Temple prep

[RC Vikings]

What would it hurt if during a temple prep course at church they talked about everything that happened inside a temple. I think it would help a lot of current TR holding members to have open discussions about the temple at church and not leave anything out. What would be the downside to really opening up the discussion?

[old_gregg]

it's a lot easier for someone to express being weirded out by the funny hats and other silly things talking in a church meeting than it is to express these feelings in the temple where everyone else is equally as silly. the walls of the temple add a context to what goes on there that no words can describe.

[myboynoah]

I've known some instructors to introduce the clothing during class. Even without detailed discussion of the endowment, I think that is helpful.

[TripletDaddy]

When I taught temple prep I talked about it in fair amount of detail. Also, before my little BIL went through I also walked him through the entire thing after his folks had told him next to nothing other than "you take out your endowments," a phrase which basically has zero meaning to anyone that has not been to the temple.

[Mrs. Funk]

When I taught temple prep I talked about it in fair amount of detail. Also, before my little BIL went through I also walked him through the entire thing after his folks had told him next to nothing other than "you take out your endowments," a phrase which basically has zero meaning to anyone that has not been to the temple.

The hilarious old patriarch in my ward growing up gave a talk about the temple and said, "You take out the garbage. You receive your endowment."

[TripletDaddy]

The hilarious old patriarch in my ward growing up gave a talk about the temple and said, "You take out the garbage. You receive your endowment."

I've heard that take/receive discussion before, as well.

Again, to the uninitiated, either phrase holds little meaning or sentiment. A decent chunk of seminary aged kids could recite that phrase yet probably a tiny fraction, if any, could explain it or even expound on it.

Temple prep as currently constituted isn't very much of a preparation for attending the temple, at least not in my opinion. Interestingly enough, when I was teaching it, every new person that attended did so with someone else that had already been through. And almost every time, that person expressed a dissatisfaction with the preparation they received in their own temple prep class.

A very bizarre aspect of our culture...how many of us have been in a conversation at home or with a friend and the other person says something to the effect of "should we be talking about this outside the temple??" yet the subject matter is some inane detail such as Michael Ballam as Satan or Sit Down Stand Up during the ceremony. The point being, even after years of attendance, even seasoned members aren't very sure what we can and cannot talk about and thus there is almost a culture of fear surrounding this things. We only covenant to not discuss a few very specific things in the ceremony. Yet the entire thing is viewed as taboo.

The notion of teaching a series of classes to prepare you for something and then not discussing that very thing is pretty ridiculous.

[Mrs. Funk]

I've heard that take/receive discussion before, as well.

Again, to the uninitiated, either phrase holds little meaning or sentiment. A decent chunk of seminary aged kids could recite that phrase yet probably a tiny fraction, if any, could explain it or even expound on it.

Temple prep as currently constituted isn't very much of a preparation for attending the temple, at least not in my opinion. Interestingly enough, when I was teaching it, every new person that attended did so with someone else that had already been through. And almost every time, that person expressed a dissatisfaction with the preparation they received in their own temple prep class.

A very bizarre aspect of our culture...how many of us have been in a conversation at home or with a friend and the other person says something to the effect of "should we be talking about this outside the temple??" yet the subject matter is some inane detail such as Michael Ballam as Satan or Sit Down Stand Up during the ceremony. The point being, even after years of attendance, even seasoned members aren't very sure what we can and cannot talk about and thus there is almost a culture of fear surrounding this things. We only covenant to not discuss a few very specific things in the ceremony. Yet the entire thing is viewed as taboo.

The notion of teaching a series of classes to prepare you for something and then not discussing that very thing is pretty ridiculous.

During my temple recommend interview with the stake president, he gave a brief overview of the ceremony (bare bones, but more than a lot of people talk about). I appreciated it, except for the part where he mentioned the film and I piped up, "Yeah, I know. And a few temples do a live ceremony." He said sharply, "Where do you hear that? One ought not speak of such things." I was sad and worried I had done something wrong. Doesn't everybody know that there used to be live sessions before the predominant switch to the films?

