Improve Everyone’s Experience at Church
Important note: These articles are meant to help grow the quality, capacity, and awareness of a ward or a branch. They are not intended to be used as a fault-finding expedition or a reprimand. That’s a leadership quality right there…patience and compassion for people’s learning curves. Growth and improvement usually come in baby steps. Pick something below and steadily work towards it through smaller, achievable steps or goals.
Be happy about small miracles!
Ward Health
If your ward seems lethargic or has poor attendance, consider one of these three topics. These articles will help you solve big problems quickly – but require an open mind that is unafraid of pushing against cultural norms and traditions.
1) Ministering
Master the ministering program as it is meant to be run – and it will do wonders for your ward or branch. Here are some of the important basics and useful suggestions for a more successful ministering program among your Saints.
- Ministering Is An Orphan Child
- Take the poll and share how your ward or branch is doing.
2) Widen the Inner Circle
Ward Growth vs. Ward Decline – What to do when the leadership positions cycle between the same few.
3) How to Get Cooperation and Buy-in
Build Teamwork and Create the Win-Win – How to navigate a room full of different opinions and values and build consensus. It’s the blue t-shirt principle.
Increase the Warmth of Congregation
How does it feel to be at Church? Could meetings in your chapel use an overall pick-me-up? Consider turning reverence and spirituality upside down and giving them another look.
- Reverence Has Almost Nothing To Do with Being Quiet – Reverence is a phenomenal experience when understood. Go down the list and see if you’ve been taught what makes us reverent. If you’re like me, you haven’t!
- Crying Is Not Spirituality – Fair warning, this article may trigger some people, because it pushes back hard on cultural teachings. Nonetheless, it is doctrinally sound.
What Is Being Taught?
When Doctrine Isn’t Doctrine
We all grew up with (or later stepped into) a surprising number of cultural teachings and folklore that sound like Latter-day Saint doctrine…but they are NOT. Here’s an easy guide on how to recognize what is true Church doctrine.
Coming Soon
- The Handbook Secret – the handbook Is 100x better than you think – tips on how to make it work for you.
- A Memorable Relief Society – how I set up our Relief Society – and it broke attendance records.
- Welfare Dependency and Food Order Challenges – how to diplomatically help people increase their confidence and graduate from the Welfare system.
- The sneaky, false god of “family first.”