This morning at church our stake president visited the ward. He got up and spoke about how our bishop was very concerned that our ward will no longer exist in 15-20 years because of dwindling numbers of active members. He told us that if we don't want this to happen, we need to get off our lazy duffs and quit playing video games, watching tv, and working too many hours at our jobs and start converting people. One of his final comments at the end was, "You don't need to rest. You can rest in the next life. If you say that you don't have time to do missionary work, I know that you are flat out lying.... blah blah blah in the name of Jesus Christ Amen."

What a jerk! LOL

What area is your ward in?

My ward is in the midwest and yes, he said all of this in a soft spiritual voice with a very loving voice. Barf.

but let me guess, at least once he reminded you that he was "saying this with love", right?

Oh gees not more fucking guilt trips! If I were there, I would've quietly left the room and just stayed away until the meeting was over.

A dead ward in the future!!
Pop the cork of the champagne!!

Yeah, all those dead beats working to keep their jobs, what slackers they are. Forcing people to believe in Joe the 'ho and his crotch is so much more important than paying the bills.

Yes, pop the cork!!! Guess he couldn't imagine that some people have to work 2 or 3 jobs now to keep their heads above water. And although playing too many video games is harmful in my opinion, it may be all the kids/parents can do for entertainment since there is no money to go see a movie or be involved in a sport, or karate, or dance. Guilt trips would never work in most churches. Sad he did all that. Pathetic.

Sorry, I hope it's on-topic...
...standing in line to buy cookies I stared at a carton of camels for a minute. It made me think, gee, what ever happened to the iconic Joe Camel?
Then I remembered...oh yeah, he became synonymous with the tobacco industry's targeting of under-age smokers...and otherwise a reminder of the industry's abuses. He became the anti-tobacco community's best counter-hero. He appeared in their own ad campaign as sick or slick, and became an icon of sarcasm and scorn against the industry that created him.

On topic now...

So when the church whips its members with that broken-record do-your-personal-missionary-work, it's basically asking us to sell their Joe Camel brand to our friends and neighbors who have already been counter-branded to it. The public knows the truth about smoking and it knows the truth about Mormonism. We politely tolerate them because, well, it's polite. But your odds of success in asking your neighbors to join mormonism is about the same as your odds of getting them to smoke Camels if they don't already.

Well said amos2. You don't have to worry about me trying to sell their brand. I'm embarrassed to be associated with it.

Very well put!! Had a TBM on Facebook post some Mormon.org crap and this is how I felt. Anyone with a basic knowledge of the religion is not going to forget what they know about you (Prop 8, polygamy, magic undies) to hear your message. Same tainted brand with a new coat of paint.

+1.

well put.

I always laughed as a TBM when the leadership got up and told everyone to find people to convert because I NEVER saw them bring any non-member friends to church.

The people that say that kind of stuff are just a bunch of hypocrites.

Was going to post the same thing, but you beat me to it! Excellent point, though. You'll never hear of any of the Top 15 converting people, they will however counter that that isn't their "job". And we would counter that they are therefore not members at all.

I haven't heard of are authorities or regional reps converting people either. It's not in their job description either. Once more the marketing job falls on the lowest person on the totem pole: the customer, the poor members. All this to support lifestyles at the top. What a convenient pyramid scheme!

Hey, maybe the SP is just worried about losing his position of power. If the stake shrinks too much, boundaries will be re-drawn and he might get released! It must be such a feeling of failure when the leaders can't keep the flock from figuring out that mormonism isn't working for them anymore.

Laying guilt on the members like it is THEIR fault and that the members MUST do something about it is just a sign of desperation from the powerless leaders. Love the "Joe Camel" illustration about branding.

a defective product. Oh yeah, get out there and work harder to sell snake oil to folks who do not want it (and better off without it).

I wonder if they will ever realize that no level of effort, marketing spin, schmoozing, lying, etc is going to fix this mess. People do not want any part of the lies that are unwittingly being sold.

