I am SO confused! A friend on another board is moving. I didn’t know she was a Mormon until she posted that one of her visiting teachers found out she was moving and she was called in to answer questions about it.
What business is it to the ‘church’? Why would you have to inform…nay, ask permission, to move?
Lastly, why is it called a ward?
Thanks!
Just curious
This is just one of the ways Mormons keep VERY close tabs on their members. If you move, you’re supposed to let them know. But if you don’t…no matter, they’ll hunt you down. They start by calling your relatives and/or friends . Or else your relatives just turn you in. This is what happened to my husband. Then they forward your member record file to that ward. Then they sic the missionaries on you or the bishop just shows up or you suddenly have a home teacher calling AND showing up. I’m not even a member, but I still get messages once in awhile for relief society events!
So they have a file on ME.
Some people try to go inactive by not alerting their current ward that they are moving. They try to just fade away. It may work for a little while…but like I said before, they usually find you. I imagine that your friend was trying to go inactive. She likely got hauled into the Bishop’s office for an interview because she didn’t tell them she was moving and they found out. They’ll want to know WHY she wasn’t going to tell them she was moving. I imagine she was grilled on her “testimony”
. A member in good-standing would never dream of not telling the ward where they could forward the family’s records.
A ward is a geographical boundry where all people within that ward are to attend a certain church building at a certain time. As I understand it here, they rotate the times throughout the year. So you’re not stuck with a time forever. I know my in-laws dislike going really early or really late since they are 3 hour blocks of time. You’re just not allowed to pick a time that’s convenient for you. Even if you would prefer to drive a little further and go to a different ward house because you like the music more, or maybe some of your family attend there…you can’t.
That is control.
It is presumably to maintain the tight control of the people within the ward and ultimately their accountability for their tithing. If you go skipping around…you could likely get out of your tithing, fast offerings, and other financial obligations. If all your records are in one place and you are ASSIGNED a time, ASSIGNED a church, ASSIGNED a bishop, it is easier for them to hold you accountable among your neighbors. It is peer pressure to conform. You WANT to be a worthy temple-recommend Mormon, so you need to keep up with the Jones’.
A really weird example of this I’ve observed time and time again in my husband’s family. They’ll all get together for Christmas or some other big holiday where families usually all come together. But sometimes when one of these holidays is really close to Sunday, you’d think they would all go to the ward where the family is gathering. Isn’t that what most people do? As Catholics, we love to attend Mass with our families on Easter and Christmas no matter if it is not your usual parish!
My husband’s siblings and their spouses make a big deal of wrapping things up early because they all “have to get back to their OWN wards” JUST for Sunday. I kid you not. I thought they were joking the very first time this occured
. They forsake FAMILY get-togethers because they obviously feel they need to make an appearance at their own ward at these important holidays and visiting another ward (which anyone can certainly do) if it can be avoided, is.
