Back to Dave & Joanne's Home Page.
One unaquainted with our church might well wonder how it can possibly function if it's run by a bunch of amateurs. Likewise, one might wonder at one so apparently unprepared presuming to lead a whole congregation. Well, if you follow along with a little background, I think you'll find that we're not as unprepaired as one might imagine.
First let me give you a little background regarding the importance and time we Mormons give to obtaining a religious education. While most church goers probably spend one to one and a half hours a week in worship services, the usual minimum amount of time we spend in church each Sunday is three hours. The time is roughly divided into an hour for congregational worship, followed by two hours of various forms of active teaching of the gospel. From ages 3 through 11, our children have an hour of singing and combined learning activity followed by another hour of classroom instruction by individual age group. Our youth from ages 12 through 18 in the mean time have an hour of Sunday School, with classes divided by age groups, followed by another hour of instruction, this time with the young men and young women separated. All adults from age 18 up are also expected to participate in a Sunday School class for an hour as well as an hour of separate instruction for the men and the women. Now that's just the Sunday plan. There's more. Families are expected to hold regular "Family Home Evenings" where at least once a week, the gospel is taught by the parents to their children in the home, along with wholesome recreational activities. Once our young people reach the age of 12, they participate in the Young-Men/Young Women (YM/YW) program on Wednesday nights for a couple of hours. For the young men, the activity is centered around Scouting, while the young women have an equally ambitions program of learning and activity. The Church has one of the highest rates of the attainment of the rank of Eagle of any sponsoring organization participating in scouting. Likewise, there is a special award given to young women who complete all the activities and requirements of the YW program that we consider to be the equivalent of the Eagle Scout award for the young men. One Wednesday a month is used for a combined activity between the YM/YW, so that the youth can learn to work together and have appropriate kinds of fun together. Throughout all the YM/YW programs, each age group has an appointed presidency, giving them the opportunity to plan their own activities (always under the direction of adult leaders) and learn the planning and leadership skills associated with that kind of responsibility. In addition to all this, once our youth reach high school age, they join the Seminary program. That means that every week-day, usually before school (like 6:00 or 6:30 in the morning) these young people gather at church for an hour of concentrated religious instruction. Formal religious instruction continues for college age members in the form of the Institute of Religion program, which is organized on just about every college campus where there are members of the Church enrolled. And beyond formal instruction, members of all ages are continually urged to participate in family and individual scripture study. The bottom line is that we believe that one's spiritual education should be in balance with his or her secular education, and we strive to make it so.
Now, what about the Priesthood. Well, if you noticed the separation of the sexes above after the age of 12 for some of the classes, you noticed the beginning of Priesthood involvement for the young men. The classes for the young men, beginning at age twelve, are squarely aimed at preparing them for a life committed to Priesthood service. The young men progress thorough the Priesthood offices of Deacon, Teacher and Priest at ages 12, 14 and 16 respectively, and with each office comes new and greater responsibilities. Most of these duties have to do with the Sacrament (called Communion in a lot of churches) which is the sacred focus of our main worship service. They progress from passing the Sacrament to the congregation, to preparing it beforehand, and finally to blessing it as a part of the service. In all of this, and in several other opportunities they're given to serve, they're taught that they're doing that which Jesus himself instituted at the Last Supper, and in that way are standing in His stead in this Priesthood service. Some of the other responsibilities include collection of Fast Offerings, teaching with an adult companion once a month in the homes of member families, and even baptism when the opportunity presents itself. (One of the great thrills of my young life was the opportunity to baptise the young lady who was to become my wife a few years later.) Through all their early years, our young men are encouraged to serve a full time mission for the Church when they reach the age of 19, and a great many of them follow through and perform that wonderful service.
If you've followed all this, you see that there's an awful lot of activity going on in the life of the typical Mormon. All that activity requires leaders, teachers and direction, and it all happens in every congregation of the Church without a single "professional" clergyman. But it's the activity itself that prepares us -- every child grows up seeing both parents activly involved in some aspect of making it all work. And every child, male and female, from the age of 12 on up begins to participate in the running of the programs, just like their parents do. It's a marvelous "machine" for making active, productive and spiritual leaders, and it really works!
The bottom line is that, no I don't have any "divinity" degrees, but I've been preparing and serving ever since I can remember. And being a bishop doesn't mean I do it "all" -- I've got a whole congregation of wonderful people who are just as faithful, just as interested and just as actively committed to doing the Lord's work as I am. Together, we cannot fail to move the Lord's work forward. I might also point out that when the Savior chose his deciples, he didn't go to the Rabinnical schools - He chose fishermen and tax collectors - ordinary people with extraordinary spirits and a desire to serve and follow Him. I believe He does the same thing today. (No, I certainly don't claim to be anything extraordinary, but I can guarantee that I have some extraordinary people, both past and present, who are there to help me become better than I am, so I'm headed in the right direction.)