I thought I would begin my first blog with an explanation of why I picked the name GreenVisor. It has to do with something that happened in December, 2000.
During a stake presidency meeting the Stake President turned to me and said, “I thought it would be cool to buy you a green visor.” When I looked puzzled he chuckled and said, “I just read an interesting article in the Ensign about the role of the stake clerk. You should check it out, if you haven’t already read it.”
When I got home I read the article (Ensign, “Clerks, Leaders, and Members: Working Together”, Dec 2000, p 27). Here is what it says in the first two paragraphs.
“When I was serving as a stake clerk, I presented some statistical information for the stake presidency to consider, and I recommended a course of action,” recalls Wayne H. Ethington of the Oquirrh First Ward, Riverton Utah Stake. “The stake president was amazed. He later told me he thought the clerk was supposed to sit in the corner, wear a green visor, say nothing, and take notes. His whole idea of the clerk’s role changed, and he discovered a huge resource for help in his calling.”
Brother Ethington’s experience reflects the important role of clerks in the Church today. “Clerks today are so much more than record keepers,” says Robert R. Hill, manager of member services at Church headquarters. “They are key team members to help bishoprics and presidencies, they provide helpful information for auxiliaries, and they assist the Church as a whole in anticipating members’ future needs.”
I’ve thought about that green visor from time to time. How often do we ignore those around us, disregarding them as merely those who are supposed to sit quietly in a corner? How often do we ignore the experience and wisdom of our “ordinary” fellow men? I’d like to talk about that in this blog.
I’ve been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all my life. I served a two and a half year mission in Italy, and a two year stake mission in California. I’ve been a Sunday school teacher, deacon’s quorum instructor, teacher development director, Sunday school president, counselor in Elder’s quorum presidencies, high priest group leader, and ward clerk. I’ve served as a high councilman on two high councils for a total of about eight years, and I’ve been a counselor in three different bishoprics.
I was the stake clerk for almost the entire nine years one stake president served, and for nine months of the next stake president. During those nine and a half years I’ve been a part of the process to replace all the bishops in the stake at least once, and all of the High Council. It has been a wonderful experience to get to know the members of my stake, to train clerks throughout the stake, to rub shoulders with some great spiritual men, and to be tutored in the ways the Lord works through his servants. Two days ago I was released from my calling.
It is a hard thing to let go of something that brings a person so many blessings. I’ve joked with some friends that I have mixed feelings about my release – feelings of joy, mingled with feelings of happiness. The truth is I’m sad. And there is some regret. There was much that I was hoping to do better in the future. Now, the time is past, my opportunity is gone, and I am left with the thought from John Greenleaf Whittier, “For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.’”
I thank my stake presidents for letting me be something more than someone who sits in the corner, wears a green visor, says nothing, and takes notes. I believe that in each one of you there is much more than meets the eye. Much more than an anonymous person under a green visor.
During a stake presidency meeting the Stake President turned to me and said, “I thought it would be cool to buy you a green visor.” When I looked puzzled he chuckled and said, “I just read an interesting article in the Ensign about the role of the stake clerk. You should check it out, if you haven’t already read it.”
When I got home I read the article (Ensign, “Clerks, Leaders, and Members: Working Together”, Dec 2000, p 27). Here is what it says in the first two paragraphs.
“When I was serving as a stake clerk, I presented some statistical information for the stake presidency to consider, and I recommended a course of action,” recalls Wayne H. Ethington of the Oquirrh First Ward, Riverton Utah Stake. “The stake president was amazed. He later told me he thought the clerk was supposed to sit in the corner, wear a green visor, say nothing, and take notes. His whole idea of the clerk’s role changed, and he discovered a huge resource for help in his calling.”
Brother Ethington’s experience reflects the important role of clerks in the Church today. “Clerks today are so much more than record keepers,” says Robert R. Hill, manager of member services at Church headquarters. “They are key team members to help bishoprics and presidencies, they provide helpful information for auxiliaries, and they assist the Church as a whole in anticipating members’ future needs.”
I’ve thought about that green visor from time to time. How often do we ignore those around us, disregarding them as merely those who are supposed to sit quietly in a corner? How often do we ignore the experience and wisdom of our “ordinary” fellow men? I’d like to talk about that in this blog.
I’ve been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all my life. I served a two and a half year mission in Italy, and a two year stake mission in California. I’ve been a Sunday school teacher, deacon’s quorum instructor, teacher development director, Sunday school president, counselor in Elder’s quorum presidencies, high priest group leader, and ward clerk. I’ve served as a high councilman on two high councils for a total of about eight years, and I’ve been a counselor in three different bishoprics.
I was the stake clerk for almost the entire nine years one stake president served, and for nine months of the next stake president. During those nine and a half years I’ve been a part of the process to replace all the bishops in the stake at least once, and all of the High Council. It has been a wonderful experience to get to know the members of my stake, to train clerks throughout the stake, to rub shoulders with some great spiritual men, and to be tutored in the ways the Lord works through his servants. Two days ago I was released from my calling.
It is a hard thing to let go of something that brings a person so many blessings. I’ve joked with some friends that I have mixed feelings about my release – feelings of joy, mingled with feelings of happiness. The truth is I’m sad. And there is some regret. There was much that I was hoping to do better in the future. Now, the time is past, my opportunity is gone, and I am left with the thought from John Greenleaf Whittier, “For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.’”
I thank my stake presidents for letting me be something more than someone who sits in the corner, wears a green visor, says nothing, and takes notes. I believe that in each one of you there is much more than meets the eye. Much more than an anonymous person under a green visor.
posted by Nectar | 12:13 PM
2 Comments:
It's weird to be released from callings, isn't it? I'm sure you'll adjust soon.
When I was first called to the bishopric I thought it would be hard to issue callings and easy to release people from their callings. A calling was a form of sacrifice, wasn't it? I soon learned that I had it completely backward. It wasn't so hard to issue a calling, and people were often tearful when they got released.
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