No more Priesthood/RS General Session


Vort
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https://www.thechurchnews.com/general-conference-fall-2019/2021-06-07/first-presidency-announces-changes-to-general-conference-discontinuing-saturday-evening-session-215558?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cn-social&utm_campaign=facebookpage-en&utm_content=churchnews-en

Beginning with the October 2021 general conference and continuing thereafter, the Saturday evening session will be discontinued. The change is being made because all sessions of general conference are now available to anyone who desires to watch or listen, according to the Newsroom release.

Does this strike anyone else as utterly non sequitur? I certainly support the Brethren in such decisions, but someone in the newsroom must have messed up with the last sentence above.

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My guess: There are always plenty of talks that start with "I want to address my comments to everyone, but especially [the youth/the singles/the women/the men/fathers/the Aaronic priesthood/etc]".  I assume our leaders asked why they even had RS/PH-specific meetings in the first place, and couldn't really come up with a good reason valid in the 21st century.  From a General Conference perspective, the age of setting a meeting to have group A or B all in attendance at the right time, is over.  With the videos almost immediately available to everyone, from their own bedrooms, attending General Conference is no longer a 'pilgrimage to Mecca'-esque undertaking. 

Just my guess.  It's hardly an obvious answer, just a possible one.

 

Honestly, I'm more bummed out that the next GC will be virtual only.  I am invested in getting back as much of the old normal back as I can, and I look forward to watching live (or freshly recorded new) broadcasts from the conference center.  I want more and new Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square!

Edited by NeuroTypical
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1 hour ago, Vort said:

https://www.thechurchnews.com/general-conference-fall-2019/2021-06-07/first-presidency-announces-changes-to-general-conference-discontinuing-saturday-evening-session-215558?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cn-social&utm_campaign=facebookpage-en&utm_content=churchnews-en

Beginning with the October 2021 general conference and continuing thereafter, the Saturday evening session will be discontinued. The change is being made because all sessions of general conference are now available to anyone who desires to watch or listen, according to the Newsroom release.

Does this strike anyone else as utterly non sequitur?

Yes, it does.  It makes sense that they will no longer be labeled as PH/RS, while maintaining the fifth (third) session.  But to eliminate one of the five sessions because anyone can watch it would mean we should eliminate all sessions because anyone can listen to it.

Then when we eliminate it, no one will be able to listen to it. So, we will have to re-institute it again.

Yes, it is a non-sequitur.  I think we get the intended meaning even if it was poorly worded.

There were separate men's and women's meetings because they used to talk to men about treating our wives better.  They'd tell the women don't be so hard on yourselves.  And it was done in a gathering of largely the intended audience.  Now that there is no such gathering anymore, they're just going to say the same stuff in general meetings.

Too bad.

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What makes this even more bizarre is that anyone has been able to watch or listen to any General Conference session for 30 years now. They have never been secret. True, until recently you had to wait until the Church released the audio or visual recordings to listen to or watch them, but they were freely available.

But the good news is that I now understand the reasoning behind the seeming non sequitur: The fact that a Priesthood Meeting designed only for men who hold the Priesthood (and perhaps for men preparing for the Priesthood and for men investigating the Church) is openly available to all, even live, it makes sense not to hold it as such a restricted meeting. So there is logic to the action; they just assumed that everyone would fill in the missing piece to make the logical connection. I didn't see it, though I guess it's pretty obvious. Thanks, @Carborendum.

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55 minutes ago, Vort said:

What makes this even more bizarre is that anyone has been able to watch or listen to any General Conference session for 30 years now. They have never been secret. True, until recently you had to wait until the Church released the audio or visual recordings to listen to or watch them, but they were freely available.

But the good news is that I now understand the reasoning behind the seeming non sequitur: The fact that a Priesthood Meeting designed only for men who hold the Priesthood (and perhaps for men preparing for the Priesthood and for men investigating the Church) is openly available to all, even live, it makes sense not to hold it as such a restricted meeting. So there is logic to the action; they just assumed that everyone would fill in the missing piece to make the logical connection. I didn't see it, though I guess it's pretty obvious. Thanks, @Carborendum.

Also, it cuts down on the media photo-ops for gender based agitators trying to draw attention to their cause by storming into (or visibly being denied entry to) priesthood meetings—Ordain Women, transgender folk, that kind of thing.  

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14 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

Also, it cuts down on the media photo-ops for gender based agitators trying to draw attention to their cause by storming into (or visibly being denied entry to) priesthood meetings—Ordain Women, transgender folk, that kind of thing.  

Of course that is the reason.  I thought it went without saying.  But I think it is sad.  It gives the impression that the Church is cowing to the demands of the world.

Maybe it is simply a necessary evil at this point.  It has happened before (hello, LoM).

I get the impression that one mechanism of "the sifting" is by making Church "policy" so loose that only the very faithful will actually live according to just and true principles.  All others will simply justify their immoral and sinful behavior by saying, "Well, Church policy doesn't forbid it."  He who must be commanded in all things...

