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We had a lesson today given by the bishopric about every member a missionary. It was actually one of the best I’ve seen. We talked about how many people are offended or put off if you jump right to religion and to basically just make friends with people and not try to push them to meet with the missionaries or be over eager about inviting them to church. We were encouraged to drop the mormon lingo and use words like “congregation” instead of “ward” and even to say, “I’m Mormon,” instead of “I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” so that people actually know what we’re talking about. We talked a bit about using social media to share inspiring messages, mormon messages, conference clips, etc. We also talked about how the only thing a lot of people know about the church is what they read on the internet. The bishopric encouraged us to be informed about the controversies so that we can confront misconceptions. They suggested we set up google alerts with keywords like mormon, lds.. etc. to see what kinds of things people are reading about the church. I thought it was interesting. It could backfire I suppose, but I think it is a move in the right direction.
I definitely think being friends and letting them decide what they want to know is by far the best approach. Really, aren’t you at least slightly offended by other religions knocking on your door trying to tell you how wrong you are and theirs is better? I know the missionaries need our support, I’ve been there and I have a son out there now – but I don’t think we’re doing them or the church or our friends any favors by referring people that really don’t want to hear the message yet to the missionaries. I always answer no without hesitation when the missionaries ask that question and I tell them that if I ever have somebody they’ll be the first to know. I also think social media is a worthwhile tool because it lets others decide what they want to look at, how much they want to look at, and when, and they can ask a question if they want or not. It’s pretty low pressure. I agree with you, I think your bishopric gets it and I think it is moving in the right direction. I know there are people (non members) who tell the JWs to F off. I’m against that. They’re just doing what they believe in. We had a good fifth Sunday lesson about getting rid of barriers, labels, preconceptions, expectations, etc., that keep us from serving the community whole-heartedly. Our fifth Sunday was the usual “here’s why missionary work is so important, let’s spotlight the members who are doing the most, and here are some new programs we’re rolling out.” There wasn’t any fanfare music or glitter cannons, but it would have fit right in 
We’ve had “Hastening the Work of Salvation” as a theme for the last three Sundays (Ward conf, Stake conf, fifth Sunday) and I’m getting a little burnt out. If GC is more of the same, you will probably see a news article in it soon of an LDS father of two who lit himself on fire during a demonstration in a mormon parking lot. Just giving you heads up
:crazy: [edited to add crazy face instead of smiley face]
I’m all for the organic approach. Give people a reason to really want to come to church. :thumbup: Mr. Richard wrote:We’ve had “Hastening the Work of Salvation” as a theme for the last three Sundays (Ward conf, Stake conf, fifth Sunday) and I’m getting a little burnt out.
Maybe this sentiment is only held by a tiny minority, but I think top leadership could benefit from understanding this. If all of our meetings become motivational efforts to get people to recruit others eventually people will starve spiritually and have less of a desire to attend. As good as Yo-Yo Ma is, who would want to go to one of his concerts if all he did was play the same note over and over again? Or maybe cello music is beautiful in and of itself but why not present the entire symphony if you have one?
Variety is the spice of life. Different people need different things and focusing solely on mission work can be a real swing and a miss with respect to meeting some people’s spiritual needs. I feel like refocusing our meetings on the atonement would have the ancillary benefit of producing the results we desire out of our HtW efforts.
GC will be interesting. I listened in on part of the General Women’s Meeting and HtW came up. I imagine it will come up in at least one other session of conference if nothing more than to report on the success.
Mr. Richard wrote:And if the church really wants to bring people to church, first focus on primary. I know churches that have insane amounts of families just because they have an amazing program for children on Sunday. Or we could just make church organically better, and maintain our charm as being run by lay people and being somewhat dysfunctional. Fine by me, I prefer small churches anyway.
Yeah, you hit upon my pet topic. DW and I went to a program put on by the Seventh Day Adventists with free childcare. Eight yr old DD exited childcare telling us about how Saturday is the true Sabbath.
DW and I were mildly offended that they might take it upon themselves to indoctrinate our children. But it makes me think about how much of our primary time is focused on indoctrinating kids to be good Mormons.
1) I think the kids by and large don’t like primary.
2) The way we do it now requires a small army of volunteers that miss out on opportunities to be spiritually fed and fellowship with other adults.
3) I believe that our approach of teaching LDS specific concepts to even the smallest of children can alienate visitors that might be “investigating” with their family.
I once heard a pastor say that they strive to cultivate a welcoming environment where people would want to spend time EVEN if they aren’t initially convinced of the doctrinal stuff. I would speculate that our business model is the opposite.
Roy wrote:Mr. Richard wrote:And if the church really wants to bring people to church, first focus on primary. I know churches that have insane amounts of families just because they have an amazing program for children on Sunday. Or we could just make church organically better, and maintain our charm as being run by lay people and being somewhat dysfunctional. Fine by me, I prefer small churches anyway.
