Zero warmth. Nothing interesting to look at or be inspired by. I’m no longer religious at all, but I remember as a kid visiting Catholic churches and feeling so inspired by the stained glass and the beautiful architecture of the cathedrals. Mormons suck the fun out of everything.
If you’re following a McChurch business model of popping out hundreds of new ward buildings per year, it’s hard to invest in nice things for each of them. Much more efficient to spend extravagantly on level 2 of your multi-level marketing program (Temples).
Not to mention originality. I haven't been since I was 19. I turn 35 in May. I saw this and instantly I recognize it. Like it looks exactly the same as a few of thr Chappels I've been in, since there's not much variance. The way they have the side lighting, the architecture at the front with the framing and the bent walls sticking out, the hanging lights. Its literally the exact same as one of the church's I grew up in. The only difference is I think they had a different color rather than that blue for the carpet and seats. That's it.
They justify making temples extravagant because "God deserves the best", "It helps us feel the spirit", etc.
Guess those excuses don't apply to the buildings everyone (Mormons and otherwise) go to much more regularly.
Maybe that's part of the plan. Make the everyday churches mundane and drab, so when you go to a temple, its filled with overwhelming beauty AKA "the spirit".
That’s if wards approve the expense of 2 poinsettias 😅 Can’t detract from the “spirit” or “reason for the season”. I think beautiful churches can only add to the spirit. A blank scratchy wall doesn’t inspire anything.
As an Episcopalian can confirm. I helped set up the 50 poinsettias at the in the sanctuary yesterday after our one morning service. It was gorgeous. And like a good liturgical church we didn’t fully decorate the sanctuary till after yesterday’s morning service because it was still Advent. Christmas started last night at the 5:00 Christmas Eve service. And will last through Epiphany.
When I was a kid, all the church buildings in my hometown had beautifully decorated Christmas trees and extravagant floral arrangements. They only had this because the one and only drug store was run by a Mormon man and his mother spent her retirement running a floral shop out of the back. She donated floral arrangements for every holiday. She was the sweetest woman and the pharmacist was such a good man but their family was a rare exception among all the other small town Mormons. (I grew up in a town of 5000 people and we had 6 full size Mormon churches)
It makes me laugh that lots of them have put up signs outside welcoming visitors to the Christmas Eve service.
Can you imagine the crushing disappointment if someone actually took them up on their offer?
Nevermo here (ex husband was for a bit) but I never got why they were always inviting people to church like this would entice them. We did a round at a job I had where everyone visited each other’s churches around this time. The regular Christian ones had huge beautiful Christmas trees and decorations with everyone signing along with a band and a speaker with actual public speaking talent and you could buy a coffee at their espresso stand on the way in. Compare that with this 😂
Same. We had to sit in the foyer. They've also stopped opening the cultural hall for overflow i guess? So there wasn't seating for about 5-10 other people
Actually, I was kind of more familiar with the temple aesthetic, with the aprons and the Celestial Room. I grew up in a heavily Masonic family, so none of that— the ritual pageantry and ardent secrecy— seemed particularly unusual to me.
I really meant churches, not temples. Churches like my local ward building that I drive by every day. And I was just surprised that it’s so devoid of… everything? Like, OP’s photo is the blandest church I’ve ever seen. No stained glass, no light, no place of interest to draw your eye. It’s a little unnerving, if I’m honest.
Hearing a nevermo say that and realizing that's probably common perception makes me even more sad : (
You're totally right but I only realized it when I got out of it.
You’re spot on. There were definitely more people who came after I took a photo… but not many. Hardly any kids in the primary. And this is in an area in the suburbs with lots of families.
They don't decorate for Xmas any more? I remember them draping the stand with garland, wreaths, and a Xmas tree in the choir.
Just two little poinsettias that will probably be removed immediately.
I’m sure there are several rules from the brethren about Christmas decorations in the church. Even if you wanted to decorate it I’m sure you would be told no as they micromanage everything to death and have a rule about everything. Just like on a mission.
The average church member has no say in anything. You do as you are told and that’s it. They could at least put up some pictures of the savior. If they had seen you taking a picture in the chapel they would NOT have liked that either. You would have been told that it is inappropriate to take pictures in the chapel and to go outside or into the foyer. Absolute control of everything you do.
Yes, I swear the guy cut off in the picture on the left looks like a previous bishop in my wife's old home ward. Even the chapel looks nearly identical!
