Woes of the Bishop of a Dying Ward


Nobody knows the woes of the Bishop of a dying Ward.



 This is me three and a half years ago. When this picture was taken, I was recently called as Bishop of a Ward in New England. I was still full of energy and hope and excitement and nervousness, and a strong sense of feeling overwhelmed. The sense of feeling overwhelmed has never gone away. But back then I had hope for the future of the Ward and a clear direction to grow the Ward. Three months before I was called as Bishop, I was called as Cub Scout Den leader. I didn't release myself from that calling until last year (A few months before the Church announced they would stop the Boy Scout program). I had a mission to revitalize the Scouting program in my Ward. But soon after this hiking trip I had my first big blow. My Cub Scout Master and his family moved back out west. That began a wave of families moving out, people leaving the Church and members dying.

Each time another family moved or left I felt my spirit die a little. Each time someone passed away, and I had to help arrange funeral services, or give a Eulogy I felt my spirit die a little. To date there has been 8 families or 27 members move west, 14 people have left the Church, 12 have passed away. And several other members who used to be active have just stopped coming.

We have had a few wonderful families move into the ward but one of them fled back to Utah last month. They were here for just over a year. He was called as our Elders Quorum President. And today I got the news that the other most wonderful family that moved to our ward a couple years ago will be moving back to Utah in a couple months. My heart is breaking. They are a wonderfully talented young family. They are kind and helpful and they sing beautifully. The Sister plays the piano. We only have one other active member who can play the piano and I know he is itching to move to Utah, and he is getting up their in age. Nobody knows how hard it has been to be Bishop. I feel the weight crushing me. Each time someone leaves the weight gets heavier. Each time someone leaves they take a part of me.

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