A Bishop's Time

[_Joey]

Over at the board where those who ask questions get banned, there is a thread discussing a newspaper article that alleges a Mormon bishop(s) went door to door soliciting contributions from members, after reviewing their tithing records, for the campaign of Prop 8.

There seems to be great doubt by the objective and informed stallwarts of that board that the allegations had any credibility. Speaking from a supposed great deal of knowledge and insight, many doubted that a Mormon bishop would hardly have the extra free time to sift throught tithing records.

One poster called Avatar even quoted "With all the things the Bishops have to do, i doubt they even see the tithing reciepts" I was taken back by such an assesment.

My wife, an active but uniformed member has been a member of several wards both in and out of Utah. I have never seen a ward directory listing more than 75 to 80 families. And based on the size of chapels I've been in, its quite obvious most wards could hardly accomodate a sitting of membership and families much larger than that unless activity rates are are at the 50 percent level or less. Anyway, let's say its even 150 families. Reviewing tithing records for that many files, to determine who has money to donate or not, would take at most a couple of hours one night. Not much time at all when you think about it. Hell, I've gone through that many bank records in an evening.

So are bishops really that busy as that board wants us to believe. If they truly believe that a bishops responsibilities would preclude him from spending a couple of hours one night to review files, what is that keeps them so busy??!!!

If the role of a bishop would prevent them for a one time, 2-4 hour review of some files, would any of them possibly have time to spend hundreds of hours and thousands of posts on message boards without their other duties suffering greatly???

Perhaps those with more firsthand experience could comment and let us know if, as those at that other board declare, that a bishop is really that busy with ward stuff.

Any current bishops here that want to take a moment from their busy schedule to post an informative comment, time permitting of course!

[_Scottie]

Does it matter how busy they are??

Bishops attend pointless meetings all the time. What would be the difference if the Brethren asked a Bishop to check tithing? Whatever it takes to be in the good graces of God, right?

If that means you get home at midnight rather than 10 on one night, so be it.

[_The Nehor]

The main argument I gave was not lack of time. It's that the Bishop already generally knows how much people make. It's his job to know what people in his ward do and from that you can approximate a salary. He's also probably visited a lot of homes and can guess from this. He knows who in the ward would have a lot of disposable cash, who is probably living a lifestyle they can't afford, and who he could in good conscience ask for donations from.

This isn't rocket science. I know approximately how much my friends make give or take 10 to 20 thousand dollars.

[_Gadianton]

Joey,

Don't forget there is this annual even every year called "tithing settlement". I'd imagine those gullible enough to actually show up to this event would be easily noted and remembered.

[_skippy the dead]

I'm sure the bishop could easily access tithing records (or ask the clerk to prepare a report for him). I think the discussion on that is a red herring.

More to the point, I don't believe the story of a bishop trying to determine income from those records, then going door-to-door to request donations based on that.

On the other hand, it's perfectly plausible to think that the bishop or other leaders are aware enough of many ward members' approximate income levels and made requests of those members for generous donations of non-specified amounts.

But the door-to-door solicitation of donations based on income based on tithing receipts? Not so much.

[_Joey]

The main argument I gave was not lack of time.

So do you think that a bishop has enough free time to spend hours and hours making thousands of posts on internet message boards? Or are they really not as busy as those at MADB make the role out to be?

This isn't rocket science. I know approximately how much my friends make give or take 10 to 20 thousand dollars.

That sure seems like a very low level of margin to be used in making conclusions. I don't think I would want to be that curious, nosey or intimant with my friends' finances to ever make that statement!

[_The Nehor]

The main argument I gave was not lack of time.

So do you think that a bishop has enough free time to spend hours and hours making thousands of posts on internet message boards? Or are they really not as busy as those at MADB make the role out to be?

This isn't rocket science. I know approximately how much my friends make give or take 10 to 20 thousand dollars.

That sure seems like a very low level of margin to be used in making conclusions. I don't think I would want to be that curious, nosey or intimant with my friends' finances to ever make that statement!

No, i said the Bishop wouldn't need the files. He would just know. I know what my friends make because I know what they do and how they live. I don't sit down and figure it out.

[_cinepro]

My FIL is a bishop, and when I mentioned to him that the calling of "Zip-Code Coordinator" had been read over the pulpit in our ward, he rolled his eyes and said "They should not have done that in Church."

So there was definitely some variation of interpretation among Bishops regarding what was and wasn't appropriate to do in support of Prop 8.

[_Ray A]

Any current bishops here that want to take a moment from their busy schedule to post an informative comment, time permitting of course!

I'm not a current bishop, but was ordained one many, many moons ago.

It would have taken me about 20 minutes to find out who the tithe-payers were, and how much. Bear in that a bishop knows this already from the annual tithing settlement, and all he would have to look for is whether someone who hadn't paid in the past started paying, or vice versa. The ward clerk gives him a list of all the members and their tithing contributions, so he (the ward clerk) actually does most of the work.

[_Joey]

Well to cut to the quick, is a bishop really as busy and responsible to so many members as those at MADB want to defend? Could a bishop have as much free time, assuming also that he had a real full time job, to make thousands and thousands of annual posts on internet message boards

On one hand we hear how super busy a Mormon bishop is with his ward. Yet we also see some spend an incredulous amount of time from sun up to well past midnight posting like a shotgun blast on message boards.

I'm just trying to separate the myth from the reality.

Anyone? Bishops? Members?