Julie talked recently about how members of the LDS (Mormon) church attend meetings for three hours each Sunday. The main meeting, for all ages, is sacrament meeting. 

Sacrament meeting is held in the chapel of the church building. (Click here for a video tour of a chapel.) Members are encouraged to arrive to sacrament meeting a few minutes early. I love doing this so that I can hear the prelude music, and also because when I’m early, I get the seat I want! Arriving early helps me because I feel a peace wash over me when I enter the building, since I am not rushed and stressed out. I believe that my children can feel it too. Often they are running in the parking lots and yelling, but once we sit down in the pew, they whisper instead of yell and they sit quietly (most of the time).

Prayer is a big part of a sacrament meeting. Before the meeting begins someone from the bishopric (similar to a pastor and his assistants) asks a member of the congregation to say the opening and closing prayers. These prayers are said at the beginning and end of the meeting. These prayers are not memorized. They are not said the same each week though you may hear some of the same things said. During these prayers we are able to give thanks for the building that we have, for the chance to gather together for worship and we pray for those that may be sick or in need, as well as other things.

Music plays an important part of the sacrament meeting as well. At the start and end of the meeting we will sing from the hymn book. We do this before the sacrament as well. I love the sing the hymns. They make me realize what the Lord has done for me. They help me to understand that He loves me. They soothe my soul.

Following the opening prayer, a member of the bishopric will conduct any ward business – changes to callings, announcements, baby blessings, and the occasional confirmation.

Next is the actual taking of the sacrament. In my part of the world, we are given a bite of bread that is passed to us on trays, followed by a small cup of water. The bread and water each have a prayer said over them by young men (16+) holding the Aaronic priesthood. Younger boys (12+) bring the trays to the pews and the trays are passed along and everyone is given the chance to partake. The prayers are simple, and spoken the exact same each week. During this time it is very quiet in the chapel. Sometimes I spend this quiet time reading the scriptures, praying and just thinking about Christ. It is a wonderful opportunity to think about the sacrifice that he gave us. The bread is meant to symbolize the body of Christ and the water is meant to symbolize the blood of Christ.

Following the bread and water we hear the speakers. Once a month, usually the first Sunday, is Fast Sunday. This is a day that we are encouraged to fast by not eating or drinking for a certain amount of time and concentrate our prayers on a special cause, for ourselves or others. On Fast Sunday, members of the congregation have not been called to speak; rather, we bear testimony, or share what we believe to be true, if we feel prompted or have a desire to. We believe that when we share testimony we are making our faith stronger.

On a Sunday that is not Fast Sunday, the bishopric will assign 2-3 speakers. Often there is a youth (ages 12-17) speaker and two adult (male or female) speakers that have been assigned a specific topic. Topics for speakers vary from pre-mortal life to missionary work to personal revelation and everything in between, always relating to Jesus Christ and his central role in the plan of salvation.

Sometimes sacrament meeting can be challenge – there are kids that don’t want to sit still, or the temperature isn’t quite right for me – but it is among my favorite times of the week. Seldom is there a time when I don’t learn something. I always feel a confirmation of the truth of the words that are spoken – and this is the spirit of the Lord.

If you would like to attend a sacrament meeting, click here to find meeting times for your area.
—
**Please note: The answers in “Ask a Mormon Woman” reflect the thoughts, perspectives, and experiences of individuals. Although here at Mormon Women: Who We Are, we strive to have our content consistent with the Church’s doctrine and teachings, we do not speak officially for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For official information about or from the Church, please visit www.mormon.org or www.lds.org.

Have a question you would like to ask? Send an email to us at gmail, with username ‘mormonwoman’

– – – – – – –

See more Ask a Mormon Woman posts here.

The post Ask a Mormon Woman: What happens in a Mormon sacrament meeting? appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

– Curious about sacrament meetings in the LDS Church from the perspective of a visitor? See this reporter’s article.

– You’ll often hear Mormons talk about how the most important part of our Sunday meetings is the sacrament. For more of an explanation of (and articles/scriptures about) what the sacrament means to us, see here.

– Explanations of what goes on at our meetings can be found here, here and here.

