Depersonalising our Chapels

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Serragon
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Serragon »

Church leadership has been depersonalizing everything, not just chapels. We have no real culture anymore inside the church. Consequently, most everyone has found culture in the world.

It is difficult for people to believe that up until a few generations ago, all of a families activities would revolve around church. This created a church culture, and then each ward had their own individual culture based upon their traditions and the specific sacrifices and contributions they and their ancestors made. The benefit of this was that it gave people a sense of community and purpose. You felt like you were part of something and that your contributions to that something were had meaning.

That is all gone now. One ward is pretty much like any other. Our buildings look the same. Our services are boring and the same. There may be a few different activities, but there aren't many of them because wards have very small budgets now instead of being able to fund raise and do what they want. There is no sense of community or purpose.

I believe this is the cause of much of our inactivity in the church. In my current ward, we have a large group of semi-active. People who consider themselves members of the church, but don't see any reason to come to church regularly. They show up once every other month or so. Church has simply become another thing to do instead of a part of who we as a people are.

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Niemand
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Niemand »

Serragon wrote: March 10th, 2022, 9:25 am I believe this is the cause of much of our inactivity in the church. In my current ward, we have a large group of semi-active. People who consider themselves members of the church, but don't see any reason to come to church regularly. They show up once every other month or so. Church has simply become another thing to do instead of a part of who we as a people are.
Yes it is. We've long been accused of having a McDonalds attitude towards religion. It's partly true. My Pentecostal friend years ago used to say all our chapels looked alike... he's not wrong. But iur members built our chapel forty/fifty years ago. Most of those peiple have passed on, but one or two are still with us and I remember some of the others... so it is their sweat and labour which went into it. In a real sense it was theirs.

When I go into the local parish churches - whether they are Church of Scotland, Episcopalian or Roman Catholic, they are all customised. They have stained glass, memorials, wee touches here and there. I have more recorded family history in other churches than my own, because I am a convert. We have a stake historian. He tries, but I learn more from quizzing older members.

Lizzy60
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Lizzy60 »

I am old enough to remember wards having a family feel to them. It was because there were gatherings as well as meetings. As activity chairman at one time, I was advised to have a ward activity once per month. I was also advised to get different people involved in the planning and setup each time, so I only had one assistant. I remember running out of room to seat everyone for a ward dinner numerous times because the activities were well-attended. We also had a lot of service opportunities. It’s pretty well-known that we usually grow to love others as we serve them and allow them to serve us.

Next week is my Stake (in TX) Relief Society Birthday Dinner, commemorating the founding of the RELIEF Society, an organization whose purpose is to provide relief, or service, to those in need. So today, when there is need as close as next door or down the street, especially as the world turns upside-down, what is the theme of my Stake RS annual dinner? What will be discussed? What is the priority?

Time Out To Love Yourself

JuneBug12000
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by JuneBug12000 »

Lizzy60 wrote: March 10th, 2022, 1:31 pm I am old enough to remember wards having a family feel to them. It was because there were gatherings as well as meetings. As activity chairman at one time, I was advised to have a ward activity once per month. I was also advised to get different people involved in the planning and setup each time, so I only had one assistant. I remember running out of room to seat everyone for a ward dinner numerous times because the activities were well-attended. We also had a lot of service opportunities. It’s pretty well-known that we usually grow to love others as we serve them and allow them to serve us.

Next week is my Stake (in TX) Relief Society Birthday Dinner, commemorating the founding of the RELIEF Society, an organization whose purpose is to provide relief, or service, to those in need. So today, when there is need as close as next door or down the street, especially as the world turns upside-down, what is the theme of my Stake RS annual dinner? What will be discussed? What is the priority?

Time Out To Love Yourself
(This rant is not directed at anyone, I could hardly stop once I got started though. LOL)

UGH!! Yes. Our last ward did a theme like that and had a special speaker/writer/etc. who was going to come "teach us."

The philosophies of men are no longer mingled, but have drowned out the scriptures entirely.

I can sum up my thoughts in one answer: it is hard to love selfish people, especially when that person is yourself. Who do you love and respect? Those that sacrifice and serve others? Than be that person and you will love yourself. Lazy selfish people do not love themselves, they are slaves to their own appetites and passions and don't know how to quit. Doubling down on selfishness will never make a person happy.

