Taking Adam's ideas #3 and #7 ....

[MikeWaters]

What about non-athletes at Univ. of Utah, do some get admitted, then defer enrollment for 2-3 years? I don't know personally know anyone who did this.

[Mormon Red Death]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

What about non-athletes at Univ. of Utah, do some get admitted, then defer enrollment for 2-3 years? I don't know personally know anyone who did this.

yes... Half of my highschool deferred admission to college so they could go on mission in september right after they graduated. They all came home and went straight to the U

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by Mormon Red Death

yes... Half of my highschool deferred admission to college so they could go on mission in september right after they graduated. They all came home and went straight to the U

That's good. I wonder if it's that way all across the country at all universities. It would make sense for the UofU to have procedures in place to take care of it.

For schools where the situation rarely comes up, maybe different.

[Detroitdad]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

IMO, the reason for the failing of the missionary program in the USA is due to our failure to create compelling worship communities. When the members attend more out of a sense of duty than joy, you have a big problem. And instead of trying to improve our communities, which suffer from organizational flaws, we are instead browbeaten and told to feel guilty.

It's almost as if the CEOs are blaming the grunts, instead of themselves. Where are the ideas? Where is the change? The insitutional intertia of the church is truly stupendous.

What are some of your ideas for change in order more compelling worship communities? What do you identify as organizational flaws?

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by Detroitdad

What are some of your ideas for change in order more compelling worship communities? What do you identify as organizational flaws?

Well, for one, invest more than 1% of tithing funds in activity budgets.

Give more autonomy to wards. For example, look at the activities of protestant congregations, that have service missions to Mexico or other places that they invest in.

Create local service organizations that serve the needy (we recently discussed this rather thoroughly, and the church is doing a little bit in this area, but obviously in my opinion, it isn't very much).

People need to feel like they are part of something important. That they are making the world a better place by attending, that they enjoy being there, versus going out of a sense of duty.

Wards should be local restaurants, instead of chain McDonalds. We need better beef, cooked and served better than we do.

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by Mormon Red Death

#3 would be very interesting to me because it includes the YW and its another opportunity for kids when they graduate to get great experience. Its basically making a lds peace corp. Including the YW would be such a refreshing change. Why do they get it so easy? Why aren't they expected to serve?

I think this would be interesting too. Our current system, intentionally or unintentionally, builds in a social pressure for our young ladies to be married by their 21st birth day to an older man. I can't think of any good reason for that and about a dozen why that is not good off the top of my head. So I would eliminate the age difference for service as well.

[MikeWaters]

Perhaps in the era of larger families, it was too much of a financial burden to send all kids on missions. If you only send the boys, you've cut your costs by 50%. Or greater. Because the women, I bet, would be more likely to go than the boys. So you've cut out 60% of your potential missionaries, which must be considered a good thing by the GAs.