Mitt Romney

==LDS Church service==
During his business career, Romney held several positions in the church's [[Laity#The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|local lay clergy]]. In the early 1970s, he served in a ward bishopric. He then served for a time as a seminary teacher and then as a member of the [[Stake (LDS Church)|stake]] [[High council (Latter Day Saints)|high council]] of the Boston Stake while [[Richard L. Bushman]] was stake president.<ref name=Horowitz/>

In 1977, he became a counselor to the president of the Boston Stake.<ref name="Horowitz">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romneys-rise-through-the-ranks-of-the-mormon-church-in-boston/2012/08/19/bbb2ec96-cad3-11e1-aea8-34e2e47d1571_story.html|title=Romney's rise through the ranks of the Mormon Church in Boston|first=Jason|last=Horowitz|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=August 19, 2012|access-date=September 5, 2017|archive-date=August 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821050406/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romneys-rise-through-the-ranks-of-the-mormon-church-in-boston/2012/08/19/bbb2ec96-cad3-11e1-aea8-34e2e47d1571_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He served as [[Bishop (Latter Day Saints)|bishop of the ward]] at Belmont, Massachusetts, from 1981 <!-- sources conflict, accept NYT and LAT 1981 over WaPo 1984 since they seem more heavily researched --> to 1986<!-- sources conflict again, LAT has 1985 -->.<ref name="wapo-belmont">{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401846.html |title=In Mitt Romney's Neighborhood, A Mormon Temple Casts a Shadow |last=Pappu |first=Sridhar |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=December 15, 2007 |access-date=February 6, 2020 |archive-date=January 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113083757/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401846.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="nyt-bishop">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/us/politics/for-romney-a-role-of-faith-and-authority.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016171155/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/us/politics/for-romney-a-role-of-faith-and-authority.html |archive-date=October 16, 2011 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=For Romney, a Role of Faith and Authority|last=Stolberg |first=Sheryl Gay|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 15, 2011|page=1 |access-date=February 6, 2020 }}</ref> As such, in addition to [[home teaching]], he also formulated Sunday services and classes using [[Standard works|LDS scriptures]] to guide the congregation.<ref name="lat-church" /> After the destruction of the Belmont [[Meetinghouse#Religious meeting houses|meetinghouse]] by a fire of suspicious origins in 1984, he forged links with other religious institutions, allowing the congregation to rotate its meetings to other houses of worship during the reconstruction of the Belmont building.<ref name="nyt-bishop" /><ref name="wbur-belmont">{{cite news |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2011/12/06/romney-mormonism |title=At Belmont Temple, Romney Was An Influential Leader |last=Brady-Myerov |first=Monica |work=[[WBUR]] |date=December 6, 2011 |access-date=February 6, 2020 |archive-date=February 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206120214/https://www.wbur.org/news/2011/12/06/romney-mormonism |url-status=live }}</ref>

From 1986 to 1994, Romney was [[stake president|president]] of the Boston Stake, which included more than a dozen wards in eastern Massachusetts and almost 4,000 church members.<ref name="vf-excerpt" /><ref name="lat-church">{{cite news|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|first=Alana|last=Semuels|date=December 7, 2011|title=Romney, an active man of faith|url=https://www.latimes.com/la-xpm-2011-dec-07-la-na-romney-faith-20111208-story.html|access-date=February 6, 2020|archive-date=February 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206120210/https://www.latimes.com/la-xpm-2011-dec-07-la-na-romney-faith-20111208-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Hersh, ''The Shadow President'', p. 123.</ref> He organized a team to handle financial and management issues, sought to counter [[anti-Mormon]] sentiment, and tried to solve social problems among poor Southeast Asian converts.<ref name="nyt-bishop" /><ref name="wbur-belmont" /> An unpaid position, his local church leadership often took 30 or more hours a week of his time,<ref name="lat-church" /> and he became known for his considerable energy in the role.<ref name="vf-excerpt" /> He also earned a reputation for avoiding any overnight travel that might interfere with his church responsibilities.<ref name="lat-church" />

Romney took a hands-on role in the Boston Stake's matters, helping in domestic maintenance efforts, visiting the sick, and counseling burdened church members.<ref name="wapo-belmont" /><ref name="nyt-bishop" /><ref name="lat-church" /> A number of local church members later credited him with turning their lives around or helping them through difficult times.<ref name="nyt-bishop" /><ref name="lat-church" /><ref name="wbur-belmont" /> Others, rankled by his leadership style, desired a more consensus-based approach.<ref name="nyt-bishop" /> Romney tried to balance the conservative directives from church leadership in Utah with the desire of some Massachusetts members to have a more flexible application of religious doctrine.<ref name="vf-excerpt">{{cite news |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/politics/2012/02/mitt-romney-201202 |title=The Meaning of Mitt |author-link=Michael Kranish |last1=Kranish |first1=Michael |last2=Helman |first2=Scott |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |date=January 4, 2012 |access-date=February 6, 2020 |archive-date=October 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007095517/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/politics/2012/02/mitt-romney-201202 |url-status=live }}</ref> He agreed with some requests from a liberal women's group that published ''[[Exponent II]]'' calling for changes in the way the church dealt with women, but he clashed with women he felt were departing too much from doctrine.<ref name="vf-excerpt" /> In particular, he counseled women not to have abortions except in the rare cases allowed by LDS doctrine<ref name="nb-abor" group="nb" /> and encouraged unmarried women facing unplanned pregnancies to give their babies up for adoption.<ref name="vf-excerpt" /> Romney later said that the years spent as an LDS minister gave him direct exposure to people struggling financially and empathy for those with family problems.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/us/politics/gingrichs-rise-prompts-romney-to-speak-more-of-mormon-role.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214033040/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/us/politics/gingrichs-rise-prompts-romney-to-speak-more-of-mormon-role.html |archive-date=December 14, 2011 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=As Rivalry Tightens, Romney Is Reflective|author=Parker, Ashley|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 13, 2011}}</ref>