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Have you been in a fast and testimony meeting with long drawn out silence? Most members of the church are used to this and don’t necessarily find the moment “awkward”. However, If you are a leader, those minutes feel like hours. All these people that have come seeking a spiritual meeting and now they sit in silence.
In contrast, there are testimony meetings when the speakers line up and time runs short. This is good–sometimes. What about that lady that stands and talks about her cats. Or the testimony full of expressions of roommate love. This LDS dynamic of “Open Mic Sunday” could probably be studied in university psychology classes.
Here’s the bottom line, each church meeting is under the direction of a presiding authority. That means, if you preside, you own it. You can’t blame the bad meetings on yakking cat ladies. You have the power to guide and direct the meeting in any way necessary. Most sitting in the pews don’t realize you are guiding the meeting (if you are good at it) but all are thankful you are. Nobody likes their time wasted.
Give them reason to stand
It is customary for the conductor of the testimony meeting to kick-off the testimony football–be the first to share a testimony and then open up the mic for others to carry on. This task comes with more responsibility than one may think. The words you speak will set the tone for the rest of the meeting. Not only do the attendees need to hear your testimony and feel the spirit, but they also need to feel a spirit of invitation–to stand and testify. I don’t mean a mumbled sentence at the end of your testimony: “We now invite you, brothers and sister, to share your testimony…” They need more inspiration than that. They need specific direction.
Members in a fast and testimony meeting are in various states of mind. You have people that can’t wait to stand and share their testimony (unfortunately some of these share travel-monies, cat-a-monies, or just ramble). There are also people whom wouldn’t stand even if Angel Gabriel himself appeared and told them to (the fear of public speaking is powerful). You also have people who don’t mind sharing their testimony but simply forgot it was even fast Sunday. They shamefully hid their pop-tart breath when they realize they are not participating in the ward fast. If you concede the meeting to those that have a preconceived plan to participate you may end up with a lot of silence of a lot of cat stories.
The leader needs to mix the pot with ideas. With a simple topic suggestion the lethargic suddenly have a reason to stand. “I invite all to stand today and share your testimony of Jesus Christ. If you don’t know where to start, tell us about why temples are important to you, tell us why you serve, tell us why your scripture study changes your daily life, tell us what priesthood means to you.” Your testimony invited the spirit and now you have given them a way to participate. You will be amazed at how effective this is to getting people to stand and share sincere testimonies.
Invite the doubter
In most fast and testimony meetings you will have a handful of people stand and give the most convincing testimony–almost to a degree that is unbelievable. These individuals stand and use phrases like, “I know with ever fiber of my being…” or “The gospel’s validity is a fact in my life…” or “I know without a shadow of a doubt…”. These testimonies are inspiring to hear and I would never discourage these people to participate in the meeting. I must admit, sometimes I second guess the validity of a testimony when little room is left to question or even doubt; however, it isn’t my place to judge the strength of individual testimonies.
The reason I bring this up, is there are many that sit in the pews during fast and testimony meeting that aren’t so certain of each doctrine of the gospel. Paul encouraged saints with unbelieving spouses to “not put her away” (1 Cor 7:12-15). Most of these individuals that are less than certain will say God is real and Jesus Christ lives, but there are holes in their belief they are still trying to reconcile. Being at church is right where they need to be because they have come with an attitude of “Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24). When they hear testimonies of absolutes and conviction they begin to think they are the only one still “working” on their testimony and see no need to stand and share what they do know.
A leader should encourage the doubter to stand as well. President Packer taught, “a testimony is found in the bearing of it.” Hearing words in testimony meeting such as, “I’m not quite sure yet…” or “I’m working on it…” will only add to the spirit of the meeting. However, these individuals won’t stand unless the leader who kicked off the meeting let them know there is room for their growing testimonies as well.
How do you approach a fast and testimony meeting?
These are just a few suggestions I have when conducting a fast & testimony meeting. I’m sure there are other approaches the work as well, but we need you to share them. Comment below and let us know how else a leader can enhance a testimony meeting.