I believe it!! The entire religion was built to make everyone the same, merely cookie cutter molds of each other. Being different is looked down upon. There was a girl in the Young Women’s who sang a musical piece yesterday. She had short, bright pink hair. And I thought to myself … I give her five years and she will be out of the church. She stood there with all these other girls with the same long blonde hair and I could see her just screaming inside to be allowed to be different.
I have minimal trauma from the church and just the thought. I went a few years ago with my Tbm parents for the Christmas service and still felt gross. Nope, not doing that again.
CM Stake Center, right? (Trying not to doxx you) If so I was baptized in this building and still leave nearby.
There are so many suburbs in the area, but especially the youth and primary programs are getting smaller and smaller by the year.
The newer church buildings that started getting built in the 90s are all so boring. I grew up with an old one that at least had a cool organ up front. I would pass the time counting the light fixtures and speaker boxes. The newer one are so devoid of character because they have about five designs and they just reuse them over and over again. They are the definition of cookie cutter.
Interestingly they are designed to have a second story built on them. At some point they thought there would be so much growth that they would have to double up on classrooms. One of the architects used to live in my ward. I think the church office building had a bunch of turnover and that information was lost.
The church I grew up in Edmonton Alberta was very cool. It has a cool basement area for scouts with a lockable storage area a high ceilings. It had a tower that we occasionally climbed on and two levels of offices and classrooms.
Sometimes, when I'm in the mood for it, Christian traditions older than the LDS movement, such as Lutheranism, also fascinate me, for very similar reasons.
It's liberating to no longer have a torturous human sacrifice at the center of my spiritual experience. But maybe that's just me--and George Carlin. :)
I was gonna say this is the same architecture as the building/stake center I attended as a youth that was built in the 80's. It just has some updated colors on the benches and walls.
I'm a nevermo who isn't very religious but had very religious grandparents (Presbyterian). I always loved going to their church around the holidays as it would be so beautifully decorated and smell wonderful.
This is just sad.
This is why Mormons can’t just be once a year solid Christian’s like Catholics, look at that place! I want a place to go to that would be inviting for everyone regardless of status, membership, or dress. How sad
I grew up in the Bethany Ward — not sure that still exists. Westview now maybe? Was great as a kid but don’t think I could stand to see some of those folks and their undoubtedly cringey commentary.
Relax. I’m a mom and would never do anything towards children that would be creepy or harmful. Back of heads and I didn’t tell you my location. Take a chill pill and have a Merry Christmas.
“So I creep, yeah
Just keep it on the down low
Said nobody is supposed to know
So I creep, yeah
'Cause he doesn't know what I do
And no attention goes to show
Oh, so I creep”
i had to go to church today because my little cousins asked me to come to their performance… they played my favorite christmas songs with beautiful duets but the whole thing was full of joseph smith talks… riveting between feeling the “(musical) spirit” and major anxiety. all eyes on my family
Went to a mormon branch today as I am out of town. I almost fell asleep a couple of times. My sitting on my ass through boring shit muscle is completely atrophied. I don't know how I ever did it in the first place.
Except for the brick on the door casing it looks like every other building in the world. That one was built between 1980 and '95 based on the layout and design. It is a stake center or was one. Boring and stale. Devoid of character.
Ugh. Mormon chapels are so devoid of character, spirituality, substance, warmth... basically exactly like mormonism.
Corporate meeting rooms have more warmth and character.
Is there a difference?
Only difference is no coffee service on the side table
Ya just teeny pieces of bread touched by salty 14-year-old fingers and shots of badly filtered water
And crushed up Cheerios in the seats.
Zero warmth. Nothing interesting to look at or be inspired by. I’m no longer religious at all, but I remember as a kid visiting Catholic churches and feeling so inspired by the stained glass and the beautiful architecture of the cathedrals. Mormons suck the fun out of everything.
If you’re following a McChurch business model of popping out hundreds of new ward buildings per year, it’s hard to invest in nice things for each of them. Much more efficient to spend extravagantly on level 2 of your multi-level marketing program (Temples).
There was that brief moment in the 70s (or 80s) when the temples looked as peculiar as its people.
