Changes…
Posted in: What's the Buzz
When I joined the Church, I joined a lifestyle. Not just a go-on-Sunday proposition like the previous churches I had attended. Latter-day Saints met for 3 hours on Sunday. We participated in Road Shows, church basketball and other sport “seasons,” marvelous Christmas dinners, Halloween parties, talent shows, home and visit teaching, and Know Your Religion programs. Regular “meet ‘n eats” were organized with well-staffed Activities Committees.
General Conference was an event. We trekked to our Stake Center to watch all sessions, and picnicked between sessions. Saturday evening Priesthood Session typically was the “best” session to which I cherished taking my sons and going to dinner following. Sisters met the Saturday prior for the Women’s Session broadcast, experiencing the same mother daughter closeness as the Priesthood.
And all of this was partaken of while flipping through our paper “quads,” marking them within an inch of their existence. I was a Mormon, and this was the lifestyle we lived.
Where did all of that go? And why is it gone? Or at least changed?
I am the first to recognize that sustaining our Church leaders means we accept the changes they bring about. “They must know what they are doing. They are at the very top of the inspirational food chain!” As we transition to the new Church 2nd hour program of weekly 25-minute Sunday School and 25-minute Priesthood/Relief Society, I am left to wonder, however, why most of the social aspects of this magnificent Church are being eliminated or altered.
It has been my observation that social activities are a primary attractor for non-members to the Church. I cannot count the number of times while serving in Bishoprics that our full-time missionaries implored our ward to have more activities at which to bring investigators – now referred to as “Friends.” We should be able to merely bring a friend to a Sacrament Meeting, where they immediately feel the spirt and ask to be baptized. Unfortunately, that’s not how it usually works. Hard-hearted folks need something to attract them besides religion. People who are “looking” are often doing so seeking a positive lifestyle change, which includes more than weekly church attendance.
The answer to why all the changes is of course Home Centered Church: organizing daily Gospel learning and living at home, reaffirming at Sunday worship what we’ve learned during the week, rather than learning at Church and perhaps reaffirming at home. With Sunday School and Elders Quorum/Relief Society now being held for a mere 25 minutes a session, home church learning becomes even more critical. (There will be no more Sunday School deep dives on the nature of Kolob!) Social activities and interaction are not eliminated, but rather refined, to more emphasize the Gospel, rather than the Church.
The overarching reason for all the changes is that Gospel of Jesus Christ is what matters most. Church is a current construct that gives us the opportunity to apply the Gospel to our lives. The Gospel is a permanent construct and will never go away. We have to create our lifestyle around the Gospel, and not have the Church create our lifestyle for us. Which means all the collateral stuff we used to enjoy no longer applies, or is not as important as we’ve made it out to be.
Is there any proof that the inspired changes are working? Is Church membership declining because there are no more road shows and church basketball? Quite the opposite. A record number of missionaries are currently serving. People becoming Latter-day Saints is increasing on the regular. Apparently, the inspiration is correct. Imagine that!
Everything changes, the concept of which I am not a fan. However, I also recognize that in order to not be left behind, I – we – have to change. And embrace inspired change, rather than lament what is gone.
Thank you for reading…
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