Mormons lower minimum age limits for missionary trips in bid to swell ranks

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/07/mormons-lower-age-limits-missionary


Mormon missionaries make a house visit in Ulaan Baator, Mongolia. More than 58,000 Mormons are serving as full-time missionaries. Photograph: Elizabeth Dalziel/AP

Mormon leaders on Saturday lowered the age requirements for full-time missionaries in a change that could swell the ranks of the church's messengers around the world.

All 18-year-old men in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will now be allowed to serve missions and women can do so at the age of 19, Thomas Monson, the church's president, told members at a conference in Salt Lake City. The previous age requirements for serving as Mormon missionaries was 19 for men and 21 for women.

Monson and other church leaders said the change, which is effective immediately, was a response to the needs of the growing church, which was established in the United States but has spread throughout the world.

"I am not suggesting that all young men will – or should – serve at this earlier age," Monson said. "Rather based on individuals' circumstances, as well as upon determination by priesthood leaders, this option is now available."

His words drew audible gasps of surprise and delight from those gathered in the 21,000-seat conference center near the church's worldwide headquarters. Missionary service has been a part of the Mormon tradition since Joseph Smith Jr founded the church in 1830, and the outreach is seen as a formative experience by many of its members.

[bkkyosemite]

1. Yes and a way

to keep their men out of being drafted for service.

[B Stieg]

2. I don't get it...

Mormonism just seems like an earlier version of Scientology to me, although I do now grok the Flying Spaghetti Monster.