I wonder if being Mormon is an impediment to community involvement - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

MikeWaters · 04-17-2015, 02:58 PM

at the local level, in local government. Like running for city council, being on local govt. commissions as a volunteer, being on the school board, running for the PTA.

I can think of Mormons who have done these things. Like a PTA president. In my home ward, a member of the school board.

But given the "talent" level we have, I wonder if we are underrepresented.

Being on a city council is not a fulltime job. It's usually a very low-paid part-time job. For example the maximum that a city council member can make in my city is about $2500 per year. And they may put in 15 hours per week.

Try being a Bishop on top of that.

Is our obligation to our religion greater than our obligation to our community? That's one of the fundamental things that Mormonism has to confront. Are we part of the whole, or are we separate? Where is our focus?

You look at what other churches do, and how deep their roots are in communities. For example all the Catholic schools. Then all the charitable programs that exist supported by various churches.

Here in my area the church is running a website called JustServe. Orgs that want service can advertise their needs, then people can sign up to help on the website. It's supposed to be a service clearinghouse. That's cool. But it's not the same thing as running a soup kitchen 365 days a year.

One wonders if our evangelicalism might be more successful if we were more deeply rooted into our communities.

04-17-2015, 02:58 PM	#1
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	I wonder if being Mormon is an impediment to community involvement at the local level, in local government. Like running for city council, being on local govt. commissions as a volunteer, being on the school board, running for the PTA. I can think of Mormons who have done these things. Like a PTA president. In my home ward, a member of the school board. But given the "talent" level we have, I wonder if we are underrepresented. Being on a city council is not a fulltime job. It's usually a very low-paid part-time job. For example the maximum that a city council member can make in my city is about $2500 per year. And they may put in 15 hours per week. Try being a Bishop on top of that. Is our obligation to our religion greater than our obligation to our community? That's one of the fundamental things that Mormonism has to confront. Are we part of the whole, or are we separate? Where is our focus? You look at what other churches do, and how deep their roots are in communities. For example all the Catholic schools. Then all the charitable programs that exist supported by various churches. Here in my area the church is running a website called JustServe. Orgs that want service can advertise their needs, then people can sign up to help on the website. It's supposed to be a service clearinghouse. That's cool. But it's not the same thing as running a soup kitchen 365 days a year. One wonders if our evangelicalism might be more successful if we were more deeply rooted into our communities.