The Church of What's Happening Now

Purely for fun, I'd like to make some predictions about the LDS Church. If you think this might offend you, you're probably right and should probably stop reading.

Okay, so despite the rhetoric that the church is unchanging, we all know The ChurchTM changes frequently. It can be something as small as changing the name of Enrichment to "Extra Relief Society Meeting" (and thus with one swift move forever decreasing my desire to go to an "extra" meeting) OR it can be something as huge as giving all male members the priesthood.

I recognize many of the church's changes as positive--I am horrified by polygamy and happy the practice was discontinued. I am relieved that all male members can have the priesthood (though totally embarrassed that it took us...how long to extend that?). Some are a mixed bag--correlation, for example. Good because it meant we're all on the same page. Bad because that page is so boring and repetitive it makes it hard to go. And some are just bad. You all know my feelings on calling Enrichment "extra meeting" time.

So here are the small and large changes I predict--

1. Within the next 10 years, the church will revamp the way it teaches church history. The church "history" we currently teach is so far from historical it's actually hurting its membership. Due to the negligent way our history is taught, many, many, many faithful members of the church are blindsided when they learn something as simple as the fact that Joesph Smith was a polygamist. They lose faith in the institution, they have a complete crisis of faith, and then they leave. Here are some of the preliminary results for why people leave--history is top of the list.

While maybe 30 years ago the church--from a purely membership retention perspective--was better off glossing over anything but the faith promoting stories of the past, TODAY is a different story. Approaching church history with faithful honesty will make a world of difference in membership retention, and The ChurchTM requires members to function. This change is starting to happen now. Elder Marlin Jensen spoke about some small changes in the way Mormon youth will be taught here.


2. Within the next 50 years, gay members will receive more membership rights. Within the next 10 years in the United States, gay people will be allowed to marry. It's on the horizon folks, so if it makes you uncomfortable, practice your tolerant smiles now. It's going to happen. It took the church over 20 years after the civil rights movement to give black members the preisthood, and this was even when there was ample historical precedent of Joesph Smith giving black members the priesthood.

I'm not saying the church will start allowing homosexual individuals to get married in the temple. But I am saying that the church will have an increasingly difficult time excluding faithful, monogamous, married, gay couples from participating. Church history has already told us that gays are increasingly included. Gay members who are not sexually active are allowed to do everything a heterosexual member can. That's actually huge. I predict that this will one day extend to civilly married gay people as well.


3. Within the next 10 years a woman will say a prayer over the pulpit in General Conference. It's totally pathetic that I even have to write that in 2012. Women are allowed to pray in Sacrament Meeting--why not GC? One day, when I least expect it, I'll hear a woman say the prayer. And that will be a huge deal to me.


4. Something big is going to happen with the Relief Society. The once robust organization which promoted spiritual gifts for women is an emaciated shell of what it once was (in my humble opinion). I see Sister Beck trying to change that. She's trying to get women to capture the vision of Relief Society as it once was. And come to think of it, I see Sister Beck changing as well. It's hard to believe that she is the same person who gave the (to me, cringeworthy) talk about "Mothers Who Know"

But think about it. Under her tenure, Relief Society has been pumping iron. Not all of the talks and thoughts and messages and attempts to increase visiting teaching have worked for me personally. But I see an overall effort to increase the retention of female members by bolstering the importance of Relief Society. I think it's a wise move. I don't know that I'll ever consider Relief Society home for myself, but it's smart of the church and of sister Beck to make an effort.

The most recent effort, Daughters in My Kingdom is a big deal. At first I was disappointed because it calls itself a history and really isn't (see item #1), but I recognize that it was a step. And that's something. I also love this review of a talk given by everyone's favorite Mormon feminist, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich on Daughters in My Kingdom. I need to move to Boston.

Anyhow, thems the predictions. Note that I don't see women getting the priesthood any time soon because Mormon women are too darn content doing whatever it is that they do. Like Hinckley said, "There's no agitation for that."