A Very Different Stake Conference

This morning we were able to sleep in for an extra hour before heading out to Stake Conference. It was one of the new multi-stake, broadcast conferences. I like a number of high tech advances in society, but I feel that religious experiences should remain at the more personal level. It brings in to question are prayers offered over a broadcast adequate for the congregation assembled in a separate building. This I can accept. What if the prayer is offered later in a rebroadcast? What if it is on a recorded DVD? Anyway, shortly after the opening prayer the broadcast lost the audio feed. Technicians at the Stake Center worked on the problem for about 30 minutes and were unable to resolve it. The Stake President called on the previous Stake President to talk about the leadership session yesterday. After his remarks they dismissed the congregation and invited them back at 1:00 for a rebroadcast. So we attended Stake Conference with an opening prayer (via satellite), one impromptu speech and dismissal without a closing prayer all in 30 minutes. I will be glad to return to my personal sacrament meeting next week.