This is a joke but can't you just see the day this becomes policy?
The members I know already go to other churches for every normal function of a church just so LDS, Inc. doesn't have to shell out any money back to their members. Yet they KEEP PAYING TITHING! All the money in tithes and offerings goes directly to SLC and dribbles back to wards at the absolute bare minimum. There's no child day care. No food donations. No community outreaches. No weekday adult Bible study. No help for the elderly. Nothing. Hey, that's what a church is designed to do.
Oh, wait. Mormonism isn't a church. It's a CORPORATION folks. My only question is why isn't it listed on the New York Stock Exchange?
Years ago several families in our small ward would get together for family home evenings, we would rotate houses. We also had a weekly play group. The stake came in and admonished us for it, we were to only be with our families on family home evening, what we were doing was wrong and that the playgroups needed to stop because they were also exclusionary. It was sad because this was how we all came to be close. So yeah I don't see this happening only because it seems like they only want members together under their watchful eye.
I think the church is against this type of meeting because that is how some of the splinter groups got started. Members meeting together outside of church and discussing "deep doctrine" which then led them to leave the church and start their own congregations. The church wants to control the message.
It is probably one of the reasons why the temple is not supposed to be talked about outside the temple (and their is no real time or place for discussion in the temple either). If members talked about the temple outside the temple they would start to realize that many other members are confused by it and/or are uncomfortable with it.
I'd like to send a letter to the "Lord's Annointed" at the top of the COB letting them know how much I appreciate that they don't encourage community outreach. I went to the local Methodist Church and saw the amazing things they were doing with youth, missions, charities and elders. It was fascinating and amazing that they were so united and caring of others. The church was warm, friendly, and accepting of all races, creeds, and gender "attractions". It blew my mind what a single church could do without contacting central headquarters. And the people there were actually HAPPY!
Thanks LDS, Inc. Your corporate mentality helped me find a real church that exudes love, forgiveness, support, and true joy. Whatever work you are "hastening" seems pointless compared to what I've found.
The local churches in the city I live in have a homeless sleep out once a year. I approached our bishop about joining them because our son's friend's dad is the reverend at one of the churches and said he'd love to have our youth join theirs. Our church building isn't located in this city but most of the members live here. The bishop was adamant that we don't do that sort of thing. My son did the sleep out anyhow, it just didn't bring our church any attention. Having four teens and one preteen I would like my kids to participate in charitable work but it seems the church discourages it, all my kids see is their mother and father sacrificing for naught.
I really think I want to start spending my Sundays serving meals somewhere or maybe working at a food bank.
Perhaps there should be a tax rule that 75 or 80% of donations to churches stay with the local congregation or ward (for building expenses, salaries, services to members and the community.) For most churches, that wouldn't be an issue. Only in Mormonism are local wards drained of funds.
OP said it was a joke. But you better believe when tithing money starts to dry up it will happen. They'll even rent out the temples if it brings in money. When money is God nothing is sacred.
It used to be common back in the day when local members paid a big chunk of the building cost. Branches usually didn't have the financial resources, so they met in schools, Seventh-day Adventist churches (which were available on Sundays), or in members' homes. I've had experience with each of those options. My ward in the DC area met in a high school after they redrew ward boundaries and the closest chapel became too inconvenient and crowded. It was kind of fun because we could skip class and wander the halls, discover unlocked rooms...
What's the big deal about that? They currently do that in some parts of the world, and even here in the UK they used to do that in some places. My grandparents had church meetings in their house when they didn't have a chapel in the area. There was a branch in my old Stake that rented out a school hall each week for their church meetings.
Maybe in Utah it would probably be shocking to some people, but in most countries in the world they'll be used to that sort of thing. Also, I think in some places where wards are fairly close, they'd probably just merge two wards if they had to sell a chapel off.
When I lived in California, the church had amazing *cough cough* foresight. They built a super stake center with four chapels, four gyms, etc. It was huge. It was a bear to get to with traffic, especially during the week. They never used it for four wards. The expected membership growth never happened. After I left, they tore down our nearby building and sold the land for condos and everyone had to drive to that stake center. I’d have been murmuring for sure.
wow, what a waste of resources. The Lutheran church in our town rented out it's space to support groups and people of other faiths. 35 years and still going strong! Members don't have to clean it because it's done professionally and they still have church on Sunday. Imagine that!