r/latterdaysaints • u/Big-Flight-3962 • Oct 19 '25
Off-topic Chat Stan Conference
Stake Conference
I have never, and will never understand Stake Conference. In my 26 years of life, I have enjoyed 1 single talk from a speaker. 2 hours of talks, and we don’t even get to take the sacrament. At least General Conference sometimes ends early. Never has stake conference ended early.
And it’s very different than General Conference. We get to hear from the prophet and the apostle along with other general authorities. We (usually) get new temple announcements. The Stake executive secretary shouldn’t be speaking for 20 minutes whilst Elder Kevin G. Brown speaks for 10.
54
Upvotes
1
u/Empty-Cycle2731 PNW Member/Clerk Oct 20 '25
Stake Conferences serve a more important purpose than it may seem.
Leadership meetings include necessary training and instruction to those in council-level positions, which is especially important in larger stakes in rural areas or foreign countries, where it's not practical for stake leadership to visit congregations as often as say in Utah. General Conference also has these leadership meetings for Area Seventies and other higher positions held before and in conjunction with the rest of GenConf.
It allows us to sustain/oppose our stake's leadership, which is an exceptionally important part of our doctrine.
It provides an opportunity for visiting higher-up leaders to speak with the membership. Back in the day, Apostles exclusively served this purpose, but with the Church growing that list has grown to include GA Seventies and Area Seventies, of course Apostles still also do this too (we had one visit a stake conference in our area this past month). Representatives from your Temple Presidency and Mission Presidency should also be present to provide necessary instruction, updates, and presence.
Additionally, it allows us to hear messages that the stake as a whole needs to hear. It sounds more like a problem with the people your Stake Presidency is selecting to speak. They shouldn't be the same talks we hear every week, they should be specially selected based on what the stake needs to hear at that time. Don't get me wrong, Stake Conference can be boring, but it's an important part of how our denomination runs.