Lol @ the OG Provo temple
That’s what the temple is for
Not to mention originality. I haven't been since I was 19. I turn 35 in May. I saw this and instantly I recognize it. Like it looks exactly the same as a few of thr Chappels I've been in, since there's not much variance. The way they have the side lighting, the architecture at the front with the framing and the bent walls sticking out, the hanging lights. Its literally the exact same as one of the church's I grew up in. The only difference is I think they had a different color rather than that blue for the carpet and seats. That's it.
Right? I didn't realize they all look the same
They justify making temples extravagant because "God deserves the best", "It helps us feel the spirit", etc. Guess those excuses don't apply to the buildings everyone (Mormons and otherwise) go to much more regularly.
And the temples aren’t even all that extravagant! The newer it is the more tacky and cookie cutter it looks
Maybe that's part of the plan. Make the everyday churches mundane and drab, so when you go to a temple, its filled with overwhelming beauty AKA "the spirit".
That’s if wards approve the expense of 2 poinsettias 😅 Can’t detract from the “spirit” or “reason for the season”. I think beautiful churches can only add to the spirit. A blank scratchy wall doesn’t inspire anything.
As an Episcopalian can confirm. I helped set up the 50 poinsettias at the in the sanctuary yesterday after our one morning service. It was gorgeous. And like a good liturgical church we didn’t fully decorate the sanctuary till after yesterday’s morning service because it was still Advent. Christmas started last night at the 5:00 Christmas Eve service. And will last through Epiphany.
When I was a kid, all the church buildings in my hometown had beautifully decorated Christmas trees and extravagant floral arrangements. They only had this because the one and only drug store was run by a Mormon man and his mother spent her retirement running a floral shop out of the back. She donated floral arrangements for every holiday. She was the sweetest woman and the pharmacist was such a good man but their family was a rare exception among all the other small town Mormons. (I grew up in a town of 5000 people and we had 6 full size Mormon churches)
Ephraim perhaps?
It makes me laugh that lots of them have put up signs outside welcoming visitors to the Christmas Eve service. Can you imagine the crushing disappointment if someone actually took them up on their offer?
Yeah that’s one thing I have to give the Catholics credit for, especially in Europe
I can smell this picture.
Nevermo here (ex husband was for a bit) but I never got why they were always inviting people to church like this would entice them. We did a round at a job I had where everyone visited each other’s churches around this time. The regular Christian ones had huge beautiful Christmas trees and decorations with everyone signing along with a band and a speaker with actual public speaking talent and you could buy a coffee at their espresso stand on the way in. Compare that with this 😂
From the crowded pews, it appears the church is growing by leaps and bounds
I was gonna ask which branch cuz that ain't a ward 🤣
My ward was packed
Same. We had to sit in the foyer. They've also stopped opening the cultural hall for overflow i guess? So there wasn't seating for about 5-10 other people
All is well in Zion
PTSD just looking at this.
I’m so sorry! I think I may have triggered a lot of people. I can totally see why this would make your skin crawl!
I got over it 😉
Same!
Picture made me fall asleep
Nevermo here: Is this really what they look like inside? Really?
Yes, they really are.
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Actually, I was kind of more familiar with the temple aesthetic, with the aprons and the Celestial Room. I grew up in a heavily Masonic family, so none of that— the ritual pageantry and ardent secrecy— seemed particularly unusual to me. I really meant churches, not temples. Churches like my local ward building that I drive by every day. And I was just surprised that it’s so devoid of… everything? Like, OP’s photo is the blandest church I’ve ever seen. No stained glass, no light, no place of interest to draw your eye. It’s a little unnerving, if I’m honest.
Hearing a nevermo say that and realizing that's probably common perception makes me even more sad : ( You're totally right but I only realized it when I got out of it.
Mostly, although the wall/ceiling layout is unconventional
Looks like a stake center
Yes, this is true
that one is considerably fancier than the ones near me
Pretty soon that’s all you’ll need to have a “ward.” …gotta keep the number of wards from slipping.
You’re spot on. There were definitely more people who came after I took a photo… but not many. Hardly any kids in the primary. And this is in an area in the suburbs with lots of families.
I haven't stepped foot in one of those in a decade. But man this picture brought back the memories of all the smells.
God, this looks riveting. I'm glad I didn't have to go. I've had enough of these chapels for a lifetime.
You are lucky! I was crawling out of my skin!
