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We had a virtual Sunday School lesson from our ward today. There were only about 15 – 20 who logged in. I didn’t participate (as usual). I hope it gets better over time.I wonder if there is an advantage to having
virtual lessons? People who are sick or in a nursing home could participate & still feel like they are part
of a ward. It will be interesting to see the consequences or advantages of using this “new” technology.
Faithful members are finding out what those who left already knew. Less Mormon church is better. When you are in control of your Sundays, not you Sundays controlling you, you tend to be happier. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Cadence wrote:
Faithful members are finding out what those who left already knew. Less Mormon church is better. When you are in control of your Sundays, not you Sundays controlling you, you tend to be happier.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
IMO slight correction.
When you are in control of your Sundays and your daily life choices, not old men claiming to speak to God controlling you, you tend to be happier.
Some people will come away from this thinking home church is better. Some people will come away thinking that they can’t stand being away from church for so long. Still, this presents an opportunity for the Church to change. It’s becoming clear to people that the way things have always been done is not the only way. Attending church meetings aside, I wonder how much people getting a break from callings factors into the discussion of unintended consequences. Given how callings are extended, one doesn’t typically choose their calling. If a calling isn’t a good fit for someone it can make their church experience something to be endured rather than something that is enjoyed.
When church opens back up for business the responsibilities of callings will return. Will the return be jarring or welcomed?
Personally, I got extremely burnt out on callings a long time ago. Extremely burnt out. I fought to take a much needed break from callings for a season. During the break I realized that even if given the opportunity to select my calling, I’d struggle to come up with something from the list of callings that I might enjoy. I wonder if people enjoying a break during the quarantine have arrived at a similar conclusion.
But that’s the limitations of the lay clergy and and the current model for callings. Here are the jobs, now get people to fill them.
And I’ve stated up-thread that I worry that the obligations and duties associated with callings may create an environment where people return before it’s healthy for the wider community for them to return. Like the person that thinks, “I’ve got to teach tomorrow’s lesson and it’s just a cold.”
So how might our models for callings change?
Automatically give people a few months off when they are released from a calling?
- The MLS system already tracks dates when someone was given a calling. Maybe a policy to ask people if they’d like to continue in their calling or try something new after X months have passed.
- Allow people to choose their own calling, or allow people to define their own calling for themselves if there is not an existing calling that appeals to them?
- Let people opt out of callings without giving them a hard time about it?
- Instead of the culture of requesting that someone perform a calling, move to a culture of waiting for someone to request a calling?
- etc.
I really don’t mean to pile on, the church is so much more than a list of just negative things, but I think it was more than just boring meetings that made Sundays so difficult for people. It was also the (dare I say) heavy yoke of cultural Mormonism.
…that’s a little too harsh. Some people enjoy the experience, some do not. There’s little recourse for the people that didn’t enjoy the experience, there’s only the expectation that the person adapt to the experience, not the other way around. There’s even the phrase, “endure to the end” that has been misappropriated to imply that the person that doesn’t enjoy the experience should take it on the chin.
On the other hand, in DJ’s other thread, there’s something to be said about putting other people’s needs ahead of your own (doing callings to benefit the community). And my other standard line, it can’t be a one-way street. There has to be give and take.
There are a lot of people for whom traditional church is a lifeline. It is easy to forget that – and it is important to remember that.
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