The lowdown on us Mormons... (Salt Lake City, Ogden: layoffs, calculation, oil)
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Not all members of our Church have proven themselves worthy of the blessings the Temple offers. The fact that a person is a baptized member of the Church doesn’t mean that that individual is committed to living up to the required standard of obedience that entrance to the temple requires. All Latter-day Saints are, however, encouraged to strive for that commitment and worthiness. Every individual wishing to participate in temple worship must meet with his or her bishop or one of his counselors every two years to be issued a “Temple Recommend.” (These three men are the leaders of an individual LDS Ward, or congregation – much like a parish.) The individual will be asked a series of questions, some of which are:
Do you believe in God, the Eternal Father, in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost?
Do you have a firm testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Do you sustain President Thomas S. Monson as Prophet, Seer and Revelator, and as the only individual holding the Keys of the Kingdom of God on the earth today?
Do you pay a full tithing? (This would be 10% of our income.)
Do you strive to attend your Church meetings?
Are you morally clean? (To us this means no pre-marital or extra-marital sexual relations of any kind.)
Do you live the Word of Wisdom? (This is our health code which prohibits alcohol, tobacco, stimulants and illegal drugs.)
Are you honest in your dealings with your fellow men?
Is there anything in your relationship with members of your family that is amiss? (Spouse or child abuse would disqualify a person from getting a recommend.)
After this interview, the individual must meet with a member of his Stake Presidency. The stake president and his counselors preside over about six to eight wards, making a stake roughly equivalent to a diocese. He asks the individual the same questions previously asked by the bishop. If the individual is able to honestly answer them, attesting to his desire and worthiness to enter the temple, he is given a Temple Recommend, which he must carry with him whenever he goes to the temple and present there for admittance.
Temple recommend-holding members of the Church are encouraged to go to the temple as often as their personal circumstances (primarily distance from a temple) permit.
Thanks so much for the detailed answer .
I'm still somewhat confused though -
Where does one worship before they receive a temple recommend?
What blessings does the Temple offer?
If one has been, say, convicted of a crime but has paid the fine/time and has rehabilitated, can it permanently bar them from receiving a temple recommend?
And lastly, is the temple in question the one at Temple Square?
Where does one worship before they receive a temple recommend?
There are tens of thousands of Mormons churches around the world. These are the buildings where regular Sunday worship services are held, and these worship services are open to the public. Even members of the Church who have a temple recommend generally only go to the temple perhaps once a month or so, and as surprising as it may seem, temples are not actually open on Sundays at all.
A typical LDS church looks like this:
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What blessings does the Temple offer?
You might think of a temple as sort of an “institute of higher learning” with respect to spiritual knowledge. It is in our temples that we make covenants with God, a covenant being a two-way promise or mutual agreement. Consequently, we believe that when we keep the promises we make in the temple, God will in turn grant us certain blessings. We refer to this covenant-making ceremony as the Endowment. We believe that both the covenants and the blessings associated with them to be eternal in nature. Much of what takes place in our temples serve to unite families, not only for this life but for the next life as well.
Most people who have not been inside an LDS temple imagine that it must look much like a cathedral inside. After all, from the outside, there is a certain resemblance. In our temples, however, there is no one large room like the nave of a cathedral. Rather there are many rooms, each designed for a specific function. There are, for instance, fourteen rooms in the Salt Lake Temple that are used exclusively for marriages. We call them “sealing rooms” because we believe that marriages performed in our temples “seal” (i.e. “bind” or “unite”) a couple and their posterity together forever.
A Latter-day Saint temple wedding is beautiful. The couple kneels together and holds hands across a velvet and lace covered alter. When the individual officiating pronounces them husband and wife, he states that their marriage will endure “for time and all eternity” as opposed to “until death do you part” or "as long as you both shall live." On either side of the room there are large mirrors, directly across from one another. If you have ever looked into a mirror reflecting another mirror, you have, of course, seen an image which appears to go on forever. This is, of course, symbolic of the covenant we make in the temple when we marry there.
