Archive for April, 2007

The River

Published
by
Ann
on April 30, 2007
in Mormon
. 11 Comments

The last few weeks and months have been strange. Since John’s interviews with Richard Bushman three months ago I’ve undergone a drastic change in perspective. The specific segment of the interview that altered my point of view was when Dr. Bushman compared the editing process of the Book of Mormon to editing a patriarchal blessing before he sends out a typed copy. I suddenly saw revelation as available to everyone. I recovered Joseph Smith.

Many of the changes that have come about since then seem to have a life of their own. I haven’t made decisions really - I just do things. I didn’t decide to pay tithing again - I just started. I didn’t decide to seek out a temple recommend - I talked to my DH about the idea, and then I talked to my bishop, and then I talked to my bishop again, and then I talked to a guy in the stake presidency and now, somehow, for the first time in over three years, I have a temple recommend.

At one level, it’s pretty confusing. I don’t have any more sense of onlytrueness than I did six months ago. I can’t put my finger on anything about my actual understanding of the church that’s changed. But I’m not angry any more. I like going to church on Sunday. I enjoy picking the hymns and leading the music. Sometimes I like the speakers, and when I don’t, I just sit and let my mind wander. I like hiding in the stake office corridor during Sunday school and reading. I like going to Relief Society mostly, and sitting among faithful women. They’re good people.

There have been a couple of boat analogies kicking around the bloggernacle in the last few weeks. I don’t have a boat. I’m in an inner tube, floating down the river. I have no idea where I’m going. But where ever the river takes me, there I’ll be.

Yes and No…

Published
by
Russell
on April 23, 2007
in Mormon
. 18 Comments

I recently read that “a culture can be judged by what it says NO to.” We all know the long list of things that Mormonism (in general) “says NO to.” Hence the cliche “I can’t… I’m Mormon.”

But I actually believe it is more important to focus on what a culture “says YES to.” And sometimes I think it is not as clear or LOUD what things Mormonism says YES to, as compared to what it says NO to.

So I want to try an experiment and I need your help. Please share one or two things that Mormonism “says YES to” that truly resonate with you in a positive meaningful way. What does Mormonism encourage you to go DO? (not just refrain from). I am curious to see the varied responses from this varied group.

Rules for this experiment: Please avoid the NO’s, we all know that we all have issues w/ things, please avoid the temptation. For this post, I am only interested in what you think are the YES’s that make a difference to YOU. Think hard . Ready…go!

Why Don’t You Just Leave?

Published
by
Ann
on April 21, 2007
in Mormon
. 33 Comments

Last week, over on John Dehlin’s blog, Stan Barker made this comment:

Membership in the LDS Church is not like being in a club. You either accept the truth claims and uphold your promise to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world, blessing the lives of those around you, or you take the “other” path. There really is no fence sitting as many of you would like to do. BUT, rather than just walk away because things are not like you want them to be, perhaps it is time to get on your knees even more and obtain a testimony by the Holy Spirit instead of man’s WEAK understandings.

To put it politely, this is crap. Yes, that’s the polite word. This all or nothing, my way or the highway perspective drives out thoughful people who see the good in the church, and maybe even believe some of it. They read about and hear about the Binary Hypothesis and they buy it. They decide, “Well, I don’t believe it all, and I have some real problems with this, and why are we singing “Praise to the Man” on Easter Sunday? I don’t belong.” They go quietly inactive, or loudly apostate.

I propose the Open Door Hypothesis: If I am content to worship among the Saints, I belong there, regardless of my level of belief. For as long as I choose to stay, and as long as my membership is valid, this is my church. It’s mine. I will take what I like, and leave the rest. I am open to whatever comes along. I may not have much faith, but I have hope. I know the rules. I follow the rules I choose to follow, and don’t follow the rules I don’t choose to follow. I accept whatever ecclesiastical consequences may come from not following certain rules. I own my beliefs, and my behavior. The church doesn’t need to change to suit me. I submit to God’s will when I feel directed to do so by God.

To any who think that’s not good enough: tough. If you don’t like it, you can leave. It is not my responsibility to make you comfortable, any more than it is your responsibility to make ME comfortable. Seek the will of God for yourself. I will not presume to do so for you. Accord me the same respect.

Losing My Third Way Street Cred

Published
by
Ann
on April 11, 2007
in Mormon, Social and Spirituality
. 35 Comments

How far into the mainstream can you be and still be pursuing the third way?

Tonight I had a meeting with my bishop. I initiated it. I wanted to talk about getting a temple recommend.

I’m still a bit confused by the whole thing. I’m doing this because I want to. I’m not sure WHY I want to. It took me a long time to reassemble my present identity from the shards of my shattered faith. I have never considered that an aspect of that identity might be the desire to go to the temple. And yet, I think I might want to go to the temple. To do so, I need a temple recommend.

The conversation went fine. My concerns are with doctrine, not practice. We discussed the questions I was concerned about (four and seven). He said that the boundaries within which a member must abide to be able to go to the temple are more flexible than I imagine. We ended with him asking me to make an appointment for a proper interview.

