Prospective Elder Hand Off

[Aluwid]

Now that Prospective Elders are assigned to the High Priest Quorum (I assume this is a church wide policy) I'm curious how other Wards handle it with new male members of the church? In this case they will be attending the Elders quorum and will eventually become an Elder, yet they are being home taught by High Priests so they might not have the strong bonds that new members can form with their home teachers within the Elders Quorum itself. Any ideas? It seems like it might be helpful to ask the High Priest home teacher to sit in the Elders quorum temporarily until the new member is comfortable, but I'd like to hear what other quorums are doing.

[poulsenll]

Now that Prospective Elders are assigned to the High Priest Quorum (I assume this is a church wide policy) I'm curious how other Wards handle it with new male members of the church? In this case they will be attending the Elders quorum and will eventually become an Elder, yet they are being home taught by High Priests so they might not have the strong bonds that new members can form with their home teachers within the Elders Quorum itself. Any ideas? It seems like it might be helpful to ask the High Priest home teacher to sit in the Elders quorum temporarily until the new member is comfortable, but I'd like to hear what other quorums are doing.[/b]

I am the first assistant in our High priests group and our Bishop assigns new converts to both qouorums based on their age group so that they have the opportunity to develop friendships with others with similar goals and needs. About half of the active members in our group are prospective Elders and are well on their way to becoming Elders and eventually High Priests. I think some Bishops assign them to the High Priests group thinking that High Priests will be more consistent in Home Teaching them. This may be true in some Wards but not in many that I know. It may also depend on the number of converts in your Ward. We consistently have between 40 and 80 recent converts (confirmed in the last two years) to look after. Dividing between the two groups helps to distribute the load.

Larry P

[Daniel]

Now that Prospective Elders are assigned to the High Priest Quorum (I assume this is a church wide policy) I'm curious how other Wards handle it with new male members of the church? In this case they will be attending the Elders quorum and will eventually become an Elder, yet they are being home taught by High Priests so they might not have the strong bonds that new members can form with their home teachers within the Elders Quorum itself. Any ideas? It seems like it might be helpful to ask the High Priest home teacher to sit in the Elders quorum temporarily until the new member is comfortable, but I'd like to hear what other quorums are doing.[/b]

Your High Priests do this for you all? Ours won't touch a Perspective Elder or Convert unless they are 50+. I think thats a good idea to have their home teachers sit in class with them every once in awhile.

[avatar4321]

Being part of a singles branch our Elders quorum doesn't have the luxury of passing prospective elders to the high priests because we dont have any high priests.

I cant imagine that it wouldnt be more effective to split the efforts though.

[Aluwid]

Interesting, I was assuming that this was a church wide policy but apparently not. Or are your Wards the exceptions to the rule?

[J Green]

This is indeed a Church-wide program instituted by a letter from the First Presidency. This would have been in 2004 or 2005, because I had returned home from a deployment in Iraq and was serving as HP Group Leader at the time. However, the letter does not assign all prospective elders to the HP Group, it simply makes the group leader (as opposed to the EQ Pres) responsible for their spiritual development--basically setting a spiritual development plan for each individual. How that plan is developed is left to each group leader as he counsels with his quorum leader (Stake President) and coordinates with the EQ president, although page two of the letter did make a few suggestions and give ideas ranging from having the PE attend HP Group or be assigned as a home teaching companion with a HP if appropriate. You will see this policy carried out differently across stakes and within wards as group leaders make plans for each PE based on that person's age, spiritual development, personal needs, etc.

[rmpoulsen]

Some of the quidelines are that if the prospective elder would be better served by having an Elder as home teacher, assign it that way. What they are trying to accomplish is activation of some of the hard-core inactives that probably wont be reached except through extra care that will, hopefully, be provided by the High Priest.

[Jigglysaint]

What do they do with prospective elders who don't get the priesthood in like 10 years?

[rmpoulsen]

Just keep working on them. It is best to just be a friend letting them know that you care and who you represent. I currently teach two men in thier 70s who have no priesthood and aren't interested in the church, but I enjoy visiting with them.

[Jigglysaint]

BTW, I've been a member for six years and still haven't been able to advance in the priesthood. That's why I'm asking.