Hollands recent general conference talk. Didn't he demand that parents & grandparents put down the remote control & get their butts on a mission?

No doubt that kind of rhetoric is now working its way though the local leaders.

I thought I recall reading that only a very small number of converts stay in the church?

Congratulations to your ward! Keep up the good work.

I live in a total TBM neighborhood. Some of my neighbors mention that the ward attendance is down and the same members keep doing the same "callings". Also very few new memembers stay long.

That long? You have to get busy, M.T. LOL

Yeah, the SP must be getting heat about the numbers. He is blaming the ward when the "product" is defective. Why does he think everyone is leaving?!!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2011 01:37PM by FreeRose.

Oh boy. Nothing changes. The Big Dogs come out and chastise with love, in that GA drone! Ya. Right. That works.
The more they lose control, the more they tighten the screws!
I'm so glad I am not part of that nonsense anymore!!

Don't enjoy this *REAL* life, live in complete f***ing misery, endure to the end, and wait and see if Joseph Smith considers you worthy enough to start living in the next life, or maybe if you fall just short you can be his bitch and serve him for the rest of eternity... oh and you have to trust us that the next *MADE UP* life will be worth it!

Did he pass around coupons to go with all that free guilt tripping? It's idiotic talks like these that remind me of the mind job the MP and all of those important spiritual visitors we had in the mission field did on us poor schmucks. It turns people off and push members further away.

You should have walked up to him, patted him on the back and told him how special and spiritual his talk was. Then tell him he should keep it up. That ought to destroy the church much faster than the anticipated 10-15 years.

True, people are probably spending more time working at their jobs--if they are lucky! The economy has changed.

But--give me a break--do you know that many people who spend all their time watching TV and playing video games? Mormons like to accuse others of being lazy, offended transgressors. (I refer you to a recent General Conference talk by The Prophet Tommy Monson, himself.) If people just sit in a chair and stare at a wall, they have a right to do so, without having to explain themselves to their ward. This forced busy-ness and slave labor were my biggest problems with the cult. The Mormon cult can't live-and-let-live. A cult doesn't allow its victims a lot of time to think--and now they are blaming people's JOBS for getting in the way of the cult?

Here's a clue for that Stake President: maybe people are spending more time with their families, having backyard barbecues, bonding, watching football, taking the kids to the park, enjoying healthy exercise outdoors, having conversations while they do homework and chores together. There is so much more to life than the cult and TV! Mormons are all-or-nothing thinkers. They preach that anything not church-related is a waste of life.

Let the Mormons continue to turn on themselves! All of you are absolutely right, the fault is the Joe Camels they are selling, and not in the salespersons.

Amos 2, I will always think of Joe Camel, when I think of Joe Smith and the Mormons.

This thread is encouraging, because I like to see the Mormons turn on each other! Maybe there will be a mutiny!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2011 02:53PM by forestpal.

Of course, how many sp's do you know that don't have their eye on the the GA prize at some point? In the ambitious sp's mind, surely an underperforming ward in his stake reflects poorly on him personally, and must cast some doubt his ambitions being realized. Obviously he must call the masses to repentance.

Did it ever occur to the Stake President that membership is down because people DO NOT WANT to join TSCC?

It can only be caused by lazy members. If the SP keeps up his guilt trips the ward is going to cease to exist in less than 5 years!

I would tell him that if church happened to be more fun (as in the long gone, pre-correlation days,) more inactives might be inspired to return.

Tell him to bring back the road shows, the dances, the suppers, the book clubs, the hay rides, etc. Find an older member to reminisce about the old days and chime in with you. Tell him that since the Mormon church rakes in more money than most (or all?) other churches, and doesn't have to pay ministers, etc., surely the money is available to give actual service to its hard-working membership once again? Instead of going on real-estate development binges? lol

but... but... but... this is the fastest growing church in the world??!!

How many people has the SP brought into the fold in the last year? I'm guessing, ummmmm none.

My money is on 0. Guys like him are great at guilt trips and intimidation, but do not do what they preach.