Ethnography Analysis of LDS Missionaries - Essay Example

While preparing for this assignment, I met two guys wearing white shirts and ties walking through the neighborhood. They came up and began speaking with me about all sorts of things. I discovered that they were missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I learned that their church has over 14 million members all over the world and they claimed to have religious teachings that were different than any other Christian church. After speaking with them for about an hour, I decided that I would like to get to know these people better and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or the LDS Church, would be an interesting group of people to study from an ethnographic perspective. The missionaries I met wanted to teach me the doctrines of the church, but I told them that I was interested in only attending to observe for my own purposes and curiosity. They readily agreed to this and said that I would always be welcome to come to any of the church meetings. They assured me that I would ask all the questions I wanted of members and that no one would treat me strangely just because I am a visitor. I arrived for my first meeting early on a Sunday morning. The meetings last three hours long and are divided into three different classes or meetings. I will speak about the specifics of each meeting later in the paper. I was not accustomed to being awake so early on a Sunday, and was surprised that everyone seemed so awake and friendly. My initial response to the members of the congregation was very favorable. They welcomed me informally by shaking my hand and introducing themselves by name. Many of the women referred to themselves as “Sister Jones” for example. The men referred to themselves as “Brother Jones.” After being informally greeted by about a dozen members, the person conducting the meeting that identified himself as Bishop Petersen formally welcomed all visitors. This made me feel at ease because apparently people visit here all the time. At the same time, I overheard many conversations throughout the day where the labels “member” and “non-member” were used. This occurred throughout all of my visits to this congregation. “Non-members” were never referred to in a derogatory manner, but it is clear that it is important for this group of people to distinguish between members of the LDS church and everyone else. The reasons for this became apparent as I learned more about the doctrinal beliefs of this group. The LDS Church has a very hierarchal structure. This is true for the local congregation as well as the global church. At the head of the global church there is a First Presidency of three men. The President is considered to be a prophet by the LDS church. His word is law. There are also apostles and leaders called seventies. When asked about these positions, it was explained to me that Jesus established this structure, so this is the modern structure of His church. All of these leaders oversee a different geographic region of the church as well as chairing a committee that helps govern the church. This national organization is replicated again on the local level, with a Bishop and counselors overseeing each Ward, as the congregation is called. Bishop Petersen explained that all of the doings in the Ward were his responsibility, but he had lots of help from other Ward leaders. I was amazed to find that all of these people take on this responsibility as volunteers. None of them are paid for their time or efforts. Indeed, the LDS church seems to look with disdain on individuals that profit from religion. In one of the lessons I attended, this was referred to as “priestcraft”. The members of this group believe that they should not question or go against their leaders. What is especially noteworthy about this is the fact that there are no female leaders in the Ward. There are women that oversee a women’s organization called Relief Society and women that are in charge of the children’s organization called Primary. No women are allowed to hold the priesthood, so none of them can be Bishops, Apostles or the President of the church. I was amazed to find that most of the women were fine with this arrangement. Their desire to obey leadership was more important than questioning why women could not be in charge. One women did speak candidly after we established a relationship that she did feel as though church leaders did not take women seriously at time, especially local Bishops. She said that she understood that gender roles required men and women to each fulfill their own special roles in what she called “the plan of salvation”, but she often felt as though women were not treated with the respect they deserve. This female member was valuable to my understanding of the LDS church because she gave me insight into how this group views gender and gender roles. The best words to describe the LDS view of gender loses would be traditional and conservative. Men are expected to lead the family in the home by counseling children and his wife, leading in prayer and teaching from scripture. The LDS church teaches that all men can be priests if they meet certain worthiness standards, so they are expected to act as such in their homes. Men are also expected to provide the financial income for the family as well as serving in the church. Women are expected to engage in home-making activities and the nurture of children (Ballard, 1997). I was surprised to hear in one the classes that was all female, that LDS women are encouraged to pursue education as much as the men. One woman explained that knowledge was something that everyone should seek to obtain. The LDS view of gender and gender roles is typified by the third meeting held each Sunday. Women go to a meeting of Relief Society Sisters and men go to Priesthood Quorum. In the LDS culture, women and men have separate and distinct roles and there is not much room to act outside of those roles. Some of the women spoke in disapproving ways about women that had taken jobs outside the home while still having small children to raise. Daycare was a work spoken of with disdain. As stated before, the LDS church meets each Sunday for several hours. The most important of these meetings is the Sacrament Meeting, which is held first. The sacrament consists of bread and water. Members of the LDS church do not drink alcohol in any form, even for communion. The bread and water is passes to the congregation by young boys that