And I don't mean more stuff outside of your home. I mean take better care of your spouse, your children, your parents, your siblings then your friends and neighbors. Strangers, when the rest is taken care of and/or they show up needing something.

Sounds crazy right? But remember how Christ kept telling the gentiles he wasn't there to serve them and only blessed those individuals who insisted? He knew that if he got the Jews on track, they could help the gentiles as well. In fact, that was part of their specific mission after He left.

If we want to fix the ward and world , we need to fix our own families.

"Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets."
THE FAMILY
A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD

The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

This proclamation was read by President Gordon B. Hinckley as part of his message at the General Relief Society Meeting held September 23, 1995, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

randyps
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by randyps »

Serragon wrote: March 10th, 2022, 9:25 am Church leadership has been depersonalizing everything, not just chapels. We have no real culture anymore inside the church. Consequently, most everyone has found culture in the world.
I agree with you.

Times are different then when I grew up in the 80s and 90s and Im fine with it. I suspect the woke/cancel culture along with the internet bringing anything/everything to the publics eye is what drives these changes from our leadership. Did we ever think the temple ordinance would have been made public on youtube by some disgruntled members?

If what the leadership is trying to say is "live your own lives and have your own cultures in your communities, families, countries but feel free to come to the church's and temples to worship and grow spiritually", im fine with that.

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Ebenezer
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Ebenezer »

The church has an approved list of artwork that can be hung in the ward buildings along with specific instructions on where they can hang. The approved art happens to be, in my opinion, some of the most over-used and bland depictions of Christ available.

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.or ... houses.pdf

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Niemand
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Niemand »

Ebenezer wrote: March 10th, 2022, 11:25 pm The church has an approved list of artwork that can be hung in the ward buildings along with specific instructions on where they can hang. The approved art happens to be, in my opinion, some of the most over-used and bland depictions of Christ available.

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.or ... houses.pdf
Bloch and Hofmann's paintings are the best of that bunch. The Del Parsons' stuff doesn't do much for me (and in several cases, I can recognise which other paintings he's used for, cough, inspiration.)

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Niemand
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Niemand »

Right now we have a fight over a bush outside our chapel. A very little bush, which only comes up to my waist... if that. Facilities are keen to remove this as it was an unauthorised planting, as were the daffodil bulbs there. The bush flowers every year and looks pretty. It goes barely noticed by most people. It is not growing out of control, in fact it's very slow growing.

But the issue here is that it is not a regulation bush unlike the unflowering ones next to it which are trimmed into a box shape every year.

Would I be upset if it gets removed? A little bit. But it's part of a bigger picture.

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Silver Pie
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Silver Pie »

Niemand wrote: October 18th, 2022, 3:18 am But the issue here is that it is not a regulation bush
Extreme micromanaging. Sounds uber controlling to me. Can't have a beautiful little bush because daddy's goons didn't approve it first.

EmmaLee
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by EmmaLee »

gkearney wrote: March 10th, 2022, 5:20 am Clearly the message about not reading scripture in church has not reached my ward. However in my tech savvy ward it is now almost always done on phones.

Not following along in our scriptures during sacrament meeting talks has been preached in our ward for many years - a true mystery, and not something that I will ever understand or heed. Although for quite a while now, it's a completely unnecessary directive, because the vast, VAST majority of speakers never mention the scriptures, let alone actually quote or read from them.

As for using phones to read along in church, just last Sunday, the new 22 year old 2nd counselor in our bishopric spoke, and he commanded us to put all of our phones away while he was speaking (said with no smile or humor at all), and focus our attention solely on him (a little hard to do, as he is barely tall enough to reach the microphone without standing on the toddler step-stool). Good times.

As far as I've seen, only one other person brings actual scriptures to church besides me - everyone else uses their phones. Of course, the General Conference talks that are regurgitated every RS/PH class can't be found in the paper scriptures - yet, anyway - so to follow along with those "lessons", people have to use their phones.

As for quiet, there are three wards that meet and overlap meeting times in our small, 3rd stage building - so there is no expectation or thought or even possibility of quiet at any time, any where in our building. Our Gospel Doctrine class (which usually has 40+ people in it), for example, meets in one section of the gym with only a flimsy folding curtain that is drawn closed, separating us from the chapel, where another ward is having sacrament meeting - playing the organ for hymns, speakers talking into a microphone, etc. - so our GD teacher has to shout to be heard. And don't even get me started about parking. Some families have to park across the street in business parking lots, and walk with their tiny children across one of the busiest roads in our city to get to our building. But we're not in Utah, so there are no plans to build another chapel for our area, regardless of how packed our little building is at times - and we can't expand our current building or parking lot anymore, as it's boxed in by the busy street, and businesses and homes on the three other sides.

