will provide limited counsel, and then if necessary, he can connect the individual with a mental health professional associated with the church in some way (I can clarify this if you want). Congregations will have housing specialist, a person who is familiar with housing options in the area and can assist individuals in finding a place to live. I was in a congregation that even put together legal workshops to assist members with residency issues.
One of the most sought after individuals in a given position of responsibility is the employment specialist. The position is usually marked by its nature as a clearinghouse of information on jobs and the job market, depending on the degree of effort made by the specialist. In general, employment services in the church is a powerful and positive instrument in the lives of the membership. With all of these services and guides to assist individuals in learning about areas for which they have little skill, I'm wondering when the church is going to start instituting dating and relationship specialists to help the members create and nurture intimate relations.
In our church, we try to do everything we can to help each person reach their full potential spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally. Well, mainly we try to help them spiritually, but we encourage them to reach their potential in all of these ways. Obviously, physically, our encouragement is limited: we don't have physical education classes or required conditioning. As well, I think our efforts to support each other in emotional development sometimes take an unfortunate backseat to demanding submission to a particular order, saying that this order will solve the problems. Well, sometimes, when you are sad you are sad and people should just let you cry about it.
Anyway, my point is that we have lots of structures in place to support each other in our path toward personal development. We have classes that teach us about our relationship to God and about our roles as spiritual beings in a physical world. We gain knowledge. We also have the opportunity to practice our ideals serving others; we get callings, responsibilities to fulfill certain tasks in the church organization. These tasks are ways in which we offer the support I was talking about. As individuals, we have roles to support others in their personal development. One person might teach others about living a more Christlike life while another has the task of instructing in family care or home maintenance. Usually the person instructing or encouraging the other is an admitted amateur at the tasks; we don't pay anyone to do this stuff, so they are professionals (by my definition at least). Sometimes there is a fluke and the person teaching about the Old Testament happens to have an advanced degree in the subject, but not usually.
Because those who help the church organization move forward in this way are qualified mainly by their desires to help and not their resume, sometimes things don't always go forward so smoothly. But, hey, that's what church is all about: learning to love people enough to let them make mistakes and learning to fix whatever got stuck. If we can learn it in an organizational setting (how to have patience, accept flaws, and fix them), then we can learn it in spiritual and personal sense (repentance), right?
Right now, I'm realizing that this is an extremely round about way of getting to the point I want to make. It's just that I feel like this information is important to understand where I am coming from, the system from within which I make my points.
So, we have positions of responsibility. For example, some members of the organization are called to teach children. Some are called to watch over and mentor the adolescents. Some members are called to motivate and teach the men, some the women. There are those who are called to take care of the building and physical facilities. Others have the responsibility of teaching and encouraging members in missionary work. Usually a congregation has a family history specialist who helps members understand and research their family history. Many congregations also have welfare specialist. These individuals help those who receive church assistance to gain skills that will allow them to become financially self-reliant. If an individually is have difficulty with emotional issues, the leader of the congregation will provide limited counsel, and then if necessary, he can connect the individual with a mental health professional associated with the church in some way (I can clarify this if you want). Congregations will have housing specialist, a person who is familiar with housing options in the area and can assist individuals in finding a place to live. I was in a congregation that even put together legal workshops to assist members with residency issues.
One of the most sought after individuals in a given position of responsibility is the employment specialist. The position is usually marked by its nature as a clearinghouse of information on jobs and the job market, depending on the degree of effort made by the specialist. In general, employment services in the church is a powerful and positive instrument in the lives of the membership. With all of these services and guides to assist individuals in learning about areas for which they have little skill, I'm wondering when the church is going to start instituting dating and relationship specialists to help the members create and nurture intimate relations.
Comments