Whatever happened to the church Bazaar? I recall getting some high quality handmade stuff. My parents bought some awesome quilts and knit items there. Hell, we still have some of that stuff.

I don't recall when it happened,(I think the 70's), but it seems TSSC wants to suck all the pleasure out of the "Mormon Experience".

Is it true they're ripping the kitchens out?

Our chapel has a sacrament prep closet on the table side of the choir stand. Taps, sinks cupboards and all.

Nope, they'll fill them from the ward member-cleaned toilets.

My mother was the RS president at the time, and she told me that the Priesthood wanted to take over the Relief Society. The women are no longer allowed to have fund-raisers and keep the proceeds as an organization. Mother's RS could keep all the bazaar money, and use it any way they wanted. It was always church-related. It usually went to the building and maintenance fund. One year, they updated the church's women's powder room. Several of the RS's would hire themselves out to major department stores, like Nordstroms, and Macy's to do inventory. The paychecks went to the church, so at that point, the Priesthood had control of the money. These days, the RS ladies should do inventory or use their talents for a bazaar, and use the profits to pay professional janitors. Women are much happier being creative, or working at "cleaner" jobs.

All of the money that goes through a ward simply must go to Salt Lake these days so that the Mall of the Lord can become a reality.

They were gone by the time I was an adult. One of the fund raisers my mother was in charge of was making recipe books from ward members. The one they made was 5 x 7 cards and 2 rings through the top. I helped my mother put them together. I still use mine to this day and I LOVE IT. It is so nice to look through it and see people who were my leaders, etc., in there and especially now that my mother is dead to have that.

We also won a shetland pony at one in the 1960s. My dad had a farm--so he had somewhere to keep it and our pony just basically ran around the farm for years and all the cousins, etc., took turns getting bucked off him.

They really stole a lot of the heart of the FUN social aspects out of the church.

Ok, I am REALLY showing my age here, but does anyone remember the Relief Society magazine? My mother had a collection of them going back years and years. When was that discontinued?

The RS magazine was discontinued and absorbed into the Ensign in the mid 70s.
The "New Era" and "Friend" and "Ensign" were created or continued in their present format about 1973.

Those old RS magazines featured women who had done things! The ones I read featured a little old lady surrounded by tin pans and tin ware she had punched holes in for decorative accents for the home; wall hangings, candle holders, dessert trays, and etc.

There was a lady featured with 100 of her 400 doilies she'd crocheted over her lifetime (she was in her 80s). Or the lady with hundreds of hand dipped candles.

They featured women who nursed or 'in home care for the elderly'.
Women found a place to feature their poetry and stories.

Their paintings were featured and RS classes on/in foreign countries. Articles on foreign time honored traditions; like flower arrangement in Japan. They had beautiful photographs on the cover and inside that women had taken of nature and cities and towns across the globe.

There were also cooking instructions on how to prepare food for a large crowd.

Also there were featured how to lay out table settings and decorations for a banquet. It was what you would expect professional caterers to do today.

There was music and how to conduct it.
Instructions on proper nursing care and coping with the challenges of raising healthy children, babies and teens.

Yes, the old RS manual probably had how to budget in it.

So it was by the women and for the women. Those lovely ladies whose wheat stored in their own silos that was sent to WWII relief in Europe rest in their graves now.... or turn!

One of the last things I did before leaving 15 years ago was put together a cookbook composed of recipes shared by the RS ladies. We sold 200 copies @ $15.00 each. I didn't think to ask where the proceeds went. It was really a fun project; I enjoyed it.

I remember the bazaars where the women worked 54 Wednesdays all day on quilts and donated items they made in their own time to the Relief Society booth. I saw a beautiful hand-made quilt sell for 20 dollars. And the pillowcases were selling for $1 and $2. It was really a pathetic insult to women's time. People would come from all over to buy the mormon's stuff becuase it was priced so cheaply.
And...for the kitchen thing. That's happening everywhere. You can't cook anything in the church and serve it. It's a health code thing. Every church. NOt just mormons.

"And...for the kitchen thing. That's happening everywhere. You can't cook anything in the church and serve it. It's a health code thing. Every church. NOt just mormons."

Why can't the mormons just bless they food, they themsleves just prepared??

Where's that Priesthood power when you need it????













Where are my car keys???????????????

A number of years ago, the church banned most fund-raising events by auxillaries. There are exceptions to the rules--like for Boy Scout things. Not saying it is always adhered to but I remember when I was in a leadership positon when this happened. Not sure if there have been follow-up changes.

Consolidation time aka Correlation took all of the individual programs away. Apparently, they were too expensive, too time consuming, too unregulated, too commercial, and they ran into all kinds of local code violations using the church for selling items.Same reason they don't hold voting booths in LDS chapels in most cases. Or so I was told.

Seemed reasonable at the time.
I had enough to do so I didn't need another project!

They can get away with a BBQ these days on church grounds for holidays , but that seems to be about it.

Bazaars were fun but very time consuming and a lot of added stress that wasn't necessary. Same was true for: Roadshows, regional Dance Festivals, etc.

Basically, all of the FUN STUFF is gone. No more balls, Dress up Halloween parties, live music, dances, game nights, dinners, etc. Church used to have some FUN elements!!

SusieQ#1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Consolidation time aka Correlation took all of
> the individual programs away. Apparently, they
> were too expensive, too time consuming, too
> unregulated, too commercial, and they ran into all
> kinds of local code violations using the church
> for selling items.Same reason they don't hold
> voting booths in LDS chapels in most cases. Or so
> I was told.
>
> Seemed reasonable at the time.
> I had enough to do so I didn't need another
> project!
>
> They can get away with a BBQ these days on church
> grounds for holidays , but that seems to be about
> it.
>
> Bazaars were fun but very time consuming and a lot
> of added stress that wasn't necessary. Same was
> true for: Roadshows, regional Dance Festivals,
> etc.
>
> Basically, all of the FUN STUFF is gone. No more
> balls, Dress up Halloween parties, live music,
> dances, game nights, dinners, etc. Church used to
> have some FUN elements!!


The thing that really pisses me off is thatI wealthy wards & stakes still have all of these things. It's the poor wards & stakes who don't, for the most part.

Tristan-Powerslave Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> The thing that really pisses me off is thatI
> wealthy wards & stakes still have all of these
> things. It's the poor wards & stakes who don't,
> for the most part.

There are wealthy wards in our local Stakes but none of these things have been in existence for well over two decades. This is So. CA.

What wealthy Wards? Where? I have never heard of these programs being continued.

SusieQ#1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tristan-Powerslave Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> >
> > The thing that really pisses me off is thatI
> > wealthy wards & stakes still have all of these
> > things. It's the poor wards & stakes who don't,
> > for the most part.
>
> There are wealthy wards in our local Stakes but
> none of these things have been in existence for
> well over two decades. This is So. CA.
>
> What wealthy Wards? Where? I have never heard of
> these programs being continued.

I'm in northern California. Right in the stake boundaries where I live, it's true, we haven't had most of these things in years either. But the surrounding stakes & regions? I know some still have Primary activity days, ward dinners, road shows, stake musicals, youth conferences, Gold & Green balls, etc. One of my cousins who's in the same stake, his ward does stuff all the time, compared to my mom's ward.

Recently, my mom's stake did a pageant, & it was probably the 1st thing the stake had done in years.