FP news conference

[LaMachina]

You know, totally anecdotal and not a very large sample size....BUT...

I've spoken to a few believers about this press conference the last week or so and it seems to have weighed down some shelves.

Particularly:
People were a little embarrassed at how dotty these men seemed at times (while quickly adding Nelson looked reasonably sharp for 93!)

And people are not happy about Dieter's demotion.

[Reuben]

A different take by Jesse Stay, who used to direct the church's social media (and is now resigned):

http://faithful.staynalive.com/2018/01/ ... hurch.html

So this press conference was significant. And they messed up in how they responded on the issue of women and gays. Of course they messed up. It was unfiltered. I expected that when I shared these ideas with the Church. And that's okay. That's the point - there will be mess-ups. Now the responsibility of the LDS Church will be to listen, reiterate, and keep responding, one-on-one, unfiltered like they did at this press conference in as many places as possible. This move was unprecedented, and I'm absolutely tickled to see it happening.

I think something major is happening. Will they dig in their heals deeper on issues like gay marriage and women and the Priesthood? I can almost guarantee it based on my experience there (maybe I'll write more about that later). But one thing I think we can count on - they'll do these things openly, boldly, and there will no longer be any doubt on the LDS Church's position on these matters. No longer will the Church messaging come from the Gospel of Mormon Newsroom. You'll hear it from the top person's and First Presidency's mouths themselves, in real time, unfiltered. And you can also guarantee you'll see more listening as a result.

In the end that's HUGE, and a really good thing! Transparency always wins.

I think he's excited to have an actual conversation happening. TBH, I can see his point. Actual conversation with church leaders has been sorely lacking for a very long time.

[wtfluff]

A different take by Jesse Stay, who used to direct the church's social media (and is now resigned):

http://faithful.staynalive.com/2018/01/ ... hurch.html

So this press conference was significant. And they messed up in how they responded on the issue of women and gays. Of course they messed up. It was unfiltered. I expected that when I shared these ideas with the Church. And that's okay. That's the point - there will be mess-ups. Now the responsibility of the LDS Church will be to listen, reiterate, and keep responding, one-on-one, unfiltered like they did at this press conference in as many places as possible. This move was unprecedented, and I'm absolutely tickled to see it happening.

I think something major is happening. Will they dig in their heals deeper on issues like gay marriage and women and the Priesthood? I can almost guarantee it based on my experience there (maybe I'll write more about that later). But one thing I think we can count on - they'll do these things openly, boldly, and there will no longer be any doubt on the LDS Church's position on these matters. No longer will the Church messaging come from the Gospel of Mormon Newsroom. You'll hear it from the top person's and First Presidency's mouths themselves, in real time, unfiltered. And you can also guarantee you'll see more listening as a result.

In the end that's HUGE, and a really good thing! Transparency always wins.

I think he's excited to have an actual conversation happening. TBH, I can see his point. Actual conversation with church leaders has been sorely lacking for a very long time.

Jesse may be excited, but I'm a bit shocked that he thinks they'll start answering questions "from the top person's and First Presidency's mouths themselves, in real time, unfiltered".

They're not firing President Newsroom, or the PR department, or the lawyers that tell President Newsroom, and the PR department what to say. Sorry, it's already back to "Business as usual" with emphasis on Business.

There's my "Prophecy" in writing. Prove me wrong LDS-Inc.

[Jeffret]

I think he's excited to have an actual conversation happening. TBH, I can see his point. Actual conversation with church leaders has been sorely lacking for a very long time.

I don't share Jesse's perspective. Or have much faith in his prophetic ability or insight.

We've only got a single data point so far. One instance of a press conference. No indication of anything more to support Jesse's beliefs.

I can understand his hope, particularly if it is something he had been promoting. He would like them to make these sorts of changes. He would like to see them taking his advice.

My prediction is that the FP will make sure this doesn't happen again. Perhaps once more when Oaks takes over for real. I don't see anything in the background or behavior of these FP members that indicates they would make significant moves to engage in conversation outside their protected bubbles. Particularly after the way this one was examined and critiqued.

Also, regarding the lack of high-profile excommunications, I think that's primarily a result of Monson's slow decline and lack of leadership. And it's not really very accurate anyway. Runnells' excommunication was just two years ago. If Nelson and Oaks do anything significant, I'd expect it would be tightening things down, not opening up a new era of glasnost. All these things don't inspire confidence in Jesse's insight.

[Jeffret]

And given how scripted it turns out the press conference was, I have little reason to believe they'll open up and be more unfiltered. Even in a situation that was supposed to be somewhat unfiltered, it was heavily filtered and scripted. And they still didn't come out looking terribly good.