Mitt Romney gets paid for his business enterprising, but as a leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (”Mormon” Church), he works freely, without remuneration of an earthly kind. The rewards are the fruits of faith and joy among the members of the Church. Stroll through Boston visually for a moment to visualize some of his Church work.
In downtown Boston, turnpikes and rapid transit and rail lines spill their streaming traffic into a compact maze of narrow, twisting streets shaded by the press of luxury hotels, opulent shopping galleries, and corporate skyscrapers. Thronged sidewalks intensify the sense of big-city bustle and commotion.
In contrast is the Charles River, its serene waters rippled by the quiet passage of sleek collegiate rowing shells and sailboats whisked by salty Atlantic breezes. The park-lined waterway divides Boston from Cambridge, where the festive air of Harvard Square fades into the tranquility and rarefied atmosphere of outlying suburban communities.
Another refreshing scene is the Boston Massachusetts Stake. But unlike the banked, slow-flowing Charles, this dynamic, evolving stake of eight wards and five branches is overflowing its borders.
At the helm is President W. Mitt Romney, who, assisted by other stake members, is helping ensure that . . . Mormons are not lost in crosscurrents or in the wake of surging membership growth (Ensign, Don L. Brugger, Climate for Change, Sept. 1993).
In the Church of Jesus Christ, congregations are grouped into “wards,” and “wards” into larger groups called “stakes.” Leaders of a ward are known as “Bishops” and leaders of stakes are called “Stake Presidents.” In Boston, Mitt Romney is known, as well, as “President Romney.” And that’s not because of his campaign, but because of the calling he received to serve the Lord by presiding over those in his geographical area in Boston.
President Romney noticed that many non-English-speaking members living long distances from meetinghouses, were struggling to attend English speaking wards. Some of these members worked long hours in multiple jobs and had unreliable transportation. Sensitive to the diversity and to their needs, President Romney and Bowen sought inspiration and moved in a new direction.
Their plan was (1) to take the Church to where the people live; (2) to conduct worship services in the language of an area’s dominant ethnic group; and (3) to soften the cultural gap by focusing all Church activities on Jesus Christ. The branches draw on designated “sister wards” for various resources.
Other recently created branches serve close-knit Spanish, Portuguese, and Asian enclaves. Stake leaders call these units storefronts branches or “boutiques” because they represent a street-level effort to display the beauty of the gospel before people [of all faiths]” (Ibid).
President Romney has created a haven for the Saints in Boston, unity in diversity. Again, he championed a new solution to existing problems.
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