Maybe another "pandemic of global proportions" (Holland) will descend upon us soon (I've heard in time for the holidays, thanks, Boston Uni!), and we can return to having church at home where there is room for all, where we can read as much as we want from the scriptures, and the spirit is found in abundance.

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InfoWarrior82
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by InfoWarrior82 »

The McDonaldization of religion.

karend77
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by karend77 »

Serragon wrote: March 10th, 2022, 9:25 am Church leadership has been depersonalizing everything, not just chapels. We have no real culture anymore inside the church. Consequently, most everyone has found culture in the world.

It is difficult for people to believe that up until a few generations ago, all of a families activities would revolve around church. This created a church culture, and then each ward had their own individual culture based upon their traditions and the specific sacrifices and contributions they and their ancestors made. The benefit of this was that it gave people a sense of community and purpose. You felt like you were part of something and that your contributions to that something were had meaning.

That is all gone now. One ward is pretty much like any other. Our buildings look the same. Our services are boring and the same. There may be a few different activities, but there aren't many of them because wards have very small budgets now instead of being able to fund raise and do what they want. There is no sense of community or purpose.

I believe this is the cause of much of our inactivity in the church. In my current ward, we have a large group of semi-active. People who consider themselves members of the church, but don't see any reason to come to church regularly. They show up once every other month or so. Church has simply become another thing to do instead of a part of who we as a people are.
My husband and I were just discussing this:
the ward budget activities to earn money for the yearly budget- did some fun things
the monthly ward activities
the monthly Relief Society activities - crafts, services projects, etc
the ward service projects- canning, orchards

So many times to interact with others, build relatonships-

It's all so sterile now :(

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Fred
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Fred »

kittycat51 wrote: March 8th, 2022, 2:23 pm When I was very young (late 60’s) I attended one of the older wards in the Salt Lake area. In the chapel up on the stand was a painting of Jesus. Most would recognize it as being the popular portrait back then. I loved it. Even as a young child when in sacrament meeting it reminded me of who I was to think about and why I was there. When my dad was made stake President, Church headquarters told him to take it down. He wasn’t to happy about it. Most weren’t either, in the ward and stake.
When one worships the satan of the most woke, one never knows what piece of memorabilia will be offensive. Or not copyrighted or trade marked. Like the old picture of Jesus that was used world wide for years.

The new Jesus picture is copyrighted. May not actually look like Jesus. But it is authorized for use at fag parades.

The Q15 talk with Jesus so often that it simply slipped their mind to tell us what He thought about the picture.

"Thus saith the Lord" is so darn formal.

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Niemand
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Niemand »

Fred wrote: October 18th, 2022, 4:27 pm
kittycat51 wrote: March 8th, 2022, 2:23 pm When I was very young (late 60’s) I attended one of the older wards in the Salt Lake area. In the chapel up on the stand was a painting of Jesus. Most would recognize it as being the popular portrait back then. I loved it. Even as a young child when in sacrament meeting it reminded me of who I was to think about and why I was there. When my dad was made stake President, Church headquarters told him to take it down. He wasn’t to happy about it. Most weren’t either, in the ward and stake.
When one worships the satan of the most woke, one never knows what piece of memorabilia will be offensive. Or not copyrighted or trade marked. Like the old picture of Jesus that was used world wide for years.

The new Jesus picture is copyrighted. May not actually look like Jesus. But it is authorized for use at fag parades.

The Q15 talk with Jesus so often that it simply slipped their mind to tell us what He thought about the picture.

"Thus saith the Lord" is so darn formal.
They seem to be determined to go down the sane route as Disney. Annoy and alienate as much of their customer base as possible. The House of Mouse has Mickey, we've got that portrait and the second hand Lutheran Jesus sculpture.

If they see us as just cash cows, then they aren't doing a good job that way. We don't just go to church to "pay to play". We go there to worship God and to socialise.

endlessQuestions
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by endlessQuestions »

“I teach them correct principles and allow them to read the handbook and call Facilities Management and contend with their local leaders and wrestle with the bureaucracy until they are too tired to fight.”