Yeah, you hit upon my pet topic. DW and I went to a program put on by the Seventh Day Adventists with free childcare. Eight yr old DD exited childcare telling us about how Saturday is the true Sabbath.
DW and I were mildly offended that they might take it upon themselves to indoctrinate our children. But it makes me think about how much of our primary time is focused on indoctrinating kids to be good Mormons.
1) I think the kids by and large don’t like primary.
2) The way we do it now requires a small army of volunteers that miss out on opportunities to be spiritually fed and fellowship with other adults.
3) I believe that our approach of teaching LDS specific concepts to even the smallest of children can alienate visitors that might be “investigating” with their family.
I once heard a pastor say that they strive to cultivate a welcoming environment where people would want to spend time EVEN if they aren’t initially convinced of the doctrinal stuff. I would speculate that our business model is the opposite.
AMEN!!
I get so frustrated that it seems that very little people WANT to be there. When I look around at Primary, everyone has this glazed look on their face that reads “HOW MUCH LONGER?!” I talked to the bishop about this and how frustrating it is to WANT to fed spiritually but to feel starving after leaving. WHY do we have 3 hour church if hardly anyone wants to be there for that long? Why does it seem that the members are for the church instead of the church for the members? Sure, lets bring families into this church so they can learn very little about Jesus and a too much about how to be a missionary. Doesn’t make sense to me.
Last night I was able to go to my first Interfaith Gospel Celebration. It was held in an LDS building and I was so grateful to see the church host such a magnificent event. There was an interfaith choir and then another Methodist church choir. It was different from LDS typical music and message, and I LOVED it!! People seemed so excited to praise Jesus and excited and joyous about their faith. My 3 year old niece LOVED it!! It made me realize what I feel is lacking for me personally; which is excitement about the gospel. I don’t believe in Jesus as the Savior, but I DO believe in “His” power, “Christ Consciousness”, becoming a new creature, bringing our Ego to the cross..etc. That is something for me to get excited about and hearing these choirs rejoice in Jesus excited me and I left in the best mood. I felt the spirit for the first time, in a long time, in a church setting. I wish I would experience that at our church.
It isn’t as if I never leave happy from church, I do, but it is from the people and how much I love them, rather than any message that I receive.
[Admin Note]: Primary can be a separate thread. Let’s not derail this one, especially since it is about a GOOD experience. Rather than start another thread I think my question might fit good here. I just noticed that I don’t feel that omnipresent “i have to be a missionary to everyone meet” feeling anymore. I feel I can look at others and feel love, but I would have to turn down a WML calling if asked. If someone is interested, I am fine telling them more. Just don’t ask me to go knock on doors.
I dont know how much of this change is just me making my own priorities or some reaction to my faith crisis in the not so distant past.
What do others FEEL about missionary work.
Mine is sort of stated above. I don’t actively proselyte. If someone asks me a question I answer it. Part if me feels as though I can’t really try to convert people to something I don’t fully believe in myself, and part of me never really was all that into the missionary effort anyway. Quote:What do others FEEL about missionary work?
I feel passionately about it – as a general principle of sharing what people believe with other people who are interested in hearing what people believe. Done with real love, understanding, patience and discretion, I feel it is a wonderful thing; done in any other way, I feel like it is divisive, dismissive, arrogant and not “godly”. I feel good about the current statements from some of the top leadership emphasizing each person doing whatever they can in whatever way they can, and I wish that message was understood and accepted by everyone – including some of the top leadership.
Yeah, I feel fine about it, but have had to redefine missionary work: rather than sharing my beliefs and inviting people to church, I engage in interfaith dialogue and promoting church service projects, and I do these for their own sake, not with intent to convert. Side note: Though my church is still missionary crazy, they have done a few things right: proselytizing is strongly discouraged at service projects, and we have monthly open houses at the church where we share our beliefs and values with those who want to learn more–missionaries are NOT allowed at this meeting
There’s much I could say about missionary work but I’ll try to be brief: Some people really, really need the church. Some people don’t.
I think a lot of the angst created by the missionary program of the church stems from the assumption that
everyonereally, really needs the church. The way forward for me has been to realize that yes, there are people out there that need the church. I will support that effort.
I like missionary work when it flows naturally. I don’t like it when it feels like a project that needs to be managed. This especially true when the full time missionaries give you a challenge to find someone. Then, want to follow up with your progress. (The same is true for reactivation programs.)
I do like it when the missionaries give me ideas how to approach my neighbors, etc.
Then, leave me alone to do the work. Or, when they ask me to go with them when they teach a
lesson to an investigator. In my opinion, like every thing else in the gospel, to be successful, it has
to flow naturally. Or, it’s a waste of time, usually.
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