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1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

Of course that is the reason.  I thought it went without saying.  But I think it is sad.  It gives the impression that the Church is cowing to the demands of the world.

Maybe it is simply a necessary evil at this point.  It has happened before (hello, LoM).

I get the impression that one mechanism of "the sifting" is by making Church "policy" so loose that only the very faithful will actually live according to just and true principles.  All others will simply justify their immoral and sinful behavior by saying, "Well, Church policy doesn't forbid it."  He who must be commanded in all things...

Maybe it is because the men and women are in need of some time in the evenings to spend with their whole family. Also, The ones who will be really hurt by this is all the restaurants that are inundated by men in white shirts at 8pm on Saturday nights. I am personally glad of that. Stay home as a family and spend it with everyone in the family for a change. Sorry Wingers, Texas Roadhouse and Chili's, you are now doomed. lol 

Edited by Emmanuel Goldstein
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22 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

But… But… I thought everything the church did was to guarantee the financial viability of the City Creek Mall?

You are obviously not part of the LDS deep state intelligentsia. Shadows within shadows within Danites.

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It has been interesting to watch many traditions (mostly traditions generated when Utah held the vast majority of Saints) fall by the wayside.  Gone are the church wide basketball and softball playoffs along with roadshows, gold & green balls, ward potluck dinners with green jell-o and shredded carrots, boy scout campouts, primary bandalows, ward 70's and High Priest groups, ward and home teaching (visiting teaching), stake M-men and Gleaners and a youth session of stake conference.   Perhaps the tradition I miss the most is the priesthood sessions of general conference in the Tabernacle and afterwards the general authorities would walk among the attending brethren shaking hands and often answering questions.  

In many ways life was so much simpler.  A lot has changed since my youth.  Not all of the changes seem like progress but one thing I do enjoy is being able to attend church almost anywhere I travel.  Generally, I am not sure I like people (especially in crowds) all that much but I do enjoy being among the Saints - Zoom meetings do not cut for me.

 

The Traveler

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On 6/7/2021 at 1:15 PM, Vort said:

I'm sad that I have lost my chance to take my boys to a General Priesthood Meeting.


You will have to train them how to endure boredom another way unfortunately. 
 

Seriously, as a teenager that went with his dad, two hours was a long time. My spiritual cup (thimble-sized at the time) was full in about 3 minutes at most and the rest of the time I was looking for ways to pass the boredom. 
 

To be fair, I also lament not being able to take my son to general priesthood meetings. My guess is that the Lord has other ways He wants to edify His young men preparing to serve missions. 

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5 hours ago, Colirio said:


You will have to train them how to endure boredom another way unfortunately. 
 

Seriously, as a teenager that went with his dad, two hours was a long time. My spiritual cup (thimble-sized at the time) was full in about 3 minutes at most and the rest of the time I was looking for ways to pass the boredom. 
 

To be fair, I also lament not being able to take my son to general priesthood meetings. My guess is that the Lord has other ways He wants to edify His young men preparing to serve missions. 

Perhaps the next generation will need to prepare differently and for different reasons (or missions) than for what my (and other older) generation(s) were prepared.  I wonder if the "church" is shifting gears and is about to sprint to the finish.  For me (an old guy), life has been quite the marathon, I do not have a lot of sprint left. In cycling terms - at this point I have drafted for a while and hopefully there are fresher legs that can sprint to the finish.

 

The Traveler

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On 6/7/2021 at 3:06 PM, Vort said:

What makes this even more bizarre is that anyone has been able to watch or listen to any General Conference session for 30 years now. They have never been secret. True, until recently you had to wait until the Church released the audio or visual recordings to listen to or watch them, but they were freely available.

But the good news is that I now understand the reasoning behind the seeming non sequitur: The fact that a Priesthood Meeting designed only for men who hold the Priesthood (and perhaps for men preparing for the Priesthood and for men investigating the Church) is openly available to all, even live, it makes sense not to hold it as such a restricted meeting. So there is logic to the action; they just assumed that everyone would fill in the missing piece to make the logical connection. I didn't see it, though I guess it's pretty obvious. Thanks, @Carborendum.

 

On 6/7/2021 at 4:03 PM, Just_A_Guy said:

Also, it cuts down on the media photo-ops for gender based agitators trying to draw attention to their cause by storming into (or visibly being denied entry to) priesthood meetings—Ordain Women, transgender folk, that kind of thing.  

The question is - is the priesthood ready to fulfill its roll in the remaining events of these Last-days without the specialized investment?  In a different thread I asked if the current conditions in Israel is a sign of the times?  -- Are such changes in the church a sign of the times?

 

The Traveler

Edited by Traveler
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  • 2 weeks later...
14 minutes ago, mordorbund said:

I haven't followed the bloggernacle for a while. Has anyone opined that this is President Nelson's way of striking back yet again at former President Uchtdorf for classifying the women's session as part of General Conference?

If it weren't so irreverent, I would start a thread to list the Bloggernacle's Reasons for Doing Away with Priesthood Session. Probably yet another idea best left unexplored.

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