How to Minister to those with doubts

[Anonymous]

amateurparent wrote:

A member came to me and said, “Meet The Mormons made me uncomfortable because those people were so different. They must be inactive”.

I think its a good thing members get out of their comfort zone a bit. The best part is…it is coming from the Church PR. I know the church does focus groups, and gets feedback on their material. I bet they know that while it helps to make nonmembers more comfortable with Mormons, it makes some traditional members uncomfortable, and yet they make the choice that it is acceptable. It says something about the leadership of the church…willing to stretch the members instead of always coddle them.

Of course, as we all know, there is General Conference for the coddling.

[Anonymous]

I have thought about this some more. SBRed, what if this was framed as a fireside type event where you or some perceived “expert” were to offer tools to help those with loved ones who question or are in faith crisis. At the same time those who question could actually come under the guise of being there to learn how to help their loved ones or friends and not be outed, and likewise priesthood leaders could be there to learn and participate. Just a thought – but it would open up new possibilities. I think something like this might be an easy sell to my SP, not sure how it might work with others.

[Anonymous]

I like the suggestion of putting on a fireside type of activity. Would definitely be a good forum to address general members as well as an opportunity for those struggling with their faith to know they are not being brushed aside and that we care about them and love them.

What types of things would be appropriate to address in a general setting like this that would be beneficial to a wide range of beliefs?

I think the most important part of the message would be that doubts and struggles with faith are ok. As members we should be kind and take people under our wing and love them no matter what. I think some of the scriptures the Givens use would be good (example of man in NT who said “help thou my unbelief”, D&C – to some it is given to know, others to not know).

Would it be appropriate to mention on-line communities (such as this one) to direct people to if they need a safe place to discuss their concerns?

-SBRed

[Anonymous]

I think it could be framed as “how to help our friends and loved ones who question” or even more broadly “loving the less active” (although we know they’re not all less active). TBM types should eat that up because it’s all rescue and HTW related. Certainly one way to help is online communities such as this (avoiding the anti and exmo sites). I think it would also be entirely appropriate to address what the most common questions are (BoM, polygamy, etc.) – and they are being addressed by the essays. That could be the attractant to questioners, who could easily hide behind the guise of being there to learn how to help just like everyone else. We know that many questioners keep to themselves anyway, but the general population doesn’t seem to know that.

In our stake sometimes the stake presidency will have fifth or other Sunday combined priesthood/RS meetings with a trainer on various subject. We recently had one on missionary work led by the high councilor over missionary work. Again, that might be a sell in our stake, with leadership roulette I’m not sure it would sell everywhere.

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