ah ha!

Just what leaders want!:

A method to gauge loyalty- obedience-conformity, because no one knows the real outcome yet!

I have to walk on eggshells and try to remain neutral, with my married-to-a-Mormon daughter. I said, "The Mormons changed their meetings to 2 hours, instead of 3 hours."

She said, "Yes." Pause...no other response.

I said, "Did they give a reason why?"

"No." Daughter walks out of the room.

No Mormon is going to tell us why. Just as they never told us why they changed to the 3 hour block in the first place.

I read here on RFM that the Mormons have given the same reason for both moves, "So people can spend more time with their families." Huh? This reason was bogus for the 3 hours, and it's bogus for the 2 hours.

I agree that the main motivation is to cover up the mass exodus of Mormon members. You can bet that the Mormons aren't doing this to please the members! The members come last. Here are some advantages for the Mormon corporation:

--The Mormons don't want to heat, cool, or light up their Mormon buildings for that long. The buildings are to sit on top of the Mormon real estate holdings, to provide tax exemptions, and that's all. They are not supposed to be an expense.

--One hour a week less wear and tear on the facilities. Well, two hours, now that Scouts has disappeared. (Zero wear and tear on the kitchens)

--It's more of an excuse for these buildings and parking lots to be vacant. In our neighborhood, there's only one ward per stake in each of 5 prime residential view-lot stake houses. If they meet for only 2 hours on Sundays, of course it's usually deserted. Don't question it!

--Mormons were not attending the full 3 hours, anyway. Mormon headquarters has forced families to drive from a far-away neighborhood to fill up our ward. These families were told "renovations" were being planned for their own neighborhood ward house. BTW, if a building is being "renovated" it can be vacant for a long time, with no questions asked. For example, the Mormons have a lot of temples "closed for renovations" all over the world, right now.

--The Mormons hope the 2-hour block will entice the members to attend.

--There aren't enough Mormons in a typical ward to fill all the present callings in Sunday school, Relief Society, Elders and High Priests (already combined), etc, etc. I always had 2 or 3 callings, at once.

exminion Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have to walk on eggshells and try to remain
> neutral, with my married-to-a-Mormon daughter. I
> said, "The Mormons changed their meetings to 2
> hours, instead of 3 hours."
>
>


Nothing like walking on eggshells for them. They get so defense with even the most innocuous comments. :-/

The LDS leaders are getting stingier and stingier all the time. They certainly deserve the grave loss of members they are getting.

My TBM mom asked me: "So, will you start attending the church now? They did the two hour block for people like you..."

I know my mom didn't mind the three hour church. It was her social life. All of her kids are out of the house and she doesn't work, so she has plenty of time. When I asked her if it was a revelation or not, she replied that I always have to criticize the church...so Idk.

to accommodate those who know its a ruse.

Right, that makes sense.

Your Mom can make a comment to you about attending church now, but when you make a comment it is criticizing the church. Mormons can make a lot of sense, right?

goldrose Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My TBM mom asked me: "So, will you start attending
> the church now? They did the two hour block for
> people like you..."
>

People like ME?

"People like me" don't belong to such loose knit disorganizations.

When I feel able to do so I can struggle through sacrament meeting. This is not all the time. However no way I can sit through three hours of meetings. Nor will I sit through two. My attendance is only because I have a couple of friends the are regular attendees. Othe than that I have no impetus to attend.

less re-cycling of talking points for 'sermons' (or Whatever they're called now)

Why can't they figure a good name for those often-dreadful member announcements / speeches that point out how righteous/worthy the speaker is?

The reason for the block time schedule back in the late 70's was mostly due to the gas shortage/cost. Going back and forth twice or 3 times on Sunday became very burdensome for many people and so they would just skip one of the trips. My ex was the bishop when this first started and we were thrilled at the time.

As the years wore on, it, too, became burdensome in its own way.

So, after years and years of the yearly rumor/hope that it would change, it finally did. I don't know exactly what finally made the old coots change it but maybe Russ or Wendy had a dream about it.

gemini Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So, after years and years of the yearly rumor/hope
> that it would change, it finally did. I don't
> know exactly what finally made the old coots
> change it but maybe Russ or Wendy had a dream
> about it.

The millions they will save on toilet paper costs.

My mom said that one of the reasons that they switched to two hour church because people are not wanting to become members because of the 3 hour church.
She also said that the church is becoming more home centered.

No. They don't want the church to become more home centered. They want the homes to become more church centered.

Good Point.

Everyone will be given a curriculum. This is top down ( church centered) not bottom up ( home centered).

Just guessing but I'd say the members only stay for two hours anyway. Even in my tBm days I'd see the bishop's wife leave early to start Sunday dinner and never return. If nobody is there on the third hour it's going to look pretty bare and the faithful will get disgusted and angry that they have to stay.

With social media addiction the members are probably getting their fix in their car sometime during that three hour block or going home since they are chastised for being on their smart phones in the chapel.

Pooped Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> With social media addiction the members are
> probably getting their fix in their car sometime
> during that three hour block or going home since
> they are chastised for being on their smart phones
> in the chapel.

Maybe when they blocked all the social media on their network they knew the 3 hour block just wouldn't work?

My TBM Mom sounded disappointed. She actually likes the 3 hour meetings because it benefits her socially. She asked me "Who am I to go home to discuss the church? Do you think your older sibling wants to hear about after working all day?"

I offered that she could discuss church with me, her apostate son, but she declined.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2018 05:23PM by messygoop.

Of all the nerve....you were being such a caring son.

Do they still have to find victims to staff the nursery now?

Or is that torture done away with???

I started thinking about my typical Sunday when I was at the bottom of the church leadership (ward clerk). My Sunday was just as bad as the bishop. It started with an hour Bishopric meeting at 7am. It was normal to push 80-90 minutes. I then had to meet with the rest of the clerks to coordinate upcoming "clerking" of record changes. Throw in data lists to print and it was crowded, busy morning in a tiny office before Sacrament Mtg. I couldn't doze off because Sacrament numbers had to be counted, then bloated and ultimately fudged. By noon, church was officially over. Then there was once-a-month ward council. That was a 90 minute meeting with gossip galore. Other Sundays found me meeting with the bishop to prepare his monthly ward report that determined the ward budget. Sometimes, I had to fill in for the Financial clerk and then there was the Priesthood Correlation; where the HPGL and the EQP would have a fight over inactive members and HT responsibilities. Whew!

So I firmly believe that the 2 hour meeting is to lighten the load from weary leaders.

What's with the talk of church being more home-centered? What does that even mean? Is it kind of like home-school, which a lot of tbms love? Home-church? I predict they do away with meeting houses altogether and make the members host sacrament at people's homes...because wards are shrinking so much. Bam! They can get rid of all of those overhead costs!

I mentioned it to one TBM friend. She said, "Yeah, they want us to place more emphasis on the family." End of conversation.

They HATE it [the old-current way]
It steals all their time
The new way, like the almost knew way,
It'll just steal MOST of their time
And energy, thoughts and emotions

Only thing I heard was why now, it's been 3 hours since I joined the church.