Today I want to give you a little glimpse into what our church meetings look like, and introduce some of the churches programs to you. From what I understand, this is quite different from other Christian churches, so I’m excited to share it. It’s hard to tell you what our Sunday looks like without defining some of the programs, so first I’ll share the definitions, and then I will share what our Sunday meetings generally look like.
Sacrament: Each week, we partake of blessed bread and water, to remind us of Christ’s sacrifice for us. Read more about the sacrament here.
Sunday School: A class where we are taught gospel topics. The children and youth are separated by age, and the adults go to a Sunday School class together. Our Sunday School curriculum switches every year between 4 manuals – Old Testament, New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants and Church History.
Primary: This takes place for two hours for children 3-12. Children are split up into classes based on their age, and are taught lessons and songs about gospel topics.
Nursery: Nursery is technically under the leadership of those in Primary, but it’s for children 18 months-3 years. These little toddlers generally just play together, with a short lesson and singing time.
Relief Society: For all adult women, age 18 and up. We are taught lessons on gospel topics and how they pertain to us as women.
Priesthood Meeting: For all adult men, 18 and up. They are taught lessons on gospel topics and how they pertain to them as men.
Young Women: For young women ages 12-18. Again, they are taught lessons on gospel topics.
Young Men: For young men ages 12-18. Again, they are taught lessons on gospel topics.
Bishop/Bishopric: Our Bishop is closest to what you would call a pastor or minister. He is the authority “in charge” of our ward. He has 2 counselors that help him in his duties of ministering to the ward, and the three of them make up the bishopric.
Ward: Our congregation. The LDS church is a little different because our congregations have set boundaries. So where you live generally dictates where you go to church and who you associate with there.
Stake: A larger congregation made up of about 5-12 wards. A stake president is “in charge”, and all bishops report to him. We will get together 2 Sundays a year with the rest of the stake in meetings called Stake Conference.
I hope those made sense. Please feel free to ask me any questions below! You can also visit this link which will better help you understand the difference organizations and programs of the church. There are also many, many other words I could have defined, but I didn’t want to overload you. If you’ve heard a “Mormon word” and want to know what it means, please comment and ask!
And so, back to our weekly meetings. Each Sunday, Mormons all over the world attend church for 3 hours. Generally the church block, as it’s called, starts at 9 am, 11 am, or 1 pm. This allows each church building to house 3 wards, that won’t overlap in room needs. An approximate schedule goes like this:
1:00-2:10 pm: Sacrament Meeting
2:20-3:00 pm: Sunday School/Primary
3:10-4:00 pm: Young Women/Men, Relief Society/Priesthood, Primary
Occasionally the schedule will be flip flopped with Sacrament Meeting last, or church will begin at other times, and that depends on the building, how many wards are using it, etc.
Outside of Sundays, we have various other activities and programs in the church. Things like….
Relief Society Activities: The women of the Relief Society meet together once a month to learn and socialize together.
Mutual (for Young Women and Young Men): Once a week the youth meet together for fun, faith-building activities. These activities can either be just the young men or young women, or combined.
Activity Days: Girls 8-11 meet together two times a month for fun, faith building activities.
Scouts: Boys 8-11 meet together and earn Scout merit badges. (The church utilizes the Scouting program for boys 8-17).
Visiting Teaching: Each woman in the Relief Society is assigned a companion, and together they will visit 3-4 other women in the ward monthly, to build relationships, teach of Christ, and help in any way possible.
Home Teaching: Each man in the ward is assigned a companion, and together they visit 3-4 other families in the ward, to build relationships, teach of Christ, and help in any way possible.
We have all these various programs and activities in order for us to buoy each other up as we all come to Christ. One thing to remember is that all positions (or callings) in a ward or stake are unpaid positions. We all volunteer our time to better ourselves and love our neighbor. This means that even those with more difficult or time-extensive callings (such as Bishop) generally hold full-time jobs as well. The Bishop or Stake President are generally the ones who extend the calls to the members. We are not given the opportunity to pick and choose which calling we might like, based on perceived prestige or easiness or our own strengths. The callings we are given are given to us so that we may grow, and learn, and serve. Some callings are more difficult than others. Some might hold the same calling for years, while others might switch around more often. But it’s important to remember and understand, that no matter the calling, it is important. We are serving our brothers and sisters, and serving our God.
Whew, a lot of definitions and logistics today. I apologize for kind of the dry post! But I hope it gave you some insight into how our church meetings look and how our church runs. Again, if you have any questions, please let me know! I’d hate for you to leave this post confused.
More in the series:
Intro + I am a Christian | Joseph Smith, the Restoration and the Book of Mormon | The Plan of Salvation
The Godhead | Grace and Good Works
