My Bishop has introduced the 12 Step Method for Repentance

[RockyBalboa]

He's been the Bishop for about 1 year.

Out of curiosity and after working with a couple of his ward members last year he attended a few different AA Meetings. There are LDS Branches of AA, Sexaholics, drug addictions...etc..etc..

While going over the 12 steps he realized that it was very similar to the repentance process. He's now asking members who meet with him privately about addictions they have or in a heavy repentance process to use the 12 Steps as a guideline. With permission from the LDS branch of AA he took the 12 steps and the many scriptures they use with each step and is using this as a guideline.

He's not asking them to attend AA, he's simply using their steps as a guideline to working through the repentance process or addiction or whatever is plauging the person he's meeting with.

I'm curious what you guys think about that?

[Mormon Red Death]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

He's been the Bishop for about 1 year.

Out of curiosity and after working with a couple of his ward members last year he attended a few different AA Meetings. There are LDS Branches of AA, Sexaholics, drug addictions...etc..etc..

While going over the 12 steps he realized that it was very similar to the repentance process. He's now asking members who meet with him privately about addictions they have or in a heavy repentance process to use the 12 Steps as a guideline. With permission from the LDS branch of AA he took the 12 steps and the many scriptures they use with each step and is using this as a guideline.

He's not asking them to attend AA, he's simply using their steps as a guideline to working through the repentance process or addiction or whatever is plauging the person he's meeting with.

I'm curious what you guys think about that?

this definitely something that would never happen in Indy Coug's Ward

[8ballrollin]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

He's been the Bishop for about 1 year.

Out of curiosity and after working with a couple of his ward members last year he attended a few different AA Meetings. There are LDS Branches of AA, Sexaholics, drug addictions...etc..etc..

While going over the 12 steps he realized that it was very similar to the repentance process. He's now asking members who meet with him privately about addictions they have or in a heavy repentance process to use the 12 Steps as a guideline. With permission from the LDS branch of AA he took the 12 steps and the many scriptures they use with each step and is using this as a guideline.

He's not asking them to attend AA, he's simply using their steps as a guideline to working through the repentance process or addiction or whatever is plauging the person he's meeting with.

I'm curious what you guys think about that?

I once read AA only has a 5 % success rate.

I'm not sure if this stat is accurate or not, but I wonder if he'll have a higher success rate with RA (repentance anonymous). Come to think of it, it will probably be lower - in that we are all sinners.

The success rate over time will be 0%.

[All-American]

You know, if it helps, so be it.

[UteStar]

A friend of mine is a bishop. A few months ago, they were having the funeral service in the chapel. When he got there, he found out that they were also having a Sexaholics meeting there at the same time and that there was going to be a stake dance that night. He said that there are not many places in the state where you can have sexaholics meeting, a bunch of kids dancing, and a dead person meeting all on the same day. He was probably right.

And sorry, I don't have many thoughts on your post Rocky and I didn't mean to hijack your thread.

[RockyBalboa]

Originally Posted by 8ballrollin

I once read AA only has a 5 % success rate.

I'm not sure if this stat is accurate or not, but I wonder if he'll have a higher success rate with RA (repentance anonymous). Come to think of it, it will probably be lower - in that we are all sinners.

The success rate over time will be 0%.

Well he's not having those come in and confess their sins to meet together...I meant he's using this as a guideline to those he meets in person.

[Archaea]

I have a perverse sense of that image.

Imagine this, "I'm a sexaholic, I just can't get enough. The Bishop's tried to tell me that being a nymphomaniac isn't the way to be. I just like showing off my tits."

"Well, I just get going when I look at porn. You know the site xxxxxxxxhardpornstuff.edu, well that's where I get my good stuff. How about you?"

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by UteStar

A friend of mine is a bishop. A few months ago, they were having the funeral service in the chapel. When he got there, he found out that they were also having a Sexaholics meeting there at the same time and that there was going to be a stake dance that night. He said that there are not many places in the state where you can have sexaholics meeting, a bunch of kids dancing, and a dead person meeting all on the same day. He was probably right.

And sorry, I don't have many thoughts on your post Rocky and I didn't mean to hijack your thread.

Which reminds me of a young friend who was tired of being harrassed at weddings about being next. She started using the same line with many of her older relatives at funerals.

[OhioBlue]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

He's been the Bishop for about 1 year.

Out of curiosity and after working with a couple of his ward members last year he attended a few different AA Meetings. There are LDS Branches of AA, Sexaholics, drug addictions...etc..etc..

While going over the 12 steps he realized that it was very similar to the repentance process. He's now asking members who meet with him privately about addictions they have or in a heavy repentance process to use the 12 Steps as a guideline. With permission from the LDS branch of AA he took the 12 steps and the many scriptures they use with each step and is using this as a guideline.

He's not asking them to attend AA, he's simply using their steps as a guideline to working through the repentance process or addiction or whatever is plauging the person he's meeting with.

I'm curious what you guys think about that?

It's my opinion that the key helpful ingredients in AA are (in order of helpful impact):

1. The interpersonal network and helping relationships that are formed as people meet with each other once a week or more and relate to each other, draw on each other for strength, share openly and honestly, etc.

2. The push toward taking personal responsibility for improving one's circumstances, and an emphasis on doing what is needed.

3. The actual 12 steps.

So I guess he'd get some of 2 and 3, and if that helps people get through the repentance and change process, could be fine. I'm not sure the church needs a substitute for what is already pretty clearly outlined, so as long as this is just seen as something extra that can help, I see no big problem. But I also think it'll be missing out on the most helpful aspect.

Also somewhat unrelatedly, as a professional in this field, a huge pet peeve of mine is an assumption that if Joe LDS takes some big T Truth from the gospel, and some little t truth from somewhere else and throws them together, then the result must somehow be an improvement, or a sum greater than the parts. That's my own soapbox, and I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I hope that's not what is fundamentally at work here.

[Indy Coug]

Originally Posted by OhioBlue

...a huge pet peeve of mine is an assumption that if Joe LDS takes some big T Truth from the gospel, and some little t truth from somewhere else and throws them together, then the result must somehow be an improvement, or a sum greater than the parts.

Hmmm..... I think I'm going to use this quote in response to a large number of the 'intellectual Gospel' threads here.