I am always looking for answers to concerns and questions that I hear being asked by fellow Mo-homos.
So when a friend posted this, from last general conference, I read it again -- having heard the original. Oddly enough, when I heard it the first time, I felt that I could send it in an Email to several people I knew. I thought of my neighbor in a previous ward who had been offended at something that was said in the foyer at church. I thought of members of my family who have not been active in years.
This time, however, it seemed more of a personal statement aimed at me. I thought of members of my family who have not been active in years. I thought how easy it would have been for me to walk out the doors and leave the church and my Mormon life behind. Here is what I read...
So when a friend posted this, from last general conference, I read it again -- having heard the original. Oddly enough, when I heard it the first time, I felt that I could send it in an Email to several people I knew. I thought of my neighbor in a previous ward who had been offended at something that was said in the foyer at church. I thought of members of my family who have not been active in years.
This time, however, it seemed more of a personal statement aimed at me. I thought of members of my family who have not been active in years. I thought how easy it would have been for me to walk out the doors and leave the church and my Mormon life behind. Here is what I read...
It is wrong to assume that Mormons who leave the faith “have been offended or lazy or sinful,” a top leader told members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Oct. 5 during the church’s 183rd Semiannual General Conference.
“It is not that simple,” said Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a counselor in the LDS Church’s First Presidency.
Some have “unanswered questions about things that have been done or said in the past,” Uchtdorf said to a Sunday crowd. “We openly acknowledge that in nearly 200 years of church history — along with an uninterrupted line of inspired, honorable and divine events — there have been some things said and done that could cause people to question.”
“To be perfectly frank,” Uchtdorf said, “there have been times when members or leaders in the church have simply made mistakes. There may have been things said or done that were not in harmony with our values, principles or doctrine.”
God is perfect and his doctrine is pure, he said, but human beings — including church leaders — are not.
The German-born Uchtdorf, dubbed by several Mormon commenters as “our Pope Francis,” urged those who have left the LDS faith to come back, even with their doubts.
“It’s natural to have questions — the acorn of honest inquiry has often sprouted and matured into a great oak of understanding,” he said. “There are few members of the church who, at one time or another, have not wrestled with serious or sensitive questions.”
Regardless of one’s circumstances, personal history or strength of faith, he said, “there is room for you in this church.”
