Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Did the Rapture Take Place? LDS Visitors Non-Welcome

Did the Rapture Take Place? LDS Visitors Non-Welcome

Last updated on: May 26, 2017 at 9:59 am by Christy Thomas

Did the Rapture Take Place? LDS Visitors Non-Welcome 2017-05-26T09:59:34-05:00 Christy Thomas

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Now, my intrepid companion and I on these church visits had spent quite a bit of time on the LDS website trying to figure out where and when to visit. Too bad all the info was nearly completely inaccessible to the non-Mormon.

“Oh my goodness, the Rapture took place and we’ve been left behind!”

That was our first response when driving into the parking lot of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) on Teasley Road this past Sunday.

Despite the sign that clearly says, “Family Worship, Sundays, 9 and 11 am” and another sign that says, “Visitors Welcome,” we found neither worship nor welcome. We simply found no one. We drove around the building, looking for signs of life or at least some signage on the doors giving more information about the times of worship. Nothing. Nada.

Worship Times at the Denton Teasley LDS church, photo by Christy Thomas

So, we drove to the LDS location on Old North Blvd. This time, there was no sign in front speaking of times of worship, and no sign identifying the building as an LDS church except a small plaque on one side of the building. Empty parking lot. No information on the doors. Nothing. Nada.

Undeterred, we headed to the location on N. Malone St. Same situation. Small, hard to find identifying plaque, empty parking lot, no information anywhere.

LDS website inaccessibility

In fact, this had been our experience from the beginning of trying to visit an LDS church. Most churches today, even the smallest, have at least a rudimentary website giving location, service times, and a message of welcome for those who may not have attended before.

Apparently, no local LDS facilities have individual websites. All our searches landed on the main website for the LDS church.

Now, my intrepid companion and I on these church visits spent quite a bit of time on the LDS website trying to figure out where and when to visit. This setup made all the necessary information completely inaccessible to the non-Mormon.

In order to find one’s particular ward or branch, we needed an LDS account, which we did not have. So we clicked on “Find a Meetinghouse” and typed in “Denton, TX.” Three local places of worship showed up. We found that two wards met at the Teasley location, 9 and 11 am.; the Malone Street location indicated meetings at 9 am and 1 pm and the Old North Ward showed services at 9 am, 11 am and 1 pm.

Very strange, as all three parking lots were indeed empty between 9 and 9:40 am. That’s when we gave up. After a leisurely breakfast, I started scouring the website, looking for some basics about the LDS church.

Intriguing LDS doctrines

Here are some things I learned, all taken from that official LDS website.

From the section on basic doctrinal principles, “There are three separate personages in the Godhead: God the Eternal Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost. The Father and the Son have tangible bodies of flesh and bone, and the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit.“ Apparently, God the Father has a physical humanoid body of some sort.

Since they also contend that “family relationships can last through the eternities,” I decided to check out the section on Eternal Marriage

According to these documents, only those married in the Temple will “live in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom of God.”

The LDS church claims that there are three heavens in the celestial kingdom. LDS teachers are instructed to show sensitivity to adult unmarrieds, but, evidently, such ones will experience exclusion from the very best of heaven’s offerings.

Now, I am ever-competitive and want the best. To get to be one of those married in the Temple and thus receive the best and highest of blessings, the couple preparing for marriage must answer “yes” to this question: “Do you sustain the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the prophet, seer, and revelator? Do you recognize him as the only person on earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys?” (bold-face mine).

Gatekeepers to a Temple wedding also want to know if the potentially soon-to-be-married couple are full-tithe payers (1/10 of the income) and if they have lived the law of chastity.

No welcome for the gay community by the LDS

So, I decided I’d better figure out what it means to live the law of chastity. “Before marriage, do not do anything to arouse the powerful emotions that must be expressed only in marriage. Do not participate in passionate kissing, lie on top of another person, or touch the private, sacred parts of another person’s body, with or without clothing.”

Strong language condemning as evil any action on same-sex attraction follows, “like other violations of the law of chastity, homosexual behavior is a serious sin.”

I headed back to the doctrine section to learn more about the bottom line stances of the LDS church. They claim that the fullness of the gospel was restored to famed polygamist Joseph Smith in 1820 and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth” (bold-face mine).

The written materials for the LDS church with authority: the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price.

For the present time, the President of the LDS church acts as God’s unquestioned prophet on earth today.

LDS folks form one exclusive religious club–and that is an awful lot of power to put into the hands of one individual. I still don’t know why the services were not held on Sunday as described on the website. But I feel sure the Prophet can enlighten me on this one.

[Note: the above article was originally slated to be run in the October 10, 2014, print and online editions of the Denton Record-Chronicle. However, out of fairness to the LDS church–which I learned later was in a General Conference that day–it was pulled from publication.]

