y s a   l e a d e r s

Bishop 1

Prior to being called as a bishop of a young single adult student ward, I had served in many callings in the church. But when the calling of bishop came and I was faced with being the person responsible for the success of the ward members it was a daunting challenge. My main goals for my ward members were increasing faith in Jesus Christ, strengthening families (current and future) and training leaders.

With two great councilors and an organizational system that enabled every member to quickly have a meaningful calling, I was able to spend my time doing what only I as the bishop could do. Instead of a top down approach, YSA Service Councils foster a bottom up approach. Ward members had the opportunity to give input into the administration of ward affairs. This enabled the members to give meaningful service to each other and to feel included and needed. This environment was helpful especially for those working through the repentance process. Instead of feeling isolated, they were able to be a member of several small groups — small Relief Society or elders quorum, home evening group and a council of 5-10 members where their input and contribution was sought and expected.

I recently surveyed former ward members about the things that they appreciated most from their young single adult ward experience. Number one was a meaningful calling that was received quickly, training regarding their calling, an expectation that they do something to magnify it (return and report), and that they had callings only for a four month period and then received a different calling.

One of my sons returned from his mission in the fall. He moved into a young single adult ward in January and asked the bishop for a calling. Four months later he moved from the ward. He never received a calling and the bishop never knew his name. That never happened in my ward and I am convinced that it never happened in any other ward that utilized YSA Service Councils. It just cannot happen. The structure makes sure that the shepherd knows his sheep and that none are left without a calling.

Because of the interaction among ward members and the environment of service and love that resulted from the use of YSA Service Councils, more ward members married in the temple (50 in one year), served missions, and came closer to Christ than would have happened otherwise. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to serve those wonderful young single adults.

Bishop 2

As I look back at my ward and see the way the use of YSA Service Councils blessed us, I am extremely grateful. I believe one of our responsibilities, as a church leader, is to find and train the future leaders in the church and to help each person under our stewardship realize and reach his or her potential. As I looked through a ward directory from one semester at B.Y.U., I counted 43 leadership callings! Without the eleven councils, that would have cut the leadership callings to 21.

In Young Single Adult wards, the talent runs deep and it is our job to make sure they have the opportunity to show their abilities and grow in the church. Each council in my ward had a chair and co-chair, and every council made callings and specific assignments within the council. Everyone in my ward had a calling and YSA Service Councils made that possible!

The members want a calling so they can serve others and this is what keeps them happy and interested. Responsibility and accountability is key and YSA Service Councils provide this. At the end of the day, we are “bridge builders”, trying to get the members where they should be and where they want to be. When everyone in the ward knows they are needed, wanted and they are involved, you have built a wonderful bridge!

YSA Service Councils provide your ward members the opportunity to be part of a smaller group where friendships are made and successes are shared. Our ward operated with two Elders Quorums and three Relief Societies each semester. That is a lot of leadership opportunity! A bishop may think he has the greatest Executive Secretary or Activities Council Chair in the church one semester only to find equal talent in the new group called the next semester! The fact of the matter is, the church has a deep bench and the use of YSA Service Councils allows more opportunities for ward members to discover and strengthen their talents.

At the end of every semester, (every four months), everyone was released from their calling and all received a new calling. This is key to a successful use of YSA Service Councils. There are many advantages to these short-term callings. The members know they only have a short time to serve and they strive to do outstanding things in that short time, they don’t have a chance to get “burned out” in their calling, they have the opportunity to get to know lots of members and to serve more members, and they gain more experience which will help them later in life as they go out into the world to help do their part in building the Lord’s kingdom. I am truly convinced that the use of YSA Service Councils was a blessing to our ward at B.Y.U. and I know that it created an environment for leadership, cooperation, strengthened friendships, service and strengthened testimonies. I would like to see all young adults have the same opportunities the members in my ward had and I strongly endorse YSA Service Councils!

Bishop 3

I have been impressed on several occasions the pleasant response of so many that they were receiving a calling within the first or second week of the semester and done in such an efficient process.

