My BF "Bob" sits on the board of a very small non-profit, "New Horizons", that runs 2 transitional houses - a men's house and a women's house.

The residents of New Horizons have had problems with any number of issues such as: addiction, abuse, incarceration, homelessness, and/or mental illness. New Horizons provides low rent (which includes utilies) to its residents and generous donations from individuals, local businesses, and Christian Churches. (New Horizons was originally founded as a non-denominational Christian charity. The founder died several years ago and the organization nearly folded. The direction now is one of being ecumenical rather than just Christian)

Bob just mentioned that the local LDS Ward reached out to the New Horizons board and offered to "adopt" it for a few months or so. I became alarmed when Bob told me of this "offer" because I believe there will be strings attached. After all, Mormons are masters at proselytizing and the Church's mission is all about trying to convert others.

The residents of the New Horizons houses are vulnerable individuals and who are not good at making wise life choices. I am afraid that the church members will take advantage of the residents, especially the women, and use this as a recruiting opportunity. I told Bob to warn the board about this seemingly innocent "offer" to help because I don't trust the Church. (I was recruited as a naive teenage because I was vulnerable.)

My question to all of you is: What are the chances that the Mormon church members will use this as a conversion opportunity? Or will they simply donate some useful items and leave our residents alone?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2015 02:44AM by pinkpilgrim.

TBM's will use anything at all as a conversion opportunity. They are instructed to do so. They actively seek out people who are feeling vulnerable, in order to get convert numbers. (Unless they think that they can get rich, secure, happy, well-adjusted people to convert. How often does that happen?)

If I were in your place, I'd make make it a policy that no group is allowed to proselytize while acting as volunteers or donors. And I'd watch for it. Some may try to counter that with arguments about freedom of religion and freedom of speech. However, those freedoms are limited, as are all freedoms. And one realistic limitation is that probably no-one who is one of your group's residents needs to have an active cult, known for preying on vulnerable people, trying to get them to join.

I would be uncomfortable if members of the church began showing up at the women's house because it would be too easy for TBMs to meet the women, share their testimonies, and then try to "love them into the church" (some of the women are lesbians so that could present a problem!).

The chances that the ward missionary people will be in charge of their partnership with your BF's organization are 100% or higher.

There is absolutely nothing in the ward budget for giving aid to the organization; it'll just be bodies and they'll have mouths attached and the mouths will yap, yap, yap about Joseph Smith and the B of M.

I agree about them just writing a check rather than showing up to chat with the residents.

It could be kind of entertaining if the missionaries/mormons showed up at the men's house because all of those guys have either been in jail, prison, or both, and have extensive drug/alcohol issues - they are not "soft" or pliable the way the average prospect might be. Some of the men might tell the mormons to go to hell or somewhere like that!

Oh yeah, Pinkpilgrim, you have good reasons to be concerned.

The Mormon ward wants to "ADOPT" your charity for a few months?" What's this? LDS wants to take over. It wants to be in full charge of New Horizons. It wants to be free to bring cameras in there, and put on those yellow "Mormon" tee shirts, and film some free publicity. Just like they did after Hurricane Katrina.

"Adopt" does not mean "Donate"!!

Why don't they just write a check, like some other church or charitable organization would do? That's what my group does. We come up with our own fund-raiser, pay for everything, advertise it, support it, and after the funds are received, we give them to the recipients--usually inner-city schools. That's what "donating" is. Why can't the Mormon church just be normal? It's always working out the angles, being on the take. Well, it's a cult, that's why.

The Mormons could have a "service project" in New Horizons, such as cleaning up the grounds after winter, painting the walls, doing minor repairs, cleaning toilets (Mormons like to do that) organizing a coat or blanket drive. The Mormons could have their youth visit and play games or read to the people who need companionship. How about food? Mormons could make meals.

Tell the Mormons that they are welcome to donate and help out--but not "Adopt" and take over the operation and claim it as their own. New Horizons needs to be a responsible care-taker, and protect their charges from CULTS.

These just wont be strings attached, but strings woven into ropes, nailed, stapled, and surgically fused on.

The mormon church see's every action in terms of "missionary work"

I wouldnt be surprised if the missionaries themselves showed up to "help" do "service"

I agree - every new situation is a potential conversion opportunity for the TBMs.

I need to get the message to the board that this is a cult, not a regular church - a cult that wants to control them, just like the controlling boyfriends, husbands and partners the women have had.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2015 03:46AM by Pink Pilgrim.

What's ironic about Bob is that his dad was raised Mormon and Bob was born in Salt Lake City! Lucky for Bob, his father walked away from the church (never went on a mission) and Bob's mother had zero interest in the LDS church.

Bob's aunt has stayed in the church, married LDS, and had about 8 kids, 24 grandkids, and so on. And all of her offspring are faithful! This family is extremely bright - the men are all doctors and highly regarded neurosurgeons. It's a wonder that they could actually believe the ridiculous stories spun by Joseph Smith. Bob, too, wonders how his brilliant aunt, uncle, and cousins can buy the racist, sexist, and anti-gay crap - along with the "Prophet's" gold plates tale.

Bob's aunt died last year and she wouldn't be pleased to know Bob will be reading our comments!

I'm going to be sort of a contrarian here. *Sort of.*

Yes, there will be strings. Thick steel cables, actually. But I don't think it has to be missionary-oriented.

