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Hello , I feel this board reminds me of my journey through the church the past 5 years from Winter Jan 2003 to this past winter , dec 2008.
I joined the church with my husband Jan 2003 and stayed active for 6 months then my husband stopped going and wanted his membership withdrawn from the church, I remained faithful for another 18months until dec 2005 then I withdrew my membership, but last year I started going back fulltime in the fall of 2007 and then after showing I wanted to be a part of the church again I was re-baptized Dec 2008. now it’ almost 2 months since my baptisim & I still attend by myself as I see other spouses do with non-member/active spouses, but the problem is I have to take the children with me time 2 time & they do ont understand why daddy gets to stay home on Sundays & they can’t, but yet they will never be LDS members at least until adulthood because my husband won’t approve. Plus though I treasure the book of mormon again the bible is not being read as often as It should be & I have to wait until I get home to read a good scripture or two just from the bible itself.
I try to hang on to the teachings of the D&C & bom but sometimes it’s too dull & feels we’re in a lecture hall then service, but I am thankful God gave me a community of people to go to ,too pray with, & for them to help us out when they can & vise versa. If they would start having their classes more like a bible study & not a lecture hall from BYU then maybe I’d pay attention more.
Hi LDSsister2008, Welcome to the board. Thanks for introducing yourself. I like your perspective.
The quality of classes vary greatly across the Church. It can be both a good and bad thing at times that we have average people all pitching in to act as teachers and “pastors.” I know a LOT of people with struggles already in the Church are having trouble with the current year D&C topic in Sunday School.
Just to show a contrary example, we have an AMAZING sunday school (Gospel Doctrine) teacher in my ward right now. Want to know why?
There’s something to be said for professional clergy at times in other Churches. I’ve attended my fair share. What we trade for that in the LDS Church though is an intense sense of engagement from the community of believers (in the ward). There isn’t a dependence on a single charismatic leader and organizer (or a few of them) to make the whole community work. What happens when a Bishop or just a teacher of a class leaves (moves, can’t do it anymore, whatever)? Hardly a ripple or interruption, because many other people are capable of stepping right up into the slot and carrying the work forward. Even if a teacher doesn’t show up, any number of people can jump in a substitute in their place on the fly.
It’s a trade off for sure though. Sometimes teachers and lessons are stiflingly “correlated,” dumbed-down to the lowest common demoninator, or just not well-prepared. I try (don’t always do, but try) to ask myself, what can I give to make it better? Sometimes, like you, I just supplement and take care of my own personal spiritual needs by finding my own sources for them. If you like to go home and read more from the Bible, that is a great idea. If it brings you spiritual value, that is all that matters. I support that 100%.
Welcome. I can’t really add anything to what valoel said, but I do want to echo it. I also live in a ward with a wonderful Gospel Doctrine teacher, and she is just and average, Jane Doe member. She is sincere; she prepares carefully and prayerfully; most importantly, she involves the class members and solicits input constantly. The lesson yesterday was great, not because there was anything new or brilliantly worded, but because there were all kinds of slightly different perspectives shared.
I wish that type of class was available for everyone in all wards and branches, but one of the keys is that the ward leaders worked for years to build a spirit of warmth and acceptance and spirituality that is paying great dividends now. It took a while to happen, but it’s amazing now. When the Church works locally the way it is supposed to work locally, it truly is a marvelous work and a wonder.
Welcome ldssister2008. Nice to have you here.
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