“Change does not come without challenge, and there has been quite a bit of that, but we need to do more”
– Gary McDonald, Abbotsford, British Columbia
Topics:
Joseph Smith Jr | Book of Mormon | Continuing Revelation | Non-Creedal | Unity in Diversity | Church History Principles | Pursuit of Peace (Shalom) |
My ancestors in Europe were converted by Mormon missionaries in the 1860s and immigrated to the United States shortly thereafter. On their trek to Utah, they were forced to winter over in Independence, Missouri, where they encountered the Reorganized Church and were re-converted.
I was born in 1943 and was raised in the church, being subject to all of the stories, historic, and basic beliefs, that were endemic at the time. However, when I became a grownup, I put away childish things; one of which was the popular story of the creation of the church. I began to question things that made no sense, and to enter a life-long quest for the truth through scholarly research.
Slowly, over the years, and with no small thanks to people like historians Dick Howard, Mark Scherer, Robert Flanders, and ex-Mormon author Fawn Brodie, the truth gradually emerged. I came to believe that Joseph Smith Jr, our so-called “prophet, seer and revelator” was as driven by his personal agendas as by any divine influence and realized that the Book of Mormon had historical issues that were highly problematic. I likely would have left the church years ago, except for one fact: as a result of our belief in continuing revelation, we were a church that was open to new insight and we refused to adopt a definitive creed. People were encouraged to embrace a culture of openness, and to explore their own beliefs and live their faith journeys accordingly.
This refusal to dictate what members must believe meant that we were open to a variety of faith expressions. I didn't have to accept the typical tenets of traditional Christianity in order to be accepted. I have been proud of the church in recent years because of some of the momentous changes we have embraced: women in priesthood roles, open communion, publishing reliable histories, changing our focus from a “one true church” theme to a world-focused peace initiative. This invokes a phrase from Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol”: “It is required of every man [person] that their spirit walk abroad among their fellow beings in life...” (to which I would add, “in equanimity”). I assume if each one can do that, we will fulfill the principles and teachings of Jesus, who, notwithstanding his humanity, was still responsible for an entirely new way of expressing it, which appeals to me.
Change does not come without challenge, and there has been quite a bit of that, but we need to do more. My hope for this church is that we will continue to outgrow our devotion to our oft-romanticized past and instead of being a remnant of a previous century, become a church by and for the time in which we live. If that means shedding more of our traditional beliefs, so be it. We have made great strides in recent years, despite having deep connections to our past, but it's time we turned our eyes fully to the horizon before us, to which we are sent.
I was born in 1943 and was raised in the church, being subject to all of the stories, historic, and basic beliefs, that were endemic at the time. However, when I became a grownup, I put away childish things; one of which was the popular story of the creation of the church. I began to question things that made no sense, and to enter a life-long quest for the truth through scholarly research.
Slowly, over the years, and with no small thanks to people like historians Dick Howard, Mark Scherer, Robert Flanders, and ex-Mormon author Fawn Brodie, the truth gradually emerged. I came to believe that Joseph Smith Jr, our so-called “prophet, seer and revelator” was as driven by his personal agendas as by any divine influence and realized that the Book of Mormon had historical issues that were highly problematic. I likely would have left the church years ago, except for one fact: as a result of our belief in continuing revelation, we were a church that was open to new insight and we refused to adopt a definitive creed. People were encouraged to embrace a culture of openness, and to explore their own beliefs and live their faith journeys accordingly.
This refusal to dictate what members must believe meant that we were open to a variety of faith expressions. I didn't have to accept the typical tenets of traditional Christianity in order to be accepted. I have been proud of the church in recent years because of some of the momentous changes we have embraced: women in priesthood roles, open communion, publishing reliable histories, changing our focus from a “one true church” theme to a world-focused peace initiative. This invokes a phrase from Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol”: “It is required of every man [person] that their spirit walk abroad among their fellow beings in life...” (to which I would add, “in equanimity”). I assume if each one can do that, we will fulfill the principles and teachings of Jesus, who, notwithstanding his humanity, was still responsible for an entirely new way of expressing it, which appeals to me.
Change does not come without challenge, and there has been quite a bit of that, but we need to do more. My hope for this church is that we will continue to outgrow our devotion to our oft-romanticized past and instead of being a remnant of a previous century, become a church by and for the time in which we live. If that means shedding more of our traditional beliefs, so be it. We have made great strides in recent years, despite having deep connections to our past, but it's time we turned our eyes fully to the horizon before us, to which we are sent.