The mission and the ward have different priorities. If the missionaries were taking the lead, then of course they would be interested in conversion. The mission mindset is strictly dunk & ditch, then leave the cleanup to the ward.

But it looks like the ward is calling the shots. The ward wants stable people to pay tithing and fill callings, and that's not going to happen at New Horizons. I'd say that the ward does *not* want NH denizens to join them.

Instead, what the ward wants is a good old PR opportunity for the church, nothing more. I suspect that they want to donate some spare items in kind to the center; maybe some of their hygiene kits and some clothing that would otherwise have gone to Desperate Industries. Absolutely no cash.

Then they will demand their "generous" donation to be loudly trumpeted to all who will hear, preferably accompanied by prominent photos to all who will see. They will expect to be publicly praised by NH as if they had paid for the center's entire annual operating budget. In short, they want PR far in excess of their actual contribution, so the world can see just how super awesome the church is.

That will be the steel cable attached to the so-called help.

Let the righteous ward know they ALL must have extensive background checks to rule out sexual predators or criminals of any sort from contacting anyone at New Horizons. That will rule out some Mormons right away. Not kidding.

Outreaches like this offer both proselytizing and PR opportunities for the church. Sometimes they can kill two birds with these outreaches.

The Presbyterians took note of some local LDS missionaries doing public service in their community, and they republished a nice write up from Peggy Fletcher Stack. The Mormons sure come off like just another denomination. The article makes the unbelieveable claim that, "The LDS San Jose Mission already had discontinued tracting. Mission leaders got the word three years ago from church headquarters in Salt Lake City: Find something else for these eager, young full-time missionaries to do.":

http://www.pcusa.org/news/2014/2/12/mormon-missionaries-find-work-meaning-community-se/

Your outreach will probably find itself mentioned in your local paper highlighting the magnanimous outreach of the saints. That article will be preserved forever as proof of TSCC's generosity on pages just like this one:

http://www.ldstoday.com/home/search.php?search=homeless&searchOrder=oldest



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2015 04:02AM by Tall Man, Short Hair.

I am on the board of a non-profit that helps families and that gets a small annual grant from the LDS church. There are no strings attached. They just give us money and that is their only interaction with us. But that is different than what is described here. It seems really unusual that an individual ward would offer to "adopt" a charity. It might be that they are seeking a proselytizing opportunity, or it might be that they are one of the places that has a somewhat progressive leadership that actually wants to help for the sake of doing what is right and worthwhile.

I think that if by "adopt" they mean they will donate items and pick up the tab for some expenses or provide meals, it might be OK. If by "adopt" they mean hands-on interaction with the people served, then I would be wary.

When I was an active Mormon I thought we should be doing more to help with societal problems. I decided to volunteer to help provide meals to a homeless shelter. I tried to recruit some other ward members to help, but got a pretty lukewarm response. There was one other family that was willing to help on long-term basis so basically the two of us did a meal for the shelter once a month. Neither of us had any recruitment agenda and, in fact, except for our contact person, no one even knew we were Mormon.

Lately, there have been some attempts at reaching out to other charities, but often the idea is to maximize PR or converts while minimizing the amount of cash spent. Mormonism simply doesn't have a tradition of providing for poor or needy outside of their own.

I would only accept checks and refuse any other sort of help.

Take their desire to help as a positive. Just firmly tell them up front that no proselytizing is allowed.

I also sit on the board of a charity and have considered these issues in that context when dealing with the mormon church. If they want to write checks with no strings (including no publicity for them), then I would accept the checks. I would take as many precautions as I think necessary to prevent them from using the relationship to proselytize, and would not consider the amount of their donations (no matter how much they're donating) in any decision to cut ties if that becomes necessary. I wouldn't put our volunteers or charity-recipiants in any position where they're likely to be proselytized to or love bombed (which means little if any personal contact). Make that clear to the Ward that wants to donate before you accept the donation. I have even considered adding a clause in the Articles of Incorporation to address how the charity can and can't be used in dealing with religious organizations.

On a side note: running a charity (no matter how small it may be), is a very rewarding method of replacing some of what you lose when you resign your membership from the church. I donate a lot of my time and money to what I see helps others, and I'm right there to personally assure that my contributions are spent wisely. Since our tax returns are open to the public, everyone who volunteers or who donates can do the same. You can build a familiar sense of community to replace some of what you've lost. You get to build a business that may some day be very big if you're successful. For me personally, it's a negative cashflow most months right now. But the personal satisfaction and contribution to something greater than yourself makes it worth it.

Adopt!? (for a few months) - chains attached...

Like most everything else in Mormonism (all face and little heart), no goals in sight (except maybe PR) to help real people all the time no matter what.

Instead, it is better to adopt them... then, anytime you want, you can quit them - instead of the other way around.

You need to spell out the rules, offer them peanuts, let them adopt by picking up trash (supervised of course), bring prepared or fresh foods (and leave with someone from the organization), donate a car to the organization (like you would an adopted love) or drop off cash in an account, etc.

M@t

PS- what elderolddog said.

"Adopt" sounds funny but it could be a poor choice of words.If the mormon church wants to help your organization via money or clothing, personal items, etc., I'd take them up on it.

That said, you need to meet with the Bishop to clarify what their intentions are, then accept, reject, or negotiate something that works for you. Just my 2 cents

You will have to set clear boundaries: no proselytizing, (define it-- preaching, teaching, leaving materials, etc, even if asked).
Then give them a list of what you need and have them give you the donations for your approval before giving to the clients.