Conference tecrus::mormonism

244.0. "A "Different" Perspective" by NEXUS::S_JOHNSON (Who sews Sue's socks?) Mon May 22 1989 16:35

    I could not find any other note that talked about differences in
    this context so I'm posting this here.  Br. Moderator, if it is
    not appropriate here, then feel free to repost this elsewhere.
    
    On saturday night we we watched Disney's Pollyanna.  It's a good movie
    for those who have not seen it.  In the story, there is a reverand who
    tries to reach out to his congregration by repeatedly condemning them
    and telling them they are going to hell by telling them how bad they
    are.  I guess he wanted to shock them into being good.  It got so bad
    people did not look forward to sunday worship anymore.  Pollyanna talks
    with him and tells him what her dad learned and taught her.  The
    message was a quote by Abraham Lincoln which said if you look for the
    bad in people you will find it. Anyhow after talking with Pollyanna, he
    changed his approach and talked with the congregation and told them how
    good they were.  Anyhow after that sequence I got to thinking about how
    differently we worship when we attend church. 

    I have listed below some of the things I thought about that make us
    different regarding the way we worship. 

    1. It seems like our services are conversative and reverent.  One
    person told me they thought LDS meetings are like attending a business
    meeting. 

    2. We do not wear ceremonial robes at church but dress in clothes that
    are clean and neat. 

    3. Our ministry is a lay clergy and everybody has the chance to
    participate in the services. 

    4. The language is usually in a native tongue and everyone knows what
    is being said.  Not much is said in Greek, Hebrew or Latin unless
    it is the native tongue of the locale of the congregation.

    Any thoughts or ideas? 
                          
    scott 
                                                                  

    Scott,
    
    I like this subject you have chosen to discuss.  If you're looking
    for differences in our meetings (Sacrament) vs. other churches,
    a few more come to my mind.  I don't consider myself an expert, but
    I was once a Protestant and a Catholic before I converted to Mormonism
    six WONDERFUL years ago.  Here are a few more *differences* I can
    think of:
    
    1.   When we partake of the Sacrament, we do it in 'rememberance' of
    the body and blood of Christ.  Other churches believe differently.
    
    2.   We do not display crosses, statues or candles.
    
    3.   We do not kneel while praying in church, nor do we have
    kneeling benches for this purpose. However, we do hold with deep
    respect the act of praying on our knees to Heavenly Father in 
    our own private places.
    
    4.   We do not have a collection basket. 
    
    5.   We have opening and closing prayers to all our meetings.
    These prayers are 'from the heart' of those asked to give them;
    they are not read from books nor memorized from any script or
    scriptures.
    
    6.   Our choir memebers do not wear choir robes while singing
    at any of our meetings, nor do we have an organized choir which
    sings each and every week as some churches do.
    
    
    Penny