What happens when a ward splits?


jayanna
 Share

Recommended Posts

Well, as some that have known me on here for a while may know, my ward is getting a new building. It is a much much bigger building. There is talk of the ward splitting sometime in the not so distant future. What does this mean exactly? Do you never see people again? How are the members split? Can you attend either meetings? What about seminary etc.? WE only have about half a dozen attending seminary as it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It becomes two separate entities with defined boundaries. It is not the practice to give members a choice where they want to go. Where the boundaries are changed to is where the membership records are put. As far as seminary it's an "it depends." But on everything else, yea, it's split.

My ex went through three of these in just five years. The last one was difficult because some of the kids friends went with the split. But there is only one seminary class so the two wards stayed combined in that way. But everything else (primary, RS, YM, YW, Elders, HP, Etc) were all divided with the membership records going to whatever ward boundary they fell into. From what I understood, there were no exemptions permitted. Where they lived is where they went.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What does this mean exactly?

The population is split along the new ward boundaries and they become two separate units just as you see in any other two wards. So as SlamJet said, different Bishoprics, EQs, HPG, RS, Primary, meeting times and all that jazz.

Do you never see people again?

That'd be up to the individual members of the ward if they want to maintain associations. If a Stake split isn't also part of the process (or soon to follow) you'll still have meetings together via Stake Conference (and see each other at any Stake activities).

How are the members split?

A primary consideration is to make sure there is enough priesthood for both wards, after that Primary, YM/YW, and RS are considered and you also get concerns like having schools not 'split-up' if possible.

Can you attend either meetings?

Just as now you are supposed to attend your assigned ward.

What about seminary etc.? WE only have about half a dozen attending seminary as it is.

Depends how seminary is being handled, unless I'm mistaken seminary is run by the Stake.

Edited by Dravin
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our ward split a few times over the past 10 years. It split so much that we now have two wards meeting in the same building from 2 different stakes! So even Seminary got split.

The split always occurs with a redefinition of ward boundaries. Basically, the ward boundaries just got smaller. In our case, all the boundary changes have been set so that all kids going to the same public school are in the same ward. We split 3 times and finally created our own Stake. It made it so that my husband's family stayed in the old Stake while we got moved to a new Stake.

I don't understand how you can all of a sudden not see your friends anymore when a ward splits. Surely you keep in touch with your friends on other occasions and not just for church meetings?

In our case, we made arrangements with the other ward (from a different Stake) that meet in the same building as ours to hold Cub Scouts together because there were only a few cub scouts in each ward. We also hold several combined activities (usually Easter, July 4th parade, and Halloween) together. It just depends on whether you get approval from both bishops.

Edited by anatess
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My inlaws lived in 5 different wards and never moved. He was the Bishop three times in the newly formed wards.

You will see the people you associate with, outside of church activities. It takes effort when you don't have the common meetings and activities. That's what makes it sort of hard. Sometimes the only social interaction with have with someone is at church and ward functions. Several years agp there were two wards in our small township. The were reorganized to create three wards and we ended up in the newly created ward. We didn't have anything but Sacrament meeting for two weeks while all the callings were filled.

The sad thing is that no matter how hard you try, you lose contact with people. I just learned through the Stake Newsletter that our old Bishop and his wife are in the Ukraine on a mission. I didn't know they were even going, and I don't know when they left. I'm not part of the gossip hotline. I don't really want to be part of the gossip but it would be nice to know about something like this.

I don't know how Seminary is handled outside Utah. Here its a Release Time hour at school where the kids leave and walk across the way to the seminary building. Some kids attend early morning because of the school schedules but it would be nearly impossible to get all the kids into classes if they all had to attend early morning.

I have found that the people who care about each other really do stay in touch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Three of the wards in our six ward stake have what they call tri-ward activities pretty frequently. (the other three may have them as well for all I know) I think they got started because three of the wards a few years ago had the boundary lines redrawn quite dramatically. With the tri ward meetings it is good so you get a chance to see people you have gone to church with since birth more often.

I think that one of the main reasons the lines were changed was that the social lines in this small town were very much divided by ward boundary lines. It has been good for everyone to have to get out of their comfort zones. It is very easy for towns like this to get very set in their ways and mindsets about "outside" people so it does good to shake them up a bit. ^^

Edited by annewandering
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, everyone. I am a little worried about keeping in touch. Our current ward boundaries include about 4 counties (about 60mi x 40mi) so we don't really see a lot of members during the week. We get together for meetings, and some come to activities but it is hard for a lot of members...older ones can't drive so well at night and younger ones just can't afford the extra gas, what with diaper budgets and all :( Regardless, I am really looking forward to the future growth in our area!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, everyone. I am a little worried about keeping in touch. Our current ward boundaries include about 4 counties (about 60mi x 40mi) so we don't really see a lot of members during the week. We get together for meetings, and some come to activities but it is hard for a lot of members...older ones can't drive so well at night and younger ones just can't afford the extra gas, what with diaper budgets and all :( Regardless, I am really looking forward to the future growth in our area!

There's this thing called... Facebook.

:lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, as some that have known me on here for a while may know, my ward is getting a new building. It is a much much bigger building. There is talk of the ward splitting sometime in the not so distant future. What does this mean exactly? Do you never see people again? How are the members split? Can you attend either meetings? What about seminary etc.? WE only have about half a dozen attending seminary as it is.

When a ward splits - like other "living" things, the church continues to evolve. :D

The Traveler

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've lived in the same house for the past 23 years. Our ward has been split about 4 times with the dividing boundary being the street we live on or one street over from us. Unfortunately, it did have an impact on how often we saw our neighbors who were now in another ward. Because, the ward activities seems to be our main social life, we simply didn't see our acquaintances who were now in a different ward. It was like an invisible fence went up. It was hardest for our children. For some reason, friendships were often based on the ward the kids were in. Probably, because, outside of school, that's where the kids saw each other the most--Primary, cub scouts, YM/YW, activities, etc. We survived. The best part of it, socially, is we know a lot of different families in our community that we wouldn't have otherwise gotten to meet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When a ward splits - like other "living" things, the church continues to evolve. :D

The Traveler

:doh: It's so funny that you wrote that, my hubby and both daughters are studying cell division right now. One in jr. high, one in HS, one in college, all at the same time. What are the chances? We are coming up with ideas to build a model cell for my youngest daughter's science class. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It becomes two separate entities with defined boundaries. It is not the practice to give members a choice where they want to go. Where the boundaries are changed to is where the membership records are put. As far as seminary it's an "it depends." But on everything else, yea, it's split.

My ex went through three of these in just five years. The last one was difficult because some of the kids friends went with the split. But there is only one seminary class so the two wards stayed combined in that way. But everything else (primary, RS, YM, YW, Elders, HP, Etc) were all divided with the membership records going to whatever ward boundary they fell into. From what I understood, there were no exemptions permitted. Where they lived is where they went.

When my ward split. Way back in 1969 half of us didn't go to a different building. They just went at different times. Seminary didn't change. Our Ward building was right across the street from the High School. So the students would come early for Seminary, then walk across the street to High School. Brother Ray

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share