April 2008 Herald

Winter wonderland at Conception Alley. Photo by Karen Ceckowski.

World Church Leadership Council

The World Church Leadership Council met in an experimental “home week” format from January 25 to February 3. The meeting began with a retreat at Conception Abbey, in Conception, Missouri. Afterward, the council met in quorums on Monday and Tuesday, and as a council the rest of the week, ending Saturday.

At the retreat, the council reflected on what it means to be a “signal community.” After the retreat and the quorum meetings, the council engaged the question of how to prioritize the major ministry opportunities and needs before the church. What matters most? The question becomes more difficult when deciding to do some things means not doing others. The council worked to develop recommended priorities for the Budget Planning Committee to refer to as they develop the budget.

This is part of a deliberate effort to make the budget process smoother by setting priorities early on, to orient the rest of the budget work around the church’s response to our calling as intentionally as possible.

The home week model is also designed to make the work of those in the council easier. The basic idea is that members of the council will be in town during home week, usually a Friday night through a Thursday noon (the first one was longer.) During that time, the council will handle retreat, worship, priesthood calls, strategic considerations, business, quorum meetings, and anything else that requires the council’s attention. The agenda will vary. Every home week may not have a retreat; some may focus almost entirely on quorum meetings, for example.

The presiding quorums are committed to finding ways to frame church leadership’s discussions so conversations do not have to be repeated between different subsets of the council. For example, instead of discussing a matter in the Council of Twelve the week before, then discussing it again in World Church Leadership Council, is there a way to have the discussion with everyone at the table? How can the council have meetings that will lead to the best exploration of questions and decisions? Also, can any meeting time be removed from schedules focused on ministry?

This requires trust and confidence that everyone is working for what is best for the church. The council is moving toward being as aligned and integrated as possible; the council wants to send consistent messages to the church, to know what different areas of church leadership are sending out, and work together to reinforce each other.

How can the Bishopric support the Council of Twelve? How can the Presidency minister in the field in ways that help field apostles? How can the apostles uphold Presidency and Bishopric priorities in their fields? How do the ministries of International Headquarters uphold the ministries in the field? How can the high priest quorum and the Order of Evangelists fit in to field plans and Temple Ministries for most effective ministry?

These questions are in the background of discussions, sometimes moving to the front. As the council worshiped and considered together, the needs of the church were foremost as they looked to the future.

The first experiment with a home-week structure taught helpful lessons about how the council can best meet, and that will affect the next home week in May. The council has already been engaged in experimentation with its format, with the expanded council.

In the Up Front column in the November 2007 Herald, President Steve Veazey wrote about the “expanded” World Church Leadership Council. He described the basic idea: “to invite people to meet with church leaders to address topics of concern who better represented the cultural, social, and economic dimensions of the church.” He went on to describe the group’s meeting and history from December 2006 to September 2007. Also, “The World Church Leadership Council’s determination to move into the future by increasing its experience with intercultural dialogue and consensus building will serve the church well in the years ahead.”

President Becky Savage, in the March 2008 Herald, wrote about the expanded World Church Leadership Council working with core values in December 2007. She wrote about discernment—how that happens in different ways in the church, mentioning Presidency retreats. She called the church to join in the effort: “We invite you to share in this journey of discovery. Pray and meditate. Study the scriptures. In your classes, meetings, worship, and fellowship, discuss the need for common understandings and guiding principles.”

The council continues to discern how they work best as a council. How does the council retreat together? Support events like the World Church Finance Board, which occurs during the May home week? Wisely manage stewardships of time, travel, and money by spacing meetings to allow for appropriate international travel? Engage the voice of the wider church in critical conversations? How can the World Church Leadership Council model healthy discipleship for the church? These are not new questions, and they will not go away. Church leadership remains dedicated to exploring the answers for our time.

—Andrew Shields reporting
World Church secretary