collecting fast offerings - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

bluegoose · 01-27-2009, 05:30 PM

We tried to re-instate the FO policy in our ward about 5 years ago. We went through the ward roster and made a list of about 20 names to include, including about half of which were active members.

The Bishop at the time wrote a general letter to those people on the list. The first visit consisted of the deacons and an adult (basically the YM pres - only one dad showed up - The Bishop) taking the letter to the family and asking if they would accept a monthly FO visit from the deacons quorum.

It went well for 1 or 2 months and then gradually fizzled out. I'm not sure if it is coincidence or not, but one of the families that I visited with a deacon that first night, who had not been to church for probably a decade, became active shortly afterward. They've now been active, contributing members for 5 years. I suppose if the program was responsible for bringing that family back to church, then it was a success.

The only other benefit of the program that I can see is giving some inactives the chance to give, when they wouldn't otherwise. I think most inactive folks would be much more inclined to give FO rather than tithing, as they know it is going to the needy, and not simply to building up the church. I personally think its a waste of time to visit active families to collect FO. But then again, I feel similarly about monthly HT visits to active families.

01-27-2009, 05:30 PM	#1
bluegoose Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Northern California Posts: 2,919	We tried to re-instate the FO policy in our ward about 5 years ago. We went through the ward roster and made a list of about 20 names to include, including about half of which were active members. The Bishop at the time wrote a general letter to those people on the list. The first visit consisted of the deacons and an adult (basically the YM pres - only one dad showed up - The Bishop) taking the letter to the family and asking if they would accept a monthly FO visit from the deacons quorum. It went well for 1 or 2 months and then gradually fizzled out. I'm not sure if it is coincidence or not, but one of the families that I visited with a deacon that first night, who had not been to church for probably a decade, became active shortly afterward. They've now been active, contributing members for 5 years. I suppose if the program was responsible for bringing that family back to church, then it was a success. The only other benefit of the program that I can see is giving some inactives the chance to give, when they wouldn't otherwise. I think most inactive folks would be much more inclined to give FO rather than tithing, as they know it is going to the needy, and not simply to building up the church. I personally think its a waste of time to visit active families to collect FO. But then again, I feel similarly about monthly HT visits to active families.