Another important and unique function of our temples is to enable us to do vicarious work for those of our ancestors who have gone before us. This work would include baptism, the endowment and eternal marriage. We are prohibited from discussing the details of these ordinances with those who have not participated in them themselves. As a matter of fact, they are so sacred to us that we don't even talk about them among ourselves outside of the temple.
As of the end of 2011, there were 135 operating LDS temples throughout the world, with an additional 15 under construction and 16 more announced. Whenever a new temple is completed, the public is invited to tour the building – from the dressing rooms in which Church members will change into white clothing (symbolic of purity) prior to participating in temple worship to the always breathtakingly beautiful Celestial Room. Missionaries are on hand to answer questions and help visitors understand the purpose of each room. These open houses typically are held for a period of a few days to a few weeks, depending upon the anticipated interest of the people in living in the area. Once the open house concludes, the temple is dedicated as a “House of the Lord.” From that point forward, only temple recommend-holding members of the Church are permitted to enter the building.
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If one has been, say, convicted of a crime but has paid the fine/time and has rehabilitated, can it permanently bar them from receiving a temple recommend?
Basically, we believe that a person can be forgiven of pretty much anything, so even someone with a criminal past can repent and return to full activity in the Church, including receiving a temple recommend.
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And lastly, is the temple in question the one at Temple Square?
That's the most well-known one. Here's a link to a slideshow showing all of the LDS temples around the world. (I noticed you're from Atlanta. There is actually an LDS temple in Atlanta.)
I can answer as a non LDS. The temple (many all over the world) is not used for services like regular Sunday services. Those are held in the chapel or ward house. The temple is used for special services like the sealing of a marriage. This means only members with a temple recommend can attend the ceremony.
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Another important and unique function of our temples is to enable us to do vicarious work for those of our ancestors who have gone before us. This work would include baptism, the endowment and eternal marriage. We are prohibited from discussing the details of these ordinances with those who have not participated in them themselves. As a matter of fact, they are so sacred to us that we don't even talk about them among ourselves outside of the temple.
As usual, Katzpur has provided an excellent and thorough explanation about the use of temples in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I will add this to her fine post. In this age of the internet, there are some websites--posted either by non-Mormons or ex-Mormons-- that describe what goes on in the temple in some detail. I'm not going to link to any of them. I'll simply say that a little research will take you to them. Some of these may not provide completely accurate information. I can vouch that some of the information you find is accurate based on my own experiences and my family's experience.
I think it is worth noting that what goes in the temple is very symbolic in nature. Because it is very symbolic, temple proceedings and rituals involve the use of special clothing. Some people come to the temple and spend a long time because they work there. As such, temples contain facilities that might surprise some people such as locker rooms with showers and cafeterias. The most common ordinances performed in each temple are weddings and baptisms for the dead.
One issue that unfortunately comes up in some families is that since only members that hold a "temple recommend" can be admitted to the temple, family members without the recommend cannot attend the temple wedding of close family members. I think this issue does cause a certain amount of angst among families and I think privately many leaders and lay members of the church struggle with it. Perhaps, someday, more of an accommodation will be made to these groups. As it stands now, I've seen all kinds of things. Sometimes, non-LDS family members will wait outside the temple and when the temple marriage is complete they will go to another venue with the newly-married family members and some kind of ceremony that everyone can participate in.
Some people outside the church find LDS rituals strange. I would encourage all those who do so to take a look at their own religions. Catholicism, Judaism, even Denominational Christians do things that others outside their church may consider unusual. Its all a matter of perspective.
The Word of Wisdom which appears in Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants, speaks of not consuming alcohol, tobacco, or "hot drinks". In fact, it also speaks of eating meat sparingly and only consuming it during the winter months.
