Herriman Blackridge Stake
Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Herriman Utah Blackridge Stake:
We as a new Stake Presidency thought it might be appropriate to clarify some things regarding activities for our members.
Included with this letter is the notice from the Office of the First Presidency dated April 30, 2023 regarding “Safety in Church Activities”. We invite you to carefully study this document along with the applicable sections of the Church General Handbook of Instructions. Please take a few minutes in your Ward Councils and Presidency Meetings to discuss this information so that our activities are as safe and well planned as possible. Please consider carefully the purpose of each activity.
We have received inquiries from some of you asking for clarification on a few issues. One question is when to seek approval from Stake or Ward leaders regarding a specific activity. Please refer to the General Handbook, section 20. This section gives direction on when approvals are needed and from whom. It also describes when permission slips are needed from parents, etc. The Stake Presidency has total confidence in the judgement of our Bishops, so unless otherwise specified in the Handbook, the Bishops’ authorization is all that is needed for most Ward activities. We strongly encourage you to use the planning guides provided on the Church web site at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Another question we have had is - what constitutes our “local area”? Again, we trust the judgement of our Bishops to make this determination based on the Handbook. Please seek their guidance for any Ward activity being considered.
We have also been asked about the distance you may be allowed to travel for overnight activities. We would again direct you to the Handbook for answers to this question. Safety is the number one concern, and other things such as cost and time should be considered. We do not feel that a specific distance from our area should be specified, we just ask that you prayerfully consider whether the activity is worth the risk, time and expense, and whether your goals for that activity could be accomplished closer to home.
If you need approval for a Stake activity, would like our thoughts on any of these issues, or have other questions and are not able to find answers in the Handbook, our Presidency is always available to help. In particular, President Thad Smith has been delegated stewardship over Activities and the Youth for our Stake. While you don’t need our approval for most activities, we would love to be kept informed on your activities out of our area. Perhaps a quick copy of your planning sheet to President Smith would be in order.
We know how important properly planned activities are for our members, especially for our youth, and we thank you all for your efforts and service. May the Lord bless each of you!
Sincerely,
President Vaughn Evans
President Thad Smith
President Mark Tenney