Last night two very nervous 14 year-olds showed up at the house looking for our son. They said that they were sent by the Bishop to try to contact the youth who never go to church and that this was the Bishops new idea of a Youth Activity.

And he has been invited to an upcoming hiking activity that will include a testimony meeting at the end.

So this is the new standard for youth activities? Tracking down their inactive peers, and inviting them to bear testimonies in a public hiking trail?

Next thing you know, they'll be forcefeeding the koolaid to each other as a fun missionary opportunity.

Did you take the opportunity to step outside and have a porch meeting with them, maybe impress upon their minds a few fun facts about the church?

With the elmination of the Activities Committee and the edict that all ward activities now have to have a purpose, sounds like this Bishop is just off to an early start. Makes ya wonder just how much 'fun' these activities are going to be...NOT!

Its not a youth activity. Its a cult activity.

Gone are the days of fun in the church. When I was a kid growing up pre-coBcontrol, I mean pre-correlation, we had fun activities. We had parties and dances and road shows. We went camping and on outings. Those days are long gone.

And you know what? I am glad. Kids aren't dumb. They figure stuff out and when they figure out the church is no fun then they will be leaving and the church like a lot of mainstream sects today will be empty halls with a few old people.

and replaced it with a Harvest festival 2 years ago. For years, the YM/YW have put on a big Halloween party for the Primary kids. They pulled out all the stops and everyone came. Then we got this new bishop - or maybe some command came down on high from the stake or COB. But two years ago, it all changed. No haunted house, no costumes allowed, all games had to have a religious theme like an arm wrestling contest called "Strengthen Your Testimony" and the fishing booth was labeled "Fishing for Truth" and you got a treat with a scripture attached.

Needless to say, the youth voted to skip putting on a Harvest festival this year. They did something else entirely for their fall activity.

Ugh we used to do the same thing. We would actually show up at their houses unannounced, and kidnap them to take them on an activity of some sort. Of course we thought they would LOVE it and have tons of fun. They never looked thrilled to see us and I always wondered why.

This was an ideal youth activity:

1--The activity must have a religious "purpose."

2--The ward members now have the responsibility of reactivating and fellowshipping everyone.

I was in student government at BYU, and I got so SICK of all these rules, such as, "The wards are to be the student's major source of social contacts and friendships." To heck with shared-interest clubs, social units, geographical clubs, all female groups, etc.
The students actually had ZERO say in how the school was run, and the officers were just sock puppets.

EVERYTHING was about keeping members active, indocrtinating new members, and advertising BYU and LDS. No community service or charity activities.

When I was in yw as a teacher, we did the same thing. But we had more fun I think, and took them treats and such and didn't say come to church. This was back in the late 1990's. But I never did this grwoing up, but that was in MI in the 80's.

It is so lame. I actually had fun in YW with the activities. Things had changed when I was a leader, but we still did some fun stuff. I would hate it now!!