Family Councils

There are great ideas from the book “Counseling with our Councils” that we are able to use to strengthen our own family councils. We learn how the leadership of our church uses councils to work together and receive counsel and guidance from our Heavenly Father. Our church is very organized and we can learn from their structure. On page 41 of the book, it says “no man is capable of judging a matter, in council, unless his own heart is pure; and that we are frequently so filled with prejudice, or have a beam in our own eye, that we are not capable of passing right decisions”. The great thing about family councils is that we can come together in a neutral setting and discuss whatever it is that needs to be discussed. Each family member is able to share their opinion as long as the other family members are open-minded, with a pure heart, and a willing to listen. On page 47, Ballard writes what a typical meeting looks like for the Quorum of the Twelve. We can follow a similar agenda in order for our family councils to go smoothly and be spiritual as well. The Quorum of the Twelve use a preplanned agenda which is then passed out to each member, they open with a prayer, they address each item on the agenda one by one and they are discussed individually. By keeping the meeting orderly, it creates a safe place to talk as a group and allows everyone to have a voice. Hopefully the agenda also keeps everyone on topic as well. By inviting the Spirit during the opening prayer, we can make decisions and treat each other with respect as Christ would have done.

On page 44 and 45, Ballard writes “while I have always been impressed by the strengths and abilities of the individual men who compose the Presidency, I have been inspired almost to the point of being overwhelmed by the powerful way they work as an exemplary council and continue to do so even when not all members of the council are fully able to function”. This powerful statement teaches us that even when not all of our family members are willing or able to council together, we are still strengthened by gathering and trying our best. The Prophets of our church are the best example to us and from them we learn so much. We a richly blessed by them.