The "hot drinks" thing has been mentioned before under another heading. Some have contended this could even mean hot chocolate if taken literally. What these people fail to understand is that the Word of Wisdom appeared in the 1830's when there were no other hot drinks, but tea and coffee. It is pretty clear that its a proscription against consuming tea and coffee. Most people believe that the consumption of coffee and tea was prohibited because they contain caffeine. I've never been totally sure that is accurate. It may have been something as simple as the fact that coffee and tea were expensive at the time and church leaders in the 1830's and 1840's didn't want members spending scarce money on things that had to be imported from other areas. There is very little scientific evidence that coffee and tea are bad for people. Although, I choose not to consume them primarily because I have acid reflux disease and both tea and coffee make it worse. By the way, some LDS people drink herbal tea because there is no caffeine in it.
What I do find a bit ironic is the de-emphasis that seems to have been placed on consuming meat sparingly. The obesity epidemic affects Utah as severely as other parts of America. Consuming fat and cholesterol has got to be more of a dietary issue than drinking a few cups of coffee is.
Yet, I will also see some LDS families refuse to let their children drink a coke or pepsi because of some minor caffeine content (other soda pop seems to be ok). Obviously, because soda didn't exist at the time its not covered in the Word of Wisdom either.
That first part. Are any LDS people vegetarians today? Are any interested in animal welfare, aside from the health aspects?
I think it would be good for us, our Planet and the animals if meant consumption was reduced or better yet, eliminated. Factory Farms are an abomination! No direct revelation from God here, but just knowing what is done there, is certainly not kind or in the spirit of Christianity.
And yet, I see Christians of all stripes eating meat as though their was "no tomorrow"
Great topic for a thread by the way. As you can see, it did not die a slow death!
BTW, I attempted to answer your question about the two main Lutheran bodies on the Christianity forum. Hope you saw it!
The main reason is that our focus is not on the suffering, dying Christ, but on the glorified, resurrected Christ. We prefer to picture Him as having conquered death. Many of our hymns do speak of the cross and of his death on it, so it is a part of our faith -- just not so much visually.
That first part. Are any LDS people vegetarians today? Are any interested in animal welfare, aside from the health aspects?
I'm sure there are some. It's certainly not something the Church leadership has ever suggested. My husband and I probably eat fish five times a week, and we make a real effort to shop organic, and to not buy from factory farms!
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I think it would be good for us, our Planet and the animals if meant consumption was reduced or better yet, eliminated. Factory Farms are an abomination! No direct revelation from God here, but just knowing what is done there, is certainly not kind or in the spirit of Christianity.
Amen!!!!
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BTW, I attempted to answer your question about the two main Lutheran bodies on the Christianity forum. Hope you saw it!
I'm going to have to go back and look for it. Someone answered my question with a really degrogatory slant towards one of the groups (I know it wasn't you). I assumed that was the only answer I was going to get, so I didn't follow up. Thank you.
How gung-ho is the LDS Church about collecting tithes? Do they tend to ostracize people who don't pay or keep tabs on members salaries to make sure they're paying enough?
As mentioned, Moderator cut: rude is considered paying tithes to GOD himself.
So many don't question, just pay up & it better be full, or else, as LDS leaders have said, they may be in danger of firey hell. Some members joke, as they write out their monthly tithing check, "Just paying fire insurance."
People who do not pay tithing are considered unworthy to go to the Celestial Kingdom and are restricted from entering the temple. They cannot be married in the temple, nor can they witness any family or friends' temple weddings. LDS leaders will not harass someone for not paying tithing, but they will harass someone for not being "temple worthy" by having regular temple interviews and tithing settlements & by regular talks given in church.
Moderator cut: off topic
Last edited by SouthernBelleInUtah; 03-03-2012 at 05:00 PM..
So if there is anything about Mormons or Mormonism that you have always wanted to know but were afraid to ask, "This is the Place!"
As an adult, I have nothing against Mormons. However, when I was 6 and we lived in Ogden, I can still remember how it hurt to be excluded from everything. The moms wouldn't let their kids play with me because I wasn't LDS. Now, granted, that may not be part of the teachings, but it happens just the same, and when you are a little kid, it's not fun.
Maybe you can explain that one to me.
20yrsinBranson
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