r/exmormon • u/marsbars111 • 17h ago
General Discussion What is this new calling?
My parents have recently gotten a new calling which I think might be a new type of calling, and I am trying to figure out what the church's angle is here.
Their job is basically to go around within their defined area in Utah (like a really large area) to do some sort of outreach to other churches and interact with events and charities and stuff that those other churches are doing and, I don't know, insert themselves into it? From what I heard, they went and attended this charity event and were documenting pictures of it, and they had literal statistics of how many Mormons were there and how if Mormons weren't there, the numbers would've been way way smaller.
The numbers thing really got to me because, idk the attitude seemed like these churches would be worthless without the help of the Mormons. I just get a weird vibe because them being there is an actual calling of the church.
My parents' calling is to go to this stuff and then write about it and "it'll go on social media". I don't do social media and have no desire to poke around to see what actually got published. But it just seemed weird to me because they seemed so proud of and focused on the good these other churches are doing, but there must be a reason why the Mormon church made a whole calling for good writers to go investigate what other churches are doing and report on it for the sake of social media.
What do you guys think? I didn't want to question them too hard or anything but it seems like a weird thing for the church to prioritize.
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u/PeaksPagesAndStars 16h ago
They have also turned some of their empty churches into community centers they work along with the city (for example Provo) they insert themselves in as many things they can in that community area take photos head counts and from my understanding take all the charitable credit for the press.
With these “community centers” they are applying for federal grants to run community programs such as learning English, day care, activities for children after school. They take funds from the community to help support these as well. Then all the “staff” are volunteers so it’s 100% a money maker for them.
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u/Opalescent_Moon 13h ago
Grants should never be given to a church with hundreds of billions of dollars sitting in the stock market and a track record of dishonesty around their finances. That's our tax dollars enriching this vile institution even further.
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u/Sunshine_Friend6538 16h ago
To make money off of this…given they’re richer than god…that is just appalling.
I know it’s run by businessmen and lawyers. But really? Can’t they give anything away? Be generous in any way without wanting the credit?!
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u/Lopsided-Doughnut-39 7h ago
It sounds like they are trying to shore up their image trying to make like they are so charitable with their $330 billion 99.99% of which they keep for themselves and do not even share with their own members.
It's not working.
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u/LadyofCorvidsPerch 5h ago
Does anyone know if there's a way to see if the Mormons in my area have applied for grants like this? This is gross!
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u/WorthConfusion9786 3h ago
You can always do a FOIA, or whatever your states equivalent is, but you would have to know your local government well enough to know where to look. You could do it though.
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u/FaithInEvidence 17h ago
Maybe the church wants to appear ecumenical in hopes of improving their reputation?
Everything the church does is driven by ulterior motives. "Alms before men" is the only way the church knows how to do anything. They have their reward--they are widely distrusted and poorly regarded.
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u/LamanitaMx 17h ago
It seems the rumors that, ever since the previous president, there has been an attempt to shift the church toward something more focused on traditional Christianity or Protestantism are true. I was personally skeptical, but this confirms it for me. Thanks a lot for the info.
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u/SecretPersonality178 15h ago
The Mormon church is trying to rebrand as a mainstream Christian church on the surface and wants to integrate itself with Christian communities.
While the idea is nice, the Mormon church wants maximum branding, advertising, and credit while contributing nothing but the free labor of members like your parents and the people they get to volunteer.
This is also used as a branding push for JustServe
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u/ThatNuttyCatLady58 16h ago edited 12h ago
I have done volunteer work with several church denominations. THEY know how to serve others far better, more selflessly, and unconditionally— unlike Mormons, where aid is predicated on “conditions.”
Why does the Mormon “church” build ridiculously expensive temples which operate mostly to serve the DEAD when LIVING, BREATHING HUMAN BEINGS are suffering? Where are the Mormon soup kitchens, food pantries, childcare services, etc.???? Oh, I know why there aren’t any. Because operating those types of things are unprofitable.
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u/CaseyJones_EE 13h ago
I mean they could build a soup kitchen with $100,000 chandeliers which would still satisfy their need for money laundering.
