Are Sunday worship services working?
That is the question I’ve been exploring over a series of newsletter messages.
This is part 6, and for context, you can find a summary of each meeting purpose from the General Handbook at the end of this message.
As I was preparing my message last week, I was reviewing the General Handbook and was blindsided by one sentence.
Section 29.2.1.1 says this:
“Sacrament meeting lasts one hour. It can include the following…” (emphasis added).
What do you mean “it can”?
It seems more open-ended than I expected.
I would expect something like, “It must” or “Thou shalt” followed by a list of things that must be done each week in Sacrament meeting.
The word “can” can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but the point of this message is to remind leaders that there is probably a lot more autonomy available to them within the guidelines of the Handbook then they might realize.
Autonomy can be freeing, and it can be scary.
Most leaders have plenty to organize, and it’s easier if we just assume there is a strict agenda we are supposed to follow for sacrament meeting and that because it has been working for decades, we might as well keep the tradition alive.
This is fine; however, it increases the risk of the ward members serving the agenda rather than the agenda serving the ward members.
In order to increase the effectiveness of the Sunday worship experience, we need to insert clear intention and make sure the agenda reflects that intention.
A big fat reset button might be in order for each ward council.
With reference to the General Handbook (and I’d recommend not removing the sacrament from sacrament meeting), what type of worship experience do members of your ward need each week?
Are announcements necessary to include in the meeting?
What if we started each sacrament meeting with a musical number rather than an awkward “Welcome to the ward”?
What would a sacrament meeting organized by the youth look like?
Why do we continue to have an intermediate hymn when it isn’t required?
If your ward was put in charge of completely rethinking the agenda of sacrament meeting, what would that look like?
What have you seen wards do with sacrament meeting that has improved the experience for their ward?
Summaries of meeting purposes found in the General Handbook:
Sacrament Meeting: Take the sacrament, worship, build faith and testimony, conduct ward business. (29.2.1)
Sunday School: Teach doctrine of the kingdom, support all learning and teaching. (13.1)
Relief Society: Save souls, relieve suffering, accomplish the work of salvation and exaltation, serve others, build unity, and learn and live doctrine. (9.1.1)
Elders Quorum: Accomplish the work of salvation, serve others, learn and live doctrine. (8.1.1)
Sincerely,
Kurt Francom
Executive Director
Leading Saints
P.S. This is an older newsletter message. Get the up-to-date message weekly by subscribing for free HERE.
P.P.S. Read this series of messages starting HERE.
