The Lufkin Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has a new pastoral leader, and his goal is to follow his calling to serve others and share the gospel.
Ted Adams, 38, is a sales representative for Morris and Dickson, distributing drugs to pharmacies. But in mid-October he became the next bishop — a non-paid local clergy chosen from the congregation. Adams is married to Kasi, who works with Angelina Home Health. The couple has three children, including Maddie, 12, Tryce, 10, and Walker, 8.
Ashley Cook/The Lufkin Daily News |
Bishop Ted Adams, of the Lufkin Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, stands next to a print in the church building at 606 Bending Oak. Adams began the leadership position in mid-October when he was chosen from among the members to offer pastoral and teaching care to the congregation.
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There is no extra training to be a bishop, but there is a heavenly selection process. Local leadership discerns a name, which is then approved by a prophet at a higher church level.
Those who serve as bishop are simply "the person that the Lord has called to do that at this time," Adams said Friday, as he sat in his office at the church at 606 Bending Oak St.
It's a calling he takes seriously, working together with two counselors — other pastoral agents of the church — to serve the membership (known as saints) in its time of need. Adams and others also take turns regularly giving talks at services.
The LDS church is all about sharing duties — even down to the custodial work, which is done by families, who serve in a scheduled order.
The church has three objectives, which he will support during his time as bishop, Adams said. His time to serve is open-ended, continuing until the need for a new bishop arises. The first goal is to perfect the saints.
"Which is what I spend most of my time doing, helping them live the gospel and receive those blessings," Adams said.
Second, the church seeks to proclaim the gospel, as Paul admonished in Romans.
Thirdly, the church works to redeem the dead, through a "baptism for the dead," in which a living church member sits in for an ancestor, taking the sacrament of baptism in their place in order to save them, Adams said. That desire to save the dead is at the heart of the Mormon church's well-known genealogical recordkeeping, such as its massive library in Salt Lake City. The Lufkin church also has historical records.
The church walls feature a number of framed prints picturing the ministry of Jesus — including what they believe were his visits to the ancient North American peoples — and of Joseph Smith, born in 1805, who the church says was the sole prophet and holder of the only valid gospel and priesthood, including the authority to conduct valid baptisms, since the ancient time of the apostles. Smith's story on his restoration of Jesus Christ's church to the world is described in the church's additional revealed testament of Christ, the Book of Mormon, Adams said.
For more information or to learn more about what Mormons believe, visit mormon.org.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Lufkin, 606 Bending Oak St., has sacraments at 10 a.m. Sunday, with Sunday school and other meetings 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Spanish service, with a congregation who shares the church building, is at noon Sundays. On Jan. 3, the English and Spanish schedules will reverse to the opposite time schedule.
"I can promise to anyone who attends that they will feel the spirit of the Lord when they attend," Adams said.
