Welcome Back to Church

Archive of messages sent while serving as a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

I'm so excited to invite everyone back to church tomorrow!

Please watch this short video to know what to expect when you arrive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCKe0Vx2WP4

A few thoughts about tomorrow's services:

• If you cannot attend for any reason, you are still authorized to hold sacrament services in your home
• Please come to be unified in worshiping our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, leave all judging behind
• We will follow all guidelines from the Church and from the state to create a clean and safe environment for you

For those that cannot attend - I miss you! Please reach out to your ministers, the Elders Quorum, Relief Society, or me even if it's just to say hi.

A reminder on the schedule:

9:00 am - Last names A-G

10:30 am - Last names H-P

12:00 pm- Last names Q-Z

We have made a slight buffer during the 9 am meeting for anyone in a slightly higher risk category that would feel most comfortable attending the first meeting.

See you tomorrow!

Bishop Sullivan

Gathering

Archive of messages sent while serving as a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  

Gathering on July 19th

I believe an important part of the gospel of Jesus Christ involves gathering. We gather as a Zion people to better ourselves and to lift others. We gather to live up to our covenants of mourning with those that mourn and comforting those that stand in need of comfort. We gather to feel the Spirit, share our struggles, rejoice, and worship our Heavenly Father.

While our current circumstances make it difficult to gather regularly, I am excited to invite everyone back for Sacrament Services on Sunday, July 19. Details on how we will do so safely are to follow, but before I get to that, I want to discuss how important it will be that we help, lift and support one another as opposed to being judgmental.

When we meet, there will be many that will not be able to come for a variety of reasons. We will miss you. You will not be judged for making those decisions for you and your family.

When we meet, masks will be strongly encouraged; however, a few people may not wear a mask for any variety of reasons. Those wearing masks and those not wearing masks will not be judged for making those decisions for you and your family.

When we meet, we will take the sacrament together to help us renew our covenants and to invite the Spirit to help us be better. We are all at different spots in our disciple's journey back to our Heavenly Father. No one will be judged with where we are falling short or trying to be better.

In short, there is no room for the prevalent divisiveness of today's culture inside our chapel and among a Zion people. This is a great reason we must gather: to exercise faith, charity, and hope for a better world. The answer to today's problems and all our problems is always Jesus Christ.

Welcome back to church.

With Love,

Bishop Sullivan

Return to Church

Archive of messages sent while serving as a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Dear Ward Family,

Mark July 19, 2020 on your calendars. We have tentatively scheduled that Sunday for our ward to return to Sunday Services at church. We will have more specific details about the return between now and the 19th, but we will follow these basic guidelines:

• We will follow all state and local guidelines for social distancing and group meetings
• No meeting will have more than 99 attendees
• Masks will be strongly encouraged
• Those in high risk categories are discouraged from attending
• The Sacrament will be authorized to be done in all homes until it is safe for everyone to return

We are very excited to enter this phase of gathering together again. As we prepare for the return next month, please pay special attention to what is making your at-home services so special. Our altered Sunday Services must be better when we return.

I also highly encourage everyone to plan on maintaining a similar practice to at-home services even when we gather together again. Plan on studying together in your homes. Plan on gathering for a short time to worship together in your homes. While we go through these crazy times, take all the good that has come from it and keep those things.

I look forward to seeing you at the chapel again next month! In the meantime, please let your neighbors know of the update and we will do our best to get all details to you in the coming weeks.

With Love,

Bishop Sullivan

Preisthood Keys

Archive of messages sent while serving as a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Enjoy this quick, 5 min, Sunday School lesson this weekend.

"What are Priesthood Keys and How are You Using Them in your Home Today?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkQFMCfnK18&t=10s

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there and have a great weekend!

Bishop Sullivan

Bridges of Cooperation

Archive of messages sent while serving as a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

 Dear Ward Family,

I cannot say anything better than our dear Prophet, President Nelson. Please read his remarks from today and consider what you can do to “build bridges of cooperation rather than walls of segregation and alienation.”

Read his remarks here: https://medium.com/.../locking-arms-for-racial-harmony-in...

At this time of unrest, seek for peace, truth, and happiness at its source, Jesus Christ.

With Love,

Bishop Sullivan

Spiritual Preparation

Archive of messages sent while serving as a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

I cannot wait until we can return to gathering at our chapels. As that day approaches, there are two areas of preparation to consider: logistics of returning and spiritual preparation.

Logistics

As I mentioned in my message two weeks ago, we do not have a date scheduled for return. We are following the guidelines from the First Presidency that advised, “Wards with large attendance at meetings may need to wait to begin holding meetings at the phase-2 level.” There are simply parts of phase-1 that would make it difficult to have a reverent, spiritual meeting at this time. We will be looking for the state of Utah to ease their guidelines and for the Church to allow for phase-2. This will allow for our ward to meet together appropriately and for more members to enjoy the Sabbath together.

I anticipate having an update on our return within the next two weeks.

Spiritual Preparation

In the meantime, I want to point out the very important spiritual preparation that should be taking place before we return. It has to do with what we have learned during our home-centered worship. Ask yourself some or all of these questions:

What have I learned about worshiping Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ at home?

What is the importance of gathering in the gospel?

What insights have I gained about the importance of the Sacrament?

Have I been a better minister?

How will my home worship continue when we return to Sunday worship at church?

How can I apply the insights I’ve gained at home to worshiping together at the church? (No, the answer to this question is not to continue home church only )

Before we return, I hope we can all understand better how to properly worship at church and at home. I hope we can find areas of our worship, and life, that we will continue to simplify. I hope we continue to care for one another at the level I’ve seen the last couple months. I hope we can keep the importance and reverence of the sacrament in our minds.

Most of all, I hope to see you very soon and live the gospel along side you each Sunday and throughout each week.

With Love,

Bishop Sullivan

Coming Back to Church?

Archive of messages sent while serving as a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Dear Ward Family,

Most of you have seen the Church's announcement about returning to church by now. You've seen that there are instructions to follow a two-phase plan while honoring all local and government guidelines. We are also to council with the Area and Stake leaders on how to implement these phases in our wards and stakes.

We met as bishops and with the Stake Presidency tonight to discuss the timeline and procedure for going back to church. At this time, we have not set a date to return. We will continue to monitor the situation and look for further updates before setting a date.

A few thoughts that went into this decision:

1. Home centered church is largely going well.

2. We don't want undue pressure put on any at risk individuals to return before they should.

3. Logistically, it would be very difficult to coordinate a meeting schedule with the size of wards we have in the stake and the current restrictions on numbers of people and strict sanitizing guidelines.

The Sacrament remains authorized to be performed in the home and will continue to be until it is safe for everyone to return to church. Please continue holding at-home services and ensure that your neighbors and those you minister have the opportunity to partake of the Sacrament.

I feel this is the best decision at this time and ask for your support as we continue to navigate these crazy times. Your hope, faith, and prayers are needed on behalf of all those suffering. Whether that be physically, emotionally, mentally, or financially.

The brightness of hope is shining on the horizon. We will be back together soon. If you have any thoughts on returning to church, please share them with me by replying to this email or emailing me at rsullivan137@gmail.com. Thank you for all you are doing to serve where you are.

With love,

Bishop Sullivan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0UnA47tmDI&t=10s