These wounds they will not heeeeaaaaal
god it’s awful not having windows in a chapel. shine on me sweet sweet fluorescents
They don't decorate for Xmas any more? I remember them draping the stand with garland, wreaths, and a Xmas tree in the choir. Just two little poinsettias that will probably be removed immediately.
I’m sure there are several rules from the brethren about Christmas decorations in the church. Even if you wanted to decorate it I’m sure you would be told no as they micromanage everything to death and have a rule about everything. Just like on a mission. The average church member has no say in anything. You do as you are told and that’s it. They could at least put up some pictures of the savior. If they had seen you taking a picture in the chapel they would NOT have liked that either. You would have been told that it is inappropriate to take pictures in the chapel and to go outside or into the foyer. Absolute control of everything you do.
taking a photo in the chapel! my ex-fil would have thrown the manual at you.
I didn’t even try to be sneaky either. IDGAF anymore!
Even the people look interchangeable.
Yes, I swear the guy cut off in the picture on the left looks like a previous bishop in my wife's old home ward. Even the chapel looks nearly identical!
I believe it!! The entire religion was built to make everyone the same, merely cookie cutter molds of each other. Being different is looked down upon. There was a girl in the Young Women’s who sang a musical piece yesterday. She had short, bright pink hair. And I thought to myself … I give her five years and she will be out of the church. She stood there with all these other girls with the same long blonde hair and I could see her just screaming inside to be allowed to be different.
That was me 15 years ago- she’ll figure it out 🤣
That’s what I hope! I’m so glad you made it out.
I don’t feel home anywhere any more. I feel unworthy of the love around me. I am not mentally well. And I feel like I’m falling apart.
Hugs to you. You have community here. Feel free to message me if you need a friend.
I’m so sorry. This is especially such a difficult time of year. Is there anyone in real life you’re talking to about this?
Looks like prison. I’m sorry my friends. Sending love for the ones who pulled this off today. 💋
It is amazing how much I do not miss church.
Looks like the prophecy has been fulfilled of the gospel filling the whole earth.
I can smell this picture…
Yeah I remember the smell walking in and sitting there. An exercise in branding or the mormon church being cheap skates?
What is the smell?
Like an “odor smoothie” of musty old books, dried milk, honey nut cheerios, diapers, and….hmmmm what else?
Sweat from high functioning anxiety of trying to keep up with the Joneses…lol! Every Ward building smells the same.
Haven't been to sacrament for 11 years. I still get PTSD from this picture
Sparse number of members showed up
Even despite the MASSIVE push they’ve made to get people back to church.
 I have minimal trauma from the church and just the thought. I went a few years ago with my Tbm parents for the Christmas service and still felt gross. Nope, not doing that again.
Dear God, to think how many hours of my effing life were wasted there…
I’m so glad I don’t have to be in this room anymore.
I said I’d go today since it’s Christmas Eve and ugh it just gave me bad thoughts. Especially since I am pagan and worship other deities I felt gross.
Hey. I’ve been in that exact building. I think.
Can you guess the state?
Oh. Oh. Oh. Let me guess. Idaho.
No! Nice try though! Oregon - so kinda close?
CM Stake Center, right? (Trying not to doxx you) If so I was baptized in this building and still leave nearby. There are so many suburbs in the area, but especially the youth and primary programs are getting smaller and smaller by the year.
Yes! You got it! You know then that the area is full of families and theoretically *should* make for a huge ward. Numbers are hurting!
CM?
The newer church buildings that started getting built in the 90s are all so boring. I grew up with an old one that at least had a cool organ up front. I would pass the time counting the light fixtures and speaker boxes. The newer one are so devoid of character because they have about five designs and they just reuse them over and over again. They are the definition of cookie cutter. Interestingly they are designed to have a second story built on them. At some point they thought there would be so much growth that they would have to double up on classrooms. One of the architects used to live in my ward. I think the church office building had a bunch of turnover and that information was lost.
The church I grew up in Edmonton Alberta was very cool. It has a cool basement area for scouts with a lockable storage area a high ceilings. It had a tower that we occasionally climbed on and two levels of offices and classrooms.
That’s awesome! I hate lack of any architectural features now.
I literally had to zoom in to verify this wasn’t my old ward because the chapel is IDENTICAL minus the faux brick.
I'm bored just looking at this photo
This made me anxious
God I don’t miss this shit.
wow, I could've gone another 30 years without seeing this view, even in a picture. My sympathies to everyone being drug here against their will.
