…or, that “Old-Man Richins” sure is square.
by Jim Richins
The youth in my ward have developed a habit – I won’t call it bad, although I certainly do not feel comfortable with it. This (relatively) new behavior may not be unique to my ward, nor in fact, may it be a recent development across the Church. I’m wondering if this particular phenomenon with my ward is typical of most wards and their youth, or perhaps my ward is atypical. If this phenomenon is common, then perhaps it is an indication of the times in which we live. But, if the experiences in my ward fall somewhere out on the fringe of normal behavior, then I won’t feel so uncomfortable with my opposition to it.
This new behavior is the habit of youth addressing or referring to their adult leaders by their first names. For some of the youth in my ward, this even includes conversing with the Bishop using his first name. When I was growing up, this sort of behavior was never evident. I remember making the transition from returned missionary to young adult, and feeling distinctly uncomfortable using first names with other adults. Even today, I tend to refer to “Sister Hinckley”, “Brother Monson”, or “Bishop Faust”. Of course, these examples are hypothetical names only, but their source underscores what I think is the general behavior throughout the Church, wherein we always refer to General Authorities as “President”, “Elder”, or “Bishop”, or “Brother/Sister” as appropriate. I feel that the way we refer to GAs should be prototypical of the way we refer to local leaders, or even class instructors, advisors, and parents.
Our current Bishop is a friend of mine. He and I are the same age and have very similar families – even our two oldest children are in the same class together at school, and so we occasionally share homework assignments between households. I served with him in the EQ Presidency a few years ago. Back then, in casual settings, we were on a first name basis. In church, I would refer to him as “President Smith”, though in presidency meeting or some other private setting, I would call him “Steve”. Now, I refer to him almost exclusively as “Bishop Smith”, “the Bishop”, or even when addressing him directly, as “Bishop”.
Yet, several of our youth seem to have no compunction at all addressing him as “Steve”. This bothers me, and though I frequently correct them by saying “did you mean, *Bishop* Smith?” the problem is persistent.
Part of the problem is some youth leaders, in an effort to “befriend” the youth, commonly use first names between each other. They model close familiarity with each other, and are also comfortable with the youth using their first names. I’m certain modern social influences probably also have an effect (though I doubt that these youths’ school teachers allow first names. For me, it was always “Mr. Shaw” or “Ms. Agripedes”).
I know I may seem very backward, but I believe there are many important reasons to maintain proper titles, if not in the secular, then certainly within a religious context. One fundamental reason is I believe proper use of titles – including “Brother”, “Sister”, “Elder”, “Bishop”, or “President” – encourages reverence. The language we use helps to separate ourselves from the world and create a reverent space. I also believe that showing appropriate respect for adult leaders and/or Priesthood and Auxiliary officers is a form of worship, in that we show the Lord that we, too, recognize and are grateful for the Church, the Priesthood, and the Gospel He has given us.
I am confident that many General Authorities would support the proper use of titles in a Church setting. In particular, a couple of sermons come to mind that teach this very principle.
Is this phenomenon in my ward rare or common across the Church? Am I an old traditionalist, or could I stand to be more progressive? Do I need an infusion of young-Mormon-hipness into my life?
—————————–
Jim Richins has been trolling around the bloggernacle for about 1 year. He currently works as Senior Software Engineer for a motion control company with a very specialized application in robotics. He served in the Japan Sapporo mission, 1992-1993, and afterwards studied Computer Science, Organizational Communication, and Japanese at the University of Utah. He and his wife have 3 children. He has been told by his mother that he is the most intelligent man she has ever met, although his wife contends that he is only the most handsome. He naively continues to believe both statements, despite the preponderance of evidence to the contrary.
We welcome submissions from our readers. Find out how to submit your post for consideration: Guest Post Submission