TSCC does not care about its members (merging stakes and changing ward boundaries)
I’ve been happily out since before the pandemic, but my ward and stake are still close to home. I still have plenty of faithful family and friends.
Recently it’s been announced our (UK) stake is being merged with the one next door. The new stake centre is about 40 miles away from our current one. Almost everyone will have to drive way further to attend stake events. For the furthest flung members, it’ll be at least 1.5 hours.
Not great, but it’s just stake, right?
But they’re also totally messing with the three biggest wards in our stake. Let’s call them A, B and C.
A was the stake centre too. Now not.
B is still quite strong, but not like it was pre-COVID.
C is the smallest of the three, but still perfectly viable.
However, C is being closed and merged into B, which is located about 5 miles away. This alone is going to cause problems, especially for the older ones.
The thing that’s really boiling my p!$$ is this. Some ward C members are being allocated to ward A instead. Further away, and away from their friends.
Even worse to me, some members of ward B, some who’ve been there their entire lives, are suddenly finding themselves in the redrawn boundaries of ward A; way further away and, again, away from their friends, and in some cases, other members of their family.
No warning, no consultation, just supposedly the most important thing in their lives being rearranged under their feet. All, I believe! to balance the priesthood holders and “strengthen the members”. And, of course, it’ll all be about simple obedience.
Does any other religion “strengthen” their members by making their lives harder through blind bureaucracy like this? I’m simultaneously raging, and hopeful that this will tip more people over into leaving. I’m sure it will.