Mormon Church Meetings are Hell?

[_Maxrep]

Fortunately, as Poelman once infamously articulated, you don't need the Church in order to live The Gospel...

But, as the scriptures teach us, you need the Church to know what the Gospel is and to continue to know it lest you forget (Ephesians 4:11-14). Without a Church organization, there is no Gospel teaching and hence, no living the Gospel.

This is ironic. I thought I learned quite a bit about the gospel growing up within the church organization. Then when I'm introduced to the Fair boards, I found out that I learnt nothin' at all. From the flood to Cumorah to the curse of Cain, I had it all wrong.

BCspace, how did you avoid all the opinions of men during those past decades?

[_why me]

Homilies? I really feel that is the problem with Mormon meetings. Not only are the speakers rarely experienced in public speaking but they usually lack any kind of Biblical knowledge that allows them to offer any kind of expository preaching and a subsequent application to godly living. As I said above... the last time I listened even the leaders of the LDS Church have the same failing in their conferences...usually they prefer the same droning homilies.

The speakers are normal people and not Bible scholars. Also, sacrament meeting is not about preaching but about giving a talk to people about something that they were assigned to give. They must prepare the talk themselves. What is godly living? General conference is about godly living. Droning or not, that is what it is about. Also, people do not go to sacrament meeting to be entertained.

[_why me]

Back to the subject.

You fail to realize that all priests and deacons have other responsibilities besides the homily at a Mass,(but hey, your imaginary nun and priest friends should have made you aware of that.) so that part of your position fails miserably as usual.

Also, the part about being trained in public speaking fails for yet another reason. Learning and discerning the scriptures and translating that into a homily in today's world has nothing to do with being trained in public speaking.

Boring is boring no matter where or what it is, but you were blaming the guy in the pew instead of where it truly belongs. 1. Good ol Joe 2. Mormon theology (since it is so fluid and ever changing)

Okay, let me try this again: Mass is not that exciting. The same format every sunday. People are not exactly jumping in the aisles. If average catholics had to give the homily I would think that they would put people to sleep. Some would not be able to put together a talk. People are just people. Joseph was actually quite a speaker. He could certainly hold an audience. The problem is not with him.

[_hobo1512]

Back to the subject.

You fail to realize that all priests and deacons have other responsibilities besides the homily at a Mass,(but hey, your imaginary nun and priest friends should have made you aware of that.) so that part of your position fails miserably as usual.

Also, the part about being trained in public speaking fails for yet another reason. Learning and discerning the scriptures and translating that into a homily in today's world has nothing to do with being trained in public speaking.

Boring is boring no matter where or what it is, but you were blaming the guy in the pew instead of where it truly belongs. 1. Good ol Joe 2. Mormon theology (since it is so fluid and ever changing)

Okay, let me try this again: Mass is not that exciting. The same format every sunday. People are not exactly jumping in the aisles. If average catholics had to give the homily I would think that they would put people to sleep. Some would not be able to put together a talk. People are just people. Joseph was actually quite a speaker. He could certainly hold an audience. The problem is not with him.

But the problem IS with him. He's the one who made up Mormonism....duh

[_hobo1512]

Homilies? I really feel that is the problem with Mormon meetings. Not only are the speakers rarely experienced in public speaking but they usually lack any kind of Biblical knowledge that allows them to offer any kind of expository preaching and a subsequent application to godly living. As I said above... the last time I listened even the leaders of the LDS Church have the same failing in their conferences...usually they prefer the same droning homilies.

The speakers are normal people and not Bible scholars. Also, sacrament meeting is not about preaching but about giving a talk to people about something that they were assigned to give. They must prepare the talk themselves. What is godly living? General conference is about godly living. Droning or not, that is what it is about. Also, people do not go to sacrament meeting to be entertained.

People don't go to Mass, or any other church service to be entertained. The go to be fed spiritually, and not bored to the rafters, by some person that can only bear their testimony over and over and over and over and over.

[_Chap]

Back to the subject.

You fail to realize that all priests and deacons have other responsibilities besides the homily at a Mass,(but hey, your imaginary nun and priest friends should have made you aware of that.) so that part of your position fails miserably as usual.