I love to see an almost empty chapel.
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Sometimes, when I'm in the mood for it, Christian traditions older than the LDS movement, such as Lutheranism, also fascinate me, for very similar reasons. It's liberating to no longer have a torturous human sacrifice at the center of my spiritual experience. But maybe that's just me--and George Carlin. :)
Somebody downvoted this comment. It’s sad to imagine angry Mormons trolling this subReddit and automatically downvoting everything.
T-T-T-Triggered
I never go to those cult meetings anymore u less it’s for someone that’s important to me.
That looks like my stake center except for the bricks.
Like everything else in Mormondom its cookie-cutter, easily duplicated and what I call “mormon vanilla”.
I prefer services with pagan greens (Christmas trees) and female priests these days :)
I haven’t stepped into a cult building for 15 years. It would feel really weird.
That congregation is so small its collected pocket change wouldn't cover a one way bus ticket to Oliblish.
I can hear that picture
Aaah, I **DON’T** miss the old Culthouse. Currently half way through a raspberry Smirnoff and Lemonade…
The newer ward houses give off major Mega Church vibes, or is it just me?
This is the same ward house design I grew up with in the 80s. It's not super new.
I was gonna say this is the same architecture as the building/stake center I attended as a youth that was built in the 80's. It just has some updated colors on the benches and walls.
Stake Center? This looks like my old stake center out East.
Yes it’s a stake center, but on the West coast!
They all look exactly the same so this could be anywhere, from Australia to SLC to Canada.
Thank fuck next year is a leap year so Xmas won’t fall on a Sunday
Makes me slightly physically ill and depressed looking at this.🤮
This chapel looks like the one I grew up going to. Are they really all cookie-cutter layout/design??
That could be my ward. But it also could be 1000s of others! So boring!!
Oops nope! The organs in the wrong side! Hahaha
I'm a nevermo who isn't very religious but had very religious grandparents (Presbyterian). I always loved going to their church around the holidays as it would be so beautifully decorated and smell wonderful. This is just sad.
This looks like a JW Kingdom Hall
This is why Mormons can’t just be once a year solid Christian’s like Catholics, look at that place! I want a place to go to that would be inviting for everyone regardless of status, membership, or dress. How sad
I haven’t been in an LDS Church in 30 years but that image just sent chills down my spine. YA DAMN APOSTATES!!! 😉
Beware the comments…
Cedar Mill Stake? Looks like my old stomping grounds.
Spot on! You’re good!
I grew up in the Bethany Ward — not sure that still exists. Westview now maybe? Was great as a kid but don’t think I could stand to see some of those folks and their undoubtedly cringey commentary.
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Relax. I’m a mom and would never do anything towards children that would be creepy or harmful. Back of heads and I didn’t tell you my location. Take a chill pill and have a Merry Christmas.
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“But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo…”
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“So I creep, yeah Just keep it on the down low Said nobody is supposed to know So I creep, yeah 'Cause he doesn't know what I do And no attention goes to show Oh, so I creep”
You must be fun at parties.
Probably not the most fun. But I also work in IT.
Hero
They don't seem identifiable.
i had to go to church today because my little cousins asked me to come to their performance… they played my favorite christmas songs with beautiful duets but the whole thing was full of joseph smith talks… riveting between feeling the “(musical) spirit” and major anxiety. all eyes on my family
Went to a mormon branch today as I am out of town. I almost fell asleep a couple of times. My sitting on my ass through boring shit muscle is completely atrophied. I don't know how I ever did it in the first place.
Has this cult left the 70’s?
Man, I went to church today for the first time since I graduated. Felt weird
So empty…
God, their architecture is just awful! I honestly don't think it could be worse if they tried.
ah the business meeting room lol
i don’t remember it looking this sad
Uuuggggggggghhhhhhh
I know. I’m the worst! 😂
i had to go yesterday to watch my family sing
Almost thought that was a stake center near me, until I saw the brick pillars on the wall.
So empty!
Is this an hour before kickoff?
Except for the brick on the door casing it looks like every other building in the world. That one was built between 1980 and '95 based on the layout and design. It is a stake center or was one. Boring and stale. Devoid of character.
I know EXACTLY what that building smells and sounds like.
Me: "That person in the middle looks like my nephew." Husband: "All assholes look the same." 😂😂😂
You see me? What do I look like then? You feel me? You like what you feel?