Leadership & the Church News | An Interview with Sarah Jane Weaver

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Sarah Jane Weaver is the editor of the Church News and also hosts the Church News Podcast. Her favorite assignments include reporting on temple dedications and writing about members around the world. Sarah graduated from BYU with a degree in journalism and history and served as editor and chief of the BYU student newspaper, the Daily Universe. Before joining the Deseret News staff, she completed a Pulliam Fellowship at the Arizona Republic in Phoenix, Arizona. Sarah currently serves as Relief Society president in her ward.

Highlights

2:20 What is the Church News? How is it different from typical journalism? Sarah explains how the Church News is there to help connect church leaders to members. She describes the Church News as the living record of the restoration. 9:55 The Church News is there to amplify the words of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, and women church leaders. Their goal is to get the words of the leaders out to more people and help members understand the church better. 10:30 Sarah talks about a series of the Church News called, “Inside Church Headquarters”. The purpose of the series is to take readers inside the Church and show them how decisions are made. 12:00 Sarah’s journey to becoming editor of the Church News. She majored in Journalism at Brigham Young University and has been a reporter and editor at the Church News for 26 years now. 15:20 Sarah shares experiences of traveling the world and being able to cover President Nelson’s world ministry and the speeches of many of the apostles and other leaders. 16:50 The Church News is a vehicle to help members learn in ways that they can understand. The Church News is able to give us leadership perspectives outside of the General Conference setting. We are able to get their thoughts on world events and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. 22:20 Sarah has also been a Relief Society president for the past two years. She describes her experience of calling counselors and accepting her calling. 25:05 Sarah’s principles of leadership:

The most successes are possible because of the love and support of other people.
It’s ok to be vulnerable.
Great Leadership is built on a foundation of leaders that came before us.
Be yourself.
Ministering matters a lot.
I do all that I can so that the Lord can make up the difference.

35:45 Sarah’s two favorite questions. “What is it that we are trying to accomplish?” Follow up question, “What is the best way to do that?” These two questions can help us meet the needs of the sisters in the ward and plan meaningful activities. 40:00 President Nelson is always inviting us to do things. There is power in invitations that can bless and strengthen all of us as leaders. What invitations can we give to others?