Changes at Church...

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometmes called the Mormon Church. We have no paid ministry in our Church. Each congregation, called a 'ward', has a bishop and two counselors at its head. Claude has been a bishop two times in our life. Once when we lived in Denver, Colorado and once when we lived in Gaithersburg (later named Montgomery Village), Maryland.

This last Sunday, our current bishop and his counselors were released and a new bishop and his two counselors were sustained. This is always an time of tender feelings and joy in a ward family. Our Sunday was no exception to this abundance of emotion.

After the sustainings were done and the sacrament was passed, the previous Bishop, Rex Holt and his wife were asked to share their testimonies. Then the former 1st Counselor, Brad Manwaring shared his testimony.

The former 2nd Counselor, Bart Barber, was asked to be the 2nd Counselor in the new Bishopric. He bore his testimony next. Bart is a good man, a veterinarian by profession, with a delightful sense of humor.

He began his remarks by telling us it took him a bit of time to figure out why Brad and he had been asked to be Bishop Holt's counselor. Brad and Bart are fairly tall, Bishop Holt...not so much. Bart said he finally figured out that is why they were called, to be tall on either side of Bishop Holt. The congregation found this very amusing and enjoyed a little laughter. There has been more than one occasion when Bishop Holt had a youth come to the stand to recognize one of their accomplishments and the youth would be taller then him. He would always comment about that.

Then Bart said it hadn't taken him too long to figure out why he and Ivan Squire were called to be counselors to Bishop Jenkins. It was because they were both so handsome. This comment brought another round of good laughter. I love that we have a sense of humor about ourselves at Church.

Ivan spoke next. He will be the 1st Counselor to Bishop Jenkins. Ironically, on this momentous occasion, his wife was out-of-town. She took a trip for a family event and Ivan stayed home with their three adorable little girls. He is such a quiet, gentle man. He will be a great counselor.

Jennie Jenkins spoke next. She is our new Bishop's wife. She shared personal feelings about their little girl, Janie, that died very early in her life. The calling to be Bishop was extended to James Jenkins on the birthday of their little Janie. Jennie will be a great bishop's wife.

Bishop Jenkins started his remarks with something that I fondly remember Claude saying when he was called as bishop. Bishop Jenkins said, "When the Lord looks for a new Bishop, he searches the ward for the most spiritual, caring, loving, etc. lady...then he calls her husband." It is a very nice sentiment and it brought back tender memories in my life with Claude.

Bishop Jenkins then challenged us to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. That is a great challenge. He will be a very strong bishop.

I can't remember who made this observation but someone noted that our new bishop's wife is named Jennie, the counselors wives are each named Jennifer. Hmmm..

It was a great meeting. It is always fun to sustain a new bishop and thank those who have given so many hours of service and dedicated so much of their personal time in the calling of bishop and his counselors.