I’ve talked to enough people to know that the Relief Society organization is struggling down in the grassroots of the ward level. With all the changes we’ve been experiencing, people are wondering just how to move forward with the church. What is our Relief Society sisterhood? Here are my thoughts and observations and maybe a few ideas to get you started.
Ministering
Is it possible we’ve had too many lessons on ministering? Unfortunately, this is not a “lesson” topic. It is an action item. And a whole new level of guilt is closing in.
Well, throw out your feelings of guilt. Stop it, right now! Embrace the new idea of simply checking up on those you are responsible for. People don’t have “needs” every day. But people generally like to be checked on intermittently (I selected this word on purpose. We don’t want to bug people, just let them know we’re there if they do need something).
But what does good ministering even look like? Whatever you want it to look like. Do unto others what you want others to do to you. Ask them what they want and follow through.
Purpose
Find out the purpose of Relief Society. Search this website for my thoughts. Relief Society has power from the priesthood to gather our sisterhood together through activity–that is meant to perfect us–in Jesus Christ’s church. What kind of activity, you ask?
Relief Society was never meant to compete with the world. It is an organization that supports the daughters of God. We run by our own inspiration. Because we care about the one, each ward Relief Society will do things differently from any other ward. Although we follow the same doctrine, we fulfill needs specific to those whose lives we desire to touch.
Activities
Years ago, when Sister Beck announced that the formal titles of Homemaking/Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment/Enrichment were to be discontinued and simply called “Relief Society meetings,” we all laughed. But what have these meetings become in your own wards? Are they still following the traditional format of once-a-month-coming-up-with-something-to-entertain-the-sisters?
By giving us the freedom to act on our own ward’s needs, our activities need to reflect our individuality. Take a look at your ward. What topic is of most interest during your Sunday meetings? What do your families struggle most with? What recent experience has your ward encountered that would benefit from discussion or preparation?
Once-a-month meetings no longer fulfill the needs of the sisters. In order to bless more sisters lives some creativity through inspiration might be needed.
Ideas to Consider
Living in these final days before the Lord comes, Relief Society must complete its final work. Gather our sisterhood together physically, emotionally, and through creative means. Identifying true needs and fulfillment of those needs is something Relief Society should become expert in.
- Provide challenges to your sisters with a deadline. At the conclusion, meet together, speak in Sacrament Meeting, or discuss in Relief Society Sunday meeting those things that were learned, experienced, and strengthened.
- Glean information from Church resources and magazines on certain topics such as marriage; emergency preparedness; temple preparation; protecting the home from pornography, addiction, etc. and hold several meetings in weekly succession, discussing these topics until everyone is satisfied with hope and help.
- Assign various, willing sisters to host humanitarian days in their homes where projects are accomplished in small groups throughout the year.
- Organize small groups of sisters interested in going to the local Family History Center to digitize photos, take a class, talk to a professional, record a family story, etc.
- Set up an online cookbook that can include special diets, ideas for serving large crowds, meal planning tips, etc. It can be added to by anyone and modified as new ideas develop.
- Invite your ministering sisters to work with you on a certain project, goal, study topic, etc. Meet, text, group chat however you want to encourage, praise, and discuss as much as you would like.
Hopefully, these ideas will spark additional ideas that fulfill the needs of your ward’s sisterhood. Our goal is to become better and sometimes we need each other’s help in order to accomplish better things.
So many thoughts about this. I’ve not been impressed with “ministering” so far — mostly because my old Visiting Teachers actually did minister to me, and my ministering sister doesn’t talk to me now. I don’t see how we can serve each other and build relationships of trust if we don’t spend time together. So far, people don’t really spend time on me. (Don’t get me wrong, people are good in a crisis — but I miss the friendship of sisters in the ward, little daily things).
Relief Society meetings — I feel like with the name change the focus and purpose were lost. In our ward it’s really glorified girls night out, or spa nights — I have no use for either of those things, so I don’t go to them. I wish we’d do something useful. I like your idea of in home humanitarian projects. I’m trying to think of what I could do, as I am in no way crafty, or a seamstress.
These are tricky topics when it comes to really fulfilling everyone’s needs. But if we don’t change what we’re doing, we simply don’t change. Our approach and attitude needs to somehow be different in order to allow for change to take place.