Linking Every Sacrament Meeting to Christ | An Interview with Thomas Griffith

Previously U.S. Senate legal counsel and general counsel of Brigham
Young University, Judge Thomas B. Griffith was appointed to the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by President George W.
Bush. President Biden later appointed him to the President’s
Commission on the Supreme Court. Judge Griffith authored Lost, Not
Stolen: The Conservative Case that Biden Won and Trump Lost the
2020 Presidential Election along with former federal appeals court
judges Michael McConnell and Michael Luttig. He is currently a
lecturer on law at Harvard and Stanford, a fellow at the Wheatley
Institute at BYU, and active in rule-of-law projects in Central and
Eastern Europe. Inspired by the scholarship of Elder Matthew
Holland, Judge Griffith devotes a great deal of his time to
speaking and writing about the need to emphasize “civic charity” in
American political life. After graduating from BYU and before
beginning his legal studies at the University of Virginia, Judge
Griffith was a full-time employee of the Church Educational System,
directing Seminary and Institute of Religion programs in the
Baltimore, Maryland area. His service in the Church includes a
full-time mission to southern Africa, bishop of a family ward in
northern Virginia, president of a campus stake at BYU, and teaching
young single adult Institute. He also serves on the advisory board
of the Faith Matters Foundation. A convert to the Church, Brother
Griffith married fellow-convert Susan Stell Griffith. They live in
rural northern Virginia and are the parents of six and the
grandparents of eleven. Highlights 02:00 Kurt introduces the
episode and Thomas Griffith. 04:20 Thomas introduces himself and
his professional and religious background. 07:00 Thomas’ conversion
story 13:30 His first career was in the church education system. He
later became a lawyer and judge. 15:00 Speaking at the BYU
devotional and his popular talk, The Very Root of Christian
Doctrine and his time as a stake president. Every talk and every
lesson given in the stake needed to have a direct link to the
Atonement of Jesus Christ. 23:30 After one year of getting everyone
in the stake to make the Atonement the main focus of every single
talk and lesson they saw amazing results. The bishops reported back
with excitement. 27:15 What it actually means to focus on and teach
doctrine at church. 28:00 The most important thing that a bishop
can do is put on a GREAT sacrament meeting! When Thomas was bishop
he sat down with each speaker to discuss the topic and how to link
it to the atonement. It was a lot of work but he focused on the
details. 32:15 Where the idea and vision came from to focus more on
Christ at church 35:45 The hard work that goes into establishing a
culture and vision in our wards and stakes. They had to be
persistent and repetitive with their messages. 38:00 Refocus the
core message on Jesus and redemption so that people leave feeling
uplifted and not bogged down. Speakers should be told that they
aren’t there to call people to repentance. “Refresh” people’s
hearts and make them feel encouraged and nourished. 43:45
Additional tips for making sacrament meeting great. Everything
ought to flow out of the experience that we have partaking of the
sacrament. You don’t just take it and then move on. 45:45 Thomas’
time as a judge 47:30 Lessons learned from being a judge that can
also be applied to church leadership. We should also always use the
counsel system and not make decisions alone. Decisions should be
made through the process of discussion and disagreement. This is
where revelation happens. 52:20 Thomas shares principles that he
learned while serving as stake president at BYU. They wanted a pure
religion community instead of the activities committee. Every ward
was to form a partnership with a service provider and those would
be the church activities. 58:10 You can’t do everything.