During the debates, Mitt Romney said he was a pastor for his church.

Is he trying to mainstream the LDS religion?

WTF? in mo-speak: I stand all amazed at his duplicity. But really, the morg is a perfect nursery for up and coming narcissists, sociopaths, and pathological liars.

Starts slow clap for mitty...

I don't like that he said it but, he had to relate to the general listener. I take no issue with the word pastor.

Arent bishops more like babsitters?

To me a bishop is the equivalent of a junior pastor. Or a lay preacher. Higher than a deacon but lower than a fully trained senior pastor.

I'd accept that.

since the worldwide church is lead by a group which has not even one person with a degree in theology or any seminary training whatsoever (other than high school "seminary," which using that term for high school religion class is the same thing as calling a 19 year old an "elder").

They do, however, have plenty of degrees in corporate business, which tells you the kind of talent and experience they really need to keep the masses... inspired.

In case you have any doubt, just write a letter to them asking them a theological question as the leaders of Jesus' true flock here on earth.

Oh wait, they don't "do" doctrine any more.


Anagrammy

Yeah, it's really offensive. He's never been to college to be a pastor. He's never been trained to be a pastor. A pastor should be loving and guiding everyone in his/her congregation. I've seen way too much evidence to suggest otherwise. This was an offensive statement.

However, he had to relate.

Pastor implies training.

Preacher, while a much more loaded word, does not imply a professional calling.

Bishop is a ridiculous word, and most will compare it to the catholic equivalent and wonder why a man of the cloth is trying to be a politician.

He should have said "when I participated as a member of my church's lay clergy" and called it a day.

But that's too wordy and doesn't sound as important. So back to pastor he went.

I don't think he was necessarily trying to sound mainstream, the word "pastor" is a fairly general term for someone who has a religious leadership position. If he had said Bishop or Stake President people may have been a little confused.

If Mitt really wanted to impress people he would brag about being a High Priest.

What I don't like is that it's a word not commonly used in the Mormon church so it can give a wrong impression.

Also, it's a title used prominently in EV churches, which are quite unlike Mormon churches, and it has a special meaning and infers significant things, such as one's training and function, as mentioned above.

I understand that Romney has to use common words and has to make an effort to relate to the masses but this is a loaded word. I can see that it's more of a big deal maybe to EV Christians and exmos as it rings false, whether his intent is to deceive or not.

I agree. Romney is using the terminology in order to deceive.

Just like the morg used to advertise the "Holy Bible" on TV, when we all know that Mormons don't talk like that.
Hell, they don't even believe most of what's in the bible.

Bishop is the correct term and even if sounds Catholic, people would get the idea that he led a congregation.Of course, he is courting the evangelical vote, not the Catholics.He has Ryan for that.

Yes. It's a word used in the scriptures the LDS use also.
A bishop in the LDS church is a pastor for instance.
The word pastor is also used by missionaries when they go to hospitals to give blessings sometimes also.

I have no problem with the term. It's well understood in the religious world.

That's all. Just saying that it's the first time I've ever heard a Mormon utter the word.

As I said, I understand somewhat the attempts to be more mainstream. As exmos, though, at times we smell something funny and comment on it.

This is one of those times.

Yes, we're cynical, but often there is a reason for that. Did anybody, ever, say they were going to see Pastor Mitt when he was the bishop or stake prez?.

Didn't think so...

It would have been Bishop Romney and President Romney.

Maybe he liked the title Prez so much it got him ignited to enter the current race!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2012 12:45AM by Nightingale.

Actually if you listen again Mitt said he was a "pasture." He is so unaccustomed to saying the word he messed it up.

Memes circa 2000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Actually if you listen again Mitt said he was a
> "pasture."

Maybe this was a Freudian slip?
Because it's where his sheep clothing come from.

We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church. That is, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc.

I never got past the "etc" stage.

They put the etc. in Scouting and Nursery.

Non LDS would not understand "Bishop". To them that is a Catholic reference. They also would not understand what a ward or stake are. People sometimes forget how little the general public knows about this faith.

Pasteur "was best known to the general public for inventing a method to treat milk and wine in order to prevent it from causing sickness, a process that came to be called pasteurization."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur


That's where Romney gets his penchant for giving the American people the milk before the meat, when it comes to the actual facts of his Mormon religion. Otherwise, a lot of listeners would being getting real sick real quick.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2012 04:29AM by steve benson.

LOL Steve!

Steve,now that's funny!

Mormon Bishops have no idea what pastoral care is.

As long as his last name isn't "Cherry."

Sorry.

It's offensive. In the south, anyone can be called a preacher but pastor is someone who has been to college and studied hard. They have a lot of knowledge and training.
But we all know mitt's a sociopathic liar so...

Expect LDS HQ to issue a statement that all Bishops will now be called Pastors. Mitt is rewriting LDS rules, terms and definitions left and right.

If I were TBM, I would be offended he wasn't using the correct terminology, as if the current ways of the church weren't good enuf for him. What else has he said? Oh right, that sacrament meeting is "worship service" and the things that happen in the temple are called "temple worship". No, it's not.

Yes, of course he is.

It's okay though. It's very consistent with the church's efforts of becoming main-stream and forgetting it's past.

So what? He was just trying to use a term that non-mormon people would understand. Sure, he wasn't trained, but who is? Don't we all learn by doing as we go through life? I never trained to be a husband or father, I had to figure it out as I went along.

When I was new in our tiny branch I noticed that they just kept rotating the same two guys between the jobs of Branch President and Stake President. There wasn't enough testosterone in the area for anyone else to lead. Let's face it, Mormon church positions are just assigned leadership responsibilties. All the pastors I know chose the position as a career and asked to do the job. Mormons just wait to be told to do it.

He should have said, "When I took my turn at a church leadership position" because anything else implies he was, at the very least, volunteering. And I include missionaries here because they are told from birth that they will be expected to complete this assignment from God and exactly when they will complete it. Most churches wait for the boy/man to feel the calling. Nobody else tells him he got a call from God. Calling a missionary a volunteer is somewhat of a stretch. You might say volunteer but willing volunteer?????? Not often.

Mitt Romney and Company probably focus-grouped the words he needs to avoid while courting the fundamentalist evangelical vote and discovered that "Bishop" doesn't warm the cockles of their shriveled hearts, but "pastor" does.

It was flat out wrong...and an embellishment to get votes. The training to be a PASTOR...is normally as follows. DID HE DO THIS..... NO. He strategically misrepresented himself.

Major in the appropriate undergraduate degree. After obtaining a bachelor's, apply to a Masters or Doctorate divinity program. There will be requirements for the degree, such as an internship. After completing all of the requirements for the advanced degree, contact the denomination and state licensing board to complete the steps to becoming a licensed minister

We have 5 Bishops on our street and one in our family and NONE of them could meet the resume requirements of PASTOR!