Making the Bishop’s Office the Ward Council Office | An Interview with Stephen Jones

Stephen Jones hails from Tallahassee, Florida, and served his
mission in the Brazil Porto Alegre North Mission. He is a bishop in
Springville, Utah, and has previously served in various leadership
callings, including ward choir director, elders quorum president,
in a Young Men presidency, first and second bishopric councilor,
ward mission leader, and executive secretary. Stephen holds a
bachelor's degree in Physiology with an emphasis in Social
Physiology and a master's degree in Public Administration, both
from Brigham Young University. He's best known as an American
actor, comedian, host, and educator. Stephen's entertainment
journey began as a university mascot and a headlining standup
comedian, and he gained nationwide attention when he starred in a
viral Old Spice parody video. Stephen has cohosted the television
series Random Acts and featured in other television shows and
commercials. After almost a decade of teaching, Stephen is
currently the director, producer, editor and host of "Let’s Get
Real with Stephen Jones," an original podcast on Scripture Central.
Links Let's Get Real with Stephen Jones There is already a
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Watch on YouTube Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcast Get 14-day
access to the Core Leader Library Highlights 02:05 Introduction to
Stephen and what he hopes to accomplish with his podcast. How to
apply the principles of the gospel and stories of how people live
the gospel. 04:30 Getting called as Bishop during covid and while
he was finishing his master's degree 10:20 Learning how to be a
bishop and getting his footing. Picking the brains of other
leaders, choosing counselors, and receiving revelation. 14:15
Partnering with God to make decisions. We can’t totally rely on God
to give us all the answers. We work with Him to make decisions and
we have to own those decisions. 19:00 The restoration is not just
about restoring the church. It’s about restoring people. God wants
to build you through experience. 23:50 Stephen talks about his ward
council. Meeting one to one makes ward council more effective.
30:30 How Stephen sees the bishop’s office. It can be for more than
just the bishop. Other leaders can have access. 34:00 How Stephen
works with the youth in his ward and the things he has learned.
Inviting the youth to minister with him and take part in
leadership. 40:00 We need to be better at helping people understand
where repentance really is. Stephen shares how he helps people with
repentance and how he teaches it. 47:15 When it comes to
repentance, have more conversations and ask more questions about
understanding and belief instead of focusing on the behavior. Get
to the base of the problem. 51:15 Repentance is not a straight
line. It’s not just a process but a constant and daily turning to
God. It's a lifestyle. 59:15 Resources and where to find more about
Stephen and his podcast 1:00:20 The best way to lead is to follow
Him. The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent
Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints'
mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Learn
more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at
LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David
Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz
Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore,
Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister,
Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B.
Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan
Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg
McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard
Ostler, and many more in over 600 episodes. Discover podcasts,
articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings
such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary,
youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission,