A Religous Experience

Total words: 2026

I have spent 6 years as a Bishop's counselor over the primary, and have had the privilege of working with 4 wonderful and talented Primary Presidents. During that time I have learned a number of things that I think all Primary presidents should know. If I had the opportunity to sit with a new Primary president and talk with her about her calling these are some of the things I would say.

First I would want to teach about the importance and proper organization of a presidency meeting. The Lord's church is run through councils. It is a divinely appointed principle of organization and is the key to effective leadership in the church. Presidents of all organizations in the church should read Elder Ballard's book "Counseling with our Councils". The Godhead is the governing council of our universe. The First Presidency is the governing council of the church. The Quorum of the Twelve and the quorums of the Seventy meet as councils. Stake Presidencies (and all auxiliary presidencies) are councils. Bishopric and ward councils form the leadership units of the local congregations. Priesthood quorums and ward auxiliary presidencies meet together as councils. Effective council meetings are the key to successful leadership.

In all cases the regular flow of information is through council meetings. Council members typically participate in several councils at various levels. For instance, Primary Presidency counselors meet with the teachers they have stewardship over. They learn how things are going and discuss the particular needs of individuals. These counselors then meet with their president and pass the information up the chain. The primary president meets in a regular PPI with a member of the bishopric, and also in ward council meetings. Bishops meet regularly with the Stake President, who meets with a member of the area presidency, who meets with the Quorum of the Twelve, who meets with the First Presidency. At each level the relevant information is filtered. Some information continues moving upward. At each level decisions are reached and assignments are made. These assignments are carried out and reported at following meetings of the council.

In a similar manner the programs and instructions of the church are administered and taught through regular council meetings. The First Presidency meets and makes decisions about particular programs and the overall direction of the church. This is disseminated down through the councils of the church in reverse order of that in the previous paragraph. At each level the plans of the church are expanded and adjusted to meet the particular needs of the area of responsibility. At each level there are those who properly preside; whose stewardship it is to implement the directions through decisions and actions based on the more general instruction given from above.

Ultimately the church functions through teachers. Primary teachers, Sunday School teachers, Priesthood and Relief Society Teachers, Home and Visiting Teachers. That is where the Gospel is taught, that is where lives are touched. Everything above this is just planning and administration. Unfortunately the council system tends to break down at just the level where it is most important to function effectively. It is the goal of church leadership to ensure that teachers are effective in meeting with, teaching, loving and nurturing those for whom they have stewardship. When we fail to have effective council meetings at the lowest levels the entire leadership structure of the church is compromised. This means we must have effective interviews with teachers; we must have appropriate auxiliary presidency meetings; we must attend council meetings prepared to discuss our stewardship, to take direction, and to implement the programs of the church.

There is nothing more frustrating to church leaders than to have key people show up for council meetings unprepared. The preparation for almost all council meetings happens in other council meetings. A Primary president who has effective presidency meetings will be successful in meeting the needs of her organization and in supporting the rest of the ward.

At a primary presidency meeting all the functions of the primary are discussed. Each member of the presidency has an opportunity to report on the status of her assignments. The counselor over Activity Days has just met with the Activity Day leaders and is ready to report and brings concerns for discussion and direction. The counselor over Cub Scouts has met with the scout committee and is prepared to discuss the activities and concerns of individuals in the scouting program. Each counselor has responsibility over classes, and they have recently met with those teachers and visited those classes. They are prepared to discuss those things in very specific terms. Ultimately these discussions all need to center on individuals and families. Many council meetings degenerate into calendaring and planning meetings. There is a certain amount of coordination that must take place, but this should be driven by direct discussion of the individual needs of our membership, and not completely disassociated from the real purpose of our activities.

When a presidency meeting follows this format, the president can easily keep notes that prepare her for attending ward council meetings. A member of the presidency will have the assignment to track children towards baptism so that proper plans can be made and notification given in a timely manner. Discussions will include progress in Faith in God and the Cub Scouting Square Knot patch. As each area of stewardship is discussed problems and solutions are brought to light. A presidency meeting needs a standing agenda to periodically touch on all areas of stewardship. To this agenda are added the specific concerns and opportunities requiring attention at each specific meeting.

A typical frustration in a ward council meeting is to discuss a family with a Cub Scout aged boy. The question is raised about his participation. The Primary president can only answer if she is having effective presidency meetings with counselors who are themselves having effective meetings within their particular stewardship. Far too often the counselor over Cub Scouts does not regularly attend the Cub Scout committee meetings, so she can't effectively inform the president in presidency meetings and the primary president is left guessing when questioned in ward council. It is not unusual to hear a member of a ward council speak of how the meeting is pointless and they never know what to say. That is often true, but only because members don't come fully prepared. A primary president needs to review often enough the girls who are attending activity days, for instance, so she can answer when asked, and that review happens in presidency meeting with well informed councilors.

