Magnifying the High Priests Group

A talk to be given in the Annual Stake High Priest Quorum Meeting, 8/27/2011

The calling of the High Priest Group Leader and his assistants is a great calling! There is much opportunity to do good in this calling, but . . . .

Let’s step back just a minute and comment on callings in general. There are two kinds of callings in the church [my thoughts, not doctrine of any kind]. There are those which have a lot of work “wired” to them. In other words, the work comes to you. A good example is a counselor in the Bishopric. They have constant duties, callings to issue, meetings to attend, requests for temple interviews, youth interviews, etc etc. You stay busy or buried in that calling – sometimes both!

The second type of calling is where you have a lot of latitude to define the work and the workload. The High Councilor has much discretion in what he does and can make his calling larger or smaller based on how proactive he wants to be in his assignments. The high priest group leadership is much the same way. There is little which marches in the door, but much possibility for good in these callings.

This is reminiscent of the parable of the talents. It is very clear to me that I was not called just to maintain the status quo. How will I invest the talent which is the HP Group so I can return it with interest when called upon to report my stewardship?

This is not an easy question to answer – and I sruggle with it all the time. No question about it: knowing what to do takes energy and investment. How you answer this question in your own life and in your HP Group is up to you. I can give some examples perhaps, but there is NO PROGRAMMATIC ANSWER to this question.

So how do we go about answering this question, i.e., how do we go about magnifying our stewardship? Let’s take a brief and broad look at our stewardship:

1. People and Families assigned to us
2. Family History
3. Temple Preparation and Activity
4. Membership in the Ward Council, which is the major council for planning and implementing ward initiatives and activities [Not the Bishopric]. {We need to be better aware of the role of the Ward Council as the Brethren are defining it and instructing us. See the Red GHI}

In response, our group has had a lot of fun and we have worked on the sociality in our grup and ward. A few of our initiatives have included the following:

1. Under the auspices of the Ward Council, we have instituted a monthly Gospel Study evening and date night. This has resulted in some excellent and stimulating presentations on gospel topics and some time for social interaction as well.
2. Held two workshops on Family Search Indexing, teaching in a hands-on way how to participate in this wonderful initiative. We set and easily met a goal of 10,000 names for the ward.
3. Again, under the direction of the Ward Council, we have organized and taught several Temple Preparation Seminars.
4. Last week we spearheaded a social where ward members brought foods from various countries throughout the world – including lands of their ancestry or lands of their ancestry. In addition, display tables of items from these countries were set up by members, and many delightful conversations were held between members who have not had many opportunities to interact. We also covered a map of the world with different colored pins, denoting temples we have visited, countries where family members have served missions and places of ancestral origin. We also had a table where people could learn Indexing or sit with a family history consultant and see how New Family Search works. One youth found 23 names which he was able to make temple-ready! We emphasized the world-wide nature of the church and the many cultures represented in our own ward – and got a better sense of others and the wonderful things they bring to the enterprise we call the restored church!
5. We assist the Family History folks with a monthly “come-as-you-are” genealogy help session, where members get one-on-one help with their research or whatever they need.

You will not find all these things in your handbooks. You and I are agents unto ourselves and can, through our efforts, bring to pass much righteousness. But these are not things you should go do in your ward. Each of us needs to discover what our people need and be responsive to it. What does the Lord have in store for our people?

The Boy Prophet Joseph came out the grove and went to his home. There he spoke to his mother, saying, “Mother, I have learned for myself . . . “ [Joseph Smith 1:20]

Having a stewardship does not mean we have a to-do list which we can check off and then be done. Having a stewardship means constant attention to our area of responsibility and finding out for ourselves what is need to magnify our stewardship and the talent we have been given.