Hooray! Maybe my TBM dad will spend more time with his family at home! My sister, my BIL, my 7 month old nephew, 2 year old nice and me!! And our furbaby POncho as well!!
When he went Hometeaching he'd be gone for hours on Sunday...
Anonymous 2 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hooray! Maybe my TBM dad will spend more time with > his family at home!
No, the church will create some other time suck. That has always happened whenever they disbanded a program and claimed it would allow for more family time.
I guess that means that when I drive past the house of the person that was assigned to be my friend and they wave at me, they won't need to run in the house and check my name off their list.
My experience when active was the men rarely did home teaching. I've had VT's more on than off where I currently live despite the no religious soliciting sign. They found a way around it, they mail me stuff and leave treats at my door.
I don't like the idea of this ministering program. In the past, I was the problem of four people. I hope to hell it isn't a lot of ward members pouncing on the inactives.
It’s actually an inspired idea. Reports knocked down to four times a year, no recited message from the Ensign, no required number of visits per quarter, and best yet...no requirement as to how contact is made. Some quick phone calls are going to result in some great percentages.
If reports are required 4 times a year, it seems the same as "home teaching" just relabeled. Who are they reporting on? They have to be assigned someone or something to report on. Just who are they supposed to be ministering to?
I'm thinking that they will send the missionaries to visit the members. First, it will give them something to do rather than popping wheelies all day. Second, it will push members to push religion onto their non members' friends.
If it looks like the LDS church is cutting back on spying, don't forget their database on members. They can track every purchase and everything said on social media.
I think they have a serious labor and burnout problem with members. Easing up on forced socializing might be helpful for retaining introverted members--which the church has really screwed up in the past.
Use of the word ministering suggests an attempt at mainstreaming. Make no mistake, they are on their heels.
As an introvert, visiting teaching was so painful for me that I only went about five times in the 12+ years I was in Relief Society. And that's only cause my companion forced me to. I always thought that visiting teaching was extremely phony and I even told a member of the Relief Society presidency that. I told them that they require women to come visit me, who would've otherwise shown no interest in me before, and then stop acknowledging me as soon as they move on to their new group of sisters. Oh and they usually showed up on the last day of the month, just so they can check that box. In fact, after several years of them trying to get me to go, I flat out told them to take me off the list, and they amazingly obeyed. They never assigned me a companion or sisters to visit. Although, I reluctantly let them still visit me, even after I left the church.
I don't think they're cutting back on spying at all. The article I read implied that there would be discussions about who needed to be visited and what was going on in their lives. Seems to be a ramping up of the Ward Council gossip sessions, so even more private business will be paraded in front of people with no training and no discretion.
They are just scraping stuff that never worked anyways. I think this is a test run to see in simplifying the church will make it more desirable for people. They are trying to figure out why they aren't growing.
He has been DH's assigned HT just about forever, and since he is a prolific reader and we have similar taste in authors, he usually stops by with a book or two for me.
He is a very nice old guy (older than I am, so I can say that) and I always enjoy his visits, even though I haven't had anything to do with the church for more than a decade.
There was no enthusiasm left for HT/VT, everyone hated it and few people had time for it.
The new "ministering" is a watered down version which will fade out.
Members who are "ministered" to will quickly realize that they are the designated ward project and resent it. Similar to when stake leaders would show up before conference to visit the slacker families.