I have friends, people I care for very much, who have taken a different path after losing their faith in the church. Some are out entirely, others are going along to get along. Will y’all still respect me in the morning?

Can I still be a permablogger here if I have a temple recommend?

“Wanderings in the quest…”

Published
by
Russell
on April 9, 2007
in Mormon
. 4 Comments

In 1915, Edgar Lee Masters wrote the classic, The Spoon River Anthology. In this collection of poetry, Masters tells of the individual struggles of 244 characters from the fictional town of Spoon River. They each speak from the cemetery–through their own posthumous words. Masters poems portray a town filled with hypocrisy and cruelty, as well as love and redemption. As I re-read this book, I read it through the lens of a Mormon Ward (instead of as a village). This microcosm is one of richness and contradiction. When reading I naturally identified certain characters with individuals I know—and with myself. The poem below is the one I related to the most…and it articulates some of the judgments, struggles, rewards, and joy experienced along the “Middle Way.”

William Goode

To all in the village I seemed, no doubt,

To go this way and that way, aimlessly.

But here by the river you can see at twilight

The soft-winged bats fly zig-zag here and there-

They must fly so to catch their food.

And if you have ever lost your way at night,

In the deep wood near Miller’s Ford,

And dodged this way and now that,

Wherever the light of the Milky Way shone through,

Trying to find the path,

You should understand I sought the way

With earnest zeal, and all my wanderings

Were wanderings in the quest.

Easter Posts

Published
by
Ann
on April 6, 2007
in Bloggernacle, Christ, Christianity, Inspiration and Literature
. 3 Comments

Have all y’all seen Kristine Haglund Harris’s amazing Holy Week series over on BCC?

If not, get thee hence. Here is Kristine’s author page. Scroll down to Palm Sunday and read backwards.

Also, Russell Arben Fox shares the Tale of the Three Trees over on Times and Seasons.

Lynnette writes about the complex power of Good Friday over on Zelophehad’s Daughters.

This is the kind of stuff that makes me glad to be reading here.

New Borderlands Article by Jeff Burton: “The Borderlander’s Gift”

Published
by
admin
on April 4, 2007
in Faith, LDS, Mormon, Mormons, recommend, temple and testimony
. 8 Comments

Jeff Burton, of “For Those Who Wonder” fame, has published his latest Sunstone Borderlands article to the web.

You can find it here.

My guess is that some of you will really enjoy this article, and find it helpful, and that others will be angered by it. I still definitely think it’s worth the read. Jeff has been actively promoting the “Middle Way” longer than most of us, and he has helped a great deal of people. He’s also a great guy.

I’ll also invite Jeff to comment here as appropriate — but please show my friend Jeff the utmost respect if he happens to stop by.

My Take on the Numbers

Published
by
Ann
on April 1, 2007
in Current Events and Mormon
. 24 Comments

A NOM/DAMU-ite who went by the handle “Colluvium” put together a spreadsheet with membership statistics as they were presented in General Conference every year since 1973. He didn’t weigh in with the numbers this year, because he’s been really busy recently. However, the data were still available in spreadsheet form, so with his permission I downloaded it and updated it with what was presented Saturday. I’m assuming that the aggregated data are correct. I’ve created a link to the spreadsheet and the charts on my personal web site.

The good news: for almost all measurements, this was an up year. The only actual declines are in percent ward growth (# of new wards divided by last year’s number of wards) and increase in children of record (fewer babies were blessed this year than last). Converts per member, overall growth per member ((converts+babies)/# of members), converts per missionary, # of missionaries, stake growth, and the raw number of stakes and wards increased more this year than they did last year. The number of members/ward is slightly (neglibly) higher than last year, as well.

I added a chart that hadn’t been done before, showing the raw change in the number of convert baptisms from one year to another. I don’t know if there’s anything meaningful about the number or not, but the change in the number of convert baptisms between 2006 and 2005 is the highest it’s been since 1993. Those particular numbers are really erratic, with changes from year to year as high as 62,000 (1989) and as low as -40,000 (2003).

The bad news: The growth rate of wards and stakes has been on a persistent downward trend since 1995. The growth rate of wards and stakes has been below 2% since 1999. The rate for the last three years has been higher than the five years before, but the growth rate of wards is just half what it was in 1974, the first year for which I have the values available. For stakes, it’s one third the 1974 rate.

The growth rate of members follows the growth rate of wards and stakes in the same period. The rate slide can arguably be shown to have begun in 1989. There were upticks in the rate in 1993 and 1996, but the rate of growth now (convert baptisms + children of record) is just over half what it was in 1989 - 2.85% vs. 5.40%.

I’m not a statistician by any stretch of the imagination. There may be a better (or worse) story in these numbers. The numbers are good this year. In another few years, we’ll be able to tell if this is the reversal of the overall trend, or just another uptick in the overall downward slope.