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Niemand
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Niemand »

Update: was speaking to one of our stake facilities guys and he said a lot of this was coming from the top. He had the very reasonable suggestion of numbering rooms so that outside workmen could identify them more easily... but when he asked if he could do this, he was told that he would have to notify Salt Lake and ask their permission. 🙄

It gets better. We are a single floor building, so naturally he wanted to get a sequence of 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. He was told that all numbers must start at 100, so 101, 102, 103, 104. This is because some buildings have multiple floors. (The only chapel in Scotland I know of with more than one floor is Dunfermline, none of the rest have this AFAIK.)

I pointed out this is an American system. In the UK, the first floor is the first floor up equivalent to the second floor in the USA, not the level you enter from the street. In the USA and Continental Europe, the first floor is street level, but not here. We call street level the "ground floor". So they can't even get that right!!! Not locally appropriate.

He basically said to me that if he was an investigator now he wouldn't join because of all these stupid rules.

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Fred
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Fred »

Niemand wrote: March 7th, 2022, 5:37 am
tribrac wrote: March 6th, 2022, 5:36 pm Nelsons war on pioneers didnt end when he relented on the manti temple art work.

Rumour has it all the local chapels had their community heritage artwork...removed. Drawn by local artists, hung in ward buildings for 100years and part of the comunity....some of it highly valuable. And lds inc took it all.
It almost makes me think President Nelson is anti-Mormon... oh wait, he is, by his own admission.

Can't have our own heritage or anything. That kind of thing builds roots and community, and binds the hearts of the fathers to the sons...
None of the Q15 follow Christ. If they did, they would not follow the democratic platform. One can not simultaneously follow two diametrically opposed ideals.

No democracy has ever survived. Ever! The only people that like a pure democracy are totalitarian satanists.

We must be ruled by consent. That is the purpose of the constitution.

Democracy is not a good word. It is two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner. It is mob rule and always ends in totalitarianism.

Anyone that favors democracy is simply an evil prick. There are NO exceptions.

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Robin Hood
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Robin Hood »

Niemand wrote: March 6th, 2022, 2:16 pm Had a conversation with an older member of our ward this morning about the depersonalisation of our chapels. He has been involved at stake level admin on and off for decades.

He tells me the chapel of one of the other units in our stake has a memorial bench outside it. The higher ups are demanding this be removed. Also that all artwork in our chapels is correlated, that missionary plaques cannot be put up on walls (but can be put on noticeboards etc)

This kind of stupidity has been ongoing for decades, but what a contrast to other churches and synagogues I have seen. In local churches of other denominations, other than the JWs, there tend to be memorial.plaques, original art, all kinds of things. In our local synagogue, which I've been in once when it was open to the public, there are signs on the seats because people rent them! (That's another extreme.)

It seems sad that our local members,.many of whom are dead or moved on, built our chapel, but even though it is theirs in a sense, it has to be homogenised and made more and more bland.
We have a cross on our chapel.

mtmom
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by mtmom »

https://trib.com/wyoming-man-suing-morm ... 5bbcb.html

Story from Tribune: "A Wyoming man is suing the Mormon church, claiming some of its leaders breached unwritten contracts with his grandmother, the late painter Minerva Teichert, about the display and ownership of several of her works."

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Niemand
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Niemand »

mtmom wrote: November 6th, 2022, 1:55 pm https://trib.com/wyoming-man-suing-morm ... 5bbcb.html

Story from Tribune: "A Wyoming man is suing the Mormon church, claiming some of its leaders breached unwritten contracts with his grandmother, the late painter Minerva Teichert, about the display and ownership of several of her works."
The way Teichert's artistic legacy has been treated is a travesty. I signed the petition to retain her murals in the temple. I may not be American nor have any pioneer heritage but she is part of our collective culture as Latter-day Saints. Shame on the Philistines who remove her paintings from chapels and temples. At least she is one of our own artists unlike Bertel Thorvaldsen.

