Talk:Ward (LDS Church)

message: I added this information because in my stake, we have a branch organized in a halfway house.  It used to be part of the YSA ward in our stake until it was organized as a branch.  I know that the branch presidency is called from members of our stake, and I think that they are the only positions of authority in the branch.  I'm assuming that the branch presidency also teaches the classes.
Also, my brother is one of the teachers in a county jail (in another county).  I don't think that they have a branch there, but I haven't asked him what the organization is.  If no one has any information on branches being organized in jails/prisons, then that information should be removed.  But information on teaching that goes on in such places should be included somewhere in this article. Val42 02:38, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, on my mission I was assigned to a military base branch (an active base where no one was allowed on unless they lived on the base, or were "clergy," which meant us.)  I've also been assigned to speak in convalescent home branches and special ed home branches, and have known people who serve in some capacity in prison branches.--Mrcolj 02:46, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Branches in jail/prison/halfway house

message: "For the term used for congregations in other Latter Day Saint denominations, see Branch (Latter Day Saints)."  I wish that could be rephrased, because there are those (and I'm generally not one of them) who argue that Latter-day Saints are a Latter Day Saint denomination.  Isn't that how they argue?  :)  But it actually did confuse me for a moment, for exactly that reason..  --Mrcolj 02:46, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Disambiguity question

message: Maybe it's just cultural, but I have always been taught that "ward" is exclusively a geographical term, and that to use it to mean "congregation" is always grammatically and stylistically incorrect.  I think the powers that be are very specific to say "members in your ward" or "non-members in your ward," because "ward" does not solely refer to the members, by definition.  I dunno, can someone source it?--Mrcolj 02:46, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This is a good point.  I think that we will need a citation for this.  However, I've heard of the phrases "ward boundary" or "ward boundaries" used to refer to the geographic boundary. This comes down to the same problem that we had in defining what LDS cinema contains: do we make a definition based on usage or insist on finding a definition that someone else has found.  We decided (de facto not by fiat) to define by usage.  What do you think we should do here? Val42 18:53, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  In the LDS church "Ward" is a geographical term as well as a congregation --Trödel 22:35, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  But can we find a reference for this? Val42 19:28, 21 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Good question, I know Packer has said this - in reference to being opposed to overlaid foreign language wards that are subject to a different Bishop. But it may only be in Stake Conferences, which, although confirmed by myself and 2 others at priesthood leadership sessions of different stake conference, probably don't meet WP:RS --Trödel 02:02, 27 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Ward as geographical boundary

message: When the Church announced that female members of the auxiliary presidencies would serve on major Church councils, the statement was made that these changes would soon trickle down to the stake, district, ward and branch level. Is anyone aware of whether that's happened or not? I just wanted to get some idea of the answer to this question. Thanks. --Jgstokes (talk) 05:31, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Don't women already serve on stake/district/ward/branch councils? My understand was that Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary presidents were already on the local councils. Or was the idea that the "Priesthood Executive Council" would be discontinued or women added to it? Good Ol’factory (talk) 02:05, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: I know they serve on the Ward Council. But with women invited to serve as members of general church councils, it was my understanding that there were some ward councils on which women did not previously serve as members, but now do. I imagine the Priesthood Executive Council, for instance, has now been renamed the Priesthood and Family Council. Is that not correct? I don't know quite how that works, because I've never been a member of the PEC. Can anyone shed further light on this point? --Jgstokes (talk) 23:11, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: As far as I know, PEC has not been renamed and opened up this way church-wide. It maybe has been phased in in some areas of the church, I'm not sure. There's nothing in either of the major Utah newspapers reporting such a change, and they are pretty good at reporting such things. Good Ol’factory (talk) 23:37, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: PEC has not been re-named. On a typical Sunday morning, either the ward council or the PEC will meet. Everyplace I have been the meetings alternate but there is no doctrinal requirement to do so. The ward councils have included sisters for at least 30 years (as far back as I know). There is also a stake council, which includes sisters leading the relief society, YW and primary organizations. I don't know above that. What has changed is that bishops have been encouraged to involve the sisters more in decisions regarding the ward, many of which were decided in bishopric meetings, which occur separately from PEC and ward council. CsikosLo (talk) 14:09, 19 July 2016 (UTC)

text: Then why does it state in this article that these changes will affect the women's role in local Church councils? It's as good as the Church saying that it does apply locally. Just sayin'. --Jgstokes (talk) 03:58, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't see that stated by the church in this article. I can see this: "[Mary] Cook also noted that the news could affect local priesthood councils in LDS congregations. 'I think this is a powerful way to instruct local leaders about how to more effectively integrate the perspective of women to strengthen their local wards and stakes.'" That sounds like an individual (former) leader speculating or suggesting that future changes could occur locally and be inspired by the general changes, not a statement by the church that the changes are being rolled out or implemented locally. I wouldn't be surprised if it was changed, but I don't know of any evidence that it has been. Good Ol’factory (talk) 05:10, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: I know I'm late getting to this, but my only comment is that when I served in a bishopric in Louisiana in 2013, the Relief Society President would many times attend our PEC. It was already allowed by invitation, and we welcomed her presence since she provided greater insight in some areas in how to individually assist the members in our ward. Consequently, it didn't seem like a change when it was announced. Ward councils, of course, already included female leaders (RS, Primary, YW, YSA).-Dmm1169 (talk) 16:02, 2 February 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: , unless I am mistaken, it is Wikipedia policy to put new comments at the bottom of a thread on the talk page, so I hope you don't mind that I moved your comment. This will make this section a bit cleaner. For you, and for anyone else who may be interested, I have found newer, more up-to-date information on this matter: As part of the massive update to the Church Handbook (which is now available to all Church members and has been reduced from two volumes to one) in Chapter 6, sections 6.2.2 and 6.2.3, it says that the ward PEC has officially been discontinued in favor of a "ward council" that does include key female leaders in each congregation. See that section here for confirmation. This supercedes any previous sources and should be noted in the article somehow. But I will leave it to others more knowledgeable than I am to make any needed adjustments in this article as a result of the new information. --Jgstokes (talk) 18:36, 2 February 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Women on Church councils 

message: What's not mentioned is groups that may be part of a ward/branch/area but meets separately and acts as a separate congregation.  For example servicemen's groups exist in deployed areas and on navy ships. There are member groups for foreign members (foreign to the country of location) in countries that does not recognize the church. There are groups that are part of a ward or branch such as in my stake in eastern Arkansas where a group of members in the Lonoke Branch are given authorization meet in Brinkley, distant from the branch building - having rented space to meet. -Dmm1169 (talk) 15:10, 2 February 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  LDS Groups that are not wards and branches