Are service-only missions in addition to traditional proselytizing missions on the horizon?

[revelstoked]

According to Reddit:

Quote

In the adult session of a stake conference in the San Francisco Bay Area tonight, area authority Marc Davis talked about an upcoming change in the missionary program which is becoming public now. The main points are the following:

1. There will be two side-by-side mission experiences: Teaching missions and service missions.
2. Youth who are not able to receive a call for a teaching mission for any reason (he stated financial, emotional, physical, family, "whatever it may be") can choose to do a service mission instead.
3. Service missions do not proselytize and are not necessarily full-time, but share most of the other details such as receiving an official call letter, being set apart, having a badge, etc.
4. Proselytizing missionaries who come home early for any reason (health or otherwise) will have an option to transfer into their local service mission to continue their service. In two videos that introduced this, several of the featured service missionaries were "early release" missionaries from proselytizing missions.
5. A pilot program has been going on in the San Diego area for some time.
6. More info will come from stake presidents and a letter from the top in the next few weeks.
7. He personally thinks the church may soon have 70k teaching missionaries and 40k-60k service missionaries.

It's unclear if anyone can choose a service mission over a proselytizing mission, but from a few of the points above it sounds like the service mission is a secondary option.

 

[Rain]

Service missions are happening right now in Arizona.  We have had a number of elders and I think a sister at our  organization. I think the missions may vary. One had a service mission covering the entire state of AZ. He would choose what service he wanted to do. He lived at home. I do not know the details of the other missionaries. 

Edited August 27, 2018 by Rain

[Calm]

I was under the impression these had been going for awhile. We have service missions here or so I thought. 

[bsjkki]

2 minutes ago, Calm said:

I was under the impression these had been going for awhile. We have service missions here or so I thought. 

I have been under the impression that health reasons excluding missionaires from serving traditional missions has been tightening. We have two very well prepared young men that due to a pet allergy and controlled seizures are not able to serve a traditional mission. One of the moms told me guidelines are still being updated. They are both looking at service missions but not necessarily for two years...possibly only 6 month missions. I think SMAC has a son doing a serving mission at the MTC so while this program has been going on for some time, I think things are also in the works.

[revelstoked]

While service missions have been a thing it seems that they have been more of the exception.  A way to accommodate physical constraints, neurodiversity, or mental health issues.  The vibe I got from the post is a full church wide rollout that a service mission is just as good as a teaching mission is on its way.  Having that pointed out from the pulpit from the conference center I think is needed for the full cultural pivot that a service mission is some sort of a consolation prize (it isn't, it is the same prize).

Edited August 27, 2018 by revelstoked

[Scott Lloyd]

1 hour ago, revelstoked said:

According to Reddit:

 

I don't see much, if any, change from the status quo here. Church service missions have been around for decades.

I guess I need to have the dots connected for me.

 

[Robert F. Smith]

1 hour ago, Calm said:

I was under the impression these had been going for awhile. We have service missions here or so I thought. 

 

1 hour ago, revelstoked said:

According to Reddit:

 

This is merely a tweaking of the current system to include young men (and maybe young women) in the service mission category, when appropriate.  Service missions have been going on for many years as a major non-proselyting arm of Church welfare activities, but nearly always with older adults conducting welfare ops or  helping people find jobs, etc.  

This will help those who fail on a regular mission.  We have also had special missions for some years for the handicapped, in which they do their proselyting online (skype, etc.), and it has been very successful.

[Bernard Gui]

2 hours ago, revelstoked said:

• There will be two side-by-side mission experiences: Teaching missions and service missions.
• Youth who are not able to receive a call for a teaching mission for any reason (he stated financial, emotional, physical, family, "whatever it may be") can choose to do a service mission instead.
• Service missions do not proselytize and are not necessarily full-time, but share most of the other details such as receiving an official call letter, being set apart, having a badge, etc.

Thanks for sharing this.

Those items above have been in place in our stake for a long time. We have had three youth (two men and one woman) with limited abilities on service missions. Sister Gui and I have been Addiction Recovery service missionaries for 11 years...we were set apart and have badges. Our calllings came at the stake level, but we are part of the world-wide service missionary network and receive notifications and information from SLC. I will be interested in seeing what’s going to change.