Also, the part about being trained in public speaking fails for yet another reason. Learning and discerning the scriptures and translating that into a homily in today's world has nothing to do with being trained in public speaking.

Boring is boring no matter where or what it is, but you were blaming the guy in the pew instead of where it truly belongs. 1. Good ol Joe 2. Mormon theology (since it is so fluid and ever changing)

Okay, let me try this again: Mass is not that exciting. The same format every sunday. People are not exactly jumping in the aisles. If average catholics had to give the homily I would think that they would put people to sleep. Some would not be able to put together a talk. People are just people. Joseph was actually quite a speaker. He could certainly hold an audience. The problem is not with him.

I wish people would stop quoting whyme, whom I have on ignore. But now you have ...

If you have never been to a service in a non-LDS church of one of the great liturgical traditions such as Western Catholicism (including Episcopalianism) or Eastern Orthodox, you may not realise that whyme's picture of "the same format every sunday" is only true in the sense that many family dinners have an unchanging format of starters, main course and dessert.

But lots does change. Prayers and even important parts of the mass/holy communion/liturgy wording vary at different seasons of the year, as do the designs and colors of liturgical vestments. There is a carefully programmed series of readings from scripture to fit the season, and any priest with a moderate amount of training is capable of preaching a short expository sermon related to those readings, as were all the priests I knew when I was a believer: most were pretty good at it. Anybody who pays attention to what is going on from Sunday to Sunday will have the sense of participating in something that is both progressive and cyclical - the run-up through Lent to Easter is the best examples of a carefully structured build-up of tension that is wonderfully discharged in the first mass of Easter, when light (literally) comes back into the darkness that has got deeper and deeper over preceding weeks, right down to the pit of Good Friday when the church is stripped of ornaments, and the liturgy reflects the gloom of (almost) despair.

I was never bored. I just stopped believing. Maybe whyme needs to find a different Catholic church to go to, whether in his imagination or out of it.

[_Albion]

I know all that WhyMe, and I submit that it is the reason why Mormon meetings are so boring. Poor speakers with a poor grasp of scripture attempting to enlighten and uplift their listeners with homilies and anecdotes rather than teaching the word in an expository manner. The general leaders of the Mormon Church have a little better delivery during conferences but even they lack the scriptural background to effectively open the word to feed the sheep. They do perhaps do a better job than the average member in the wards since they have all kinds of help and resources to prepare their conference talks before they deliver them word for word as they have been approved.

[Guest]

Most Mormon meetings (and the length of them) are completely unnecessary. There is much to be said about being short, concise, and over. For some reason, they feel obligated that sacrament meeting be an hour long and that there be a 3 hour block of meetings. Why? Have the sacrament and adjourn. And the singing is horrific. Please don't stop the members from doing that for the love of all that is holy. Most of them are tone deaf.

My feeling about it is IF they want a longer program put together a professional choir or have a band and professional singers, and invite a professional to come speak on a range of topics. You could have them travel from ward to ward each Sunday. Unless and until the Church gets serious about things like this - it is just going to continue to be one awful experience after another. And if they want to have a Sunday School, make it educational and get some professional teachers that know something about the scriptures. The material now is terrible.

[_sunstoned]

For decades, I have heard the Mormon definition of damnation as being in a place where one's progression is stopped.

I find it ironic that LDS church meetings now qualify for the LDS definition of damnation.

Is there no help for the widow's son?

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

Not only are the lessons bland and refuse to go beyond the correlated and largely boring handbooks, but in my personal opinion in pushing the kind of obedience that Mormonism pushes it also leads to intellectual and emotional progression being halted. I think this is particularly true of those who are so strongly encouraged to marry really young and have children and especially for women who are told that a college education is pointless for them because their place is in the home. I think Self Actualization is extremely difficult to achieve within Mormonism.

Thanks,

Hasa Diga Eebowai

It was a much different church before correlation. The lessons and talks were much less scripted, and things were much more interesting. Correlation has sucked the life out of the church.

[_consiglieri]

Correlation has sucked the life out of the church.

Totally agree.

And for those who believe in such things, it might appear Correlation has run afoul of Paul's admonition to "quench not the Spirit."

All the Best!

--Consiglieri