And then reality set in...

[Brent]

The lovely Mrs. came home and presented me with the November Ensign (complete with her name tagged on the front) and announced "this is our course of study for then next" year.

SO you will be able to have folks read from the manual all hour on 2nd and 3rd sundays.

[nibbler]

It's only a matter of time before the brethren are inspired to find a way to make Sunday school based on conference talks. Then all three hours can be about regurgitating conference talks.

IMO it's another cost savings measure. Conference talks have already gone through legal, the correlation department, and the translation department. If they came out with something NEW think of all the effort. Best to rerelease something where the effort has already been done and get back to more important things like napping or bean counting.

[deacon blues]

De-emphasize the Bible, avoid those crazy stories from the D&C and PofGP, read the BOM to kill time, and focus on those wonderful prophets and apostles. sounds like it might work.

[oliver_denom]

Can you imagine having the opinion that people should study your crappy talk instead of the bible, and then have the power to make that happen?

[Palerider]

Can you imagine having the opinion that people should study your crappy talk instead of the bible, and then have the power to make that happen?

Well, when you believe you're veritably speaking scripture (ala Bednar) the ego knows no bounds.

[Not Buying It]

It's only a matter of time before the brethren are inspired to find a way to make Sunday school based on conference talks. Then all three hours can be about regurgitating conference talks.

IMO it's another cost savings measure. Conference talks have already gone through legal, the correlation department, and the translation department. If they came out with something NEW think of all the effort. Best to rerelease something where the effort has already been done and get back to more important things like napping or bean counting.

Personally, I don’t think it’s cost savings at all - it’s shoring up the Brethren’s authority and solidifying and increasing their influence on the membership. It’s about power, not money.

[RubinHighlander]

It's only a matter of time before the brethren are inspired to find a way to make Sunday school based on conference talks. Then all three hours can be about regurgitating conference talks.

IMO it's another cost savings measure. Conference talks have already gone through legal, the correlation department, and the translation department. If they came out with something NEW think of all the effort. Best to rerelease something where the effort has already been done and get back to more important things like napping or bean counting.

Personally, I don’t think it’s cost savings at all - it’s shoring up the Brethren’s authority and solidifying and increasing their influence on the membership. It’s about power, not money.

Yup, this. Correlating the correlated.

[Corsair]

Yup, this. Correlating the correlated.

This is the modern version of scripture canonization. We largely have a defined set of acceptable talks and scripture that we can safely reference in a church setting. Anything new will slowly come from the top and older or unacceptable topics will be slowly forgotten.

The original books of the New Testament were established by how strong of an apostolic pedigree could be established. The book of Revelations was included because of a provenance with the apostle, John. The Book of Clement was a bit too far out of apostolic canon to be included. Today we have the conference issue of the Ensign that already has the approval of the current prophet, the correlation comittee, and the LDS legal team.

[RubinHighlander]

Today we have the conference issue of the Ensign that already has the approval of the current prophet, the correlation comittee, and the LDS legal team.

Don't forget the editing/cleanup of said talks.

[DPRoberts]

This actually falls in line with a theory that I've been playing with lately. It just may be that the Brethren think that they are the solution to the church's problems. That they have the spirit of Revelation and prophecy that is lacking in a lot of local leaders. Or that they are superior orators compared to what our normal Sunday fare is in sacrament meeting. They really believe that their messages will be more effective in carrying the spirit to the membership, and thus keep more members faithful.

Living in the bubble that they deny exists, they fail to grasp that they themselves might be the problem. So they'll keep prescribing for us more and more of the Brethren's talks. Who knows how far they'll try to push this one before they realize that it's not working. I think it has been a trend for several years now and we're just seeing it become more extreme than before.

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[Jeffret]

That makes pretty good sense, DPRoberts.

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[Red Ryder]

DP, that does make sense. They've even tossed the teachings of the Prophets manuals which supports your theory.

How is it the church's problems are so obvious yet they don't have a clue?

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[2bizE]

I think part of the issue is modern GC talks have already been vetted for content. Past prophets have said so many wacky things that they have lost some street cred. Stick to the approved dialog elder Cunningham...

[GoodBoy]

Why? Because it give the current leadership more power and control over people.