It always reaffirmed my testimony of the process of the ward organizational meeting that resulted in members commenting about how they “always wanted to be called to a particular calling”, unbeknownst to anyone else. We would sustain and set apart the ward members on the next Sunday. Then as a few members would trickle in over the next two weeks they would be quickly called and sustained and start to serve in their new callings. The members would then be quickly assimilated into the functions of the councils and feel the impact of the gospel at work in their life.

I have always been impressed by the quality of the members of our wards and their attitude in fulfilling their callings.

I also found that if some of the ward members were wavering in their testimonies it wasn’t because they didn’t have a calling or were lacking in contacts from the ward members who were encouraging them to participate in their callings. They knew they had a calling and they were being asked to come and join with the rest of the ward.

The calling to serve as a YSA ward bishop has been the highlight of my service in the church. The members were always willing to open their lives and their testimonies and allow us, my wife and I, to come in and get to know them.

Bishop 4

I have served twice in various leadership callings in singles wards. The first time as a counselor in a bishopric in a Stake that operated under the standard Church organizational structure. The second time I served as a Bishop in a stake that functioned under YSA Service Councils. These experiences have given me a wonderful appreciation for the strengths and wisdom of using councils in the organization and operation of a singles ward.

Young adults can be very mobile and transitory. For many, it is the first time they have had the opportunity of living away from home and making their own decisions regarding their Church activity. Becoming actively involved in a Ward, with specific responsibilities and the accompanying social structure is critical in helping them develop the necessary habits and desire to remain strong in the Gospel. A challenge for any Bishop is to find meaningful callings and leadership opportunities for each of his members. The use of YSA Service Councils created an organizational structure that not only expanded the number of ward leadership callings but also created a meaningful calling for each ward member. Each member had their specific weekly responsibilities, belonged to a council that created social bonds and knew that they were fulfilling an important role in blessing the lives of others. An added blessing was that as a Bishop I no longer had to try to come up with creative callings to get everyone involved.

Under YSA Service Councils I watched young men and women accept callings that were well outside of their comfort zones and with the guidance of the Spirit bless the lives of their brothers and sisters. Testimonies are built upon giving service to others. The inspiration of YSA Service Councils allows a Bishop to accelerate this process by creating more opportunities for individuals to step outside of themselves and focus on the needs of others.

Bishop 5

As a newly called bishop of a YSA Ward, I was both humbled and overwhelmed. I quickly realized that the organizational structure and the needs were entirely different than the traditional ward I had always been a part of. What callings would they have? How would they report? How would I keep up with the ever changing membership? How could I make sure that the organizational needs would not interfere with giving attention to the individual needs and personal interviews?

To my pleasant surprise, I was not the first to ask these questions. Others had worked through these challenges and sought inspiration to meet these needs. The use of YSA Service Councils was the perfect solution! A pattern had been created whereby every member would quickly receive a meaningful calling where they would be needed, involved and participate in councils (committees) where together they would seek solutions, by revelation to fulfill the assignments given by the bishopric.

I was amazed at the ease in which it worked from the beginning. My desire to leave the majority of my time for interviewing was now a reality.

Bishop 6

I was a counselor and then a bishop at BYU with two singles wards and I thought the use of YSA Service Councils was a terrific way to organize quickly and effectively. It allowed us to concentrate on calling our leaders first and then utilizing their talent and insight to make calls to all the other ward members in a very short period of time. Since these wards were very transient even from semester to semester it was critical to get people called and functioning in the first week of each semester which for the most part we were able to do. The greatest benefit of YSA Service Councils came from tapping the ideas and energy of the entire ward to plan and carry out spiritual, service and social activities. They generally had much better ideas than the bishopric. I was repeatedly struck by the plans they brought to the bishopric for approval. These were things that I'm convinced I would have never thought of on my own. I believe that our ward council meetings were particularly effective for both training up future church leaders and allowing the various councils time to return and report. All in all it was a great experience and a privilege to participate with these wonderful young people who worked and sacrificed to make the ward function, but more than that to serve the Lord through serving each other. I’m convinced that it lightened my load as a bishop and at the same time made the whole ward more effective at the work of bringing souls to Christ.