Mormonism = evangelical megachurch wannabes?

Comments (19)

1. Oh, good Lord.

   “…accept Jeeeeezus in yer hart as yer personaaal savyorrrr…”

   All that’s missing is a pseudo rock band.

2. Is that the thing from the New Years Party or whatever.

   I cringed so hard when i watched another video from that. Sister Dalton tried so hard to be “cool,” and it…didn’t work.

3. ❓

   😥

4. I just heard it was from a New Year’s broadcast.

   I’m waiting for the day that this is the typical service in a Mormon Church. How long do you think it will be?

5. Apparently it’s part of a new initiative by the church. The website has a much less corporate look that I admit that I like.

6. They showed about 20 minutes of this to our youth a couple weeks ago for mutual. Most of them had been there on New Year’s, so I’m not sure why. But as a new adult leader, I was shocked. It was one of the cheesiest and worst things I have seen. There was even a part where everyone was waving their arms to a religious song, like they do in American Idol. There was also a part where everyone raised up their “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlets on cue and cheered loudly. It kind of scared me. And I don’t think the church will make progress in the USA until they get out of the bed with the evangelicals. I think the reason for the new look and approach is because they are losing so many youth from the church. But it’s funny and a little sad that this is their answer to what good clean fun should be.

7. That’s one of the freakiest things I’ve seen in a long time. In every way freaky. I can’t imagine my teen kids seeing this and feeling anything other than revulsion.

   And really, do you know any teen girls who wear button down oxford-style shirts and black slacks?? Weirdness.

8. My LDS wife agrees with me that we wouldn’t want our kids anywhere near one of these events. Having said that, I can’t stop watching it in shocked disbelief.

9. To me it seemed more “High School Musical” than megachurch. It might work for 8 to 12-year-olds, especially girls, but I can’t see anyone much older than that reacting with anything but laughter.

10. Nervous laughter for sure.

    Let’s get one thing straight — this is not your daddy’s Mormonism. I think this is the best proof yet that the old guard has failed its quest for ushering-in the millennium and the church is now settling-in for the long haul.

11. The most progressive thing the church has done in years.

12. I’ve said before that the church needs to work on making a more positive experience for young people, to build the memories that make them proud to identify as Mormon. They’re at least making an effort in that direction, but…

    This has such a top-down one-directional-communication feel to it. So much of what’s fun for young people these days is all about being able to give feedback and producing your own fun stuff to share. And my own positive memories of Mormonism generally revolve around the opportunities to organize things and be creative. Even if the result was often as dorky as this, there’s the fun of “my friends and I created it,” which they don’t get from sitting in the audience of a mass-production. I’m sure I’m just being an old carmudgen (“in my day…” 😉 ), but if this is progressive, I’m not convinced they’re progressing in the right direction. And the site Jonathan linked to looks totally corporate to me, like a slick advertising campaign.

    If they’re lucky, young people will find this fun and cool, but it’s notoriously difficult for adults to dictate to kids what they should like and think is cool. It reminds me of how the LDS church leaders set up the “grassroots” organization for Proposition 8 — there are some types of human interaction that just don’t work as well in top-down only mode.

13. Hmm, I’m not sure elaborate choreographed musical numbers are exactly anything new in Mormonism. I mean let’s face it, for a church that hates teh gays Mormons sure do love elaborate musical numbers. And I agree, this is more High School Musical than Lakewood Church. Most mega churches are less dorky frankly. The headsets are weird though, I mean what’s a general authority without a gigantic podium pimped out with floral arrangements, no authority at all that’s what. Also, I loved the part at the end where they all flash the black power sign.

14. Hmm, I’m not sure elaborate choreographed musical numbers are exactly anything new in Mormonism. I mean let’s face it, for a church that hates teh gays Mormons sure do love elaborate musical numbers. And I agree, this is more High School Musical than Lakewood Church. Most mega churches are less dorky frankly.

    True, the number itself seemed pretty Mormon. I’ve never seen a megachurch service, so I can’t tell if they’re this dorky or not. 😉

    I mean what’s a general authority without a gigantic podium pimped out with floral arrangements, no authority at all that’s what.

    lol, so true. I knew there was something weirdly incongruous about this program…

15. A podium gives you lots of authority. A handheld mic still gives you some. A headset? Almost none. You’re on your own. 🙂

    I think Sister Dalton hasn’t adapted well. She’s still talking in her “Conference voice”: “Wwweee wwant to personally welcome eeach and every one of you… where ever you are.” It just doesn’t work without a podium.

    Bro. Dalquist’s shouting enthusiasm, even though it’s kind of corny and strained, works better. She should have gone for something like that, or just gone for a casual style and talked like a normal person.

16. I’d never seen that ‘brand new year’ website before. Very interesting! The best part is, it’s all in Flash. I have Flash blocked by default, so I just saw a blank page with legal small print. Which seems very appropriate.

17. Sounds about like Mormonism… Nothing there but small print. 🙂

18. I want to say “kudos” to the Church for trying to do something more hep, but this…

    Listen, as a girl who once attended a protestant and mildly holy-roller church, I can’t help but cringe. The fact that the LDS Church never pulled this crap helped lure me in.

    The looks on the kids’ faces…their robotic reactions and the *horrific* songs just make me want to nevereverever let my children attend a youth event when they get older. It’s hypnotic, and not in a good way.

    It’s frightening really. They just need a mass saving, a mass “laying on of hands” to save someone from some ailment to make this more on pointe.

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