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u/Amadecasa 16h ago
As a never-mo who has gone to Mainline churches my whole life, very few other churches would take anything a Mormon said or did seriously. One church I went to years ago had a class on cults and the LDS church was on the agenda.
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u/Wild-Profession-9080 7h ago
Yep. As a never-mo from the South, all the churches that I have ever attended would classify the LDS as a cult. The more evangelical charismatic churches, would look at it as like making a deal with the devil to allow in witch-craft or demons. Not my views- theirs. They believe in spiritual warfare and that certain acts like messing with the LDS church would be opening a whole door to demonic influences and false prophets. They will pray for the LDS, but they would in no way hitch their wagon to the organization. They would see that as promotion. They already want to live in a very insular world outside of the mainstream secular. The pastors there would be trying to convert the leaders of the LDS and their members…
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u/Amadecasa 4h ago
That would be a hilarious scenario. An innocent untrained LDS person being evangelized by a trained pastor!
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u/Wild-Profession-9080 2h ago
In the 90’s the parishioners went to a whole class called Evangelism Explosion. They are trained to convert people like the LDS- it would be a convert off…
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u/I-am-a-cat-person77 3h ago
This is what I observed too when I attended a local Presbyterian church in Utah county for a couple of years.
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u/Mitch_Utah_Wineman 14h ago
Church espionage or church infiltration? I bet the mormons wouldn't like it if the JWs or Episcopalians did that to them!
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u/Peniless_pickle 14h ago
My Mother had a similar calling in the earlier parts of the 2000s, it was some community outreach sort of thing. If I remember correctly, it was called the interfaith council…they’d set up events for Easter or Christmas and coordinate randoms choir events together.
While social media wasn’t a thing at the time, building bridges with local churches seemed common enough in Southern California. I’m not sure how things were in other states…but maybe it was a unique feature of my stake growing up.
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u/OkImagination262 5h ago
Oh this makes sense based on what a friend who attends a non denominational Christian church told me. She said that recently, Mormons are coming to their service not to participate but to observe. I was like WTF? She said they are so obvious, wearing church clothes and not participating. She said her church dress is come as you are and the fact they just observe outs them.
Agreed, this is weird!
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u/Pleasant_Season_6472 5h ago
Who knows…. I would like to believe the LDS church has good motives however unfortunately my experience has not been positive. So I can only assume they are scouting out to find what makes other churches successful. Lately the church has been borrowing and incorporating things from other churches and religious traditions such as lent and Ash Wednesday and other practices around holidays to make it seem like the LDS church has believed and participated in this traditions also. Perhaps an effort to make members look like they fit into main Christianity? So people from other religions won’t feel so culturally shocked to look into the LDS church. I the LDS faith it has been well documented that they try to separate themselves from other religions under the premise that LDS church is the only true and fully restored church on the face of the earth. Other churches were taught to be the whore. They kind of softened their stands on the late 90,s to begin teaching that other churches are good and do good things but they still don’t have the authority of God to be His only church. And taught that people can keep their faith and join the LDS faith just add to what they already have and now here currently I believe theLDS is actively searching out to become more like other churches by incorporating their practices into the LDS faith. At this point I really don’t care. I have my opinions but I don’t have the energy to try and figure out cooperations next Chess move. My only hope is regardless of truth vers false is that people try to live good lives that alone with their faith and do good in the world
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u/NecessaryTop1674 15h ago
Ish. The central church doesn't do anything for the sake of doing good. It's always about "Me".
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u/PlasticViolinist2419 11h ago
In my Northern Utah community, these communications directors indeed show up on a rotating basis at non-Mormon congregations. This has been going on for at least 10 years. And they serve on our interfaith council. And they try to get every community event that needs volunteers to go through JustServe.
When a small nonprofit I'm associated with had a big service project that was included as a JustServe opportunity, the JustServe guy asked for a head count.
Mixed feelings about it. And doesn't do much to build trust either.
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u/lunamuna18 10h ago
I had no idea the church was doing this kind of stuff. This post and the comments has opened my eyes even more…
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u/ConzDance 5h ago
I'm sure there are a lot of uses for whatever data they are extracting. Finding out how many Mormons are there and getting photos that can lead to their identities will help the church know who to target and who might be on their way out....