Another wise thing to do at the end is to recap some of the highlights, so to speak. This past Sunday, the counselor simply said “We would like to thank all those who participated on the program. Our closing hymn will be . . .”
We had some beautiful, heartfelt testimonies and the spirit was strong. A brief recap of a theme or two from the testimonies, then gratitude for all who attended and lent their strength to the meeting would have been appropriate. (in my opinion)
Great idea. Its true, if you can motivate and just outline certain topics, then people have simple things to testify about.
Great idea Kurt & Rozy! Now, how do I politely share this with my bishopric members? 🙂
I know this thread is a bit old, but the topic seems to be a renewed focus so I felt it appropriate to comment.
In Ward Council everyone is supposed to be heard. It could go something like this: “I have been seeing a common theme of leaders making an effort to rejuvenate the purpose and benefits of a focused and spiritual Fast and Testimony Meeting. By helping members better understand what a testimony is and isn’t and then demonstrating it in our own testimonies, they are finding that the meeting becomes much more fulfilling and edifying experience. What are your thoughts AS A WARD COUNCIL on this topic?”
You may come prepared with the First Presidency’s directives and possibly open your conversation with it so that it doesn’t come off as a rebuttal after others state theirs views.
A couple of things. We have a piece of paper that we put at the pulpit that reads, “Please introduce yourself.” When turning the time over, we also say something like, “we ask that you briefly introduce yourself and that you keep your testimonies short and focused on the Savior and his gospel. We’ll conclude at about “. This helps investigators, new members, and returning members get to put a face with the name.
Also, our wise stake president has asked us to not add any commentary to the end of our sacrament meetings, unless corrections need to be made. If a heartfelt testimony has been given and the spirit has spoken, there’s no need to repeat it. I’d personally almost find it insulting. It would come across like, “for those of you who weren’t paying attention, you should have gotten…”. Testimonies are personally given and individually received. What I do is say something like, “We’re grateful for those who have borne their testimonies today, and for the wonderful spirit that has been here. We also thank those who have provided the music and prayers. We’ll close our meeting singing…”
Dave, These are all great points. I also try and encourage people to introduce themselves (especially because my ward is so transient). I like the guidance of your Stake President as well.
Dave, What you say at the end is perfect! I think that is a good summary of the meeting. What was said in ours was too mechanical because that is what the counselor says at the end of any and all meetings. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I forgot about introducing ones self.
Thanks for everyone’s thoughts. I’m a counselor and it never occurred to me that such a better way to conduct was so obvious. Nate, just tell your bishopric how to improve, most people are very comfortable doing this 😉
What I’ve noticed over the years, a member of the bishopric commences the formal testimony meeting with a sermon that last about 10 minutes. A testimony is either sprinkled in there, or he ends his sermon with a testimony and then invite others to share their testimonies. In the early 2000s, after the letter about testimonies was received, after his 10 minute sermon-ony, he invited the members to share a “brief testimony.” With few exceptions, most “testimonies,” were people talking about their lives, their problems, really cool experiences, admonishments, and maybe a testimony is sprinkled in there. Sometimes what the bishopric member says or what the next person says will be a prompt that several other members use to base what they say during their time. Open mic Sunday, is what it often turns out to be. I feel bad for being critical, but I do think that if bishoprics would share an actual and pure testimony that was one or two minutes long, it would be a great example to gradually break the cycle of typical Open Mic Sunday, and more members would have opportunity to share their testimonies and we would move toward understanding what a pure testimony is. What an outpouring of the Spirit we would have! I would actually start to look forward to Fast Sundays.
I know that it helps people to talk about their lives and that it helps some people who may be going through similar things, but they could save that for perhaps a gospel message (what they are calling “talks” now in the Handbook), or perhaps to share in a relevant discussion during Sunday School.
I love and sustain my bishopric. I don’t know how to respectfully suggest this, because they might feel criticized. For some reason, they seem to feel that the bishopric has the burden of sharing an impressive sermon that lasts about 10 minutes, instead of a testimony. I wonder if they knew that they themselves only needed to share a brief, pure testimony, it might lighten their load a wee bit.