[bookworm]

When Jane and the elder's wife in Houston in the late 1970s started to speak about helping one another through difficult times evidently this was perceived as a threat to the "real purpose" of the LC—especially when it brought to light a needy elder.

A result of the Local Church becoming so very exclusive (special, THE building of THE Church), was the refusal of the leaders being open to anything of "poor Christianity" including Biblical marriage counseling.

My own experience was that after many years of marriage when I went to an elder and his wife for help at a very difficult time in my marriage the advice I was given was to forgive my husband (who was not attending the meetings at the time) and do what I could to get him back into the meetings. When I specifically asked about counseling for us, I was told that the answer was "getting back into the meetings." This was in the early 1980s in Texas. So by that time the mindset for sure was the only answer is the LC and the meetings. Obviously the Local Church had no "marriage counseling service group" or such. There was no provision for giving guidance (even scripturally based) to couples through difficult times.

Clearly the Local Church had only one focus: God's eternal purpose for building the Church. The mindset was very strong that we were to "get out of our minds and turn to our spirits" and be in the meetings and all would be taken care of; the army had to set the mind on the spirit and carry on. There was no consideration of God's purpose and design for marriage despite all the talk in the LC about Christ and the Church as His bridegroom.

This form of "brainwashing" does nothing to promote love for one another in the body of Christ and it does nothing to encourage a married man and woman to love and value each other and love and value the children they are blessed with.