Primary Presidency meetings are also the place where Sharing Time plans are discussed. This is a meeting that includes the chorister and is the time to discuss the songs that need to be integrated with the Sharing Time activities and lessons. It will often be necessary for the chorister and presidency member to work through finer details outside of the presidency meeting, but an overview is useful for all members. When things are working smoothly between the presidency members and the chorister, it will be useful and sometimes sufficient to share the songs that will be upcoming so the chorister can plan how to teach them and be prepared to insert songs into sharing time lessons as requested. This obviously requires presidency members to come to presidency meetings with at least an outline of the planned topics for each week of the upcoming month, along with the songs that they will want integrated into the lessons. This doesn't require that each entire sharing time be planned well in advance, but enough of a rough outline so that the chorister can plan ahead. To be effective as part of lessons, songs will often need to be familiar. A chorister needs a long-term plan to manage her calling effectively.

Finally, one of the potentially most important tools a primary president has is the quarterly teacher improvement meeting. The primary is in a unique position of having this meeting to themselves, and it can be appropriately included in the regular primary board meeting. An effective series of presidency meetings will lead naturally to concerns, or to areas that could use some bolstering. The quarterly teacher improvement meeting is not well understood or utilized by ward leaders. This meeting belongs to the auxiliary presidents. It is theirs to plan and carry out. Although there may be times when the ward teacher improvement leader plans and carries out this meeting under assignment, this should not be the typical occurrence. The presidency should meet and determine the issues of greatest concern. They should determine who in the ward could be most useful in addressing the topic. Invitations should be made to speakers and all participants. The ward teacher improvement teacher will attend, but often may not take an active part.

As a part of this meeting, each presidency member should separate out with the teachers they are specifically over. The smaller groups need to discuss the specific individuals of greatest concern. The Activity Day and Cub Scout leaders need to be included with the primary teachers in a discussion of the children they have in common. Often a Primary teacher will have a concern over a child that they may not know well. This meeting is the opportunity for the teachers to meet together to discuss the situation. For instance, a 10 year old girl from a part member family may be of concern to a teacher. Perhaps this girl has never attended on Sunday and the teacher is wondering how to reach her. The Activity Day leader may know this girl; perhaps she comes regularly. This information is very useful to a teacher wanting to make an invitation. Or perhaps the girl doesn't attend at all; then the teacher may want to include the Activity Day leader in the invitation as that is often a more successful place to start.

The Sunday teachers can also play an important role of encouraging and even helping their children toward the Faith in God award. Some discussion of this with the Cub Scout and Activity Day leaders can be very helpful. When a teacher knows what things they are working on or are upcoming, they can ask about these things, or help to place emphasis and encouragement. Working together as a team is so much easier and more successful, but without this meeting functioning well, when else will our teachers have the opportunity to ask the questions and make the coordinated plans to find success?

In review, if I had an opportunity to help a new Primary president get started, I would want to impress upon her the following things.

1. How important it is to understand councils in church leadership and to hold effective leadership meetings.
2. To encourage all presidency members to hold regular meetings in their areas of stewardship, such as Cub Scout committee meetings and Activity Day planning meetings.
3. To have regular interviews with teachers to discuss specific needs of children and to assess and correct teaching practices.
4. To visit classes frequently - to know who is attending and their level of participation - and to appreciate the relationship of the teachers with their children.
5. To make presidency meeting a place where all issues come together, where plans and assignments are made, and adequate preparation for attending other ward council meetings.
6. To keep the chorister fully integrated with the presidency and to provide her with adequate planning and foreknowledge of upcoming requests.
7. To stay fully in touch with all the activities by delegating responsibilities, giving assignments and providing opportunities for clear and honest communication.
8. To make the quarterly teacher improvement meetings so meaningful and useful to the primary staff, including Activity Day and Cub Scout leaders, that they will look forward to attending because it makes their life easier. These meetings have to address the real concerns of the teachers and help them understand and coordinate their loving efforts to friendship, fellowship and nurture the children in their charge.
9. The Primary president should invite and expect the frequent attendance and participation of the bishopric member in her presidency meetings. The meeting should periodically be planned and scheduled with that goal in mind.

I have never served in a primary presidency and know there are many other issues and concerns, and certainly areas of emphasis that I don't fully appreciate. Never the less, because of my close work over several years with the primary as a member of a bishopric, these are the areas of concern and emphasis I have had, and areas I have often felt needed greater attention.

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