I was Primary president in a ward that wasn’t huge, but we did definitely have plenty of adults who could’ve helped out in Primary. I suggested name after name and nothing. ever. happened. So one week, I dismissed all the classes that didn’t have teachers. I said, “Tell your parents that you don’t have class today because we don’t have a teacher for you.” Guess what? The next week, five new teachers were called.
– Amy Giauque Chamberlain
Every single time our Primary presidency warned that someone was not a good fit for Primary, that we didn’t want them working with children–and they got called to be Primary workers over our objections.
– L
Being in a Primary presidency, and the names we turned in were ignored, and random people were called to Primary without telling us until we heard it over the pulpit.
– Jennifer
Once in the Primary presidency, I submitted a list of 15 names to staff four vacant Cub Scout callings–like, just take your pick, any of these will do–and was told no for every single one. So, I handed them a list of the four callings and said, you fill these. You find someone because I’m tired of trying.
Oddly enough, I ended up with four people who had been on the list of 15.
– Leah Marie Silverman
Pro Tip: Respect the stewardships of the women in your ward, and keep them in the loop on callings that fall under their authority.
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“If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:23)
6 Responses
So much this! I was in a presidency in a ward where the bishop liked to call people to primary “help them keep coming to church.” Guess how well that went. We had my husband (who worked a weird scheduled and couldn’t have a Sunday calling) as our permanent emergency sub.
Amy – that was brilliant!
Still giggling about the five new teachers
Sometimes filling Primary callings is hard even with a motivated bishop. My biggest surprise the first time I was involved in the process of calling people was how many people turned down callings. The worst was in my last ward, where we had a couple of former bishops and RS presidents who declared that they had done their part, and considered themselves to be retired now.
I hope that making primary so much shorter with the new schedule and no more cub scouts will help people say “yes” to working in primary. When I was PP, I handed a crying toddler from the understaffed nursery to the bishop so he could hold said toddler while I handled another crisis. It wasn’t intentional and it wasn’t done in anger, but he was standing there and I needed another adult to help. He got serious about making callings after that. Staffing primary is always hard because it is the largest organization in most wards.
Cross-posted from this: https://exponentii.org/blog/hearldswomen-lack-of-autonomy-in-callings-hurts-women-and-children/
This is where the church would really benefit from having Nursery/Primary callings be paid positions with benefits that would come with background checks, enhanced and improved facilities, and proper training.
Nursery and Primary callings in particular are breeding grounds for resentment. Moms who are at home with their children all day Monday through Saturday become frustrated when Sunday – the one day of the week they have to be with and interact with adults – is taken away from them.
Meanwhile, it’s a great source of irritation for single adults to be put in Nursery or Primary because it carries the attitude of the bishopric/those in leadership positions not seeing them as real adults: “You’re single, therefore you can’t be in leadership positions or grown-up callings.” It’s also saying, “We’re going to hide you away where no one can see you because you’re single and therefore don’t fit the mold of what a family in this church should really be like.”
I know single women who went to family ward after transitioning from the single adult scene. They were left to languish in Nursery or Primary for YEARS, and when they were finally released, everyone was all, “WHO are you, again!?” Now those single women no longer go to church.
The lack of autonomy really hurts children and women alike. Children get the short end of the stick when their leaders and teachers are doing their callings grudgingly and filled with resentment. Women are the ones with greater understanding regarding how hard Nursery/Primary callings are on mothers, single adults, and other marginalized groups and understand better how to accommodate those people and those specific circumstances. It really should not be left to the men at all.
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