Singing with My Brethren

I’ve been presiding my ward’s elders’ quorum for almost four years now. It has been my aim that the quorum meeting be more than a lesson, and the quorum more than a meeting. One factor to work with is that half of the quorum are serving elsewhere during our usual meetings, either with the Primary children or Aaronic Priesthood youth, or attending other wards in the stake. Our quorum secretary, who is away this month refueling planes over Iraq and such places, has a name for this condition: “outside hide.” Members of his squadron are often attached to various other units in support of far-flung missions, so something must be deliberately done once in a while to bring them all together in order to maintain a group identity.

The idea started to form of convening an elders’ quorum meeting on a Sunday evening. I told the bishop what I wanted to do and asked if he wanted the preparatory priesthood invited too. He did, and thus I went about planning a Ward Priesthood Meeting. Like Stake Priesthood Meeting, but just our ward. I wanted it to be a third Sunday, not a fast Sunday and not a Sunday when the quorums meet as usual before the Sacrament service. The hardest part was finding a Sunday evening clear of other things going on. I had to reschedule twice last year, and we met on May 18th. We did it again this month on March 15th. Both times we started an hour and a quarter before sunset.

The particulars are not especially important, but last year I invited the quorum’s five aviators to each speak on aviation and relate it to the gospel. The aged Vietnam fighter pilot would be elsewhere with his family that day, but the other four participated. One of the four was away for work (airline pilots are like that), and his son, a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood delivered his words for him at the pulpit. The above-mentioned quorum secretary also spoke, and the retired Army colonel who flew helicopters in Iraq. Last was our bishop, who flew P-3 Orions until advancement in his Navy career took him out of the air. Yes, the name Uchtdorf was mentioned several times when people learned what we would be doing. It was engaging in a way that every boy and man is drawn to, and with that attention held, worthy gospel principles were expounded.

A couple months ago, the bishop said it was time for another Ward Priesthood Meeting, and then he told me again. I was thinking: Last year I drew on a resource unique to our ward. What else do we have? A couple days into thinking a lot on this I learned the former high councilman assigned to our ward who had worked with me when I was called to preside the quorum had been called to be a mission president. A couple days further on the two ideas came together in my head. The future mission president is in a unique position: He has been called but has not yet served. He hasn’t led missionaries for three years yet. He does not yet know and love the people of the land where he will serve. He has learned that whatever plans he had for the next few years were to be set aside. He accepted my invitation to speak to us on the consecration that prepared him to set aside his plans and accept the call. It was a rather intimate view of this he shared that felt different being delivered to a few dozen than it would to a few hundred.

Preceding the called mission president, we first heard from a priest who I gave liberty to speak as little or as long as he wanted, 4 minutes or 12, don’t stretch anything out and don’t think you have to cut it down. He chose long. He is part of a rowing team, and he said he has a lot of time to think when he is rowing. Lots of good gospel analogies found in hours of rowing.

It is good to capitalize on having everyone together by having some good talks, but talks were not the primary purpose. Drawing the priesthood together and maintaining identity was the purpose. The good talks served that end, focusing our minds and hearts together and increasing the reward of having come. Another tool serving the main purpose was the refreshments after that set the tone for hanging around a while. The meeting itself each time ran almost an hour, and most of us were still there half an hour later.

I share all this in case this idea which took me a couple years to come up with may serve you. Had you been there with us in the chapel adding your voice to the opening or closing hymn while the organ played, you may have felt as so many last year who told me they wanted to do it again.