[Editor’s note: If you ever visit a sacrament meeting, you may wonder about whether or not to take the sacrament. You may even feel a little nervous about that part of the meeting. Please don’t! We love having visitors, and more than anything, we want you to feel welcome and comfortable. Since most people do wonder about this, though, since a main purpose of this ordinance is to allow us us renew our baptismal covenants, typically those not of our faith will simply pass the trays of bread and water along to the next person. However, there is no harm or offense if someone who is not LDS partakes of the sacramental emblems.]

– Curious about what the inside of a LDS meetinghouse looks like? See some photos here, or an interactive tour here.

– Want to see where the nearest LDS Church building can be found? See the Church’s meetinghouse locator.

p.s. Did you know we also use our buildings during the week for other purposes? These include youth activities; gatherings just for women (called Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment nights); firesides (usually a talk or special music shared with a group on a selected topic, either held locally or sometimes broadcast via satellite); ward parties; training meetings for various church assignments (callings); interviews; service projects; and adult institute classes (in some areas).

The post Links We Like: If you are curious about Mormon (LDS) Meetings… appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

I was in Sacrament meeting (the Mormon version of mass) last Sunday. I had gone to my brother’s ward (congregation) because he was blessing his son. (Sort of like a Christening but without the baptism. Or the godparents. Or the- actually, all unknown Mormon terms are described better here, so if you see something you don’t understand, try that.)
[Photo provided by Allaboutmormons]

So the blessing was over and we had sung the Sacrament hymn and the priest (16 or 17 year old boy) up front starts saying the Sacrament prayer. He says the first line and then you hear this other voice, it’s a disorganized sound, high and then unaccountably low, kind of like that of a pubescent boy, but more so.

 The voice repeats the last word or two of what the priest said. Then the priest says the next line and the voice again repeats most of the syllables, some recognizable as the words we just heard, some not. And the prayer continues that way, the whole way through.

After we all said amen I looked up at the table where the Sacrament had been prepared and blessed and I see a very large, obviously mentally challenged man stand up. And next to him I see my oldest nephew, the priest who had helped him through the prayer.

And I thought I was as proud as I could be.

And then they started passing the Sacrament and I saw another nephew walking around, not passing but helping another very large, obviously mentally challenged man pass the sacrament.

And there was another man doing the same for another not as large but just as obviously mentally challenged boy.

The deacons in this ward were not the most polished I’ve seen. They were not all wearing white shirts and they were not all tucked in, but I learned more in those few minutes about loving and sharing the blessings of the gospel than I have in a long time.

For more First Person essays, please click here.

The post First Person: Sacrament Meeting Compassion appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

On every Mormon (or Latter-Day Saint) church in the world there is a sign. The sign introduces you to the true name of our church. We belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. But below that name  is a simple and powerful message.

Visitors Welcome

Visitors are truly welcome to visit our churches anytime services are being held. There are meetings on Sundays, and activities often held at different times during the week.

Once entering our meeting houses, you’ll note that we there are many rooms. One of the rooms is our chapel (the large room where Sacrament meeting is held), many others are classrooms for midweek and Sunday instruction. Some buildings have large halls for basketball, stage productions, or social gatherings.

Soon after entering one of our meeting houses a person may introduce themselves to you. “Hi my name is ____, how can I help you?” Don’t be afraid to ask questions. We like to help where we can.

You may ask when the next services begin. Or you may ask if you can get some brochures about our church or a Book of Mormon. If they do not have information ready for you immediately, someone will make sure you get the information you need. Or, you may just want to quietly observe what happens, and that is okay, too.

If you want to know where the closest Latter-Day Saint church building is to you, you can use the Meetinghouse Locator function on www.lds.org.  Simply enter your address, wherever you are in the world, and the meeting house locator will tell you the closest building and service times.

Here at mormonwoman.org we want you to know that visitors are always welcome here as well.

Thank you for visiting!

To find out more about what you might expect at Sunday meetings, see one of the following three links:

Mormon Meetings
What to Expect…
What to Expect at Sunday Meetings

Or watch Attending a Mormon Church Service (video created by a couple of our readers)

P.S. Will Church members who are reading this please send us pictures of “Visitor Welcome” signs from around the world and in multiple languages? We would like to make a collage and post it on our site at a later date.

The post We Believe: Visitors Welcome appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.