Edited August 27, 2018 by Bernard Gui

[Calm]

3 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said:

 

This is merely a tweaking of the current system to include young men (and maybe young women) in the service mission category, when appropriate.  Service missions have been going on for many years as a major non-proselyting arm of Church welfare activities, but nearly always with older adults conducting welfare ops or  helping people find jobs, etc.  

This will help those who fail on a regular mission.  We have also had special missions for some years for the handicapped, in which they do their proselyting online (skype, etc.), and it has been very successful.

Lots of young ones around here, most with health limitations.

[smac97]

7 hours ago, bsjkki said:

I have been under the impression that health reasons excluding missionaires from serving traditional missions has been tightening. We have two very well prepared young men that due to a pet allergy and controlled seizures are not able to serve a traditional mission. One of the moms told me guidelines are still being updated. They are both looking at service missions but not necessarily for two years...possibly only 6 month missions. I think SMAC has a son doing a serving mission at the MTC so while this program has been going on for some time, I think things are also in the works.

Yes, my son has been serving as a Church Service Missionary since November 2016.  He has been working at the Referral Center at the MTC during that entire time.  He works on the "Chat with a Missionary" feature on Mormon.org, and so has had extensive experience teaching basic Gospel precepts, as well as coping with combative people, answering questions from the idly curious, etc.  It has been an amazing exprerience for him.

The option for live-at-home Church Service Missionaries to work in the Referral Center is coming to a close.  As I understand it, Church Service Missionaries will still be working full-time in the Referral Center, but they will live at the MTC.  My son is presently looking for another CSM opportunity to fill out his last 2.5 months.

As I understand it, the CSM program has been in place for quite some time, but has become much more structured (akin to a proselytizing mission) in the last 2-3 years.  My son receiving a mission call, wears a badge when he's "on duty," but otherwise has some flexibility to meet his health needs.  He lives at home, he can be by himself, he technically could even hold a job and go out on dates if he so chose (he didn't do either, as he wanted to devote his efforts full-time to missionary work).  He has served as an assistant ward mission leader in our ward, and so has had many opportunities to teach in person.

I have a nephew that is also serving as a Church Service Missionary.  He works with an FM ("Facilities Maintenance") group in Salt Lake Valley repairing and maintaining various church buildings.

Thanks,

-Smac

[bluebell]

We just had a big thing about this in our ward council yesterday, with our stake president emphasizing that service missions are the same thing as proselytizing missions, where the person is set a part and has to follow all the mission rules, etc.

I didn't get the feeling that they were saying that anyone could serve a service mission if they didn't want to do a proselytizing one, but rather that they were trying to get people to understand that a service mission was not less of a mission for those who needed to serve in that way.

Edited August 27, 2018 by bluebell

[rongo]

2 minutes ago, bluebell said:

We just had a big thing about this in our ward council yesterday, with our stake president emphasizing that service missions are the same thing as proselytizing missions, where the person is set a part and has to follow all the mission rules, etc.

I didn't get the feeling that they were saying that no anyone could serve a service mission if they didn't want to do a proselytizing one, but rather that they were trying to get people to understand that a service mission was not less of a mission for those who needed to serve in that way.

I think that's what the OP was getting at --- that one who otherwise could serve a traditional mission could choose a service mission instead. If that's what one would rather do, I have no problem with that. 

[bluebell]

Just now, rongo said:

I think that's what the OP was getting at --- that one who otherwise could serve a traditional mission could choose a service mission instead. If that's what one would rather do, I have no problem with that. 

Sorry, there was a typo in my post that made it confusing.

I meant to say "I didn't get the feeling that they were saying that anyone could serve a service mission if they didn't want to do a proselytizing one, but rather that they were trying to get people to understand that a service mission was not less of a mission for those who needed to serve in that way."

But I could be wrong on that.  

[The Nehor]

What kind of namby-pamby rubbish is this? Back in my day we rode bikes in freezing rain. We knocked on doors and had rock thrown at us. We stood on park benches and preached. Lazy Millenials only able to “help people” as if that is worth doing. What a weak and spineless generation of losers who cannot handle real adversity.

