Leadership for Saints: Part 36

Making Interviews Meaningful

by Rodger Dean Duncan and Ed J. Pinegar

Last time, we addressed the subject of interviewing and we introduced the call to serve interview. Here we continue with additional things worth remembering when extending a call to serve.

Dignify the calling, and the person.

Gordon B. Hinckley fondly recalled the day that President David O. McKay called him to service as a general authority. Rather than invite him to sit across the table, President McKay invited Brother Hinckley to sit beside him, thereby using physical proximity to help emphasize the importance of both the calling and the person. “He [President McKay] looked into my eyes, and I felt he was seeing my very soul,” President Hinckley later reported. “I never will forget that.”

Elder David B. Haight recalled being invited by President Spencer W. Kimball to a room in the Salt Lake Temple. Elder Haight said President Kimball first interviewed him for worthiness. “And then he motioned for us to stand, and as I was standing with that wonderful man and he’s holding my hands, he said to me, ‘With all the love that I possess, I’m calling you to fill the vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.’ . . . He did not say, ‘As the President of the Church’ or ‘As the prophet’ or ‘By my authority.’ He said, in that humble, humble way of his, ‘With all the love that I possess.’ He was teaching me that love is essential – the love that the Savior hopes that we will acquire—that we must show, that we must demonstrate, we must feel in our hearts and souls in order to teach the gospel properly.”

A calling to serve in the Lord’s Church is a calling from the Lord. Such an invitation should be accorded all the dignity and respect that divine stewardship deserves.

It is inconceivable that an apostle would receive his calling in a casual hallway or sidewalk chat. The same reverence and decorum should characterize the interviews in which a Primary teacher, a ward Relief Society worker, an Aaronic Priesthood advisor or any other person is called to service in the Church. The interview should not be stuffy and need not be overly formal, but it should definitely be dignified and unhurried.

Explain the responsibility.

As we will discuss later in covering the principles and practices of effective stewardship delegation, it is critical that the person called to service clearly understands the responsibility he’s being asked to shoulder.

Although the interviewer may or may not be the person who will directly supervise the work (for example, a bishop’s counselor might extend a calling to a new Primary teacher, while it is the Primary presidency who will oversee the teacher’s work), the calling interview is the time to discuss at least the parameters of the stewardship. The interviewer should at least understand and explain the general expectations. The person receiving the calling should be told about meetings to attend, training to be received, materials to be obtained, and all other aspects of the assignment.

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It is during the calling interview that the interviewer facilitates a clear, up-front mutual understanding and commitment regarding expectations for performance.

When Sunday School teachers fail to attend training sessions, the problem can often be traced back to insufficient explanation and commitment during the calling interview. When quorum leaders and others fail to attend the weekly missionary correlation meeting in the ward or branch, the problem can often be traced back to a call to serve interview that lacked clarity. Doing such an interview correctly does indeed take a bit of time. It is a wonderful investment in future success.

Appropriately consult with others.  

When issuing a call to serve, it is important that certain people are “in the loop.” When a married person is called to service, his or her spouse should at least be consulted and when possible should actually be present. If a Sunday School teacher is being called to the Primary, the Sunday School president should at least be apprised that he will be needing a replacement. A stake president certainly has the authority to extend a stake calling to anyone in the stake, and he will do well to consult first with the new workers’ respective bishops or branch presidents. Consulting with appropriate parties in this way is a matter of courtesy and is a hallmark of the orderliness of Church government.

Appropriately determine worthiness.

At the local level in the Church, only members of stake presidencies, bishoprics and branch presidencies have the authority to conduct worthiness interviews. Any call to serve should be extended only after the interviewer is confident of the person’s worthiness to do the Lord’s work (note, above, that President Kimball reaffirmed Elder Haight’s worthiness before he called him to the apostleship).

In some instances, this part of the interview might be relatively brief. For example, a bishop might say to a member, “I interviewed you two months ago for your temple recommend. Are you still as worthy as you were on the day that we both signed your recommend?” And in the case of an interviewer who is not authorized to ask detailed “worthiness” questions—such as an elders quorum president or a stake high councilor—he might say something like: “Brother Udall, I know you have a current temple recommend, and that is certainly a measure of your faithfulness. If every issue related to your temple recommend is in order, I want to extend to you a call to serve. If there is anything that should be discussed, please don’t give me any details but schedule a visit with the bishop.”

Again, only authorized judges in Israel should conduct detailed worthiness interviews with members. Stake presidents, bishops and branch presidents should delegate calling interviews only when they are confident that all worthiness issues are in proper order with the candidate. Even with that, the interviewer should at least invite the candidate to visit with his or her bishop or branch president if any issue needs to be discussed.

Quotes Worth Remembering

The ideal model is straightforward and simple: call good people to serve with you, listen carefully to their counsel and consider their input, and then listen to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit as it leads you to make good decisions. – M. Russell Ballard

The calling to serve the Lord places a tremendous, ennobling responsibility upon each of us. – David B. Haight

The second step involved in extending a call requires the authorized leader to hold a private interview with the member to issue and explain the calling. When a wife, husband, or child is to receive a call, it is recommended that the husband, wife, or parents of the candidate be consulted regarding the calling. Support by family members of the one who is receiving a call is an important consideration. – Brian L. Pitcher

Note: The excerpts of Leadership for Saints posted on Meridian are only a fraction of the contents of this 349-page book. To learn more about this ground-breaking book and to order copies, click here.

© by Rodger Dean Duncan & Ed J. Pinegar, All Rights Reserved

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