A GUEST POST APPEARING ON MORMON MATTERS
January 5, 2010 at 10:48 PM 10 comments
Recently I was requested by Mormon Heretic to prepare some posts about the process by which the Community of Christ adds to its Doctrine and Covenants that would be of interest to an LDS audience. MH has now posted the first of these here at Mormon Matters. and the second here, also at Mormon Matters.
The first post, entitled “Canonizing Modern Revelation: A Tourist Guide”, describes the background of the issues motivating President Stephen Veazey to give guidance to the church on January 17, 2010.
The second post, “CofChrist to Tackle Major Issues at April Conference — Gay Marriage, Baptism” headlines topics of the revelation that should be most notable to the bloggernacle. Please feel free to comment either in this thread or on Mormon Matters.
Thanks to Mormon Heretic, and we now return you to our regularly scheduled science and theology discussions.
Entry filed under: Community of Christ, demographics, Doctrine and Covenants (Community of Christ), LDS, Mormon Scripture, Mormonism, sociology. Tags: Doctrine and Covenants, Mormon studies, Mormonism.
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The Fire Still Burning 
1.
Mormon Heretic | January 15, 2010 at 9:29 PM
FireTag,
I just want to thank you for that article. I was surprised that it didn’t receive very many comments, but my brother keeps telling me that comments are over-rated. I think it was a real breath of fresh air over there, and I look forward to hearing more!
2.
Mormon Heretic | January 15, 2010 at 9:40 PM
Perhaps we can get a more controversial title for your next post? 😉
3.
FireTag | January 16, 2010 at 12:53 AM
Depending on what Steve says Sunday, some people may regard the title of the update as positively unprintable. I will try to draft a quick update for you Sunday night, but what’s happened to us in Haiti has diverted a lot of internal attention in Independence away from the document.
Although only 7 of our members have been confirmed dead so far, we know that at least one of our schools completely collapsed and that as of tonight there are still children trapped inside. If our members took casualties at the same rate as the Haitian government is saying may be dead in the capital, we may have lost several hundred members. Proportionally, that’s like losing 50,000 people among your membership, so the people at headquarters and in our charity organizations that have worked closely in Haiti are grieving personally.
Sunday is going to be sobering.
Actually, I can tell by the jump in my stats file that people read the blog post even if they hesitated to comment, so I thank you very much for giving me the opportunity.
4.
MH | January 16, 2010 at 4:48 AM
FireTag, maybe I don’t represent mainstream mormons (hence why I call myself a heretic), but I think a Haiti post is probably overdue on MM, and I’m not aware of anyone planning a post on the topic–perhaps you could.
I must say that I find international CoC information intriguing–to learn you had a school there is something I had never considered. And I think someone should say something about the tragedy, though I feel uncomfortable doing so. (I’m not sure why. I feel bad for them, it can be depressing for me when I get too sucked up in a story, so I think I try to maintain a healthy distance in instances like this that are so tragic.)
5.
FireTag | January 16, 2010 at 11:52 AM
I think a MM post should probably focus on what the LDS is doing, which makes me the least qualified to write it. I had to ask Faithful Disident what were the LDS news sources that could tell me how your people had been impacted/
Perhaps Faithful could be recruited for that task?
6.
MH | January 16, 2010 at 3:27 PM
FireTag, there are too many Mormons on Mormon Matters!!! 🙂 We want to expand the spectrum there, and I think you would be a valuable addition. We’d love to expand to CoC, or even Strangite, Bickertonite, or other branches of the Restoration. I think you bring a valuable voice to the discussion.
7.
FireTag | January 16, 2010 at 5:04 PM
MH:
I will be happy to post there frequently if asked. Any expertise I have on Haiti is limited to the tectonics of the fault that ruptured. The plate boundary extends into the Land of Nephi in the MesoAmerican model, but that’s about the only “Mormon” connection.
I have someone in the CofChrist blogging community in mind, who might be able to talk about our Haiti work better than I could, although he’d still be probably unable to discuss LDS work there.
If you’d like me to try and contact him, I’d be happy to do so.
8.
MH | January 16, 2010 at 5:55 PM
FireTag, go ahead and let him know I’ll “sponsor” him on MM for a guest post. He can email me at mormon heretic at gmail dot com. I think the MM community would love to hear some CoC contributions from people like you. (I know John Hamer was sorely missed when he left.) They usually like guests to post 2-3 items, and frequently the panel will ok an invitation to become a permablogger. If you’re open to the idea, I can personally say I’d love to have your perspective over there.
9.
FireTag | January 16, 2010 at 6:41 PM
I’ve started the e-mails, and sent you a bio of the person I have in mind off-blog.
We’ll see if my next posts pass muster with the panel. I would of course be happy for the opportunity.
10.
George Walton | January 23, 2010 at 4:20 PM
In regard to the portions of the document dealing with the sacraments, look at the texts of the communion prayers. Notice all those they’s and them’s. There is something about me that doesn’t like all those third person plural pronouns.
I have been in this church long enough to have participated in over 500 communion services, and the vast majority of times that was as a member of the congregation, not officiating or serving, but receiving and listening to the words of those communion prayers. About a decade ago I was looking at the prayers and realized that I was they – and everyone around me was they . I wondered if I could use that realization as a way to be more intimately involved in the communion service.
Using only the prayer on the bread (and modernizing the word “partake”) let’s first replace all those they’s and them’s with (first person plural) we and us:
“O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all of us who receive it, that we may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that we are willing to take upon us the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he has given us, that we may always have his Spirit to be with us. Amen.”
These words emphasize our part in the Christian community.
Now let’s replace the they’s and them’s with (first person singular) I and me:
“O God, the Eternal Father, I ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to my soul as I receive it, that I may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that I am willing to take upon me the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he has given me, that I may always have his Spirit to be with me. Amen.”
This prayer emphasizes my personal covenant with God.
Some may object to the loss of community here, but if I do not do these things – take his name, remember him, and keep his commandments – if each one of us does not do them – we do not do them. And similarly when we have his spirit with us – the community does and each of us does personally.
I am not proposing changing the words that we read, but changing the words that we hear to bring us more intimately in touch with Jesus and with each other as we participate in communion.