That was fun to write but I sadly do not believe a word of it. I like the change.

[Jane_Doe]

12 hours ago, revelstoked said:

While service missions have been a thing it seems that they have been more of the exception.  A way to accommodate physical constraints, neurodiversity, or mental health issues.  The vibe I got from the post is a full church wide rollout that a service mission is just as good as a teaching mission is on its way.  Having that pointed out from the pulpit from the conference center I think is needed for the full cultural pivot that a service mission is some sort of a consolation prize (it isn't, it is the same prize).

I was offered to do a service mission over 10 years ago, for no other reason that it was more my interest.  This isn't new, though it in indeed better known nowadays.  

[BonhoefferFan]

If my daughter could do a service mission similar to the peace corps, she would willingly go.  She is just not interested in proselytizing.  But she would serve happily for 18 months.  I think service missions would do more for conversions than door knocking ever would, but it would have to be a sincere effort to serve, and not with ulterior motives (serve to get them in).  My son very well might go on a proselytizing mission.  Not everyone is cut out to proselytize, but many might be interested in committed service, and have their relationship with God strengthened in the process. 

[BonhoefferFan]

3 hours ago, The Nehor said:

What kind of namby-pamby rubbish is this? Back in my day we rode bikes in freezing rain. We knocked on doors and had rock thrown at us. We stood on park benches and preached. Lazy Millenials only able to “help people” as if that is worth doing. What a weak and spineless generation of losers who cannot handle real adversity. 

That was fun to write but I sadly do not believe a word of it. I like the change. 

Well said...Millennials...with their avocado toast and lack of dedication to materialism!?!?!

[mfbukowski]

13 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

I don't see much, if any, change from the status quo here. Church service missions have been around for decades.

I guess I need to have the dots connected for me.

 

Yep, this is old news.

There have been young service missionaries serving as temple workers in LA for years, often due to physical or social limitations.

I have known a few such young people from our stake, and they are "full fledged missionaries", and their service is essential in temple operations.

[mfbukowski]

3 hours ago, The Nehor said:

What kind of namby-pamby rubbish is this? Back in my day we rode bikes in freezing rain. We knocked on doors and had rock thrown at us. We stood on park benches and preached. Lazy Millenials only able to “help people” as if that is worth doing. What a weak and spineless generation of losers who cannot handle real adversity.

That was fun to write but I sadly do not believe a word of it. I like the change.

You forgot that all the bike rides were up hill both ways, due to direct intervention by the adversary himself! 😈

[The Nehor]

33 minutes ago, BonhoefferFan said:

Well said...Millennials...with their avocado toast and lack of dedication to materialism!?!?!

The irony of the conspicuous consumption  Boomers ragging on Millenials for a relatively inexpensive toast fad is hilarious to me.

[The Nehor]

9 minutes ago, mfbukowski said:

You forgot that all the bike rides were up hill both ways, due to direct intervention by the adversary himself! 😈

And it was so long ago we were chased by dinosaurs.

[rockpond]

Sounds like an expansion of the current program (I know a young man who served out of state on a church service mission and had a great experience).  I'm really pleased to see this and am hoping its accurate.

The one problem is #7 in the OP's quote from Reddit... I don't think we're getting back to 70k proselyting missionaries.  But, if they bundle the service missionary number with the proselyting missionary number, I think we could see that total figure start to trend up again.  I'll give my prediction right now that we aren't going to see a total full-time (service + proselyting) missionary number of 110k to 130k as alleged in the OP's quote.

[Meerkat]

I like the service mission approach for any age.  It teaches us all Gospel virtues, and imparts the Spirit to those we serve.  We will hopefully serve a service mission some day.

[Navidad]

I served a mission in West Africa. It was service only. No conversion attempted. It changed my life!

 

[BonhoefferFan]

On 8/27/2018 at 9:34 PM, The Nehor said:

The irony of the conspicuous consumption  Boomers ragging on Millenials for a relatively inexpensive toast fad is hilarious to me.

I do not know how to give a thumbs up (the heart thingy) but again...well said....