Thursday, February 25, 2016

358: DAMAGE CONTROL AT BYU-IDAHO





In addition to this tweet sent out to all those on social media, here is a letter that was sent out today to the students at BYU-IDAHO. I guess Church attendance has dropped.

Actual letter being sent home to parents of BYU-I students (received this week):

"Dear Parents and home Bishop of [BYU Idaho Student],

We are writing to you concerning our church attendance policy for the YSA [XXrd] ward. In order to attend BYU-Idaho, each student signed an agreement to regularly attend church in the ward in which his or her records reside. We have been asked by our Stake Presidency to form a policy that will hold our students and us as a bishopric accountable for attending church throughout the semester. The policy we created is designed to promote spiritual strength and living in accordance with the Church Education System honor code.

We have informed each student in the ward of our policy in order to avoid misunderstanding and miscommunication. This policy is included below.

• Students may miss a maximum of 3 Sundays aside from major holiday weekends. (per semester)
• Upon missing a second Sunday, the stake presidency has asked that we send a letter informing the student’s home bishop and parents, of the student’s absences, and ask for help in encouraging the student to faithfully attend their church meetings.
• Upon a third absence, the student will be asked to meet with the bishop, and will be informed that if another absence is reached, his or her endorsement to attend BYU-Idaho will be revoked, and he or she will be sent home and unable to finish out the end of the semester.

As always, we understand that some students may be under very difficult circumstances, and may need certain exceptions. We have encouraged students to come and meet with us, and work such situations out with us ahead of time. The last thing we want is to be unfair to any circumstances that merit such attention.

We as a bishopric do not like sending students home, and would much rather enjoy their company in the XXrd ward. However, both we, and your student, have a commitment and obligation to the Lord, this university, and those who fund it, to encourage Sunday attendance and commitment to the Church Education System Honor Code. We hope you understand and are willing to support your son or daughter in their commitment to the university.

Finally, we would like to end with a thought shared by Elder L. Tom Perry in his last conference address.

“People are not better off when they are given maximum personal freedom to do what they want. They’re better off when they are enshrouded in commitments that transcend personal choice—commitments to family, God, craft and country.”

We appreciate your support.

Sincerely, The [XXrd] ward bishopric"

...

Looks like they might begin a roll call at church? If you don't have an excused absence from your parents/doctor or legal guardian for not being at church.  You will be expelled.