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My Wife & I were traveling this week. We went to visit our Son & his family. We decided to go to Sacrament meeting in a different city/ward. (We don’t do that very often.)
We heard talks from members we didn’t know. We met members we didn’t know & they didn’t know us.
What I’m trying to say is: there was no personal history, no reputation and no expectations.
Everyone introduced themselves or we introduced ourselves. It was a very pleasant experience.
We were in Illinois. A city of less than 20,000 including the students from the state college.
Our son teaches at the University & the Bishop, who teaches at the same school, knows him.
(Our son does not attend church.)
What I’m trying to say is: we’ve lived in the same ward our whole married life. (50+ yrs)
I’m wondering if some of the issues I’m having with the church, might be due to, in part, with living a “stagnant” life?
50+ years in the same place is too long. Everyone at church knows your business, beliefs, etc.
It was good to get out & meet new people.
Minyan Man wrote:
What I’m trying to say is: we’ve lived in the same ward our whole married life. (50+ yrs)I’m wondering if some of the issues I’m having with the church, might be due to, in part, with living a “stagnant” life?
50+ years in the same place is too long. Everyone at church knows your business, beliefs, etc.
It was good to get out & meet new people.
Some of those issues that you might be having with the church may be re-categories into “church community” issues – which would be part of having a “stagnant life”. “Everyone knowing your business” can be good (with a friend group) or bad.
But it does beg the question that “could you get out and meet new people in the local community” to reduce some of the stagnation? Would it be worthwhile to do so (as a concept), if so – what does that look like?
It’s not easy – on some levels, you become a “people tourist in your area” as you get to know people and communities.
As part of my faith transition, I wound up having to go out and “meet people” and recreate a community (on some levels) for myself and my children because they deserve to grow up in relation to others and practice being connected to others as part of being a human. It is super tough – and I have leaned into the members who I have met who are willing to associate with us and be our community understanding our faith transition.
A change is as good as a rest. We noticed a big boost in our church interest when we moved into a ward near a temple in a major city. The people were wealthy Mormons and were very good at what they did. They were excellent teachers and had a lot of strong testimonies. We came home from church each week literally filled with the Spirit. So, the ward you are in can have a big impact on your spirituality.
During those times we didn’t have any concerns about the church, and there were times when I left the church meetings, when they concluded, thinking I couldn’t get enough of the church experience…So, yes, the Ward you’re in can have a big impact on your overall spirituality in my experience.
I mentioned in another post that my ward was disbanded on merged with another ward. We have been intentionally avoiding church meetings to try to stay under the new bishopric’s radar until most of the major callings have been assigned. I think visiting a new ward would be freeing because there would be no strings attached.
We rarely visit other wards while travelling either, but we have. Like you MM, I have lived in the same ward for many years (over 30) and while it was once vibrant and growing it has been headed the other direction for many years now. I know everybody, I can pretty much tell you which people will get up on Fast Sunday, what order they will get up, and what they will talk about (and for how long). I did appreciate the opportunity I had to visit other wards as a high councilor, and the difference can be somewhat refreshing. Getting out and about once in a while is probably not a bad thing.
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