Lizzy60
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Lizzy60 »

Niemand wrote: November 6th, 2022, 2:11 pm
mtmom wrote: November 6th, 2022, 1:55 pm https://trib.com/wyoming-man-suing-morm ... 5bbcb.html

Story from Tribune: "A Wyoming man is suing the Mormon church, claiming some of its leaders breached unwritten contracts with his grandmother, the late painter Minerva Teichert, about the display and ownership of several of her works."
The way Teichert's artistic legacy has been treated is a travesty. I signed the petition to retain her murals in the temple. I may not be American nor have any pioneer heritage but she is part of our collective culture as Latter-day Saints. Shame on the Philistines who remove her paintings from chapels and temples. At least she is one of our own artists unlike Bertel Thorvaldsen.
I have a friend whose relative assisted Sister Teichert when she painted the Manti Temple murals. She gifted him a couple of her paintings which his family still owns. They have been pressured numerous times over the years to donate them to the Church, but thankfully they never did. Who knows where those paintings would be now?

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Fred
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Fred »

Ebenezer wrote: March 10th, 2022, 11:25 pm The church has an approved list of artwork that can be hung in the ward buildings along with specific instructions on where they can hang. The approved art happens to be, in my opinion, some of the most over-used and bland depictions of Christ available.

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.or ... houses.pdf
Centralized control. Lack of freedom. Lack of individuality. Forced compliance. All signs of satanism.

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JK4Woods
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by JK4Woods »

It’s meerly protection against copyright lawsuits.
(And we got to boil everything down to approved lowest common- denominator). The church having deep pockets, is sued for everything.

Most attacking attorneys, are just aiming for some kind of settlement. The church self-insured for the first level of coverage, and so they find it cheaper to settle very quietly.

Stupid stuff, like the roof color is objectionable to the neighborhood, or traffic on Sundays disrupts neighborhood meditation time in their adjoining backyard, etc.

Every settlement includes a tight NDA so word doesn’t get out.

We were told once we couldn’t use the kitchen in the building for anything but handing out cookies and prepackaged drinks. (Even tho there are two large ranges there and refrigeration, and in years past, turkeys were cooked for Ward parties, etc.).

buffalo_girl
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by buffalo_girl »

Is it really Church wide policy for speakers to refrain from using specific scripture as the basis of principles elaborated upon in a Sacrament Meeting talk given with the hopeful expectation that congregants might wish to follow along?

Yet, we can have GC - especially FP - talks quoted ad infinitude with devices worshipfully in sync?

Maybe that’s why I haven’t been asked to give a talk in low these many years!

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Reluctant Watchman
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Re: Depersonalising our Chapels

Post by Reluctant Watchman »

Teancum wrote: March 10th, 2022, 9:07 am I have some thoughts and experiences on this topic.

I live in a small rural 'community' that was settled for agriculture and the residents today are a majority generational descendants from those settlers. I grew up in this 'community' and saw the community pride on display (I thought it was a good thing at the time). This 'community' excelled at everything they tried to do, from ranching, rodeos, sports, business of whatever kind, taking state championships in high-school sports, etc... I first noticed an inkling of a problem when the local ward grew too big and needed to be split. I saw some of those people resent being put into a 'local community' second ward, saying 'local community' wasn't second at anything. Then the inevitable rivalry began between the two wards with each one looking down with pride on the other. Outsiders were not really included as they didn't have skin in the game, and were generally informed about it. The trophy cases outside the chapels were brim with the awards and achievements of each ward's youth, scouting, missions, members' high ranking genealogy, etc. If one couldn't be the best at one thing then some other category was on display to show how they were the best.

I visited a small ward in a town across the state where I arrived early, picked a seat on the back row and waited for sacrament meeting to start. Families came in and one family sat right in front of me. Their young son kept looking back at me in obvious displeasure, glaring at me, and expecting me to do something because of it. I just figured it was because I was someone new in this very small ward (probably should have been a branch). Finally, after not getting me to do whatever he wanted, he turned to higher power and complained to his mom that I was taking their seat. The mom told him that it was okay, but he clearly wasn't having any of it, still occasionally turning and glaring at me throughout the meeting.

I can see how new members or even members who move into a ward have a difficult enough time feeling included without all the extra expected culture that seems to be included by default.
When we attended, we made it a point to move around the chapel.

I remember vividly one new ward where we sat on a bench and got the stink eye from a few people. After the meeting, a nice elderly lady, in a joking tone, said that we had taken the pew of the "golden girls." A row unofficially designated for the widows in the ward. We never sat in that pew again. :)

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