Do they each have their own prophet or is this guy the head of all the mormons?
And where does the title of bishop fit in? Does he hand down that title to one of his sons - or he has to fetch his own? Is it bought through donations? Are the younger generation attracted to this cult?
I feel like I’m having a nightmare since ‘08. Can you wake me up. Maybe I need a zot. ;)
Do they each have their own prophet or is this guy the head of all the mormons?
And where does the title of bishop fit in? Does he hand down that title to one of his sons - or he has to fetch his own? Is it bought through donations? Are the younger generation attracted to this cult?
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There is only one prophet at a time for the LDS. He is head of all the LDS church and is believed to be the sucessor of Jesus Christ by having the ‘keys to the Kingdom’. After the prophet dies, the member of the council of the twelve apostles who has the most seniority becomes the next prophet. However, the apostles are also referred to as prophets, but “the Prophet” always refers to the President of the Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or to Joseph Smith.
In the LDS church, a “Bishop” is the same as a pastor. They only use the term while they hold the office (usually about 2 years). Above each bishop (who is in charge of the local congregations), is a “Stake President” who is in charge of several congregations (or wards as they call them). Romney was also a Stake President. No title is passed on from parent to child. You become a “Bishop” by being ‘called’ by the Stake president to lead a congregation. It is unpaid and is basically a second full time job. There are a lot of complaints about the amount of time that being a bishop takes and it dragging men away from their families by time constraints. However, it is also a position of authority so that outweighs the time constraints (keeping up with the Jones’ mentality).
Regarding young people, they are often recruited because they are going through periods of life transition, moving out, getting married, going to college, etc and are often looking for something. Also, the LDS social life is very attractive to the youth and sadly most are looking for religion rather than Christ or they equate the two.
Mormonism has a built in social life. However, the internet has been changing that and conversions are WAY down.