One particular book written by a member of the Church, Julie Rowe, has caught the attention of the CES Department of the Church (those who oversee LDS Seminary and Institute programs) and because of its growing influence among these so-called "Prepper" Mormons (I believe), a need to make a bold statement about its credibility has become necessary. This caution has been issued to all seminary and institute personnel throughout the Church:
Publication Caution: A Greater Tomorrow: My Journey Beyond the Veil Additional Information: [August 31, 2015] In 2014, Spring Creek Book Company published A Greater Tomorrow: My Journey Beyond the Veil by Julie Rowe (see shaded box for Amazon’s description of the book). Although Sister Rowe is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, her book is not endorsed by the Church and should not be recommended to students or used as a resource in teaching them. The experiences she shares are her own personal experiences and do not necessarily reflect Church doctrine or they may distort Church doctrine.
Bottom line, the book "A Greater Tomorrow: My Journey Beyond the Veil" by Julie Rowe is considered by the Church "spurious materials in circulation" and likely should be avoided.
Source: Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Spurious Materials in Circulation
My hope in sharing this information is that members will be alerted to the interesting tactics among our own to market emergency preparedness items using the elements of having received greater light and/or that of fear. Rowe's book is not the only one circulating among members being given, for some, a higher status than the brethren. No one in the Church has greater access to revelation through the Spirit than another who maintains the keeping of same covenants. And no one, besides the Prophet of the Lord whom we sustain as a seer and revelator, and President of the Church, is authorized to receive revelation for the entire Church. Our safety remains in understanding the principle of revelation, not only personally but how this works in the Church.
I'd like to place before you an excellent presentation from the recent FAIR Mormon Conference on this topic, by Cassandra Hedelious (a personal friend) entitled: A house of order, a house of God: Recycled challenges to the legitimacy of the church. It's powerful and goes straight to the heart of the concerns I have mentioned in this post and a few others. Understanding the sensitivity of this topic (as do I) she begins her presentation with this introduction:
Apologetics is a very broad field and different topics can involve extremely different audiences. My topic today is a little delicate, because the audience I hope to reach is a certain group of members of the church, good and faithful and well-meaning members, who believe in God, believe in Joseph Smith’s calling as a prophet, and have no problem with most of the doctrines and truth claims of the Restoration. You may now wonder why on earth I’m even up here. The unfortunate reality is that even for such a faithful person, there’s still the possibility of spiritual danger. One particular spiritual threat is gaining strength among some church members, particularly via the internet. What we’re seeing is a modern spin on an old song–that the church has lost its way, church leaders are not inspired or in favor with God, so God has raised up new leaders outside the church hierarchy whose visions and teachings are important for us to follow. It is likely you know someone who finds this narrative persuasive, or at least intriguing, even if you don’t know that they do. It is also possible that you and I have some seemingly harmless beliefs that can lead to this danger.
Please take the time to read the complete article and follow the prophet.
Update 9/27/15:
Mormon Newsroom: Church Responds to Inquiries About Preparedness
(September 26, 2015) In response to several news media inquiries, the Church recently issued the following statement:
The Church encourages our members to be spiritually and physically prepared for life's ups and downs. For many decades, Church leaders have counseled members that, where possible, they should gradually build a supply of food, water and financial resources to ensure they are self-reliant during disasters and the normal hardships that are part of life, including illness, injury or unemployment.
This teaching to be self-reliant has been accompanied by the counsel of Church leaders to avoid being caught up in extreme efforts to anticipate catastrophic events.
The writings and speculations of individual Church members, some of which have gained currency recently, should be considered as personal accounts or positions that do not reflect Church doctrine.
tDMg
Kathryn Skaggs
A year's supply of food (and ammunition) is always a good idea. The closer you can come to that ideal without bankrupting yourself and using that food you've stored (rotating), the better off you are.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that it's "prepping". When you look at the refugee crisis that Europe faces, one can only speculate but what there would be a lot fewer if they'd each stored a year's food and ammo.
No question, LL. But this concern(thus the warning) is about those hyper-preparing, being suckered beyond their means because they believe these types of people have an inside track on these matters above the Church. Certainly the Church encourages paced preparation for all of its members. This is taking it to a whole new level with the aid of the Internet and secret groups.
DeleteI agree with you, Sister Skaggs. We have been counseled for decades to have a yesr' s supply of food and other necessities, if we are able, or at least supplies for three months. Many of us have followed this advice and been able to thereby weather some storms of life.
DeleteThe refugee flood in Europe should give everyone pause. They do threaten to destabilize the economy in host countries. We will be facing rough times, all of us who are not among the independently wealthy.However, beyond current counsel from the First Presidency and The Twelve, there is no need to go. The spiritual danger in following unauthorized voices and counsel is enormous. Let us pay attention where attention is due!