Additional Comments:

I do not believe that Mormons, otherwise known as members of the LDS church, are actually Christian. Personally, I call them the Fourth Abrahamic Faith (and I doubt that is original to me).

Although they are clearly trying to mainstream themselves and position themselves as Christian, I simply do not agree that their core doctrines have adequate overlap with the historic doctrines of Christianity (say, the Nicene Creed for example).

The bold assertion that God the Father has human form was very disturbing to read.

The penchant for secrecy has also long fascinated me. I’ve read multiple stories about the way people find themselves drawn to the Mormon faith. They see warm friendships, strong family structure, and plausible arguments for those who are biblically illiterate. These initial converts are then baptized as Mormons, and only much later discover the strangeness of the core doctrines.

No one walks inside the carefully guarded Temples unless they have been thoroughly vetted as faithful to Mormon doctrine. Thus, there is no such thing as even partway objective reporting about what takes place inside.

The danger of LDS secrecy

I think that kind of secrecy is extremely dangerous, both inside the LDS world and to their potential converts.

But the thing that gets me the most is the absolute power of the President/Prophet. He is not to be questioned and can and does receive “new” doctrines periodically. For example, after years of rabid racial discrimination, they now admit black men to the full priesthood (women, of course, have no such rights).

But I ask this question: If Mitt Romney, a devoted Mormon, had been elected President, could the following scenario have taken place? Since he has sworn total loyalty and fealty to whomever the current Prophet must be, suppose he is told by such Prophet that God has mandated another world war? Or that all women must swear to be obedient to their husbands? Or that the entire US must convert to the Mormon religion, by force if necessary?

Obviously, there would be civic limits on the Presidential power to enforce such decrees, but Romney would technically be honor bound to fight for them or risk losing his exalted state in the Mormon world.

Frankly, I think it is a cult and a highly successful one. I also know that a fair number of Mormon women are getting fed up with their perpetual second class status. This blog by Joanna Brooks, where she, although loving being a Mormon and the family connections it brings, openly questions many of the basics of the faith–became wildly popular for a while.

In January 2012, Brooks published a letter about the polygamist past of Joseph Smith in particular and the Mormons in general. I learned that many faithful Mormons do not know that part of their past. Such knowledge has been carefully kept from them in their tight Mormon cocoons.

Also real scholarship is beginning to penetrate the Mormon world, although it is dangerous to question core doctrines, as this scholar found out. Here’s more on what Mormon scholars and free-thinkers have faced.

I predict that in 50 years, this religion will be facing disintegration under the weight of unaccountable power.

People really do prefer freedom to slavery, including mental slavery, and I am seeing hints of that need growing among disaffected Mormons. This is the power of the electronic world–and it is going to be interesting to see what happens.

Previous Post

October 6, 2014

The Church's Gay Obsession and Our Hypocrisies #UMC

Next Post

October 15, 2014 Denton Mystery Worship Five: Sound Bites and Church Plants

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category " obedience abortion accommodation accountability administration adolescence Advent advice an ordinary death anxiety apology apportionments Ash Wednesday ask thoughtfulpastor baptism betrayal Bible bondage calling certainty change character charity children Christianity Christmas church church as garden clergy clergy credentials closure comfort compassion competition compromise Confirmation conservation conservative conspiracy theories consumer conversion coronavirua corruption courage covenant cultural context death Deconstruction discipleship discord divorce doctrine doing good drugs dysfunctional Easter Easter; Resurrection education election entertainment envy escape evaluation evil exclusive church exercise faith faithfulness family fasting fear feast featured film review finances first world problem food forgiveness fundamentalist garden gay marriage General Conference generosity giving thanks GLBT glory good government grace guilt habit happy harmony hateful acts healing health health care heaven hell hello/goodbye heresy hidden agenda holiness homelessness homosexuality humility hymn hypocrisy Imago Dei In training inclusive church indulgence injustice innocents insurance intolerance itinerancy joy Justice kindness Kingdom of Heave kingdom of heaven language laughter laundry lawsuit leadership Lent LGBTQ liberal life Little Things Matter longform meandering thoughts memories mercy metaphor metrics miracle misfortunes morality Mormon Muslim mystery worship natural disasters New Category Name nutrients older adults oppression pain Paleo paperwork partnered pastor peace pension pharmaceutical placebo politics poverty prayer privilege public schools questions quiet racism rain reason reconciliation religion repentance requirements rescue respect rest resurrection retirement Sabbath sacrament sacred salvation same-sex marriage sanctuary schism schooling science SCOTUS secrecy separation of church and state sexism sexuality short cuts silence sin sleep soil spiritual journey stillness suffering surgery sustainable church teacher technology thank you theology therapy thinking tolerance TOS trust truth Uncategorized welcome Why Easter? wisdom women worship

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 March 2025 February 2025 December 2024 November 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 July 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 October 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 January 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 July 2007 March 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz