This thought came from a pamphlet by Reverend Frank S. Morley, Ph.D. a Presbyterian. The pamphlet was written in November of 1954 and was a presentation at the Grace Presbyterian Church in Calgary, Canada. The presentation was named “What we can Learn from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints (Commonly called the Mormons)
Until recently all Reverend Morley knew about the Mormons was what he had read in Zane Grey novels as a child. The following are things he recently learned;
- They send out thousands of missionaries every year who pay their own way to go. They preach God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost.
- That they are perhaps the healthiest people in the world. Because of their teaching of the Word of Wisdom. Mormons live on average 10 years longer than do other citizens of this country.
- They have a clear statement of faith called the Articles of Faith.
- Once a week they spend time together as a family.
- Children 4 to 11 have a special weekly training period called Primary Education.
- Young men are ordained to a priesthood office at 12 years of age and advanced every two or three years until they become an Elder at 18. They can than bless the sick as well as other priestly duties.
- Fellowshipping keeps their young people actively involved in activities.
- Mormon’s prepare their young people and encourage early marriage.
- Governance – They have a form of theocracy including a Presidency and a Quorum of Twelve Apostles. The membership of the church votes on their leadership.
- Their devotion, there leadership on the local Stake and Ward levels are unpaid, but they devote a great deal of time in doing their assignments. Other churches have nothing like that. There are people who work full time for the church, such as secretaries at the church offices, who are paid.
- LDS people are very generous, Beside paying a tithe of their income they also pay a Fast Offering for the poor. A Fast Offering is the equivalent of the cost of two meals each month that goes to assist the poor in their local areas.
- Home Teaching Every family in the ward is visited once a month by two other members of their ward to determine if they need any assistance and to leave a brief message of faith. If the family needs special help, their need is reported to the bishop who arranges to get them the help they need.
- I could add to his list the women’s organization called the Relief Society, the largest women’ organization in the world.
Morley concluded by saying; Unless the laymen of the church reassume their responsibility, I don’t believe the protestant church has a future, Edgar A. Guest put it this way;
“Leave it to the minister
And soon the church will die;
Leave it to the women-folk,
And the young will pass it by;
For the church is all that lifts us,
From the coarse and sullen mob;
And the church that is to prosper,
Needs laymen on the job.
Now a layman has his business,
And a layman has his joys;
But he also has the training
Of his little girls and boys;
And I wonder how he’d like it,
If there were no churches here,—
And he had to raise his children,
In a godless atmosphere.
It’s the church’s special function,
To uphold the finer things;
To teach that way of living,
From which all that’s noble springs;
But the minister can’t do it
Single-handed and alone,
It’s the laymen of our country
Who are the church’s cornerstone.
When you see a church that’s empty,
Though its doors are open wide;
It’s not the church that’s dying,
It’s the laymen who have died;
For it’s not by song or sermon,
That the church’s work is done;
It’s the laymen of our country,
Who for God must carry on.”
—Edgar A, Guest
It is said that it doesn’t take much of a man to be a Christian, but it takes all of him that there is. That religion that imposes no obligation is no religion.