Brief Entertainment of Mormon Nostalgia

[Arcturus]

My DW and I have been talking about the concept of attending the Mormon community again for the good that can be taken, not at all for the truth. We both value our growing up in the church, but now being informed, see no reason for us or our kids to participate.

Anyways, I was a bit nostalgic yesterday as we talked about the question of possibly attending in the future. That night, my DW happened to join some of her friends at a relief society get together in one of the friend's wards in a different stake. She gave me a "return and report" on the event and we had a good laugh and it reminded us of how awkward homogenous Mormon communities can be and the lack of focus on weightier matters.

The topics for the night were roughly as follows:

- Nice Bishop of the ward stands up and says how awkward it was to observe Mormons in Utah "take the weekend off" for general conference rather than giving all of your time to GC the entire weekend. Implied how grateful he was that this is not the case out here in the midwest, where Mormons are more faithful. Said he wishes he could follow the apostles and prophets everywhere they go, even as a handbag employee, to soak up the spirit from their presence.

- Importance of Sunday dress. How to act in the church foyers. At what point it's appropriate to take crying kids out of the chapel. A sister attending spoke up and emphasized the need for sensitivity, to be aware that some people might live in their cars and their sunday dress might be less than ideal. Her comment was followed by an awkward silence. Unfortunately, my DW said this comment was likely the only comment or one of a few which Jesus would've approved of, and it seemed to fall on deaf ears.

- Modesty. Importance of garments wearing 24/7. We probably shouldn't wear tights. If you're questioning what to wear, ask yourself, how comfortable would you be if God chose to manifest himself to you that day and you were wearing what you're wearing.

- Importance of scripture study. Reading the scriptures lowers the power of Satan in our lives.

- Sins of omission. Pray to know what you're failing to do in your life that offends the spirit.

To say the least, after the experience my DW was reminded, and reminded me, one of the reasons why we stopped attending. Stuff like this, all too often... Reminded me of RFM's podcast episode on how Mormons are pharisees.

[jfro18]

Man... I can not imagine being at an event these days and being told that and not just walking right out the door.

And I think we're the only ones from the Midwest, so we are clearly more righteous than those lazy Utahans!

[Just This Guy]

If you are interested in church, why not tryout some other churches? You don't have to go for truth, just go for the experience. Consider it culture, like visiting an art museum or going to a play.

Living in West Virginia, I always stuck me as funny the ideas Utah people get about church out in the mission field. I can't tell you the number of times people from Utah would move out here, convinced that they were going to show us how it was done and what the church was supposed to be. They either would give up and move back to Utah within a couple years or they would stick it out for the long haul and end up liking it better than the Morridor.

[moksha]

If you're questioning what to wear, ask yourself, how comfortable would you be if God chose to manifest himself to you that day and you were wearing what you're wearing?

"Jesus, do you mind? I'm sitting on the toilet!"

[Arcturus]

If you are interested in church, why not tryout some other churches? You don't have to go for truth, just go for the experience. Consider it culture, like visiting an art museum or going to a play.

Living in West Virginia, I always stuck me as funny the ideas Utah people get about church out in the mission field. I can't tell you the number of times people from Utah would move out here, convinced that they were going to show us how it was done and what the church was supposed to be. They either would give up and move back to Utah within a couple years or they would stick it out for the long haul and end up liking it better than the Morridor.

We’ve tried a few churches. I haven’t been a big fan of the message as they seem to emphasize our sinfulness and how awesome it is that God loves us even though we are crappy people. Isn’t there a better way to talk about Jesus without always reminding us how crappy we are?

Granted, all of these churches have Baptist roots so maybe that’s the cause. I’d like to explore Catholicism, the Methodist church, Eastern Orthodox, and maybe the community of Christ. You have experience with any of these relative to Baptists?

[Just This Guy]

I can't say anything about Babtists. I haven't been to one of them. Their flavor of Christianity just is not something that interests me.

1. Maybe try Episcopalian? They tend to be pretty easy going and light on the sin stuff. More about self improvement. However, like Mormonism, it can vary quite a bit from one church to another.
2. Check out Gaychurch.org. While it is mainly about how accepting a church is to gay people, I find it is a good way to judge how accepting a church is in general. Gay friendly ones tend to be less guilt in general. It's not a perfect meter, but it is still a good starting point.

https://www.gaychurch.org/find_a_church/