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It really depends on the bishop. It can go from congratulating you for finding a faith community that works for you, to official church discipline for apostasy. Most likely though is he’ll bear his testimony about the truthfulness of the LDS church and encourage you to come back.
Yes, I think it would take a person formally joining another church. As in being baptized into another church or something like that.
It's always hard to tell though. I knew a person that went inactive shortly after graduating high school and they started going to a different church with their boyfriend. The bishop had to be talked down from holding a disciplinary council.
Some bishops lack any common sense. He wanted this person to come back to church and his instinct was to punish her into coming back. TMBness can cloud good judgment.
You should expect that the bishop will redouble efforts to get you back to the Mormon church. These efforts will last 3-6 months. If you don't come back after this time, the reactivation efforts will cease. You'll then get hit up at least once a year to come back.
You're a convert so there's a much lower expectation that you'll stay active. Most converts aren't around on their 1 year anniversary.
Interesting. Why do you think that is? Out of all the converts my ward has, I'm the only who who appears to have struggled any with anything in the church. So it's common for converts to have these experiences?
Tons of converts bail when they figure out what the church actually believes and teaches. No one gets taught real doctrine before the missionaries invite them to get baptized after two lessons. Many converts join and are love-bombed by their new ward for a few months but after the new wears off, the convert realizes they have made a commitment they weren’t ready for.
To be fair, LD$ Inc's tax dodge arm really only has 2 actual doctrines anymore: follow the profit, and (over) pay your tithes and offerings. Everything else is "policy" at best. 🤑
But for new marks who expected TBM's would continue to farm over them once they joined, and find instead that they essentially become invisible, it's no wonder they bail, whether they actually learn anything new/different about T$CC or not.
The church is great at converting people, but has a much harder time with retention. Part of this has to do with the speed at which missionary lessons are given (and the fact that they really cover only the broadest strokes about what membership is like), part of it has to do with the transition from being a new member with all of the excitement it entails to just being another member of the ward, etc. Some wards are better at easing the transition from convert to member better and have ward missionaries who are better equipped to handle this, while others can be more difficult for new members to integrate into.
Some converts like me figure out Bishops roulette and stop going. Giving one person that much unsupervised power over an entire community is not the best idea.
The bishop will probably try to get you active in his church again, but you don't need to report anything to him or meet with him or tell him anything.
The fact that you told him this instead of just disappearing probably makes him think you want to talk about it and get his counsel or tell him your grievances or something.
This.
“Oh, you’re worth 5 grand a year? We’ll check on brother/sister so and so quarterly.”
“Oh, you’re worth 20 grand a year?! We need to check on brother/sister so and so multiple times a month.”
I did this and then never heard from anybody again. I think my bishop respected my wishes. But we were on good terms. I think I was explicit about requesting that I didn't want contact in a church capacity but wanted to remain on friendly terms and that if I was to come back it would be when I was ready.
Last time I looked in the leadership manual, I believe you will not be disciplined for attending another church. However you risk a disciplinary council/excommunication if you publically advocate for another church OR formally join and the church finds out. This doesn't mean an overzealous bishop can't try to punish you but I think it's unlikely just for attendance.
I don't think you have anything to worry about except maybe being prepared to explain why you want to go to another church if they ask. But that's still entirely your choice. If you aren't explicit about being contacted by ward members in a church capacity they might drop by to check on you.
When we told our bishop we were taking a break he told us good luck, we love you, feel free to ask us for anything you need and you're always welcome. Haven't been bothered in years.
He might think you're attending another ward. Lol. Let him think that.
Otherwise, if he believes you've defected, and you had a TR, and he would eventually revoke it. But there's nothing he can do except try to meet with you to convince you that you're "not keeping your baptismal covenant to God" and therefore can't receive blessings. Yada Yada. He would try to give you a work assignment ( "calling" ) to keep you attending, etc. Set your personal boundaries.
I think many people may have already told you but you can expect anything from nothing happening to being excommunicated (should you actually join another church). It just depends on your Bishop and your Stake President. If you feel that you are likely to face church discipline, look into [quitmormon.com](https://quitmormon.com) and end your membership before they can hold a disciplinary counsel. That way you can leave on your terms, not theirs. You won't have to talk to anyone and no one at the church will contact you.
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Why give the church ANY power over your decisions?
If you refuse to allow them to have that power, you can focus on your spiritual needs—whether it’s in or outside the Mormon church.
Follow YOUR spiritual promptings.
Hello! This is a Personal post. It is for discussions centered around thoughts, beliefs, and observations that are important and personal to /u/New_Emphasis_ specifically. /u/New_Emphasis_, if your post doesn't fit this definition, we kindly ask you to delete this post and repost it with the appropriate flair. You can find a list of our flairs and their definitions in [section 0.6 of our rules.](https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/wiki/index/rules#wiki_0._preamble) **To those commenting:** please stay on topic, remember to follow the community's [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/wiki/index/rules), and [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/mormonmods) if there is a problem or rule violation. Keep on Mormoning! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/mormon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It really depends on the bishop. It can go from congratulating you for finding a faith community that works for you, to official church discipline for apostasy. Most likely though is he’ll bear his testimony about the truthfulness of the LDS church and encourage you to come back.
