LDS Freedom Forum

A friend asks:
"Does any one ever remember hearing that one day we will not or may not be able to hold church meetings at our church buildings? In other words will we only be able to gather in small groups at a private home?"

I've heard that idea expressed a lot by regular members - sounds like it's time to research.... I'll see what I can find.

lundbaek wrote:A friend asks:
"Does any one ever remember hearing that one day we will not or may not be able to hold church meetings at our church buildings? In other words will we only be able to gather in small groups at a private home?"

I'm looking forward to it.

I can't find any official source for this sentiment yet though I posted the question on other message boards hoping someone else who knows might provide an answer.

One thing that occurs to me is that if our churches were going to sit empty in the near future, why would we still be building them?

http://books.google.com/books?id=6XQtAA ... 22&f=false

"He said that this government would dissolve pretty much all the laws passed by our legislature, and that the time would come when the government would stop the Saints from holding meetings. When this was done, the Lord would pour out His judgments." Life of Heber C. Kimball, pp 452-453.

MercynGrace wrote:One thing that occurs to me is that if our churches were going to sit empty in the near future, why would we still be building them?

Though our buildings will sit empty for a while, it does not in any way mean they will sit empty forever. In ancient Israel, when the people were wicked, the temples were closed. When they returned to righteousness, the temples were cleansed and reopened.

After the Saints first started building the temple in SLC, they were forced to stop because of Johnston's Army. Why did the Saints start building, only to be forced to stop? Why didn't the Lord have them wait until after the trouble from Johnston's Army had passed?

Really, who needs Church buildings? All the greatest prophets, including Joseph Smith did not need buildings in which to preach. He didn't focus on buildings. Temples, yes. "Ward" buildings, no.

There are a number of things that would halt public mtg's, even non-governmental ... maybe a repeat of a pandemic like the 1918 flu, where Church mtg's were suspended for a time. The people used Saturday Night Thoughts as a guide for personal study - articles that came in the Saturday Deseret News.

lost ark wrote:http://books.google.com/books?id=6XQtAA ... 22&f=false

"He said that this government would dissolve pretty much all the laws passed by our legislature, and that the time would come when the government would stop the Saints from holding meetings. When this was done, the Lord would pour out His judgments." Life of Heber C. Kimball, pp 452-453.

Thanks! I'm going to cut and pasted this onto the other boards where I posed the question.

Thank you, Lost Ark, for the link to the pares in question. It looks like that's as good as we're gonna get.