Posted on 07/13/2004 9:36:42 PM PDT by cooperkat
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala - Clutching the Book of Mormon and dressed in a white starched shirt and neatly pressed charcoal colored slacks, Willy Guzman walked across the cracked sidewalks of Zona 6 in Guatemala City to the shiny, white church that rises above the modest and mostly shanty flats of the neighborhood.
As it neared 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning, the streets were bustling with men dressed in Western-style suits and women in skirt suits pushing baby strollers, all making their way towards the church.
“Everyone walks to church,” Guzman explained, “so as not to make anyone work on this day of worship.”
As he approached the Mormon church gates, Guzman was greeted by several church Elders, mostly Americans speaking in heavily accented Spanish. Being the church music director, they inquired about his music selection for the service and what instruments would play accompaniment.
Music is part of the reason he enjoys being a Mormon, but he was quick to add that, “Mormonism is a lifestyle. When you are Mormon you practice your religion everyday, not just on Sundays.”
Guzman is a recent convert among a sea of Catholics in Guatemala.
He has been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for nearly two years now and it was his wife Wendy, 24, and a lifelong Mormon herself, who introduced him to church Elders (referred to as “Elders” because of their ordination to the priesthood office) about four years ago. It is then that Guzman began to take the classes that would lead to his change of faith.
“It is funny actually because at one point, when I was beginning to feel a bit indifferent about going to church it was Willy who would push me to go on Sundays,” Wendy Guzman said.
Explosion of growth in Latin America The Guzmans are among a growing number of Latin Americans who have turned to Mormonism in the last few years. According to the church, there are 12 million members worldwide with 4.5 million members in Latin America alone. In comparison, there were only 700,000 Mormons reported in Latin America in 1980.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded in Fayette, New York in 1830 by Joseph Smith. A major chapter of church history involved the westward trek by Brigham Young in 1847 and the expansion of the church to Salt Lake City, Utah. Until recently, membership was primarily concentrated in that state and North America in general. But, today, the majority are based outside the United States.
Dr. Manuel A. Vasquez, Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Florida, Gainesville, said the Mormon Church -- particularly for many Latin Americans -- has come to symbolize the perfect balance between the contemporary and the traditional.
“Mormonism is an American form of Christianity in that it represents all of the American values of self-discipline and self-reliance,” said Vasquez, noting there is also a very strong emphasis on traditional family values.
“Strong gender roles still exist within the Mormon church, which is very appealing to many Latin American families in which the father still plays the central role.”
For the Guzmans, the emphasis on traditional family values is an appealing characteristic as well as the idea of being part of a modern day, global organization.
“Once we raise our children, as dictated by our faith, we do plan to travel and complete missionary work on behalf of the church -- as a couple, of course,” said Wendy Guzman smiling at the prospect of traveling to distant lands.
Young American missionaries The Guzmans have made long-lasting friendships with church Elders or missionaries they have met who represent not only a connection to the church but serve as a gate to a world beyond Guatemala.
“We end up spending so much time with the missionaries that in most cases you end up becoming really close,” said Wendy Guzman. “And they are not all American -- we have met Samoans, Nicaraguans, Puerto Ricans -- I mean from just about everywhere.”
Missionaries usually travel in pairs and are dispatched worldwide to teach Mormon doctrine. According to the church, about 75 percent of its missionaries are young men between the ages of 19 and 26 and they serve for 24 months. At the age of 21, women can also join a mission but serve only 18 months. Missionary life is restricted to study, prayer, proselytizing and community work.
Currently, the church has over 337 missions in 165 countries worldwide.
“The Mormons have an excellent missionary outreach,” Vasquez said. “They make the effort to learn the language and culture of the people they want to reach and this method of evangelizing really works.”
Tides of change Twenty years ago the Guzmans would have been among a tiny minority as Mormons in Guatemala, a country whose Catholic roots stem to the 18th century when Spanish Conquistadors set out to Christianize most of Latin America.
Guatemala is still largely Catholic with nearly 75 percent of the population, but Evangelical and other Protestant denominations have made headway in the last 25 years.
Mormon missionaries, for their part, arrived in Guatemala in 1947 with only 66 members. By 1984, when the Guatemala City Temple was dedicated, membership had risen to 40,000. And by 1998, membership had quadrupled to 164,000.
“In Latin America these are all churches who have given Catholicism a run for their money,” said Vasquez. “And in large part the success of the Mormon Church in this region is because it is almost like a vicarious enjoyment when you go to church -- you escape the drudgery of every day life. It is almost like a catharsis.”
I wonder how much of the cleanliness you've noticed is due to these churches being controlled from other countries. When I worked in the Dominican Republic, Small evangelistic churches were kept up about as well as any lower-class home. The big catholic churches, at least outside the biggest cities, had the look of having been beautiful once, but having fallen into disrepair (cracked bell, flaking paint, smashed windows, sloppy repairs, you get the idea). Once you got to protestant churches that were run by americans or europeans, they were always imaculate, as were the LDS churches.
*thinks* no, it must not be the american influence. The Jehovas Witnesses had crappy churches too. At least in the small towns I visited.
Lest it be forgotten...
"There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again.'"
- John 3
http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?passage=JOHN+3&language=english&version=NKJV&showfn=on&showxref=on
Rumors of candy being given to lure kids to be baptized and one person being baptized many times in Latin America color the stats.
