The last time I tried accessing the church's website to get some information about where I could go and who I could talk to about attending church again (it's been about 20 years inactive) I came up against a VERY exclusivist "members only" website and I couldn't even get as much as a phone number.

LDS is a Christian church? When I was a full member the church would cram contact info anywhere it could fit. We were always encouraging people to call or write us.

Mormons reading this: nothing says "cult" or "pay website" (i.e. porn) like the "members-only" system you have set up now. This is Christian? I really did want to start attending again. Now, I'm with a church that doesn't hide it's contact information in the phone book, on it's website, or through facebook or twitter (the LDS church is invisible through those things now). My experience could have been different.

Church members, the thing is: the church has given me no other choice but to give up my quest to stop attending. This would have been UNTHINKABLE when I was a member and a missionary. I would have been seriously offended if an investigator couldn't find a Book of Mormon to read or information about which ward to attend. We were ALWAYS giving people these things.

Now, the (supposed) Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints has closed ranks tighter than the strictest cult. Scientologists and Jehovah's Witnesses are friendlier and more accessible now.

I would love to hear the mealy-mouthed excuse for why I can't find even a 1-800 number so I can talk to some missionaries about which church in my area I should be attending. I have to be a (well, active) member to have access to information on the website? I can only conclude that the church is a cult that is afraid of correspondence with sincere investigators. The church can keep track of troublemaking members online because members have to "login" and give their information to the church's censors if they want to access the church's website. That is not anything a church I would attend would do. I was right to leave the first time it seems.

This has made me much more curious about exmormon.org and criticism of the church. The church is much more of a cult now than when I was a tithe-paying member and missionary.

simontymoshenko@gmail.com (the name is pseodonymous)

You can still find which ward you should attend on lds.org.

Having said that, read RFM and mormonthink.com. You won't want to go back.

A lot of the older lds websites have been consolidated into www.lds.org.

You may have been trying an old local stake website.

Having said that, why all of the drama? Have you ever heard of the yellow pages?

Interesting insight. While lds.org does have a meetinghouse locater which is easy to find, most of the site appears to be directed toward active members (hence the login requirement.) Investigators are steered to mormon.org where there are options such as "chat with us" and "request a visit."

I'm glad that you've found another church that works for you. Most other churches treat you like an adult and let you choose where and how often to attend (without someone pestering you,) what time you want to attend, whether you wish to join or be baptised, how much you want to be involved, and how much you wish to contribute.

you have to contact the sales team before you have access.

kori Wrote:
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> you have to contact the sales team before you have
> access.


Exactly! They don't want people just dropping by. They must control all interactions.

http://www.lds.org/rcmaps/#ll=39.477889,-111.489393&z=16&m=google.road

Enter an address, and the assigned ward, location, meeting times and phone number pop up on the left side, a map on the right side.

As a side note, I think it's awesome how helpful y'all are being in helping this guy get back to a church you all know to be a fraud. It's hard to imagine the "other side" being so helpful to someone trying to get hooked up with exmo's.

I know that if I needed information about a cult, the first thing I'd do is come to their "anti" site.

Jesus and I were talking about this yesterday. There's nothing that Jesus hates more than getting road blocked by a killer porn site with a "members-only" section.

My son wanted to attend the LDS Institute but coud not sign up through online, because he needed to type in his special membership number which he did not know, since he had been inactive for 5 years. He contacted the Institute directly and he was told to go get it from his ward clerk. Since he did not want to have long, emotional meeting with clerk and the Bishop,he declined to attend the class.
Then, the secretary lady allowed him to sign up, by saying, "Oh, it is ok, I will let you in."
My son went there and found out there were only four people including himself and a teacher!!

He senses that he does not have the membership number, since he is not an active member. It is for the active member.
I think our family is in a black list.
Do the wards have black lists? Do we all have membership numbers?

If you have been born to at least one LDS Church member you have a membership number. There is no "black list". They classify an ex'd, disfellowshipped, or "resigned member differently than other members but there is no separate list of active or "less than active". The true test of Mormon "certification" is whether or not you have a Temple Recommend.

So, I live 3 or 4 doors down from teh LDS church in St. Pete. Was walking the dogs and decided to try and figure out when services were (Not that I wanted to go, just wanted to know when traffic would be impacted....)

It WAS NOT LISTED. I was all "Huh?" Nope, no info listed!

Plus, when we moved here 3 years ago, there were missionaries all the time. We'd see them constantly, coming and going around the church. I have't seen a single one in over 2 years.

So, has TSSC church given up on St. Pete, or has it moved the missionaries around?

Are you sure the building is still in use? I think sometimes when the Morg closes a ward, they just mothball the building for a while and hope to get more members in the area and open it back up. Usually they just sell it, though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2013 10:30PM by nickname.

Look, the harder they make to navigate their web pages the better - better we not do any free feedback for them and give the Church Office Building trolls input on how to improve their sites.