Programs and Policies Newsletter

RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS. The following clarification supersedes instructions contained in an August 5, 1971, circular letter: The stake, mission, or district executive secretary should be assigned to help give direction to the magazine subscription program, but should not be designated as the magazine representative. He will counsel with the stake (mission or district) magazine representative as needed, give the necessary emphasis to see that the program is successful, and keep the stake president informed on the success of the program. The ward (or branch) executive secretary will perform a similar function. Each ward and branch should have a competent magazine representative and one or more assistants, if needed, to carry out the program.

MISSION PUBLIC RELATIONS REPRESENTATIVE. Most full-time missions of the Church have public relations representatives to handle contacts with newspapers and other media. For this purpose, mission presidents should use the services of local members of the Church wherever feasible.

PATRIARCHAL BLESSINGS. Members of a stake in which the stake patriarch has died, has become incapacitated, or is away from the stake for an extended period may, with the recommendation of the bishops and stake president, receive patriarchal blessings from a stake patriarch of a nearby stake to whom they have been recommended. In such a case the applicant should go to the patriarch’s stake for the blessing. The patriarch is not to leave his own stake and go into another stake for that purpose. This policy may be followed until the services of a patriarch are made available to the members of the stake by a new appointment, by the recovery of the patriarch, or by the return of a patriarch on leave.

BYU ACTIVITIES CENTER. The recently completed J. Willard Marriott Activities Center at Brigham Young University is the largest indoor arena on any campus in the United States. With a seating capacity of 22,000 (including 10,000 chair-back seats), the new center is as large as two football fields arranged side by side. Sixty percent of the seats are below the concourse level. Height of the building from the playing floor to the ceiling is about 100 feet, or as high as a ten-story building. Financed entirely by public and student donations, the activities center will be used for sports activities, devotionals, student assemblies, forums, concerts, convocations, conferences, and many other activities.

CHURCH SCHOOLS IN MEXICO. Total student enrollment at the Church schools in the republic of Mexico this year is 7,615, according to George L. Turley, administrator of schools in Mexico. Adhering to Mexican law, the schools are incorporated under the name of Sociedad Educativa y Cultural, S.A., or the Society for Education and Culture. Largest of the Church schools in Mexico is the Centro Escolar “Benemerito de las Americas,” located near Mexico City in the northwest part of the Federal District. Enrollment there is 2,000, with a possibility of 4,500 as facilities are expanded.