In this How I Lead podcast, Kurt speaks with Judy Clemens, who felt inspired to go to her stake president with some ideas, and was called to lead quarterly stake devotionals that have been very successful.

Highlights

02:30 Introduction to Judy Clemans

04:30 Kurt reads his newsletter inspired by Judy

06:30 Judy felt the call to serve but didn’t have an official calling. She stepped up anyway because she had lots of ideas.

07:50 If people could hear other people that are different from themselves, there could be so many opportunities to grow and expand.

09:00 Judy had so many ideas in her heart that could be helpful for the stake. She emailed her stake president and they had a meeting to discuss them.

12:40 After sharing her ideas with the stake president he took time to think about it and counsel with others and he ended up creating a special calling for Judy to implement her ideas. The calling is stake devotional coordinator.

14:30 Judy’s calling includes doing informal devotionals. A place to talk about difficult topics and hear from different people.

16:00 Judy’s purpose statement for the devotionals. These are the guidelines for every single devotional.

• Create connections to remember that we are not alone in our experiences.
• We are all God’s children.
• Seek understanding.
• Hear personal stories of those that have experiences different from our own.
• Provide learning.
• Take time to learn about other people’s experiences so you can show up, love, and support each other in meaningful ways.
• When we know better, we do better.
• Testify of Christ.
• Testify to the healing power of Jesus Christ and demonstrate how we allow our experiences to bring us closer to Him.

17:00 Judy gives more details about her calling and the devotionals. The goal was to be informal and casual dress. They had them on Friday night, once a quarter.

22:30 There are lots of people with big ideas in the Church that feel like they need to shrink down and feel shame for speaking up.

24:00 One of the most popular topics covered was understanding and loving our LGBTQ family and neighbors. Other topics were raising children with autism, struggling with scrupulosity, and navigating disappointment.

27:15 The devotionals are in person but there is also a recording that is public for anyone to watch on YouTube.

29:00 Doing these devotionals is about bringing the community together. They are culture changing and help us have empathy for one another. These sensitive topics are not normally brought up in a Sunday meeting and Judy wanted a place to speak about these things.

32:40 So far people have been blown away by the experiences they are having at the devotionals and being able to talk so openly and frankly about some sensitive topics in the gospel.

34:40 Judy has an advocate in each ward to help advertise the devotionals, get flyers out, and listen for topics of interest from the ward or find speakers.

35:30 Big ideas don’t have to be complicated. Judy has been able to keep her idea simple and straightforward. No refreshments and it’s only once a quarter. Very doable.

36:00 Judy has found a way to use her gifts and talents in a way that benefits and blesses others.

Links

Listen, Love, Learn – Brighton Stake YouTube channel
TRANSCRIPT coming soon
Watch on YouTube (coming soon)
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