"If a young woman is pregnant out of wedlock, the decision to participate in Young Women classes and activities is left to the prayerful discretion of local priesthood leaders, the young woman and her parents"
"If a young woman under 17 has a baby out of wedlock and chooses to keep the child, the decision to participate in Young Women is left to the prayerful discretion of local priesthood leaders, the young woman and her parents. If the young woman does participate in Young Women classes and activities, the child should not accompany her."
Now, that being said, she wants to still come to Young Womens, and her parents want her to come to Young Womens (Bishop is still trying to decide what to do). Has any one else had this situation arise in their ward? What have you done? What do you recommend?
We absolutely want this girl to feel welcome and invited, but we don't want to send the message to the other girls that we are giving her special attention for this. Because we don't want them to think this is a way to get attention.
Help! None of us Presidency members know what to do???
5 comments:
I am learning to love the handbook! I would wait until the Bishop makes his decision before doing anything, since really it is up to him and the yw and her parents, and until then, let her come and don't treat her any different than any of the rest of the girls. It's only going to be as big of a deal as it is made out to be.
i have a amazing co-worker who placed her baby for adoption. i'll ask her what she thinks
There was a YW in my ward growing up that had a baby when we were that age (14). We always invited her to activities and tried to include her. She is going through a hard enough time right now, and excluding her from her peers would only further push her away. Like Shari said, it is ultimately up to the Bishop, but that is my two cents.
In our ward, one of my good friends got pregnant and she immediately stopped going to young womens and went to relief society. In young womens, they prepare girls to go to college and become a part of society, while in relief society, they teach about being a good mother and teaching good things to their children. This young woman went into relief society and it was good for her to be with people who knew what was going on with raising children than with the young women who looked down upon her for her mistake. She said i was the only friend she had from church that didnt judge her. so there you have it
Personally, Having had a baby at 17 and out of wed-lock ... I wasnt made to feel welcome in either place YW or Relief Society ... So with a personal stake in it I would say dont draw attention to the situation but to also not make her feel unwelcome. She needs to know that even though a mistake was made that she isnt being judged. Being that young and having baby isnt easy and you are already making judgements against yourself and feeling guilty it doesnt help for others to be doing the same. Include her the best you can but again dont make the situation the topic of dicussion.
Thats my peace ,,,
Post a Comment