Many are mistaking the caution from the CES department. The CES dept did not say to avoid Julie Rowe's book. A follow up statement says: "the internal memo does not constitute an official Church statement but serves as a routine reminder to teachers from Seminaries and Institutes of Religion." The letter in essence says it was an email to let the institutes and seminaries know that you don't teach out side the scriptures, plain and simple. I haven't read Julie Rowe's books, but I do have to say that if her books have made people more aware of doctrine that we already have and helps them take action, then good on those who take action.
DeleteAs long as I've been alive there have been various people inside the Church who took it too far. Years ago, 8 of them stood up in Stake Conf. and didn't sustain the prophet and walked out. None of them ended up well (I knew all of them). Your article was on point. My comments (above) were just that doing what the prophet asked made sense. Selling all you have and living in a cave somewhere is not the solution to the world's problem -- nor is fleeing from evil and failing to face it head-on helpful to anyone but Lucifer.
DeleteLL, Amen.
DeleteAnissa, there is no mistaking that the CES department of the Church did not issue this bold statement without going through the correlation department of the Church -- both departments are under the direction of members of the Quorum of the Twelve. The Church has deemed Julie Rowe's book as "spurious material" and if that's not authoritative enough for members who want to disregard the warning then so be it. The fact is, many good members are taking this "spurious" (not credible) book and over applying it on so many levels, which apparently the Church has concerns about.
DeleteLL I don't think any amount of food storage would have prevented the "refugee crisis" in Europe. The majority of refugees are fleeing war in Syria, There are 8 million displaced Syrians in Syria, with 4-5 million having left the country. They are fleeing a multi-faction conflict, many taking nothing more than a handful of possessions.
DeleteIt's interesting to me that people think that it's JUST for Seminary and Institute and they don't have to take it seriously because they aren't a part of that demographic of the Church. I taught Seminary for 7 years and if it's important enough to be considered "spurious" information from CES, it should be the same for the whole membership of the Church. It will be interesting to see what happens from here....I will follow the Prophet. Thanks for this post. :)
DeleteCan you please show me the direct quote of the churches official stance saying that it is Spurious material? I read the CES letter but it does not say anything to that regard. I do believe Julie follows the Prophet and has only ever asked others to also. If people are going above and beyond to a doomsday approach then that is on them not her. I read nothing in her book that I would not already feel I needed to prepare for based on talked given by the Prophets. She is not enlighten any more than the Prophets, she is just sharing an experiance.
DeleteFollow "source" link below statement. The document maintained by the CES department of the Church is filed under "spurious material.
DeleteThank you, John Teal. Goodness gracious...
DeleteThank you for posting this. This helps bring me clarity and peace.
DeleteI could not find the spurious wording in the link when I followed it, so I must not have done something right.
DeleteSuzanne,
DeleteThe actual name of the CES document that the book is listed on (with the caution) is called: "Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Spurious Materials in Circulation."
I am glad to read this statement from the Church on this particular book. There is another book out that is written by a male who supposedly is in close contact with the Apostles predicting very similar circumstances. I read both of these books and have to embarrassingly admit that they scared me. I recently moved to Utah and have expected the mountains to come toppling down and the underwater lake to come up and cover all of us south of the point of the mountain. In fact, we bought a house up above the Utah Lake so we are above the flood lines!! All along I knew that the Prophet and Apostles are the true receivers of revelation for the Church as a whole but it is easy to get carried away by these false narratives. Thanks for this post.
ReplyDeleteWell then, they did their job! I'm so sorry for the unrest these types of tactics have created for you. Here's what I know, even in times of distress and unrest the Spirit brings peace and confidence. I hope can now relax and trust that the Lord will bless you for your preparation as you focus on the counsel of Church leaders on these matters. Thanks so much for sharing. I love your humble heart. :)
DeleteSince when have our Church leaders ever recommended a year's supply of ammunition--or any supply of ammunition or weapons? I know you weren't claiming that. I just wanted to clarify since many of the so-called "preppers" often include storing weapons and ammunition as if it goes right along with the counsel from our Church leaders to store a year's supply of food and other daily necessities.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find the spurious comment in the link. How did I miss it?
ReplyDeleteI copied and pasted the title ("Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Spurious Materials in Circulation.") Kathryn posted and googled it. It was the top hit.
Deletehttps://si.lds.org/bc/seminary/content/binary-content/binary-content/news-tim-gurr/publication_caution---a_greater_tomorrow_my_journey_beyond_the_veil_04-statements-in-circulation3831.pdf