Patti Burris

My ancestors are Mormon pioneers. I come from a line of Latter Day Saints and I have distant relatives who are still Latter Day Saints. I do not believe all of their doctrine, but I do believe they have some disciplines that the Protestant church can learn from. As the Protestant church shrinks in size, losing members in droves, the LDS church continues to grow. What are they doing right?

1. They Pray – Mormons have active prayer lives. Prayer is woven into the fabric of their lives. In the Protestant church, prayer is usually an after thought. Prayer is something most Christians do when we need something or when things aren’t going our way.
2. They Study The Bible – Mormons study the Bible. They know the Bible and can defend their beliefs in any conversation. Most Christians in the Protestant church have a hard time defending their beliefs or their faith.
3. They Evangelize – All young Mormons are sent on missions. It’s a requirement of all young Mormons. Evangelizing is one of their top priorities, while the Protestant church makes it difficult for missionaries to raise funds and become a missionary. Mormon missionaries spend their days going door to door talking to people while Protestants stay inside the walls of the church.
4. They prioritize Family/Community – The LDS church has mandated that every Monday night is family night among Mormons. They spend the evening doing a Bible study, prayer or watching a family/Christian movie. It is to be an evening that strengthens the bonds of the family unit and those in the family with God. They also build community with each other through activities in the church. The women are all a part of the Relief Society and the men are all elders. I have found in the Protestant church that family life is busy with running around and very rarely is there a night at home focused on religious study. We don’t hand down our faith like Mormons do and church is not a priority other than on Sundays.
5. They Disciple – Discipleship is a very important part of being in the LDS church. Every active member knows the doctrines and can defend their faith to those who question or oppose the faith. In the beginning they are taught by the missionaries. Later they are taught by visiting teachers, elders, and older members. Parents/grandparents disciple the children. We, in the Protestant church are largely left to disciple ourselves. We depend on Sunday school to disciple our children and ourselves. We can not be discipled by Sunday school alone! Discipleship takes relationships built over time where a mature Christian takes on the teaching of a new Christian. In the Protestant church, we gather on Sundays, but scatter the rest of the week.
6. They Help The Needy – The LDS church takes social services seriously. They have the largest social services organization of any denomination EVER. Deseret Industries has warehouses in many large cities to help the needy in those areas. God never intended the government to provide for the needy. That was always the job of the church and Mormons take that seriously. If the Protestant church did as much instead of turning people away, we wouldn’t need a welfare system. With as many churches as there are in America and with the unlimited resources of God, there is no reason people should have to suffer in poverty.

I have researched the LDS church in my research on my Mormon ancestors. Although I don’t agree with everything they believe, I do believe that they do many things right. We in the Protestant church could take some lessons from our Mormon friends. We need to step it up. The Protestant church is in a decline, the LDS church had a slight uptick in conversions in 2019. If we want to transform the Protestant church, we need to get back to what’s important. Making Jesus #1 like the Mormons do.