One must also consider the fact that the church keeps on its rolls as members all those who have stopped participating (become "inactive") so long as they do not formally request the removal of their names from the membership records. Thus, the church counts as "members" many people who really no longer consider themselves Mormons, simply because they have not gone through the tedious and time-consuming process of formal name removal.
One Latin American missionary made this observation
I can't speak for all of Latin America, but the country I served in had a 20% activity rate and an 18% retention rate (new converts that stayed)
From an LDS forum
http://2thinkforums.org/anyboard/archive/17067.html
What if you want to please God, know the truth, and go to heaven. Which road ought you to choose?
The same way. I'm still listed a member of the Catholic Church in my parents' old parish, even though I haven't been Catholic since 1982.
Most Protestant church purge the church records after someone has not attended for over a year.
One church I attended was told by the district to purge its files at a rate of 20% a year .
So a mass exodus would not be seen completely for 5 years, it is true .
I have heard from former Mormons that no one is removed from the LDS rolls unless they write and ask to be removed. That is a different method.
If one asked to be removed from the member list and in the future should they want to come back they would have to be baptized again?
One can be inactive for various reason they still believe but have a personal issue.
This is a work in process some have a lot of bagage and must work out their issues as they come upon them.
It is hard to know from a human point, but it is still a relationship between the Lord.
***What if you want to please God, know the truth, and go to heaven. Which road ought you to choose?***
The narrow one.
When I was a kid, my family lived in Zaire due to business. We had pretty good relations with the locals -- and got a great kick out of how they reacted to missionaries. Basically, they were religion prostitutes -- they worshiped at whoever was feeding and educating them at any given time. They'd laugh about how the Baptists would come through with aid, stay a few years then leave when they were convinced that they had succeeded in turning them Baptists. Then the Mormons would come, and they'd be Mormons until the Mormons moved on and the Catholics started feeding them... etc. Can't say I blame them given how poor and crappy their lives were.
"I wonder how much of the cleanliness you've noticed is due to these churches being controlled from other countries."
I don't know what it is you mean by 'controlled from other countries'. Local clergy are called from local residents with very, very few exceptions. Missionaries are often from another country, but they are not part of the church leadership.
Anyway, even in North America most of the building maintainance and cleaning is done on a volunteer basis by local members. If LDS buildings in that area stand out, the local members deserve the credit for it.
"Most Protestant church purge the church records after someone has not attended for over a year."
I've never heard of a church doing that. It seems a very unloving thing to do unless they think that membership in that church isn't important.
***It seems a very unloving thing to do unless they think that membership in that church isn't important.***
Not attending church in over a year does not sound like much commitment to that body of believers (illness and travel being obvious excceptions). Churches that are congregational often try to keep membership lists clean so that quorums for meetings and votes are not impacted. Some churches move people to inactive membership status for the same reasons.
People are funny creatures, and sometimes thier reasons for staying away are not because they no longer believe. When a church that has this policy of removing people off of the membership roles crosses off someone's name, does that also revoke their baptism? If not, what typically would a person in a protestant church have to do to have thier baptism revoked. Apples should be compared with apples after all.
Hi Grig, long time no see !
It is not "unloving" to remove people that have removed themselves from the congregation by purging the rolls . People often move between denominations. They have not become "unbelievers "necessarily , but some have found another church body or they have had a doctrinal change . I suspect that if such a person returned to the church they could again become members
Keeping non attenders on church rolls artificially inflates church numbers and is dishonest .
Baptism can not be revoked.
Do not Mormons purge the list of "temple worthy" based on their own criteria?
***If not, what typically would a person in a protestant church have to do to have thier baptism revoked.***
I will answer your question from the perspective of a non-paedobaptist Protestant. I'll allow those who affirm infant baptism provide their own answer.
Water baptism / believer's baprism does not effect any spiritual change nor does it convey status. It is a public declaration that one has put his/her trust in Jesus Christ as Savior. Therefore it is not revoked.
The Bible calls for removing from the fellowship in the case of a persistently unrepentant member, but it makes no mention of revoking baptism. Likewise, in discussing the restoration of an expelled member there is no mention of repeating the baptism.
“Hi Grig, long time no see ! “
You missed me?!? :)
I’ve been here, we just haven’t been on the same thread in a while.
“Baptism can not be revoked.”
That makes taking someone off the membership roles a very different thing between us then. For us, excommunication does revoke their baptism, as I’m sure you know. So we see it as a far more serious matter.
”Keeping non attenders on church rolls artificially inflates church numbers and is dishonest . “
Only if you portray it as a list of people who meet a certain attendance requirement. We don’t portray the membership list as anything other than what it is, a list of those who are currently recognized as having been baptized into the church.
I know you don’t like the idea of our church growing at any rate, but spreading unsubstantiated rumors (as in post #5) to try and dismiss it seems a little petty if you ask me. Children cannot be baptized without their parent’s permission, and if some guy had his baptism recorded more than once it was a rare mistake. My mission baptized about 150 people per month. I spent 10 months assisting in the mission office an in all that time only ONE baptism didn’t follow proper procedures (the missionaries baptized the person before they attended a Sunday service). Man, did those missionaries catch it for that!
The growing membership does reflect that the church is growing. If you want a measure of the growth of active church members, then look at the number of new wards, branches, stakes and meetinghouses although these indicators lag behind the growth by at least a year.
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