Farewell Friends, I Was Just Called As Bishop

[_Everybody Wang Chung]

Mates,

After MUCH deliberation and soul searching, I have accepted a call to serve as Bishop. As such, I imagine that my interaction on this board will cease.

As everyone knows, I have serious questions and concerns about many issues regarding the Church, but ultimately I look at this as an opportunity to serve and improve the lives of people in my sphere of influence. I promise all of you that my focus as bishop will be on tolerance, love, acceptance and forgiving others/ourselves. I have learned a great deal from this board and your experiences.

Runtu:
I promise you that I will NEVER turn away from helping someone in need, either financially or otherwise, regardless of their tithing or activity status. Even if this ultimately means that I have to take on that burden personally. What happened to your parents was unacceptable and embarrassing for a people who proclaim to be Christian.

Just_me/sock puppet:
I promise you that I will NEVER ask the youth questions about masturbation, even if it means that I am in direct conflict with the Stake leadership. I will do my best to make them feel loved, accepted and important.

Dr. Scratch and Cassius,
As promised, I will post a report (along with photos) of Daniel Peterson and my trip to the Holy Land in April. I still, and will always, strongly disagree with the tactics and behavior of most Mopologists. I thank you for hard work.

Nightlion (and others who know my in real life),
Please feel free to stop by and visit anytime.


I have enjoyed my interaction with almost everyone on this board. Friends, I bid thee adieu.

[_Chap]

Mates,
After MUCH deliberation and soul searching, I have accepted a call to serve as Bishop. As such, I imagine that my interaction on this board will cease.

We could always start a new forum for you, even further up in the scale of refinement than Celestial, and call it Episcopal. But if you must, you must ...

[_Ceeboo]

Hi Everybody Wang Chung

ultimately I look at this as an opportunity to serve and improve the lives of people in my sphere of influence. I promise all of you that my focus as bishop will be on tolerance, love, acceptance and forgiving others/ourselves.

:)
:)
:)

I have enjoyed my interaction with almost everyone on this board. Friends, I bid thee adieu.

I have enjoyed (and will miss) my interaction with you too, Everybody Wang Chung.


Peace, friend!
Ceeboo

[_DrW]

Everybody Wang Chung,

Best wishes in your new calling.

Even though you may not feel it appropriate to actively participate while serving as a Bishop, I trust that you will check in now and then just to get some perspective.

[_LDSToronto]

Either Everybody Wang Chung is kidding, or this is undeniable proof the church is not true.

[_sock puppet]

Your ward members' gain is our loss.

Farewell bishop.

[_Jason Bourne]

Congrats! Really it is a wonderful opportunity to serve and bless lives.

You may or may not have followed some of my comments about my time as a bishop. It was about three or four years into it when things started to unravel for me as far as concluding that the church was not what it had claimed to be. At that time I met frequently with my SP. I even suggested he release me and he declined. I love him much more than I already did for that. He really supported me and I am not sure where I would be now but for him. I ended up serving six years total and had some very important things I dealt with in the last part of my service where I think I made some difference.

I think I would encourage you to avoid message boards during this time in your life. I wish I had. I had been an avid hobby apologist, TBM defender at the time of my call. My message board and aplogitic activity did drop off when I was called but not enough.

If you want to chat about what it was like for me as a bishop that became a NOM type while serving feel free to PM me. I would be happy to talk, encourage and support you in any way I can.

Best wishes to you.

[_Blixa]

I kind of hope Everybody Wang Chung isn't kidding. The church needs good bishops. He might, indeed, make a very thoughtful and caring one.

I've always been interested in both RayA and Jason's commentary on their experiences as bishops: some of the most poignant lessons I've learned about the everyday living of Mormonism came from their stories. (I also remember that there was a former bishop who used to post here as BishopRic, If I recall correctly, he too, had some interesting insights.) And then there's the Bishop who processed my resignation letter, a fellow I never met in person, but whose letter to me was so considerate and tactful I wrote back to him telling him so. I think I even recounted this exchange on the board because it had such an interesting aftermath.

Anyway, if you are making a formal announcement of a calling you have decided to accept, Everybody Wang Chung, I can understand your reticence about continuing to post here. However, let me make a suggestion: perhaps you could occasionally post about your experiences in Celestial; it would be very interesting to hear about the challenges a Bishop faces as he attempts to deal with his ward compassionately and fairly. You might want to change your moniker to distance yourself from your commentary as Everybody Wang Chung.

On the other hand, because all of us here would be able to connect the "new" you with the "old," maybe continuing to post here might be too complicated and have some hazards for your RL work as a bishop.

But at least think about it.

[_malkie]

Either Everybody Wang Chung is kidding, or this is undeniable proof the church is not true.

I have to disagree. There can be no such thing as undeniable proof the church is not true - only deniable "proof".

Just off the top of my head I could suggest:

• Everybody Wang Chung is being given an opportunity to turn his back on evil/anti-mormonism and return to the fold - his experiences as a bish will cause him to see the light
• Everybody Wang Chung is being put in a position in which he will have to choose between good and evil
• Everybody Wang Chung is being allowed to ripen in iniquity

Remember, god's ways are not your ways - etc.

You're usually quite imaginative, LDST - what happened?

[_Dr. Shades]

Even so, does your very kind offer of pro bono legal defense on behalf of this board, should the need arise, still stand?