Yet they will continue creepy temple dedication pageants. Nothing screams cult like marching youth in matching t-shirts worshiping old men sitting on thrones in their white Colonel Sanders suits.
I lived in Manti for years. The Church was not a fan of the pageant and was always wanting to abandon it. The locals loved it though and the Church always caved in.
No more HT/VT, and familiar class/quorum structures.
No more pageants etc.
Members will be missing a lot of the fundamental emotional and cultural attachments that they grew up with. Attachment and identification are far more important to people than the church may realize.
Being an old fart, I remember when a live actor stood on top of the Manti Temple playing Moroni. (Hey, I seriously wanted to do that). A couple of years later, the scene was changed so an actor stood on top of a set that looked like the top of a temple. The set was on the top of the hill many yards away from the temple.
Why the change? Apparently, the Brethren decided that the temple was too sacred to have an actor, playing a part, using it as a stage.
Another time, at the end of the pageant, some kids started yelling, “Hey, it’s over, stop crying and go home!”
The only time I’ve been to the Cumorah Pageant, it was with never-Mo cousins. They, as did many folks, bring picnic baskets with snacks, including wine and cheese. Given that this was mostly a missionary activity, no longer ne said anything. Now, the not-so-sure Hill Cumorah may need to be cleansed of of impure activities.
And, apparently at both locations, pagaent-goers are great targets for we anti-Mormons to harass.
Of course, the real reason might just be the name—MORMON Miracle Pageant. The pageant-goer’s Boner.
...white glue, glitter and crepe were discontinued as Ward/Stake supplies. Now, members were asked to provide the necessary crafting items to complete the staging. Some members had an issue with that, and complained to SL, saying that if they couldn't produce Church pageants and theatricals they would stop paying tithing. SL said FU.
Some day 40 years from now some people will long for the good old days when there were pageants and home teachers and Boy Scouts and a whole three hours of spiritual feasting each Sunday.
The accountants did a cost/benefit analysis of the pageants and decided they were no longer paying off. Remember, always follow the money. Someone in another thread stated that he was going to start calling the church formerly known as mormon the corporation. That is the way I feel about it too. I have called it LDS, Inc. for years.
Yeah, I know that Manti will really feel the economic loss of this annual event, but those accountants can't be worried about what happens to a bunch of citizens in a town. They have a corporation to run. Ok, I know I am being snarky. I don't care.
It's starting to look like the leadership have realized that their golden goose is terminally ill, so they're just going to kill the old bird as painlessly as possible and then go in and retrieve any remaining golden eggs they can get before the carcass starts rotting away.
They don't want to let it die on its own because they won't be in control of the timing and may not be in a position to retrieve for themselves any unlaid eggs when it happens.
Plaid n Paisley Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I wonder if this latest edict will affect the > Polynesian Cultural Center?
Doesn't it sit on prime land that would do well with condos?
I was in that a few times many years ago (choir member). I remember it as a fun time and a great way for kids all over the Bay Area to get together. Immense social interactions, along with the interstake dances. Another example of local control of church activities. So sad.