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Working for the Church

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:52 am
by ccallaway-p40
I have been working for the Church for 6 months now and it has been very interesting to hear some of the perceptions that are out there about working for the Church! Here are some examples: The Church is the lowest paying company to work for! The Church uses out-dated technology! You sing hymns and pray all day! You have to wear a white shirt, tie and suit all day long! It's not technically challenging! etc. etc. etc.
Do any of these rumors sound familiar???

There is not a more important organization on the planet to work for, than the LDS Church! While it is not the highest paying company to work for, you would be pleasantly surprised at how close the Church is to market value pay. While you do need to where a suit while walking around headquarters, you do noneed to wear your coat while working. There are times when you have the opportunity to pray as a team, or on your own, but what an amazing opportunity to ask the lord for help with business decisions! I'm not sure why anyone would consider this annoying...
As far as technology goes, The church is always on the cutting edge and there are always opportunities for growth!

Your thoughts......

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:40 pm
by bhofmann
Thanks for the posting. I've always wondered what it would be like working for the Church. I used to think the Church used out-dated technology but not anymore. I've noticed a surge in the last year or two and a focus on technology. Part of that surge is letting people know what they are doing, which helps. I'm always happy to hear about the Church being frugal with donated funds but you normally need to pay close to market value to recruit talented people. It's good to hear that is happening too.

As for singing hymns and praying all day...compared to some of the people I work with, that would be fine with me!

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:28 pm
by thedqs
I have heard those rumors long ago (some from the employees themselves) but with all this communication and outreach by the church those rumors were dispelled. Personally I think I could handle wearing "church clothes" at work, but I do know some that even dislike having to wear them at church for 3 hours much less 8 hours a day 5 days a week in addition. But that is a great blessing to be able to pray as a team about decisions on where to go and what to do.

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:43 pm
by McDanielCA
I am glad to hear that you think the rumors have been dispelled, but I know they are not completely. I heard some outrageous things about working here before I started! I am happy to say that none of them have been correct and love working here.

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:21 am
by mkmurray
I'll just put this out there as a rumor I have heard (which would be sad even if it were true in rare cases):

I heard that sometimes you find an individual who confuses their Church calling authority with their employment authority (for example, a Stake President that may think they have a little more say at work than their coworkers). Obviously this applies to rare individuals, and not to the Church employment environment as a whole.

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:41 am
by cannona-p40
mkmurray wrote:I'll just put this out there as a rumor I have heard (which would be sad even if it were true in rare cases):

I heard that sometimes you find an individual who confuses their Church calling authority with their employment authority (for example, a Stake President that may think they have a little more say at work than their coworkers). Obviously this applies to rare individuals, and not to the Church employment environment as a whole.
I have been working for the Church for about four months, and fortunately, that has not been my experience. If it does occur, I agree that it is quite rare. My employment with the Church has been great. I have gotten a chance to work on several projects that I never would have otherwise. It has definitly been a chalenging but rewarding experience.


Were I to pray and sing hymns all day, I would very likely find my self sacked within the week, especially with my voice.

Aaron

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:22 am
by WelchTC
mkmurray wrote:I'll just put this out there as a rumor I have heard (which would be sad even if it were true in rare cases):

I heard that sometimes you find an individual who confuses their Church calling authority with their employment authority (for example, a Stake President that may think they have a little more say at work than their coworkers). Obviously this applies to rare individuals, and not to the Church employment environment as a whole.
Having worked with quite a few individuals from different organizations within the Church, I can say that I've never seen this to be true, nor have I heard of this rumour.

Tom

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:30 am
by russellhltn
Well, if we're talking about rumors, I've heard that a high percentage of church employees go inactive then they leave church employment - something about having worked on the inside seems to damage their testimony. :( I know I get frustrated at times dealing with the church. I can imagine that if I had to deal with it on an employment basis that normal employment issues could become a problem. Being a church, you would want to hold it to higher standards, but people are people.

Titles and Titles

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:33 pm
by The_Earl
mkmurray wrote:I'll just put this out there as a rumor I have heard (which would be sad even if it were true in rare cases):

I heard that sometimes you find an individual who confuses their Church calling authority with their employment authority (for example, a Stake President that may think they have a little more say at work than their coworkers). Obviously this applies to rare individuals, and not to the Church employment environment as a whole.
I have seen a bit of this where I work outside the church. It seems silly to me, but there is also a bit of deference given to one of our employees who is on his city council.

Seems some people let titles get to their heads. Many of them are not the ones with the title. Many are called but few are chosen.:)

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 11:18 pm
by thedqs
RussellHltn wrote:Well, if we're talking about rumors, I've heard that a high percentage of church employees go inactive then they leave church employment - something about having worked on the inside seems to damage their testimony. :( I know I get frustrated at times dealing with the church. I can imagine that if I had to deal with it on an employment basis that normal employment issues could become a problem. Being a church, you would want to hold it to higher standards, but people are people.

I've heard the same rumor but in that they equate working for the church as their testimony and if something at work rubs them the wrong way then the church must be false. Actually knew someone that worked in the temple as physical facilities that did exactly this.