The changes to Primary aren’t the only modifications that should give small, struggling congregations more breathing room:
The two-hour block means we can call fewer teachers for adult Sunday School, priesthood, and Relief Society, which is an advantage when wards are short of potential volunteers and don’t want to keep asking the STPs (“same ten people”) again and again. Where I live, the move to a two-hour block may prevent burnout and exhaustion, as a number of members have more than one calling.
Consolidating the priesthood quorums for men earlier this year had much the same effect. Merging the two reduced the number of necessary callings to staff both organizations.
Moving away from formal home and visiting teaching programs has the potential to reduce the number of items that faithful Mormons have on their to-do checklists. (I say “potential” here because even though this has been in place since April, there are still a lot of questions about how it is supposed to work in practice. Actually, some folks seem reluctant to let go of the checklist.)
Emphasizing “at home” strategies for learning the gospel points the way toward greater flexibility in how people read, discuss, and gather together. They can have Family Home Evening on whatever night works for them, rather than everyone moving heaven and earth to make FHE happen on a busy Monday. And they can create small groups to study and pray together.
When President Nelson announced the age change for priesthood ordination and Young Women on Facebook, church members’ responses were almost over the top in their enthusiasm—specifically, that the change reflected how the Lord’s church is advancing in the latter days. Some commenters talked about it as an example of modern revelation, which is not language that President Nelson used himself, though he has characterized other Handbook policy changes as “revelation” in the past.
My approach is more pragmatic: This new ordination policy reflects how the Church is contracting in the latter days. And I’m grateful we’re addressing it. Whatever the origins of this change, it solves a problem for my ward community. And given the slow shrinkage of the Church’s growth rate from year to year, we’re not alone in experiencing this. Around the world, Mormons had about a 1.5% growth rate in 2017; in the United States it was half that, barely outpacing population growth (.75% Mormon growth versus .71% for the general population).
As policies go, there’s a lot to like about these recent ones, which acknowledge the realities of declining growth and the needs of smaller wards.
https://religionnews.com/2018/12/17/new ... ng-church/
