Mormon Bishops are Generally Business Managers
Mormon church welcomes new bishop to NWI
March 6, 2008
By Jim Masters Post-Tribune correspondent
HEBRON -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is thriving around the world, and the new bishop of its Hebron-based congregation has faith that his congregation will continue to grow -- in numbers and spiritually -- under his leadership.
Kirt Dutson, who lives in Lowell with his wife, Roxane, and their four children, was recently named bishop of the 330-member congregation, which draws many of its members from Valparaiso, Crown Point, Kouts and Lowell.
Dutson's church is at 687 W. County Road 650S in Hebron, in one of eight "wards" that he ministers. His congregation is part of a Mormon "stake" in Northwest Indiana that spans Kouts to the Illinois border and Indiana 10 to U.S. 30.
Mormon bishops serve without pay and typically serve for five to seven years.
Dutson, a national Fuel Travel Center manager, will be assisted in his ministry by counselors Jim Church of Crown Point and Daniel DeKock of Valparaiso. Dutson previously served as a counselor.
Dutson said the Mormon church's focus on family values and the family itself is attractive to new members. He hopes to see an average of 20 new families a year join the stake.
"Mormons believe that families stay together even after death," he said.
Dutson said he is looking forward to getting to better know the families in his congregation and is planning to conduct interviews with as many as possible.
"The most rewarding part of being a Mormon bishop is seeing people learn and grow -- becoming more Christ-like," Dutson said. "The biggest challenge is helping people maintain their faith through life's difficulties."
Dutson believes he is up to the task, describing himself as "very merciful and forgiving" as a church leader. He said his first priority will be "strengthening families through Christ and a gospel-centered home."
Like the Hebron congregation, it is a time of change for Mormons worldwide, with the recent death of President Gordon B. Hinckley, the 15th Mormon president in the 177-year history of the church, and the ascension of Thomas S. Monson to the leadership.
"Every president has a different flagship," Dutson said. "Gordon Hinckley built many temples and was quite involved with the media, bringing the church into a new age.
"I hope the church will continue to be one of the fastest-growing churches in the world, so I do expect continued media exposure."
MORMON BISHOP CAUGHT STEALING
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Associated Press
HONOLULU — The state of Hawaii is scheduled to hear arguments this week on whether three Oahu men, including a Mormon church bishop, should each be fined over $3,000 for allegedly stealing rocks from a Maui beach for an underground cooking pit at their church.
The men allegedly tried to haul 943 coconut-sized rocks in pickup trucks on board the Hawaii Superferry from Maui to the Kahaluu Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Charlie Bright, one of the three men, told The Associated Press he has a letter from the landowner giving him permission to take the rocks.
Bright wouldn't say who the landowner was. He said that would be revealed at the Board of Land and Natural Resources' hearing regarding the matter on Friday.
State officials say the men took the rocks last August from a spot called "River Mouth" where the Iao stream meets the sea at Paukukalo beach, a state land-use conservation district. They say it's illegal to mine, dredge, or harvest anything in the area.
An off-duty Department of Land and Natural Resources officer surfing at Waiehu Bay said he saw the men load the rocks into three trucks on Aug. 27, 2007.
State officials separately received a complaint from the Maui Sierra Club about people taking rocks from the beach. The complaint said the trucks involved were parked at the Hawaii Superferry terminal in Kahului.
A state Department of Land and Natural Resources report said Bright initially allegedly told investigators that he bought the rocks but didn't want to name the seller because he feared doing so would get the person in trouble.
The report said Bright later allegedly called state officials to say he and two other men removed the rocks from Paukukalo but they didn't know doing so was illegal.
"We do this for the Mormon church. Our bishop told us to come to Maui to get imu rocks because ours is old already, about 10 to 12 years old," Bright said, according to the report. "We use the rocks to cook kalua pig for the Boy Scouts to support them through our fundraisers. It was for a good cause."
The report said river rocks are valued for imu because they are porous and retain heat.
The two men who allegedly joined Bright are Ralph Chun, who is listed in the Oahu telephone book as the Kahaluu Ward bishop, and Victor Fonoimoana.
Phones rang unanswered at the church's Kahaluu Ward on Tuesday. A phone message left at Chun's home was not immediately returned.
A telephone listing for Fonoimoana could not immediately be found.
The alleged incident came on the Hawaii Superferry's second day of service.
The state's report appeared to underscore what some Superferry critics warned would happen when the interisland ferry service began: Oahu residents would go to the neighbor islands and take their rocks, fish and opihi.
The incident also came just before a Maui judge issued a temporary restraining order suspending service until the state conducted an environmental impact statement for the ferry's use of Kahului Harbor on Maui.
The judge later lifted that order after lawmakers passed a law allowing the ferry to sail while the state carried out environmental assessment. The ferry is currently operating between Honolulu and Kahului.