Blogger of Jared

This weekend was our local Stake conference, and the priesthood section focused on home teaching and inactive members. One of the speakers uses a great analogy to briefly discuss a problem with our church.

He noted (And I am paraphrasing from memory): “We can bring as many members as we want into the church [and I would add back into the church] but if we have holes in our bucket, they will leak out again.”

So I stopped paying attention and started wondering what the holes in the bucket are, or in other words, why people are inactive, and what� we can� do about it*.

Here is a list� I came up with (I hope they are descriptive enough):

1. Do not believe in one or more core teachings, doctrine, or truth claims of the Church- There are actually two subsets to this. The First is people who do not know or understand the core teachings etc. and thus can not believe in them, because they have an incorrect understanding, and the second are people who understand what the doctrines and teachings are, but do not believe them anyway. The first, I believe we as members can have an impact on reducing the size of the whole, because we do have control over what members teach one another, and what we teach members, and how we teach members. The second subset is entirely in God’s hands, as it is up to him and them whether they receive and accept a revelation from God.�
2. Do not agree with one or more policies, laws, or ground rules of the Church.- This one can also be divided into almost the same subsets as number one, with the additional subset of those who know the policies, but do not accept them because they are actually in Group #1 as their primary concern. I think there is a definite need to distinguish this group from group one, and to take the opportunity to become familiar with the reasoning behind the rules and policies. I think that we as lay members do not have much control over the setting of policy, so perhaps the best we can do in limiting this hole is the effective dissemination of information.�
3. Do not agree with some aspect(s) of the “culture” of Mormonism.- � I think this is something that is created by the lay members, so it is the responsibility of the lay members to do something about this problem. A challenge here is that some aspects of Mormon culture are confused for doctrine or policies of the church. I think it becomes necessary to abandon “Mormon Culture” as a whole, and replace it with an aim towards “Zion Culture” (In the best since of the term.) All things which do not fall in categories one and two, and which do not aim us toward a more Christ like life need to be abandoned as “Mormon Culture” and need merely be returned to the status of local customs. (Examples include table settings in RS and YW, funeral potatoes, “fetch”, Jell-O, hairstyles, adherence to folk-stories,� requiring a suit and tie in church, and overly caring about historical minutia.)
4. Feel unworthy or ashamed to go to church- This is also something that lay members can be pro-active about. Members can model to each other that they are accepting and loving of one another no matter what the circumstances are. This needs to be done before transgressions occur, so as not to send the mixed message of being condescending and insincere. A major factor which can and must be controlled in this regard is the production of gossip. Gossip, which is an important arm of society in the rendering of aid and assistance, needs to avoid, for want of a better term, snarkiness.
5. Offended by one or more members of the Church.-� While Elder Bednar has emphasized the importance of not being easily offended, I think we as members of the Church, need to also practice not being easily offensive. While it may always be true that there will always be some who are offended (and many taken offense based on reasons 1-4 above), we can do and need to do a better job of following the central tenants of our faith, namely those found in the sermon on the mount.�
6. Feel Apathetic about going to Church. This is sort of a catch all (and in my mind is the largest sub-group), but there are many inactive members who do not fall into one of the above categories, but don’t come to church because they don’t see a need to come to church, fulfill their callings, etc. They are people who are happy to be lds, but don’t see doing anything with it as important. I think this group shares a lot in common with group #1, where the best we can do is have a ready answer as to why going to Church is important, let all members know that they are both wanted and needed at church, and hope that HF is telling them the same. I think our first proactive step is to more openly discuss the importance of church attendance, and not simply take it for granted.
7. Fear for their life in going to church. I have only known two people in this situation. One was a convert with abusive non-member parents, and the other was a woman who had abusive in-laws who were active members of her ward. I believe this is a small group, but all I can say is If you are aware of physical abuse, report it to the police. I don’t care who the abuser is, report it. The days of handling problems like these discreetly behind closed doors ended around 1960.
8. Have health issues, works on Sunday, or transportation issues. People are selfish, and naturally so. We don’t want to commit to drive another family to church every single week. We don’t want to commit to take the sacrament to another person every single week who doesn’t come to church. We want to take the attitude of “out of sight, out of mind”. I think people in this category easily fall into category 6, if we are not vigilant while they are down. I would love it if we felt we could take the sacrament to every member regardless of whether they were at church or not, especially those in this category. (Some people who work on Sunday may fall into another of the above categories, but here I am focusing on the subset who do not.)

Ultimately, I think we all need to stop waiting for someone else to fill the holes, and get together and, in the words of a beloved former prophet,� do it.

So, sermon ended, soapbox stepped down from, now some questions.
So my first question is, are there any categories I missed?

Second, what else can we, the normal members, limit these holes in our bucket?

Third, Why is going to Church important? **

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*- This is supposed to be a proactive list, not a reactive list, so if I sound like I am talking about things we can do to bring inactive people back to church, that is not really my intent. �

**- I think it is only fiar to offer the disclaimer that I am the sycophant that has only missed church twice since joining almost 9 years ago, once for a blizzard and once for a hurricane, and in the hurricane, I found out that church was cancelled by reading the note pasted to the window of the Church.