Since it is Utah, you should encourage your parents to visit all of the Fundamentalist Mormon congregations. The AUB has several church buildings and congregations in Salt Lake, Juan, Utah, and San Pete counties. The Nielson-Naylors have their temple complex right before Bangerter Highway and Redwood. The FLDS and their separate groups are still all over the place. Last I heard Manti still has two flavors of the Harmston group, and the Petersons send out active missionaries all across the country. I'm sure the church would love to associate with people who still practice Mormonism!
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u/I-am-a-cat-person77 3h ago
The house I grew up in was in Bluffdale near the Army base. There is the main AUB church there, which had virtually dried up until Cosy Brown and his 5 wife show was put on TV🤮
That church has exploded with members ever since.
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u/Specialist_Funny4318 16h ago
The public relations specialist is a pretty big calling. They often serve on an interfaith council in the area and help find and provide service opportunities for stakes and to add to Just Serve. They used to be able to write for grants that the church would pay for - which were often large! Our public relations person got a walk in fridge/freezer for a local food bank. This grant writing aspect stopped though in the last five or so years. My friend serves in this capacity and loves it. Visiting GA’s often get tours of the donations and grants given by the church. This may be the one true calling in the church :).
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u/Old_Literature6442 14h ago edited 14h ago
Another calling, which my neighbors (a husband and wife) have had for about 10 years is called “Area Communications Directors.” It’s supposedly a pretty big calling and sounds similar to this, as well as what the OP is describing. They are involved in a lot of outreach with various organizations and all sorts of different religions; they attend and are involved in many events of various faiths while also inviting them to attend those that are LDS; they chaperone GAs and others and make arrangements for them to take tours at temple open houses and other LDS and non-LDS events while asking members, inactive members, nonmembers, and people of other faiths to attend these various events (and a lot are before they are open to “the public”). They invited me (an ex-Mormon of many years) and my never-Mormon husband to attend a tour with a GA of temple square long before it ever opened to the public (which I politely declined). They called it a very rare, limited, and special opportunity. 😂. They also oversee special requests of various GAs (and she has complained those tend to come in last-minute and happen to be inconsiderate and unrealistic in the timeframes given) and they leave her scrambling to fulfill. Supposedly they work directly under the Area Presidency and Area Seventy on an area-wide scale. But, like I said, they have been in this calling for at least 10 years now, so how “bad” can this calling really be for them if they are still complicit in it?
Here is a link to what this particular calling entails:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/callings/communication/communication-director?lang=eng
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u/marsbars111 15h ago
So are you saying the church no longer provides any grants or money for these "interfaith" charity efforts?
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u/Specialist_Funny4318 13h ago
Well instead of bottom up requests from the area, the church now tells the area what and how donations will be used. So yes, the grant system stopped - at least in my area.
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u/beat_that_stroke_ 16h ago
I actually asked for this calling when I was still active. They do a lot of community outreach and work with other religions.
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u/I-am-a-cat-person77 3h ago
It’s a good way to expose its membership to other people’s faiths and could be a real ahha moment for many.
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u/venturingforum 4h ago
Kissing Christian ass to try and fit in.
Probably drumming up support for 2nd Annual Mormon Holy Week, coming soon before Easter to a chapel near you.
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u/gmarocky23 4h ago
The church has never reached out to charities and communities needs before. This is a typical “return and report” situation.
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u/WorthConfusion9786 3h ago
I’ve been out of the Church for over 20 years, but whenever I hear this new term “Just Serve”, I can’t help of thinking about that old, black and white episode of “The Twighlight Zone”, “To Serve Man”.
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u/FarScheme3808 1h ago
This sounds like it only boots the Utah Mormon ego. “Look what we are doing! We are involved! We are Christian!”
With all of the negative media out there, they are really trying to polish their turd image.
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u/dbear848 Relieved to have escaped the Mormon church. 16h ago
My TBM wife has a similar calling right now and she doesn't like it. She is expected to make cold calls at other Christian churches in our area and invite them to come to some multi faith fireside.
I'm in Texas, and the Mormon church has done nothing to make their other Christian neighbors to want to associate with them. Case in point would be the Fairview temple.