Does volunteering in the Church "count"?

[Anonymous]

I recently read a book called “What you don’t know about religion but should” by Ryan Cragun, a sociologist and former member of the Church. His book is interesting for the data-minded but overwhelmingly negative, so I can’t really recommend it. (I knew what his agenda was going in but hoped for a bit more objectivity in the treatment of the subject matter…which was not forthcoming).

Anyway, one of the many points he makes with his intensive study of religion is that the “non-religious” actually volunteer more than the “religious” do. I was surprised by that assertion. As the member of this board can attest, one of the many issues we sometimes struggle with is the time demand for being a member. However, Dr. Cragun asserts that such volunteering as goes on in the LDS Church (and others) is not true volunteering because it “within the religion” and a comfortable sort of volunteering. It doesn’t cost much on the part of the volunteer. (He does ultimately and begrudgingly acknowledge that if you count ALL volunteer efforts, the religious do more than the nonreligious.) Here is a quote from the book:

‘

Quote:

Where do you think Jesus would volunteer? Would he spend his time with the converted, in their air conditioned churches, passing out pamphlets at the door or teaching little kids dogmatic songs of praise? Or would he spend his time with thieves, adulterers, criminals, battered and bruised ship captains and amputees?

Now I think he has a small point here but wondered if anyone else had some thoughts about this. Does the kind of volunteering members of the Church engage in on a regular basis “count”?

[Anonymous]

Preface:

D&C 58:26-29 wrote:

For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward. Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward. But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned.

#1: Actually doing something is always better than doing nothing. In that sense of course it counts.

#2: Doing something because you want to do it is better than doing it out of obligation.

Going back to the D&C quote. Many, many times I question whether the callings in church and the assignments made fall under the compelled in all things category. It’s a mixed bag, some callings are borne out of necessity. As far as compelled vs. free will…

[Anonymous]

Yes, it counts – and, sometimes, it is an example of pure love and service. Other times, it’s not much more than assigned obligation and shouldn’t count as “selfless service”. It’s much more about the personal motivation and effort than about the exact nature of the action.

Having said that, I believe, within our theological framework, service and volunteerism can be described in terms of the degrees of glory: serving “our own” (family and close friends, including church friends) is kind of telestial service – the kind even sinners and hypocrites do naturally; serving people reasonably like us but not in our closest circles is kind of terrestrial service – the kind a lot of people don’t do for whatever reason; serving people from whom we naturally would separate or for whom we feel a degree of revulsion (the publicans and sinners in our own minds) is kind of celestial service.

I think it’s hard for people to leap from their comfort zones into a radically different zone, so I advocate moving incrementally – expanding slowly toward the ideal as you become comfortable with “the next zone” until you reach the furthest zone you can handle, and cutting yourself some slack and accepting your best efforts, even if that means you just can’t bring yourself to serve child molesters and murderers, for example.

[Anonymous]

I know this is a huge departure from the topic but I didn’t want to create a new thread and since I made the comment in this thread I felt the need to post here. Yesterday I complained about having to attend what turned out to be 7 hours of meetings… on my Saturday.

One of those meetings, a 2 hour adult session of stake conference, was one of the most spiritually uplifting meetings I’ve been to since joining the church. The theme of the entire 2 hours was HtW, you may not know this but HtW has quickly become my personal pet peeve. This time was different. Yes, there were a few stray comments that could easily be ignored but for the majority of the meeting I heard message after message from converts about how the gospel had blessed their lives. No talk of numbers, no attempt at guilting membership into missionary work, no attempt to tell members how to do missionary work, just stories about how the gospel had changed people’s lives for the better.

At the very beginning of the meeting an older brother that was giving a testimony and ended up having what turned out to be life threatening health issues in the middle of his remarks. The entire stake presidency literally leapt to his rescue. The service they provided in the moment of his need was extremely touching and it truly set the stage for the entire meeting.

Now I wouldn’t have been there ordinarily, but I was assigned to give a talk so I was obligated to go. I felt incredibly humbled by all the examples, testimonies, and talks that were ahead of me in the program. I tried my best to maintain the same level of love that was prevalent up to that point. It was a hard act to follow. Still I’m glad I got the assignment because otherwise I would have missed out.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes, grace reaches out in unexpected ways and grabs you by the throat. I’m amazed, always, when that happens.

[Anonymous]

I certainly think it counts. I think whether it counts depends on the level of effort put into the volunteering. A person who only shows up at church meetings, gives opinion, and then leaves (when capable and needed to do much more, and has the time and ability) is contributing less than the person who volunteers in the

community and works very hard in and outside of meetings.

Now, does church volunteerism count in one’s career? I have found overwhelmingly that it does not. I tried to leverage my extensive leadership experiences in the church (stake, ward leadership) over 20 years during a job interview for an academic management position within the last couple years. The interviewers were not impressed. It was clear it counted for nothing in the interview. It didn’t count for a certification exam I wanted to sit for either.

Now I do volunteering in the community in a business-oriented non-profit. I keep hearing how it “looks good on a resume” and my students comment on my “extensive industry experience” even though I have only been leading short-term projects (about 6 so far) for about a year.

I do believe that much of our service in the church is church-oriented, and not “other-oriented”. I remember years ago when someone described FT missionary work as “service”. It struck me as odd as it serves the church as much as the individual as it increases the labor supply. I find that framing tithing as service, doing callings you don’t want (like cleaning the chapel), attending training meetings on topics you learned over and over again in previous callings — is not service. It’s labor for the growth of the organization.

[Anonymous]

I think dismissing church service out of hand like he does is way too simple. It’s like saying we don’t have any need for the rest of the hospital because there are “real” emergencies in the ER. It all needs tending to.

[Author]

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