Today’s post is by Zane Chartrand. When I was a missionary I once knocked on a door and after I had introduced my companion and I and identified us as missionaries with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints he welcomed us with open arms and invited us to come into his house and talk to him. We were thrilled because everyone else that morning had rejected us. We went in and were invited to sit in some chairs in his living room and he told us that he was really excited to meet us. I became...
Monthly Archives: January 2008
Do You Happen to Know So and So….
Have you ever noticed how small the LDS Church world is? It is not uncommon to run into people who know people you know. I’ve had several incidents in my years in the Church, some of which I considered kind of strange, in how and where I encountered Church members and found out we knew people in common. The first time it happened I was in Geneva, Switzerland on business and because I often drove into France from there, I would see the Geneva Stake Center on the way. Well, on this one particular weekend at the end of...
Bookends #1: The Screwtape Letters
Today’s post is by Terry Foraker. Welcome to Bookends, a new column where I give you a peek over my shoulder at what I am currently reading and hopefully toss out a quasi-thoughtful question or two. The other night I finished listening to the audio version of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. (There are actually two or three audio versions floating around; I recommend the one read by John Cleese of Monty Python fame. He brilliantly brings out both the pomposity and the sinister humor in the work; this recording won the Grammy award for best spoken word...
10 Things Every Mormon Needs to Know
In my view, the needed changes in Mormon culture do not require Church members to depart from their leaders’ counsel. To the contrary, I believe the most needed changes in Mormon culture will occur when Church members “catch up” with what the General Authorities have already told them. In my opinion, one of the most needed changes in Mormon culture is to eliminate Church members’ tendency to elevate the Church, its leaders, and its doctrines to a mythical state of perfection and completeness. The following is a list of ten things I believe every Mormon needs to know to...
What’s Wrong with the Creeds of Christendom?
After nearly 1800 years of silence, the heavens at last reopened. The boy prophet knelt before God the Father and the Son, who told him to “join , for they were all wrong.” (JS-H 1:19) And why are they wrong? I suppose Jesus could have mentioned any number of reasons for considering no Church His own. The loss of priesthood authority comes immediately to mind. The loss of the Gift and powers of the Holy Ghost is another contender. But Jesus’ condemnation of Christendom was instead rooted in their creeds: “all their creeds were an abomination in ...
Snack Time
My favorite time in the nursery was snack time. Oh, it’s not what you might think. I didn’t love snack time because I could snitch a stray goldfish cracker or vanilla wafer, although those were attractive benefits, especially on fast Sunday. But I liked nursery snack time because it gave me something to do. Something official and concrete. A noble purpose and goal. During snack time, I took the shiny silver pitcher and plodded to the drinking fountain. If I timed it right, and walked really slowly, that could last a good three or four minutes. If I was...
“Preach My Gospel” and the Ripple Effect
In 2004, the Church released the long-anticipated “Preach My Gospel” manual, replacing the six discussion manuals and the pink “Missionary Guide.” This was a major development that dramatically changed processes and procedures for full time missionaries. With it, there were many shifts in emphasis and priority, the authorized Missionary Library was altered, and in many aspects, the way missionaries study and obtain information was reformed.I think it is crucial that we understand the role that this manual will have in the Church’s future leaders. In about 10-15 years, the local leadership of the church will be filled with a...
The Delbert Stapley / George Romney / Negro Letter, and Modern Applications
A friend just forwarded to me this letter written by LDS Apostle Delbert Stapley to then Michigan Governor George Romney dealing with Negroes, race, the LDS Church, Joseph Smith, civil rights, etc. I know that Delbert Stapley was a very good man — so I’m not interested in piling on (now that we all have the benefit of hindsight). My questions are the following: Do you find it interesting that so much importance was placed on exact obedience to the teachings of Joseph Smith by Apostle Stapley? It seems like today we’re much more willing to discount a past...
The Mormon Times: Uncorrelated Mormon News from Deseret News?
What do ya’ll think? More steps towards openness in the church? If so, hooray!!!!!
Planet Kolob to Mormons: It’s not our weird beliefs, it’s our credibility
We know there’s a problem. Here’s how the bulk of us as Mormons see the problem: SYMPTOMS: Americans have an anti-Mormon bias which manifests itself on the right with Evangelicals who call Mormonism “non-Christian” (and who cost Mitt Romney the Iowa Republican Caucus) and on the left with secularists and atheists decrying Mormonism’s foundational stories as an obvious “fraud.” DIAGNOSIS: Mormons are “persecuted” by non-Mormons for their “weird” beliefs. RECOMMENDED TREATMENT: De-emphasize (or eliminate) weird beliefs. Explain Mormonism using highly-nuanced language, which we (as Mormons) believe will satisfy non-Mormon ears (“milk before meat”). We keep going back to the...
Yet Another John
I don’t know what the prevalence of the name John on Mormon Matters says about this site or our parents’ predilection for monosyllabic British boy’s names, but here is yet another John weighing in on John Dehlin’s invitation to turn this site into the mother of all Mormon blogs: Great idea! In fact, I began thinking that perhaps John’s ground rules for participation might not be bad to extend to active LDS Church participation as well. Imagine a liberal Mormon as Gospel Doctrine teacher, a fundamentalist in charge of the food storage committee, orthodox Mormons as nursery leaders, ex-Mormons...
Greetings from Stevo/Steve/Stephen from the UK….
Hey there everyone,
Looking to turn Mormon Matters into a Group Blog
As an act of obedience to Elder Ballard, I’m looking into the option of turning Mormon Matters into a group blog (like T&S, BCC, the Cultural Hall and FMH). Our slant would be:
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