Today MormonNewsroom published the announcement that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will change the recommendation process for new missionaries and offer a variety of ways to serve in order to accommodate missionaries who might not be able to serve full-time away from home. A letter was sent to Church leaders on November 16 to share these changes.
“Beginning January 2, 2019, all young men and women in the United States and Canada — including those who may not be able to serve a proselyting mission due to health reasons — will use the same online recommendation process. They will complete recommendation forms, participate in interviews with their local Church leaders and undergo evaluations by medical professionals. Candidates will then receive a call from the president of the Church to serve either a proselyting or service mission.”
According to Latter-day Saint Apostle Dale G. Renlund, most young people will serve in one of the Church’s 407 global missions in order to find, teach and baptize converts.
“Those called as service missionaries live at home and serve at Church operations, with nonprofit and charitable community organizations or in other assignments approved by their local Church leaders. The service missionary program has been tested in various locations since 2014 and recently expanded to the entire United States and Canada.
“During the recommendation process, all candidates will be considered first for full-time proselyting missions. Those unable to be called as proselyting missionaries for physical, mental or emotional reasons may be called as service missionaries. In some cases, candidates will be honorably excused from any formal missionary service.
“Additionally, proselyting missionaries who return home early due to accident, illness or other health conditions may be reassigned as service missionaries for the remainder of their missions.”
MormonNewsroom has included personal accounts from service missionaries and the people they serve.
Additional information is available at www.churchofjesuschrist.org/service-missionary.