are already priesthood holders. Boys can be ordained to the priesthood as young as age twelve. There is a prayer said before the sacrament is passed. The sacrament is the most powerful symbol and ordinance for the LDS church. It is designed to remind them that Jesus died for their sins and rose again from the dead. Looking around the chapel, it occurred to me that the LDS church did not have much of the symbolism that most other Christian churches display. There was no cross displayed anywhere in the chapel or in the church. I also noticed that no one I met was wearing a crucifix as jewelry as is common in other Christian congregations. The Sunday School meeting that followed the Sacrament meeting was less structured and seemed to be less important than the Sacrament Meeting. I noticed that some people in the congregation left the building after Sacrament Meeting, but most people stayed. In addition to the taking of sacrament, the first meeting included the singing of hymns and a series of speakers. This was a very inclusive meeting because members of the congregation are assigned to speak each week. The Bishop organizes the preaching but does not actually do the preaching himself. There were three speakers in the meeting. Two of the speakers were women and one of the speakers was a young man. On subsequent visits the speakers were always some mix of males and females. It was in this meeting that topics that seem to center on doctrine and advice for good living were presented to the congregation. Some of the topics included the paying of tithes and offerings, staying chaste and morally clean, being honest, temple work and following the example set by Jesus. After attending several weeks’ worth of meetings, I was able to discern some trends in the attitudes that members of the LDS church have towards people that are not members. The first of these tendencies is to categorize everyone. Terms such as “member”, “nonmember”, “active”, “less active”, “apostate” and “endowed” are all categories of different people. It became apparent that an “active member” is someone that goes to church each week, serves in the church and upholds all of the rules presented by the LDS church. This is the category that is most desirable. A “less active member” is someone that has become a member of the LDS church but has since ceased to participate in church activities. I often heard members in classes and even from the pulpit encouraging members to reach out to the “less actives”. An “apostate” is a person that is a member but has actually started speaking out against church practices and teachings. This is the worst category of person. I was categorized as a “nonmember”, meaning I had not gone through the initiation process necessary to become a “member.” Baptism is the first step in becoming a member of the LDS church. At baptism, the LDS church says the new member makes a covenant with God to obey the commandments. In exchange for keeping the covenant, the new member will someday become “endowed” in a ceremony in a temple. This is the highest level of making covenants in the religion. “Endowed members” are the ones that seem to rank highest in the congregation. The Bishop must be in this category, as does the leaders of all the organizations in the Ward. The proclivity of labeling and categorizing people in the LDS church was at first a bit strange and off-putting. It painted a picture of a group that values status above merit. As a nonmember, I felt as though there was a particular role I should fulfill, and that role should be the same for all nonmembers. The LDS church appears to use this system of categorization as a means to distinguishing themselves from the “other”. Members of the LDS church take their membership seriously and strive to be the best type of member. In this way, it appears as the categorization of individuals also creates competition within the group for obtaining positions and status. Especially of interest is the effect they have on persons entering the group for the first time. The label of “nonmember” immediately makes a person feel like an outsider, but that feeling can be overcome by membership in the group. The group is indeed growing, as I witnessed by attending a baptism ceremony. An entire family was baptized on a Sunday afternoon after church. The father and mother testified in this meeting that the teachings of the LDS church were what convinced them to join with this group. The noted specifically three doctrines that were especially important to them. I mention these three because they were often discussed in meetings and classes. They first spoke of the atonement of Jesus Christ, which allowed them to be forgiven of sins. This is a standard Christian belief, so the LDS church is in line with mainstream Christianity in this way. The second doctrine is the belief that the family unit is preserved in the afterlife. This can only happen fir families attend the temple and have a ceremony preformed there. This ceremony requires everyone to be in the “endowed” category (McConkie, 1966). The third doctrine mentioned is a belief in modern scripture and prophecy, specifically in the Book of Mormon, which is a holy book for the LDS church (Smith, 1981). Despite the categorization of individuals and the rigid gender roles present in this group, many people seem excited and willing to unite with them. This is surprising because most organizations seem to be moving in the exact opposite direction. In this way, it is counter-intuitive that the LDS church continues to grow, but grow it does (More, 2012). As a final note, I must admit that I had a wonderful time visiting the LDS church. There is a real camaraderie in this organization that is unlike any other I have been a part of. The doctrines of this church are contrary with my own personal beliefs, but many other aspects of this group resounded with me on a very personal level. Works Cited Ballard, M. Russell. Counseling with Our Councils: Learning to Minister Together in the Church and in the Family. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1997. Print. McConkie, Bruce R. Mormon Doctrine. Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft, 1966. Print. "More than a Mormon Moment" Washington Post (blog). 15 Mar. 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. . Smith, Joseph, trans. The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. Salt Lake City, UT: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1981. Print. Read More