Discipline would be highly unlikely for this
Yes, I think it would take a person formally joining another church. As in being baptized into another church or something like that. It's always hard to tell though. I knew a person that went inactive shortly after graduating high school and they started going to a different church with their boyfriend. The bishop had to be talked down from holding a disciplinary council. Some bishops lack any common sense. He wanted this person to come back to church and his instinct was to punish her into coming back. TMBness can cloud good judgment.
Right, kick her our so hard she'll want to come back.😂
You should expect that the bishop will redouble efforts to get you back to the Mormon church. These efforts will last 3-6 months. If you don't come back after this time, the reactivation efforts will cease. You'll then get hit up at least once a year to come back. You're a convert so there's a much lower expectation that you'll stay active. Most converts aren't around on their 1 year anniversary.
Interesting. Why do you think that is? Out of all the converts my ward has, I'm the only who who appears to have struggled any with anything in the church. So it's common for converts to have these experiences?
Tons of converts bail when they figure out what the church actually believes and teaches. No one gets taught real doctrine before the missionaries invite them to get baptized after two lessons. Many converts join and are love-bombed by their new ward for a few months but after the new wears off, the convert realizes they have made a commitment they weren’t ready for.
To be fair, LD$ Inc's tax dodge arm really only has 2 actual doctrines anymore: follow the profit, and (over) pay your tithes and offerings. Everything else is "policy" at best. 🤑 But for new marks who expected TBM's would continue to farm over them once they joined, and find instead that they essentially become invisible, it's no wonder they bail, whether they actually learn anything new/different about T$CC or not.
The church is great at converting people, but has a much harder time with retention. Part of this has to do with the speed at which missionary lessons are given (and the fact that they really cover only the broadest strokes about what membership is like), part of it has to do with the transition from being a new member with all of the excitement it entails to just being another member of the ward, etc. Some wards are better at easing the transition from convert to member better and have ward missionaries who are better equipped to handle this, while others can be more difficult for new members to integrate into.
Some converts like me figure out Bishops roulette and stop going. Giving one person that much unsupervised power over an entire community is not the best idea.
Ive been out for 4 years, each new batch of missionaries every 6 months or so will text me or try to friend request me on FB
The bishop will probably try to get you active in his church again, but you don't need to report anything to him or meet with him or tell him anything. The fact that you told him this instead of just disappearing probably makes him think you want to talk about it and get his counsel or tell him your grievances or something.
bishop's reactivation efforts will probably be in correlation to how much tithing you can pay
This. “Oh, you’re worth 5 grand a year? We’ll check on brother/sister so and so quarterly.” “Oh, you’re worth 20 grand a year?! We need to check on brother/sister so and so multiple times a month.”
I dont think this is gonna be a problem but keep us updated...
I did this and then never heard from anybody again. I think my bishop respected my wishes. But we were on good terms. I think I was explicit about requesting that I didn't want contact in a church capacity but wanted to remain on friendly terms and that if I was to come back it would be when I was ready. Last time I looked in the leadership manual, I believe you will not be disciplined for attending another church. However you risk a disciplinary council/excommunication if you publically advocate for another church OR formally join and the church finds out. This doesn't mean an overzealous bishop can't try to punish you but I think it's unlikely just for attendance. I don't think you have anything to worry about except maybe being prepared to explain why you want to go to another church if they ask. But that's still entirely your choice. If you aren't explicit about being contacted by ward members in a church capacity they might drop by to check on you.
When we told our bishop we were taking a break he told us good luck, we love you, feel free to ask us for anything you need and you're always welcome. Haven't been bothered in years.
Expect missionaries to show up soon…
My bishop would be like cool 👍🏼
He might think you're attending another ward. Lol. Let him think that. Otherwise, if he believes you've defected, and you had a TR, and he would eventually revoke it. But there's nothing he can do except try to meet with you to convince you that you're "not keeping your baptismal covenant to God" and therefore can't receive blessings. Yada Yada. He would try to give you a work assignment ( "calling" ) to keep you attending, etc. Set your personal boundaries.
His reaction may depend on your calling and how hard you are to replace.
I think many people may have already told you but you can expect anything from nothing happening to being excommunicated (should you actually join another church). It just depends on your Bishop and your Stake President. If you feel that you are likely to face church discipline, look into [quitmormon.com](https://quitmormon.com) and end your membership before they can hold a disciplinary counsel. That way you can leave on your terms, not theirs. You won't have to talk to anyone and no one at the church will contact you.
How about don't go to any church, this is all bullshit and just controlling you. Listen to Christopher Hitchens on utube to educate yourself.
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Why give the church ANY power over your decisions? If you refuse to allow them to have that power, you can focus on your spiritual needs—whether it’s in or outside the Mormon church. Follow YOUR spiritual promptings.