Comments on: Origin of the “Threefold Mission of the Church” Statement

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:55:41 +0000

Another terrific find! This must be from a family source?

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:18:57 +0000

Interesting that a comment should show up on this thread this morning–I just read an account of a funeral from 1952 in which the bishop, who was conducting the service, said:

It has been said that we have three responsibilities, that of living the gospel and teaching it to our family, to preach it to others, and to redeem our dead. Brother L______ has fulfilled these requirements to a very fine degree.

And, Elder Spencer W. Kimball was at that funeral. (Of course, he also sat with Elder Widtsoe in the Council of the Twelve.)

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 05:20:09 +0000

Thanks for this addition, Tricia. Most corporate mission statements I’ve heard sound faddish and jargon-laden and are sometimes incomprehensible. That isn’t the case with this mission statement, especially when we see how consistently these three purposes — purposes that only the church can fill — have appeared in LDS thought.

By: Tricia hilliard

Tricia hilliard — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 04:03:36 +0000

today on byutv the byu profs began their study of D&C sec 1&2. As I followed their research I picked something out in sec 110:11-16 that I feel correlates with the three fold mission of the lds church.
1. In verse 11 Moses gives the keys for the gathering of Israel. That’s the proclaming of the gospel.

2. In vs 12 Elias committs the blessing of gospel of Abraham. That’s perfecting the saints.

3. In vs 13 Elijah keys of turning the hearts of fathers to children and children to fathers is the sealing power of redeeming the dead.

By: queuno

queuno — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:20:05 +0000

I think the three-fold mission is complete
…
Caring for the needy and helpless while important, is not a main mission of the church.

Apparently the Brethren disagree with you.

my fear is that we’ll add more for the flavor of the day, such as a mission to help people be healthy and active, a mission to remember the old folks, a mission to protect and nurture children, and so forth.

Isn’t one of the purposes of having a prophet to refocus our efforts toward the flavor need of the day?

By: Clark

Clark — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:58:59 +0000

Wasn’t the original purpose of the Relief Society to “care for the world’s poor and needy as provider of first instance?”

I remember reading something in the Ensign about Heber J. Grant meeting with Emmeline B. Wells and changing the focus of the RS to spiritual development. Somebody here must have this info at their fingertips… Anyway, if the change in mission statement indicates a change back to the original purpose, it truly would be, as ji notes, “very bold” indeed.

By: ji

ji — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:44:27 +0000

I prefer not adding a fourth — welfare is part of perfecting the saints, even welfare to non-members, it seems to me — my fear is that we’ll add more for the flavor of the day, such as a mission to help people be healthy and active, a mission to remember the old folks, a mission to protect and nurture children, and so forth. Adding a fourth statement to an already unofficial statement doesn’t change anything in any meaningful way — unless, the Church is adopting the responsibility to care for all the world’s poor and needy as a provider of first instance — that would be very bold…

By: Ray

Ray — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:28:12 +0000

Some things that really shouldn’t have to be explicit in an ideal world need to be explicit in the world in which we live.

I’m glad to see this.

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:29:11 +0000

Of course, part of perfecting the saints has got to be getting us over being so selfish.

By: Clark

Clark — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:26:06 +0000

Re#15: “Pure religion and undefiled… is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.” There’s also that “two great commandments” thing about loving thy neighbor.

My view is that this new mission is like many other aspects of the Church that run informally for decades before being codified. Helping the poor is a principle as old as the gospel, and existed in this church from the beginning. The formal welfare program just gave it structure. Food storage is another example. I think this “new” mission is simply codifing an existing gospel truth. And it’s just as important as the other three. To paraphrase Paul (and Moroni), Charity is the greatest of all, and whoever has it at the last day “it shall be well with him”