A poster asks, "DID YOU FIND CHURCH BORING?" The discussion is here -> http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1246217.

Several people responded about how "boring" LDS meetings can be.

I never found Church "boring." But then I was rarely "reverent" or a "good example." As a convert from a family of atheists I enjoyed my role as resident non-conformist.

A Primary President once chided me, "The boys might be reverent if their teacher (me) could be reverent."

Humour can be found anywhere (even in an LDS ward). A youth once proclaimed, "Brother Idleswell is the funniest person at Church." "What a sad indictment," was my reply.

I enjoyed teaching the class for investigators or attending as an active participant. But then those people actually thought we were attending a gospel class. The Gospel Doctrine class would be boring because people were attending to demonstrate how rigidly obedient and reverent they could be.

I was always the ward clerk, but it was never "boring." But I always served on my own terms. I could "get away with it" because I was one of the few literate men in the ward.

You sound like someone I know.... lol From the ward that I am in now in fact. Who no longer goes to church either.

Like I said in the other thread, things like SM would get boring. But in class, I was always cracking jokes. Some wards would laugh and EQ guy would just wait for it. Others didn't know how to take me. They would like of look at me in surprise. "Did he just say that?" It was fun while it lasted...

It's always nice to have people at church that are the life of the party. There aren't enough of you!

It's all about perception, the ward(s) you attend, the people around you, etc.

I always found it so rigid and everyone was uptight. There was never anything new that I learned in any meeting. I rarely came away with something that I didn't already know. The endless meetings were all about meetings, not accomplishing anything. Make work stuff. It was just so recycled to me - boring.

My wife on the other hand was the life of the ward. She had the "glow" (and still does), never said a bad word about anyone, was happy to sing some hymn that she knew by heart since she was five, and liked the repetition.

I guess it's about your personal expectation. No one is right or wrong to think that it was boring for anyone else.

I found that "reverent" was code for blind, unquestioning obedience.

i always understood "reverent" to mean "sit down and shut up for Jesus" :S

The word reverent is a misunderstood word among Mormons.

Normal people realize it means a warm feeling of awe with or without gasps and joyful cheering.

Mormons think reverent means a dead-headed stupor.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2014 07:41AM by Cheryl.

Boring would have described my experience while I was actually sitting in the building...but side trips to the confectionary for junk food...and joy riding after I got my driver's licence brok up the boredom a bit.

Ron Burr

I think I only got away with it because outside of class, I was very close friends with this guy's wife, and he and I actually saw a lot of things eye to eye. If we were discussing something - however serious - either at our house or theirs - I would frequently say, "Dude! That just doesn't make sense." My husband pointed out that I was probably the only person not only in the Stake, but in our entire region who dared to address this man as "Dude." But the four of us were FRIENDS, and it just felt comfortable.

DH and I quit going to our own Sunday School class because it was EXCRUCIATING, taught by a guy who seemed stoned half out of whatever grey matter he may have had. We started going to the Gospel Doctrine class instead, which was co-taught by the SP and his delightful wife.

Now, this guy has a frightfully somber demeanor most of the time; I think it would be accurate to say he scares the !@#$%^& out of a lot of people, especially in his capacity as SP. So I decided to turn it into a personal challenge to find a crack in that demeanor and see if I could get him to laugh.

One time he was giving a lesson on Adam's transgression. When he paused for comments or feedback, I put on the most serious expression I could manage, and said, "You realize that entire situation was a setup, right? Adam did NOT have a choice about eating that apple."

You could have heard a pin drop.

The SP said gravely, "Sister Catnip, could you please explain that theory a little bit more?"

I explained, "You see, he wasn't REALLY free to refuse the apple. If he had done that, everything would have stayed peachy-keen in the Garden of Eden, there would have been no need for Jesus to die for anybody's sins, and the whole Christianity thing would never have happened."

My buddy (his wife) caught the spirit of the thing, and leaned toward the SP and added, "His wife made him do it. You know how THAT goes."

That did it. The SP burst into laughter and so did the rest of the class. After that, he wasn't always so serious in presenting the material, although he was always properly reverent (I don't think it was in his nature to be anything else) and he seemed to be more approachable.

One time a few weeks later, he turned the tables on me and opened a class by saying that we would be discussing [whatever] and he would trust Sister Catnip to keep him clear on doctrinal issues. He had a twinkle in his eye when he said it.

I wasn't always a wise-ass in class. If the material really interested me, I would ask a serious question about something that wasn't clear. But sometimes, having a little fun was just irresistible, and I was genuinely sorry when that class ended.

With four rowdy kids bored out of their ever loving minds we NEVER had a boring sacrament meeting. Imagine kids crawling under benches, rolling on the floor, climbing over benches, fighting and wrestling, running up and down aisles, tearing hymn books and my two year old yelling "mommy boobie" as she puts her hand down my shirt. It wasn't boring it was crazy! I've also had a three year old yell vagina during a musical number and an eighteen month old exclaim "Mmm...coffee good " during the passing of the sacrament.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2014 09:10AM by brandywine.

I lived in L.A. area for about 3 years after I was married and found California Mormons a lot more fun and interesting.... It was a hoot coming from Idaho to California, not as wound up.... But that was 30 years ago...