What is your favorite thing about the LDS Church?

[Anonymous]

Have we done this before? I’ve been thinking about it for several days.

I want to know what your favorite thing about the LDS Church is! It can be related to the social or spiritual, doctrine or principles. Let’s have ’em!

[Anonymous]

I think the coolest thing about the church is the sense of community. When a person moves into a new ward, generally, there is a well-defined community, and it is pretty easy to get involved in church activities. (I know there are exceptions–but I think the LDS church does a far better job in general that other denominations.)

[Anonymous]

I agree, it is like an instant community.

So far, even though my beliefs have changed somewhat radically, I still feel spiritually fed almost every Sunday. I don’t think our church services feel very “worshippy” but I feel taught by the Spirit frequently.

[Anonymous]

I also love the sense of community. One of the senior leaders at my company was talking to me about what he admired about the Mormon church (he is a practicing Hindi), and he said that Mormons are like instant family when they change locations. They immediately rally around the newcomers, offering to help them move, provide babysitting, and be their friends immediately. He said that is a very admirable trait.

Other things I think are ingenious about Mormonism:

– lay clergy. While it’s also got plenty of downside, there’s nothing better at building commitment, community and sense of shared purpose.

– missions. Encouraging all young men and many young women to spend 2 years or 18 months of their pre-marital lives in serving and teaching others is a really ingenious way to build commitment, provide life relationship skills, all during a time when most people’s lives are preoccupied with selfish hookups and VD treatments (OK, maybe that’s being a little cynical, but I am thinking of some of my specific friends’ lives at the exact same time I served my own mission).

– family focus. While there are some points to the LDS family focus that might be objectionable (e.g. restrictions on women whether self-imposed or community-imposed seem to be an extreme one), the expectation that family comes first, even before church, is far more likely to lead to happiness than the notion that church or work or self comes first.

– oligarchical leadership. If you don’t care for one apostle’s rhetoric, there are 14 more to choose from that you might like better. There’s something to be said for having many different voices rather than just one.

– personal revelation & changing doctrine. Many find the notion of changing doctrine unsettling, but it is really only inconsistent with the idea of infallible leadership, not with a more humanistic understanding of what the church is – man’s efforts to understand and do God’s will. I love the notion that personal revelation is available to all members for their own lives. This adds accountability and reduces the authoritarian feel that the church has for some.

Those are just a few of mine anyway. There is much to admire, although every upside I’ve listed has a bit of downside and can even be a deal-breaker to some.

[Anonymous]

The overarching theology still blows me away regularly. It just is so freaking expansive and empowering and inclusive – at least in the way I see it.

[Anonymous]

just me wrote:

So far, even though my beliefs have changed somewhat radically, I still feel spiritually fed almost every Sunday. I don’t think our church services feel very “worshippy” but I feel taught by the Spirit frequently.

I love the community, and I actually miss church when I don’t go. I have no idea why this is. I perpetually feel like I’m an outsider when I’m at church, but I still like to go. I suppose it might be because I have always gone my entire life. Or maybe I am spiritually fed there.

Also, top candidates are the lay clergy (even with all its ups and downs) because of the opportunity for service, and enriching individuals. Also, on the whole, either the church makes great people, or at least there are great people in the church (not sure which). In either case, I love associating with such great people.

[Anonymous]

PRIMARY MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

I am sort of like Ray I think. I love our open ended theology. This is one thing that has helped me stay in the Church. While Joseph Smith did things at times that were frustrating to me, I see him as a radical for his day, bringing in all good things he could lay his hands on, no matter what the source. I find this intellectually stimulating, refreshing and very free. I also love the emphasis on personal revelation. We are our ultimate authority.

I also love the community. I can go almost anywhere in the world and find an instant “family.” Some of my most cherished memories of Church have been in tiny little branches in odd corners of the world (especially when I was in the Army).

[Anonymous]

You can use your mind and prepare or give talks in church and bear testimony of spiritual things, that is all I can think of, but on the other hand, you can do that in other churches, too. I used to think we had more knowledge, but no longer think that. What we know is pretty much out there already or has been for centuries and many members know little of the bible or it’s history, because of the emphasis on the BofM. I like the self-reliance preparedness training. Church storehouse is a great idea, again though there are other churches are doing things such this as food pantries/clothes closets and don’t limit it to only their members as it is open to anyone in need. They have great guidelines for the youth, I think that is a real strength and some of my friends have even asked for a copy.

[Anonymous]

My favorite thing about the church is it gives us opportunities to serve other people. That is where the principles being taught get to be practiced until we learn them. I think that is what builds the community aspect mentioned, which I also love (but sometimes more than other times).

I also have a love for the Book of Mormon. It is an incredible thing, and filled with words of wisdom that have impacted my life like nothing else, no matter how many times I read it. As confusing as Joseph Smith is and things he did and said, the Book of Mormon is an incredible accomplishment.

[Anonymous]

Heber13 wrote:

I also have a love for the Book of Mormon. It is an incredible thing, and filled with words of wisdom that have impacted my life like nothing else, no matter how many times I read it. As confusing as Joseph Smith is and things he did and said, the Book of Mormon is an incredible accomplishment.

I was just thinking this, too. I love the Book of Mormon. I believe it was inspired. I have let go of a literal/historic belief and grasped onto the spiritual/symbolic. Now I love it even more!

[Anonymous]

Yep. The Book of Mormon.

Whether one accepts the historicity of the book or not, the lessons for living as individuals, families, or even countries are priceless.

[Anonymous]

I love how the church has no formal theology with such absolutes as “sola scriptura” (Bible is the only authority) and “sola fide” (faith is the only salvation). Because of resistance to those, the church (as a Christian church) has been less resistant to good ideas from other religions and modern revelation. Such as:

[Anonymous]

Another thing I love is that we believe that we can find truth outside our canon and prophets. It may not be practiced very well, but the belief is there.

I think Joseph was all about incorporating truths he saw or found all around him.

[Anonymous]

1. Goodness

2. Belief in ongoing revelation

3. The Mormon Rap (anyone remember this?)

[Author]

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