Honesty.

Yesterday The Five again attended the Mormon Church for our area. After a two and a half year drive on the Road to Mormonism we decided we needed a bathroom break and a few weeks back started attending. We have found that we like it there so far. It's warm. It's inviting. It's peaceful. It's sincere. But what we like best is the honesty.

The first Sunday we were there one of the speakers for the day was the person who had just been relieved of her Primary duties. She hadn't been in that volunteer position more than a couple months when they decided she wasn't right for it. So they replaced her with someone else. (that person was one of the speakers that day as well)

What we found so refreshing, for lack of a better word at 10:00 at night, was that not only was the Bishop upfront and honest about the whole situation. But so was the woman being "released". She stood up at the altar as proudly as she could and gave a wonderful testimony. To my surprise I found myself teary eyed as I listened to her speak. Was there anger? No. Was there cattiness? No. Was there a list of excuses from either her or the Bishop? No. All there was was honesty. Pure and simple honesty. (along with a couple of jokes about it being the shortest Primary assignment in the history of that church.)

In recent days I have found myself thinking of that event and wondering what makes them so different. What made them choose being open, upfront and honest? Our current church certainly wouldn't have gone that route.

It was decided a couple of weeks ago that our current church would be cancelling it's lease on it's second campus due to finances. (reasonable enough) However, instead of letting that congregation know in a personal way, they announced it in a letter that was mailed out to the entire congregation. This letter basically talked about the financial strain the church is in (it's currently $40,000 behind on payments), some of the decisions the church has had to make over the past couple months and that March 29th would be the last Sunday this second congregation would meet in the facility it was currently using (no alternate site or plan was suggested at that time and to my knowledge hasn't been yet).

Well as you can imagine, the members of that campus are angry. They should be! They were treated poorly. They were not given the respect they deserve. But what's appalling is that some of the leadership of our current church feel the congregation at that campus is acting unreasonably and that the congregation's anger is unwarranted.

I feel terrible for the families that attended church at that campus. They are wonderful people who poured their hearts and souls into that church. A better group of people will be hard to find and I will miss them all very much.

(As for the woman who was released of her Primary duties? Well she was announced as the new Cub Scout Leader yesterday after a unanimous show of hands~ the Bishop included)

The Gloves Are Off.

I have posted a few times about how frustrated I have become with our current church. Today that frustration was brought to a whole new level when someone, who chose to remain "Anonymous", threatened my mom via her blog (http://www.witandwisdomfortheaged.blogspot.com/) with a "liabel" suit over a letter she wrote to the editor of a local paper.

What struck me about this person's threat (besides the obvious misspelled word of libel) was that if this person feels so bold as to threaten with a lawsuit why are they hiding behind the persona of "Anonymous"? But then that's exactly what this church does. Hide.

This church used to feel like home to me. It was warm, it was inviting. It was a place I felt welcomed and accepted. I was proud to be a part of it and I was proud to call it my church home. I no longer feel that way. All I feel now is pity for the leadership for not being responsible enough (or adult enough for that matter) to admit they screwed up. Anger towards the leadership for not respecting the congregation members (or staff members) enough to be honest with them. And sadness for the few people left who buy into the lies the leadership keeps offering. I wish they could understand that all it is is lies.

On the other hand, I commend others. People are leaving this church in droves because of the choices the leaders of this church have made. Empty seats, empty offering baskets and empty programs have replaced the smiling faces of the families that used to attend this church. Hushed tones have replaced the loud chaos that used to fill the hallways.

But the ones I really commend are the people (and the city) who are challenging the leaders of this church. Challenging the decisions being made. Challenging the lack of financial responsibility. Challenging the lack of transparency. To all of them I say; bravo! I wish I could join you.