Policies and Announcements

The following items appeared in the February 1982 Bulletin.

Bishopric and Stake Presidency Attendance at Auxiliary Presidency Meetings. Members of bishoprics and stake presidencies assigned to advise auxiliary organizations attend the presidency meetings as necessary to be informed about the organizations. Priesthood advisers should help the organization presidencies carry the full responsibility for their assignments.

Protecting the Tax-exempt Status of Church Property (U.S. and Canada). The following is a reaffirmation of current policy. Meetinghouses are not to be used for any purpose other than worship, religious training, or programmed activities relating to the Church. They should not be rented or leased to any individual, company, or organization for commercial purposes. Dance instructors, music teachers, or others who give nonreligious instruction and are paid by class participants should not be allowed to use the facilities.

Meetinghouses may not be used by local units to raise funds by—a. Making or selling goods on a regular or ongoing basis. b. Sponsoring the sale of commercial items.

Many activities not only have consumer liability, but also have income, sales, use, excise, and property tax implications. Such activities include entertainment for which admission is charged and for which performers are paid for their services. (Payment of travel expenses is not payment for services rendered.)

Fund-raising activities should be held only for persons living within the boundaries of the sponsoring unit, and there should be no advertisement or solicitation to the general public. Do not post commercial advertisements in meetinghouses.

Be certain to convey these instructions to physical facilities representatives or others who schedule meetinghouse facilities. Refer also to the General Handbook of Instructions, no. 21, p. 106.

Sabbath Activities. The Sabbath should not be used as a day to rehearse roadshows. Sunday should be a time for families to fulfill their Sunday duties, be together, and study the gospel.

Counseling Returning Missionaries Concerning Marriage. Priesthood leaders should counsel returning missionaries on the importance of continuing to live standards that will lead to celestial marriage. However, leaders should not recommend or imply that a missionary should marry within a specified time following his release. Although the returned missionary should keep himself worthy and moving toward marriage, the decision to marry is so important that he should make it only after the most prayerful and careful consideration. The post-mission period is one of social, emotional, and physical readjustment, with differing individual demands of employment and education. The returned missionary should not feel the additional pressure of time limits to make this very personal, sacred, and significant decision.

Age of Missionary Couples. Generally, couples should not be recommended to serve full-time missions if either the husband or wife has reached his or her seventieth birthday. Exceptions to this policy will be allowed for older couples whose health is good and whose stake presidents can strongly recommend them for full-time missionary service. After the couple has had a proper physical examination, the stake president then must be able to certify that he has no concern about the couple’s physical or emotional ability to withstand the rigors of missionary work.

If couples desire to serve missions but are not eligible for full-time missionary service because of age or health, they should be encouraged to serve stake missions, working in cooperation with full-time missionaries. By so doing, they can remain in their own homes, have access to their own physicians and family members, and still enjoy the experiences and blessings of missionary service.