I recommend the book [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Endowed-High-Understanding-Symbols-Endowment/dp/0882906143"]Amazon.com: Endowed from on High: Understanding the Symbols of the Endowment (9780882906140): John D. Charles: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41EXegBR%2BvL.@@AMEPARAM@@41EXegBR%2BvL[/ame] to my friends going through the temple for the first time. It was way more useful than anything I heard in temple prep class.

[TripletDaddy]

I know SLC still does live sessions. Does Manti? Or anywhere else?

Live sessions are too long, the acting is awful, and I dont want to see an 80 year old eve. It is cool to get up and walk room to room, though. I enjoy that. I find the inside of the SLC temple to be enjoyable. Lots of stuff to look at, things to count on the walls and ceilings, when the show gets kind of slow.

I don't think I would have made it in the early days when the whole thing took the entire day. Although some of the zany stuff they used to do might have made the time go by in a more interesting manner.

[Portland Ute]

I've heard that take/receive discussion before, as well.

Again, to the uninitiated, either phrase holds little meaning or sentiment. A decent chunk of seminary aged kids could recite that phrase yet probably a tiny fraction, if any, could explain it or even expound on it.

Temple prep as currently constituted isn't very much of a preparation for attending the temple, at least not in my opinion. Interestingly enough, when I was teaching it, every new person that attended did so with someone else that had already been through. And almost every time, that person expressed a dissatisfaction with the preparation they received in their own temple prep class.

A very bizarre aspect of our culture...how many of us have been in a conversation at home or with a friend and the other person says something to the effect of "should we be talking about this outside the temple??" yet the subject matter is some inane detail such as Michael Ballam as Satan or Sit Down Stand Up during the ceremony. The point being, even after years of attendance, even seasoned members aren't very sure what we can and cannot talk about and thus there is almost a culture of fear surrounding this things. We only covenant to not discuss a few very specific things in the ceremony. Yet the entire thing is viewed as taboo.

The notion of teaching a series of classes to prepare you for something and then not discussing that very thing is pretty ridiculous.

My temple prep class was a COMPLETE waste of time. It was like a primary lesson talking about the importance of the temples and what ordinances are performed there.

A complete WASTE of time to someone that had been attending church for 19 years and seminary through jr high and high school. Yet, it was required by our stake presidency.

I remember meeting with the stake president after the class and prior to going to the temple. He asked me if I had attended the required class. I stated that I had. He expressed to me that he was very pleased and that he was certain I had learned a great deal and was ready to go through the temple.

I remember pretty distinctly wondering if he was being sarcastic.

I left fairly confused about what I would be seeing/doing/hearing if the temple prep class had "prepared" me.

I told my dad that the SP had said that the class would be very helpful and informative yet it was little more than a compilation of seminary and sunday school info.

He knew I was pretty uneasy about a) not knowing what was coming and b) feeling like the entire "temple prep" and SP conversation had been pretty condescending.

Finally, as we drove from Davis County, somewhere just south of N. Salt Lake, as we passed over the Beck Street overpass, he turned the conversation dramatically towards the temple. He basically said, "Look, you need to know some things before you do this." He told me about the washings and annointings (the older way). He said that I would be making some promises. He told me that it would be very ritualistic. We got to the temple in SLC before I could really get much in edge-wise. The short 5 or 7 minute conversation had been drastically more informative than the tripe that I was fed in the "temple prep" class...yet, with such short notice, my head was swimming with questions and worries.

To this day, I still think that my lack of "preparation" for that experience has affected my feelings towards the temple.

I sat there in the temple as I was told, basically, if you are not worthy or not willing to make these covenants....leave. Yet, there I was, surrounded by family, friends, neighbors, parents and church leaders. What the hell was I going to do? Stand up and leave when everyone had come to do this? I didn't even know when that was said what I was going to be asked to do...which led to some additional angst about what was coming....and on the heals of the washing and annointing.

