When this goes live, please make clear Stake Support is not provided

Beta Lesson Schedules Website feedback
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jasonhyer
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Posts: 241
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:15 am
Location: Roy, UT

When this goes live, please make clear Stake Support is not provided

#1

Post by jasonhyer »

Since it has been decided that Stake administration will not happen in this version of the app, I would kindly ask that when this version goes live that there be a clear support path for the app. As a stake clerk, I don't have access to the app other than as a user and won't be able to help the wards in my stake with any questions. I won't be able to support the app and am definitely not going to encourage it's use until I am in a position I can support it. My biggest fear (hopefully unfounded) is that wards will lay out their own schedules for lessons that should be directed by the Stake President. I've seen this happen even with published lesson schedules but we don't even have access at the stake level to see what lessons different wards are going to be teaching.

I would also ask that very clear instructions be provided to the curriculm guide so wards at least have been pointed to instructions on how to run their curriculm. I hope other stakes have better success with wards following instructions but many years of experience as the stake clerk has shown me that without constant reminders, by the end of the year over half of the wards will be teaching different lessons in priesthood and relief society.

I applaud the effort of producing this but again feel that the execution of only providing ward administration is flawed.

If feels like the dilema that was only recently resolved where the stake was responsible to ensure Melchizedek Priesthood ordinations were recorded but only the wards had the ability to record any ordination. It was a logistical and administrative nightmare that I fear I am going to have to live all over again.

Jason Hyer
Stake Clerk
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gregwanderson
Senior Member
Posts: 702
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:34 pm
Location: Huntsville, UT, USA

#2

Post by gregwanderson »

I can see both sides of this. The Stake President is "in charge" of the lesson schedule but should follow a plan outlined from headquarters. If the ward is following the plan from HQ they can't get too far removed from the stake's schedule even if they are slightly out of sync due to conferences. In our stake, the Teachings for Our Time lessons are chosen by the Bishops. Combined with the lessons on the first Sundays, that means half the lessons each month are NOT directed by the stake. So, with the old web site's lesson schedule module, that meant half of what was listed wasn't specific enough and there was no way for the ward leaders to add any other details within that module.

So, in our case, the stake should provide half the schedule and the ward provides the other half. It makes more sense to let the ward all of the web site maintenance (if only one side is allowed) because the ward leaders are more aware of what happens in their ward. The real question, then, is how the stake provides its version of the schedule to the wards. In our stake, the most official schedule comes in a printed "Stake Directory" booklet, which is a bit inefficient (and often a little late in arriving) but once the ward leaders have it things remain clear.

It seems to me that you can easily send the stake's official schedule to the wards and then not have to worry about the stake being denied access to the ward's lesson schedule input process. The only real danger is that nobody in the ward will input the data at all. But that's a different problem, I would think.
aaronengineer
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Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:48 am
Location: Piedmont, North Carolina

#3

Post by aaronengineer »

I think at some point there has to be some level of trust given to the EQ President and HPG Leader. If the stake is providing clear guidance to these leaders they have the ability to modify the lessons as appropriate. If there is no clear communication from the stake, populating the lesson from the stake is not a suitable substitute. Each stake has its own method of pushing down the lessons the stake president would like to encourage. One fear I have with this tool, and we will embrace it in our ward with gusto, is that it will be seen as a way to abstract communication from the stake to the ward.
LynnNielson
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Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:31 am
Location: United States, Nevada, Las Vegas

#4

Post by LynnNielson »

Lesson schedules for high priests, elders and relief society are established by the stake with the exception of the first lesson of the month. This provides for a correlated effort. Stake conferences and teachings for our times directed lessons are selected by the stake president. Please revise the beta application to allow these lesson schedules (high priests, elders and relief society) to be correlated by the stake priesthood leadership. If possible allow the wards to modify the first lesson. This will help us as we strive for unity.
howardmay
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Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 9:42 am
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

#5

Post by howardmay »

In my Stake, Lesson schedules for high priests, elders and relief society has been delegated to the Ward. So the current way works well for us.

If there was in a furture release a way for the stake to complete a template that was editable by the Ward that would problably be a good option. I believe that the system should continue to be flexible.
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