Tuesday, March 29, 2011

General Conference Printables for Kids

I really try to convey the message that Conference weekend is not a 'week off' of church - members of the Church are expected to watch the Conference broadcasts. Most long-time members don't need to be told that, but new members and investigators might not realize that it is important.

Here is an idea I had for encouraging investigators and new members with children to watch the General Conference Broadcasts this weekend...Why not print out some activities for them to do during Conference? Most of these activities (like Conference bingo) require them to watch the Conference, so I think this will make it more interesting for the kids and may help the parents be motivated to watch as well.

There are a lot of blogs and sites with printables for Conference, but I like the ones that the Church is providing on their website. You could just provide a link to those who would like to print their own, but printing them yourselves and then taking the pages to the family's home some time this week might be more effective. Hey, maybe invite them to watch Conference at your home (or with you at your meetinghouse) while you're at it!


CLICK HERE TO BE TAKEN TO THE OFFICIAL CHURCH WEBSITE PAGE FOR PRINTABLE GENERAL CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES

Monday, March 28, 2011

General conference reminders

Here is the handout I made for our new members/investigators so that they will have the information of where/when to watch General Conference:
(times are Pacific, adjust for your area)





GENERAL CONFERENCE is APRIL 2nd & 3rd

'General Conference' is a series of church-wide meetings held in Salt Lake City and is broadcast to members throughout the world. CONFERENCE BROADCASTS REPLACE ALL OTHER

CHURCH MEETINGS DURING THIS WEEKEND

Viewing options:

  • On a large screen at (insert address of church location here)
  • On your computer at lds.org
  • On your TV (insert local access channel info here - or the BYU channel)

Broadcast times:

Saturday morning session 9-11am Saturday afternoon session 1-3pm

Sunday morning session 9-11am Sunday afternoon session 1-3pm

PLEASE NOTE - each of the 4 sessions is different (different speakers, different topics). All of the speakers are general authorities of the church (such as the Prophet/President of the Church, the Twelve Apostles) and other leaders. If you aren't able to watch all of the broadcast sessions, you can watch them later at lds.org

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Stake Conference Reminders


Stake Conference is coming up in our area and I make it a priority to make sure that all of our newer/returning members and investigators know about it - there is nothing worse than showing up for church and finding an empty parking lot!

While long-time members may know where to go (and when), this is probably a new concept for most of our newer members. Here are some ideas to help you make sure that everyone you're working with has the opportunity to attend Stake Conference and know what to expect when they get there.

  • Announce (and explain) Stake Conference in Gospel Essentials Sunday School class for at least 2 weeks prior to the Conference weekend. Even if you explain it once, not everyone may be paying attention and there may be some people missing from class the first time. Be sure to emphasize that there will not be any regular Church meetings on Conference Sunday - Stake Conference meetings replace regular Church meetings on this Sunday.
  • Provide a handout* (sample shown below) that has a basic explanation of Stake Conference and the dates/times they should attend. Hand these out in Sunday School and before/after Sacrament meeting during the 2 weeks before Conference, so you can catch as many people as possible. I usually make extras of these handouts and give them to our full-time missionaries so they have something to give to investigators who they want to invite.
  • Reminder phone calls (or emails) - as a last minute reminder, it doesn't hurt to give a quick call or email on Friday to remind investigators/new members that its Stake Conference weekend.

You don't have to use all of these methods, of course, but I feel like the more reminders, the better. This may seem like overkill, but I'd rather repeat myself 4 times than have someone tell me later that they showed up for Church and nobody was there and/or they missed Stake Conference because they didn't know about it.


*My handouts usually look something like this:

Stake Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, _________ Stake
March 12th - 13th

Stake Conference is held twice a year. This is a local conference of all of the members in our area (Stake). Speakers will include Stake leadership and a visiting General Authority. All Stake Conference meetings are held at the Stake Center (__address________________)


DATES/TIMES:
Saturday the 12th- evening session (adults only) 7:00pm-8:30pm
Sunday the 13th- general morning session (everyone) 10:00am-12:00pm

Stake Conference meetings take the place of all regular Sunday meetings during this weekend. Sunday dress clothes are appropriate for all Stake Conference meetings.