I don't know how you go about it, but I think there has to be some way to let people know before hand what they are covenanting/promising before they go and let them think about it.

I think there should be a lot more info about the ceremony itself. A lot of people are not comfortable with the temple ceremony. It is so far from what "regular" church is like. You spend all your life hearing about the pitfalls of recited prayers and ritual, etc. Then, you go through the temple and it's all ritual, ceremony and recited prayers. It's almost a complete disconnect from what you spent your entire life learning and hearing.

Even when you try to ask things in the temple, you are quite often shut down. Conversation in the temple is generally discouraged.

Well, you can tell what my feelings are. I was very uneasy about the entire experience. I still am.

I think a lot of that uneasiness and angst could be avoided if there was more clarity about what was going to go on. Actually "prepare" people for the experience.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Very interesting, PU.

Better prep would be nice, but a major overhaul and simplification would be even better.

[YOhio]

The only thing I remember about my temple prep class was an old guy in my ward talking about how he liked the Terrestrial room in the Manti Temple better than he liked the Celestial room.

My wife's temple prep class was interesting, though. It was taught by Thomas Griffith, now a judge on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. He was a pretty engaging guy and few things were off limits in that class. I though he covered everything pretty well. Apparently he didn't because my wife was pretty freaked out after the first visit. She couldn't even finish her meal at Applebee's afterward!

The church will soon have to deal with the reality that everything about the temple is available with a quick google search. This could be a good thing in terms of better prepping members on what to expect.

[TripletDaddy]

Apparently he didn't because my wife was pretty freaked out after the first visit. She couldn't even finish her meal at Applebee's afterward!

The Spirit likely prompted her to not eat the Applebees meal.

[Portland Ute]

The only thing I remember about my temple prep class was an old guy in my ward talking about how he liked the Terrestrial room in the Manti Temple better than he liked the Celestial room.

My wife's temple prep class was interesting, though. It was taught by Thomas Griffith, now a judge on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. He was a pretty engaging guy and few things were off limits in that class. I though he covered everything pretty well. Apparently he didn't because my wife was pretty freaked out after the first visit. She couldn't even finish her meal at Applebee's afterward!

The church will soon have to deal with the reality that everything about the temple is available with a quick google search. This could be a good thing in terms of better prepping members on what to expect.

You mention the internet. I wonder how that would have changed things for me.

I went for the first time prior to the rise of the internet.

If I had the ceremony at the tip of my fingers, would I have gone? Would I have felt better prepared? Would I have felt guilt? Would I have felt less anxiety or more?

Had that same information been provided through the church, the guilt or shame issues certainly wouldn't be there.

Perhaps what JL suggested is the key: Streamlining and overhauling the ordinance.

However, I think it is more likely that there will be a shift in education/preparation than there will be a major overhaul of the temple.

[The_Tick]

PU,

Thanks for sharing that.

To this day my wife still isn't comfortable at the Temple. I know she feels like she was underprepared and trapped.

Pretty sure that is how she felt about marrying me also.

[Pheidippides]

My experience was much like PU's, only with my dad playing the role of class instructor and without the car ride.

Needless to say, I was quite shell-shocked.

Some years later, I remember comforting a girl who had just gone through in preparation for a mission, telling her it was okay to be completely weirded out.

Since then, I've done a fair bit of study on the interwebs and elsewhere. I've read several old versions of the ceremony and descriptions of the earliest practices as given by those who left the church. I am aware of the concept of the second endowment (which I am told is being practiced still).

My conclusion is that the temple isn't really any more bizarre than the ritualistic practices of scores of other faiths, up to and including the Catholics. But to Mormons who have known nothing but informal and "low" religion, secret hitherto-unknown ritualistic "high" religion is quite a shock. I would have been less disturbed, probably, had I been to a Catholic mass once, for example. At least that helped my wife out in that she had a concept of ritual as worship, whereas I did not.

My children are going to get the full description from me, save the specific parts I have agreed not to disclose.