Our Mission

[Daniel DeLuca]

I am not sure if we have a mission statement or not, but I have been thinking that if we don't, we ought to, and if we do, we ought to have a link in our ABOUT section that people can see, and we ought to periodically evaluate how we are doing in attempting to achieve that mission. What tangible results do we have to show for all our efforts. Let's say one part of that mission is to save marriages, just for example...how do we determine how many marriages have been saved? We ought to examine this, and then ask ourselves how this stacks up year over year. Are we doing better or worse? If we are saving marriages how many of them are poly marriages? How many of them are monogamous marriages where one of the partners desires PM and the other does not? How many marriages can we save or how many have we saved, where neither the husband nor the wife have ever considered polygamy?

We could add to our mission statement as well. Perhaps we would like to see lost souls that the traditional church has overlooked, come to faith in Christ, and perhaps leave false religions that might accept polygamy, but do not understand Biblical truths. Perhaps we would like to spread our message of liberty in Christ. How are we doing in theses endeavors? What could we do better?

Maybe we want to see political action, not necessarily legalization, but legislation such as what was accomplished in Utah earlier this year. How can we reach out to our representatives, to express our desire to see more of that? What opportunities such as open seats, are presenting themselves before us, and who among us would be the ideal candidates to fill such seats? How do we quantify acceptance of our beliefs, so as to be able to win elections in local and/or if possible statewide races? Are there any survey questions we could add and periodically remind people to fill out, that would measure how many people have become convinced by our presence and what we have to say?

Some here have mentioned marriages. How many poly marriages have been started that can be attributed to our presence? We could even examine the arena of getting our children, in particular teenagers to come around and accept this, in whatever way that it affects them. Is our energy and effort worthwhile?

We all long for fellowship with one another. I think that is a big reason for this organization. If we could have more centralized meetup groups for different regions of the US and abroad, I am sure we would all agree this would make our efforts worthwhile. The more acceptance we get amongst those whom we have persuaded online, the more often we can meetup. We kind of miss having those retreats that we have enjoyed in the past, but those can get quite expensive. Having more occasional meetups, where we don't have to pay for a room, and we wouldn't have to pay too much for gas, would be one of the benefits we could all enjoy. So how do we go about reaching people in our own neck of the woods, so to speak, especially since we tend to be silent in our churches, for those of us who still attend church, when it comes to this issue of plural marriage? What are some strategies we can employ in our daily interactions, that might help us achieve this outcome?

 

[Daniel DeLuca]

So we have two regional groups right now, but we have people in other parts of the USA, and of course abroad as well. The southeastern group is well defined, but Texas is huge, and as such we need to define what is reasonable for what is considered to be Central Texas. We could have one group for North Texas an Oklahoma as well. We need to define these regional boundaries, if we are to decide on what is the best Centralized location for like-minded people to meet, or else we just never meet up at all.

So each region has to have one facilitator who will decide when and where, and regardless of how many people accept it, meet at that time and place, and any other plans that may come up, if the facilitator cannot make it, there is a backup facilitator who will ensure that meetup takes place. The meetups MUST occur often! Not necessarily every month, but no less than once every other month. Waiting three months to have a get together, is just too long. People need to know in advance when it will occur, so they have time to plan, and they need to know that it will occur. We usually give a month and a half notice for our retreats, but for the occasional meetups, as long as it happens on a regular basis, I would say three weeks is plenty of time. If you have ever had to plan a birthday party for one of your kids, you know that last minute planning usually results in low turnout.

Let's do this! Let's have chapters, and if we have folks who have some leadership experience, they will be responsible for the organization of the chapter. We can do this without adding any extra burden to the current leadership of Biblical Families. Each chapter can have a president, a vice president, a treasurer, etc. I would even be open to allowing the Benders to appoint the leadership for each region, so we have a definite "Go to" guy who will then appoint the other offices of the respective chapter, and can negotiate with other chapter leaders on the defined boundaries (only for purposes of deciding centralized meetup locations - no 0ne who is in a disputed area, is required to join a particular chapter). Let's make this happen!

 

[PeteR]

Because of the number of lurkers, calculating benefit/return will be extremely difficult. .. personally, i'm loath to even try to do that sort of thing. It leads to back slapping that may not be healthy.

Even in my own ministry, I try not tocount noses or assume any personal merit... God does what God does. I'm just a tool. Never seen my tools evaluating themselves. ...

jmho

 

[Daniel DeLuca]

Because of the number of lurkers, calculating benefit/return will be extremely difficult. .. personally, i'm loath to even try to do that sort of thing. It leads to back slapping that may not be healthy.

Even in my own ministry, I try not tocount noses or assume any personal merit... God does what God does. I'm just a tool. Never seen my tools evaluating themselves. ...

jmho

Back slapping is not a bad thing. Paul did quite a bit of it. There are times when it is uncalled for, (David numbering the troops) and times where it was commanded (Moses numbering the Israelites). I personally think it is beneficial at times when discouragement and frustration starts to set in, but gaging that is somewhat difficult. I don't think we should concern ourselves too much about the lurkers, except when it comes time to appoint leaders, because of course we don't want infiltration on the part of people who have non-biblical definitions of marriage.

 

[Joleneakamama]

I think our mission is just to be truthful about what the scriptures say about plural wives, and support people who are researching and discovering these truths especially after they get persecuted for daring to think it is moral.

The other stuff we discuss is just for extra interaction, or because we value input from others serious about their faith.

To try to measure or value our impact on others is really not possible....nor is it our job. We cannot "save" anyone's marriage. Only they can make those decisions. All we can do is try to present the truth....and hope they can see the value in it.

Equal outcomes....cannot be guaranteed, shucks, we cannot even promise or provide equal opportunity. But we can try to example our faith, and we can care about others.

Oh, one more thing. We can pray and ask Him to bring more people into our lives that we can reach with His truth.

 

[Daniel DeLuca]

I think our mission is just to be truthful about what the scriptures say about plural wives, and support people who are researching and discovering these truths especially after they get persecuted for daring to think it is moral.

That is a GREAT mission statement! It is profound and it does appear to sum up our overall activities here.

The other stuff we discuss is just for extra interaction, or because we value input from others serious about their faith.

Quite true!

To try to measure or value our impact on others is really not possible....nor is it our job.

Well, it is possible to assess each and every time we get a post where someone makes a statement, something along the lines of "I am so glad that I found this site!"

We cannot "save" anyone's marriage. Only they can make those decisions. All we can do is try to present the truth....and hope they can see the value in it.

...and we can assess whether they do see the value in the truth that we present.

Equal outcomes....cannot be guaranteed, shucks, we cannot even promise or provide equal opportunity. But we can try to example our faith, and we can care about others.

I agree. That is not even up for debate.

Oh, one more thing. We can pray and ask Him to bring more people into our lives that we can reach with His truth.

I have always liked the idea of keeping a prayer journal, even though I am not diligent enough myself to follow through on that, and keep one myself, but it is a good reminder every now and then of how faithful God is. It is sorta like when John's disciples asked Jesus if He was really the Messiah, and Jesus pointed out to them the results of His ministry. That sort of thing is always an encouragement to people who can at times get weary in doing good things.