The term has been around for a couple of centuries.
I’m sorry, but any church, business or organization which uses the bogus, made-up and completely ungrammatical term “meetinghouses” is trying way too hard to be “trendy” and must be approached with that in mind.
I beleive the term meetinghouses was used in the 1800’s and also in Europe not sure but it is not new!
Meetinghouse
Reserving “church” to designate a covenanted ecclesiastical society, New England Puritans used “meetinghouse” to denote the assembly place used for church services, town meetings, and other public gatherings. Church membership was restricted, but attendance at church services was mandatory. Services included baptisms, sermons, prayers, psalm singing, and funerals for notable persons. Typically a white frame structure, the early square meetinghouse, with a central tower, gave way to an oblong style with an end tower topped by a spire. The pulpit dominated the simple but dignified interior. In much of New England, taxes as well as pew receipts supported the meetinghouses’ religious activities. In late colonial times the meetinghouse became a center of revolutionary activities.
I’m not really sticking up for Mormonism, but you might need to know that “meetinghouses” or “meeting house” has a very long historical use. It’s use is not a contemporary trend at all.
The idea behind its use is often to make a differentiation between the Church which is the congregation of the believers and the physical building.
For too long, people have treated the churches’ buildings as though they are the churches. There is no New Testament instruction to any church to construct a dedicated building in which to meet. There is no Scriptural mandate at all to construct facilities for New Testament churches. It’s nice to be out of the rain while worshiping, but dedicated facilities are not required by New Testament Christianity.
In older generations the buildings were often called “church house.” On an old stone building in England from the early 17th century is engraved, “Phillip’s Chapel—the Meeting House of the Baptist Church.” (about 1650)
I would be more concerned about their doctrines than about what they call their buildings.
Actually the word “meetinghouse” is very similar to the word “synogogue” which in Hebrew is “bet knesset” which means “house of meeting.”
That takes making someone an offender for a word to a whole new level.
The term has been around for a couple of centuries.
Snicker. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is trendy? Interesting.