Splitting up men versus women

My husband and I were just talking about our meetings from today and I asked him why their PH classes are separated right after opening exercises instead of staying together. He said because the HP have different needs then the EQ and vice versa. I said well RS doesn’t split into older/younger women and he said well that’s cause the women are all moms. I said no they aren’t. We have a lot of single young women there. We have older women who are not married or are married but have never had children. And using that logic then I can say well all the men are fathers.

Then I went on to ask did he not think that the younger EQ men could learn from the older men who have technically “been there done that”? And did he not think that the HP could learn from new blood, learn different ways, new things? He just looked at me and said well that’s just the way things are done. I said do I look like I am 6 and will take the “Because I said so” answer laying down without questioning???

He just said call Kim or Curt they will answer you!! Then he got saved from the bell with a phone call saying one of our granddaughters has Scarlet Fever. Is there a “REAL” reason why the PH are separated like that?

11 thoughts on “Splitting up men versus women

  1. I believe it’s because there are different offices of the priesthood, and each office has its own quorum for meetings. Each office has a different charge under the umbrella of the priesthood, and so to better focus on that charge and carry out their duties, members of each office meet together in a quorum. This differs from the RS, where all women are given the same charge under the mission of the RS, to carry out and fulfill.

  2. Mary Latitia has SF.

    Connor correct me if I am wrong but, don’t both quorums have the exact same lesson on Sundays? The same lesson that the women are having? Out of the same manual? So how is splitting the men up on Sundays work on them carrying out their duties?

    And how are the charges different? Every quorom/auxilliary focuses on the 3 fold mission of the church. All men are given the same charge as well. I don’t see the difference

  3. D&C 20 explains how each office of the priesthood is charged with a different function.

    Sure, the lessons are the same, but that’s not to say that the entirety of the meeting is dedicated to the lesson. There is also quorum business (we got a new EQ Presidency today), announcements pertaining to that group of priesthood brethren, assignments made (for fast offering collecting, sacrament passing, helping somebody move, etc.) and other such affairs that are specific to that office of the priesthood.

    My 2¢.

  4. Quorum meetings differ from RS by having time dedicated to “business.” In RS, we may pass around sign up sheets but if the announcements take up too much time, the Presidency (or someone) usually start telling people that announcements are taking up too much time and to make it briefer. We tend to conduct our “business” outside of RS class time.
    I’ve never been to a PH quorum mtg, so I was surprised a few years ago when my husband says he finds that part boring. He said that one meeting per month was dedicated to the business stuff.

  5. They meet separately because they are members of different quorums.

    Technically, they aren’t split older/younger; they are split elders/high priests. Unfortunately, many wards and stakes practice office advancement based on age, so it often seems like the split is based on age.

    I would like to see more more range in ages in both elders and high priests. Younger elders could benefit form the experience and leadership of the older ones, and older high priests could benefit from the new ideas and freshness of the younger ones.

    This really was the basis behind the whole Elders and High Priests post.

  6. Kim has it right. They are separated because they are different quorums, and different priesthood positions. The various priesthood positions actually do have different responsibilities, and generally speaking, the leadership of each quorum needs to continually remind and assist the members of that quorum to fulfill their priesthood responsibilities. I am not a high priest yet, so I am not as familiar with the various responsibilities of the high priest, but for example, only high priests can go home teaching other high priests. Elders cannot go home teaching high priest families. Elders home teach the rest of the ward. (this was something new that I just learned when I became the executive secretary in my ward just recently).

    In the Relief Society, all the sisters have the same responsibility within the RS. There are not separate quorums, hence no need to disperse into various classes.

  7. Dan, #7: “only high priests can go home teaching other high priests.”

    1. Where do you find this rule? Does the wording use “must” or “should” or “usually”?
    2. I’m sure you would modify it slightly, at least to reflect that very often a teacher, priest, or elder accompanies a high priest when teaching in the home of another high priest.
  8. Brian,

    I didn’t ask further. I’ll get a clarification, because it was surprising to me too. Let me get back to you on that.

  9. Sounds like the Elders and High Priest post is starting all over again.

    Dan # 7 is incorrect. I Home Taught the Bishop and the High Priest Group Leader at the same time and I was an Elder. My companion was a youth (AP).

    In many wards, if you were to remove the Elders that are forced to attend HP Quorum, the HP Quorum would cease to exist. There just are not enough HP in a ward to have a quorum without sucking the older men from Elders Quorum.

    This is a real disservice to older men who are not made HP. They cannot sustain new HPQ leaders or even attend Stake HP meetings. They are left out and often have to have Bishop approval for non HP to attend HP parties.

    The elders quorums need to be divided into young elders and olders elders and the HP need to go do tell each other how wonderful they used to be as a Bishop 20 yrs ago. All 3 of them.

    Yes – I think the HP/Elders setup is a farce that is used to create power trips for those in charge.

  10. “Elders home teach the rest of the ward.”

    Actually, Elders are assigned to home teach elders (well, and young single sisters). Everyone else is home taught by the high priests.

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