Sustaining a New Bishop

We sustained a new bishop in our ward today.  Bishop Allen and his family are moving (actually have moved for the most part), so he was released today and Bishop Galindo was sustained.  There was an audible gasp from some in the chapel when Brother Galindo’s name was called by President Skinner, but I will admit to being 98% certain that his name would be the one called.  When Bishop Allen pulled him out of Gospel Principles class last week (he attends—well, has been attending—quite often to support us and to be there for the new converts and investigators) and we didn’t see him for the rest of the block, I had an inkling.  My suspicion became stronger when I learned later that day that 1) Sister Galindo was pulled from primary and also didn’t return, and 2) President Skinner was seen in the building. J

It’s always interesting when a new bishop is called.  This is the third change we’ve seen in our ward since moving into this area.  Each time I’ve watched these good brethren grow into their calling and become living examples of this quotation from President Thomas S. Monson: “President Harold B. Lee was talking to me one day concerning those who feel inadequate and are worried when they receive an assignment in the Church. He counseled, ‘Remember, whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies’” (Ensign, Nov. 1995, 50).  Bishop Galindo said he received this same thought while in the temple earlier this week contemplating the call that had been extended to him.  I am certain that as he puts forth his best effort, the Lord will magnify those efforts in ways he could scarcely have expected.  I’ve seen that happen with the previous bishops; I have seen that with my own callings.

Bishop Galindo is a convert of five years—it took him 10 years and multiple sets of missionaries before he was ready to commit to becoming a member to the Church.  As was expressed today (I had heard the story before, but it was nice to be reminded), what finally clicked was when an Elder told him that he could be sealed to his wife in the temple for eternity.  I’m not sure if none of the previous Elders had ever mentioned this before, but this was the first missionary to say it in a way that sunk deep.  Not long afterward, Brother Galindo wanted to know what he needed to do to be baptized.  Jennifer and I hosted him and his wife, with several others, when it was time for them to receive the Temple Preparation lessons.  We were asked by them to be their escorts when they attended their initial endowment session and were present for their sealing.  In fact, I was just in my bedroom and saw a picture of Jennifer and me on our dresser and realized that it was taken after he and Sister Galindo were sealed in the Redlands Temple. J  Honestly, when his name was formally announced and I (along with the rest of the congregation), was asked to sustain him in this calling, I gladly raised my arm to the square because I was blessed at that moment to know that his call came from God.  At that moment I also knew I was willing to do whatever I could to help him fulfill his new assignment.

That’s the thing about sustaining.  It is a unique aspect of the Latter-day Saints.  We have an opportunity each time a formal calling is issued in the ward, stake or general offices of the Church to raise our arm to the square and sustain the actions being taken.  After we are asked “all in favor,” the question is then submitted, “Those opposed, if any, may manifest it.”  During the recent general conference, for the first time in over 30 years, a small group of vocal people expressed opposition during the sustaining of the general authorities.  Based on the fact that the question is asked, the possibility of someone expressing opposition is present.  However, I wonder if an understanding of the opposition “vote” is truly had among us. 

The Church handbook of instructions is very clear on the matter of a dissenting vote during the sustaining process.  It states: “If a member in good standing gives a dissenting vote when someone is presented to be sustained, the presiding officer or another assigned priesthood officer confers with the dissenting member in private after the meeting. The officer determines whether the dissenting vote was based on knowledge that the person who was presented is guilty of conduct that should disqualify him or her from serving in the position” (Handbook 2: Administering the Church [2010], 19.3, emphasis added).  I highlighted the two important points in that instruction.  First, the dissenting member needs to be “in good standing,” and second, the dissenting vote should be based on knowledge by the dissenter that the called man or woman “is guilty of conduct that should disqualify him or her from serving in the position.”

When members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vote to sustain a calling, we are not casting a ballot as though our vote is part of the person’s election to that calling.  Instead, we are agreeing with the action being taken and “voting” to support, uplift and sustain the person who has already been called “by prophesy” (Articles of Faith 1:5) and has accepted the offered assignment.  In the case of Bishop Galindo, President Skinner did not stand before our ward congregation and say, “Your ward needs a new bishop and we have identified the following three brethren: Brother Doe, Brother Roe and Brother Galindo.  I will now conduct the voting on which one of these brethren you feel would be qualified to lead the ward.”  Instead he said something like this: “We have submitted a name to the First Presidency and have been authorized to call Brother Galindo as the new bishop of the ward. All in favor of this action; are there any opposed.”

If we truly consider the process, President Skinner and his counsellors had already prayed and received an answer from the Lord regarding who should now lead our ward.  They submitted their recommendation to the First Presidency and received an endorsement of the Lord’s choice.  The call had been extended to and accepted by Brother Galindo.  Today, we were asked to offer our own endorsement of this action.  In essence, we were asked to exercise our moral agency in an acceptance of the Lord’s choice of bishop.  Our vote didn’t count for anything but our humble acceptance of the Lord’s revelation to His local servants and our pledge to uphold and support this good brother as he shoulders this particular mantel.

From what I understand of those people who announced their dissension during conference, their basic opposition appears to arise from some dissatisfaction with something the Church is doing or not doing and they are “voting” in opposition because of it.  If this is the case, then what they are failing to understand is that the Church isn’t a democracy.  Just because some teaching or position or doctrine isn’t liked, we don’t yell “opposed” during the sustaining process and then act as though our dissenting vote is a ballot cast in opposition to Church leadership.  If we have knowledge about some act that would disqualify a person from service, then we should raise our arm in dissent.  Honestly, if we have knowledge of something of this magnitude, we should have gone to the person first and then to the leadership if the person refuses to properly handle the situation.  Somehow, I have great difficulty believing this was the case in the dissension of those who voted in opposition during conference.  Unfortunately, I have a nagging feeling that what happened a few weeks ago won’t be a one-time event.  Now that it’s been done, I suspect it might be tried again.

Regardless, it is up to all of us as members to constantly keep close watch over our testimonies of those called to leadership positions.  As I indicated earlier, intellectually I had settled in my mind the likelihood of Bishop Galindo’s call, but when his name was formally announced I felt a spiritual confirmation to accompany the intellectual one.  That is my testimony of his call.  None of the brothers and sisters in the general quorums and auxiliaries campaigned for the offices they hold.  Instead, when the Lord called, they, like Samuel of old, replied, “Speak; for thy servant heareth” (1 Samuel 3:10).  Neither did Bishop Galindo campaign for the calling that is now his.  In the days before the call came, he was curiously wondering like all the rest of us who would be called to the position.  I doubt he considered himself at all.  Now that he has been called and I have sustained him, it is up to me to be true to my “vote” and do all that I can, like Aaron and Hur with Moses, to “[stay] up his hands” and keep them “steady until the going down of the sun” (Exodus 17:12).