Will Mormon service missions become a thing of the past?

[CA Steve]

An interesting column by Emily Jensen about the impact of the church doing away with pure service missions.

Will Mormon service missions become a thing of the past? by Emily Jensen

I am of the opinion that all missions should be service missions and, when the opportunity arises, teach people who show interest. I suspect our retention numbers would go up if we took that approach.

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by CA Steve

[Pyreaux]

Indeed, a merger of the two. The fulltime missionaries have a strict limit to how much service they can do per week.

[bluebell]

4 hours ago, CA Steve said:

An interesting column by Emily Jensen about the impact of the church doing away with pure service missions.

Will Mormon service missions become a thing of the past? by Emily Jensen

I am of the opinion that all missions should be service missions and, when the opportunity arises, teach people who show interest. I suspect our retention numbers would go up if we took that approach.

 

Do we have evidence that her assumptions about the reasons for the change are accurate?  She makes a lot of points and arguments that require her assumptions about the change to be correct, but without knowing if her opinions are based on facts it’s hard for me to give the column much weight.

Is the change actually brought on by desperation to gain more converts (as she says)?  It could be.  But I know there is a bit of a stigma (largely from themselves if the few I’ve heard from are any indication) for those who serve in service missions and when I first heard about the change my first thought was that it was an effort to help those who can’t serve proselytizing missions to feel equal to those that do.

Has the church explained the reason for the change?  I haven’t read much about it. 

[JustAnAustralian]

Australia has already been trialling the combined approach.

Young service missions are being pushed more, not less.

There is no proselytising requirement for service missionaries, and their work is customised to their abilities.

 

[CA Steve]

3 minutes ago, bluebell said:

Do we have evidence that her assumptions about the reasons for the change are accurate?  She makes a lot of points and arguments that require her assumptions about the change to be correct, but without knowing if her opinions are based on facts it’s hard for me to give the column much weight.

Is the change actually brought on by desperation to gain more converts (as she says)?  It could be.  But I know there is a bit of a stigma (largely from themselves if the few I’ve heard from are any indication) for those who serve in service missions and when I first heard about the change my first thought was that it was an effort to help those who can’t serve proselytizing missions to feel equal to those that do.

Has the church explained the reason for the change?  I haven’t read much about it. 

I don't have any more information about what she said than what is in the article, except to say the church rarely provides the type of information you are looking for and certainly would never describe a change like this as being done out of desperation.

[bluebell]

48 minutes ago, CA Steve said:

I don't have any more information about what she said than what is in the article, except to say the church rarely provides the type of information you are looking for and certainly would never describe a change like this as being done out of desperation.

Very true.  

[halconero]

My impression on the change was that it was focused on integrating service missionaries into the structure and organisation of proselytising missions, not necessarily doing away with them. So now the service missionaries report to the local Mission President, and likely go to mission meetings.

Honestly, it’s a good change imo. It’s an opportunity for proselytising missionaries to learn from service missionaries in workshop type settings. Service missionaries can plan long-term, semi-regular activities that usually get neglected in favour of one-shots lots of members seem to favour. As in, the service missionary can likely coordinate the “staffing” of service projects with help from the proselytising missionaries.

On the other hand, proselytising missionaries can probably involve investigators and recent converts in service activities earlier, which can be teaching opportunities on true discipleship that the service-oriented missionaries get to be a part of.

[Duncan]

I think too service missionaries had their own MP couple that they reported too and so if the couple is freed up they can serve elsewhere. Some missions don't have many or any service missionaries and so why bother calling a couple to handle only a few missionaries, the Mission President can do that

[Rain]

30 minutes ago, Duncan said:

I think too service missionaries had their own MP couple that they reported too and so if the couple is freed up they can serve elsewhere. Some missions don't have many or any service missionaries and so why bother calling a couple to handle only a few missionaries, the Mission President can do that

An organization I am with has heavy involvement with service missionaries.  Our person who works with them said they let her know they will still have a couple over them helping them out. I think that's actually a good thing as from what I have seen the leader couples do is a lot of work.  That may be different in your area since we have a lot of members here so we have a lot of service missionaries.

[JustAnAustralian]

2 hours ago, halconero said:

on integrating service missionaries into the structure and organisation of proselytising missions, not necessarily doing away with them.

The other important thing it does is reenforce that service missions are still missions. They are not "lesser".

[halconero]

Indeed.

[let’s roll]

As a senior missionary I spent a significant amount of time working on the implementation and expansion of youth service missions in Latin America.   Service missions will continue to provide an important and unique missionary experience for youth who desire to consecrate a portion of their lives to serve Deity and their brothers and sisters.  Service missions are an important part of the mosaic of the overall missionary program.  The recent adjustments to the program allow service missionaries increased visibility to, and interaction with, their proselytizing peers and leadership (e.g. via participation in zone and mission conferences) without altering the focus on the missionary’s individually customized service plan.