An Interesting Observation
The kids and I spent the better part of a week in the Chicago area (more about that and photos later) and while we were there we had the opportunity to attend Sacrament Meeting in the Schaumburg 2nd Ward.
The first thing we noticed was the furniture in the foyer. We definitely knew we were at church when we saw those sofas!
The second thing we noticed was the size of the Chapel. It was basically the same size as the Chapel in my home ward (a bit smaller then the kids' home ward building) but the seats were turned 90 degrees so that instead of a narrow but long room it became a very wide and short room. The center rows of pews were so long - it was like taking a single row in my ward and merging all 3 sections together but then add one more section. Seriously it was a crazy long row. It was especially noticeable given it was a Fast Sunday and the awkwardness of people trying to get out from the center of the row seemed to be holding some people back from sharing their testimonies.
The testimonies was another thing we noticed. As in, the kids got to see that just because we didn't know the people doesn't mean we didn't understand the testimonies being shared and the Spirit that was present during the meeting. I think that was a tiny eye opener for the kids. I know it was a good reminder for me even though I have attended Fast & Testimony meetings in 2 wards for a couple of years now.
Finally, the biggest difference we all noticed was the friendliness of the people. People went out of their way to come over to us, introduce themselves and then ask, "So what brings you here today?" in addition to asking the ages of the kids. One person actually started to tell us which of the youth he would send to collect the kids after Sacrament Meeting - an offer we had to politely decline as our schedule for the day did not include the rest of the meeting block. No less than 6 different people made that journey across the chapel (remember the very wide chapel) just to make our acquaintance. It was almost embarrassing how people were so friendly, especially when we got to thinking about our own wards and our own behaviors. We've all made a commitment to notice people who seem to be new or visiting and at least greet them if not point them out to our parents (in the case of the kids) so that people don't feel ignored.
The Church is the Church no matter where you go. And you can see the love of Christ working through people you don't know. And definitely, you can feel the Spirit no matter where you are. We are blessed and thankful to belong to such a church.
4 comments:
That is an interesting observation. I'm glad you all took something away and you can give back at your ward. That's a great gift, in my opinion. I can't wait to see pictures!
Can you email me and explain "ward" and "Sacrament Meeting". I'm not familiar with them and I'm really interested. If you have time, of course. Sorry to sound unintelligent.
*HUGS*
Absolutely, dear. I just happen to be trying to find a reason to not slip back into bed and this is the perfect excuse! Well, at least it is a good excuse to delay returning to my bed. LOL
My church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, LDS or Mormon more commonly) is divided into wards to determine which church building you attend (or more accurately where your records are kept). A ward is a geographical boundary determined by the number of members who live in a particular area. There are enough members in the area where I live that there are actually 5 wards. It keeps the numbers in each ward sufficient to operate (we have no paid clergy so members volunteer or are called to perform certain duties like teaching Sunday School, leading the choir, playing the organ, etc. It also helps people stay as close to home as possible in most cases instead of driving across town to go to church. Even though each person's records are kept by their assigned ward, there is no rule that says you have to attend your ward and only your ward. You are very much encouraged to attend your own ward whenever possible, however. The kids and I live in different wards because they live with their dad the majority of the time, so their records are kept with his. And since we live about 25 miles apart, you can see how the geography/distance thing plays a role.
Sometimes there are not enough members in an area to support a ward, but for geographical reasons they need to have their own meeting group as well. These smaller groups are called branches.
A number of wards and branches will make up a much larger area that we call a Stake - we meet as a Stake twice a year.
From there multiple stakes will make up an Area. And so forth. The Church as a whole is world wide. We also meet world wide for General Conference twice a year. The wonders of modern technology make it possible for everyone to attend by listening if not in person. Those broadcasts are done by cable/satellite television, captive satellite broadcast, radio, and internet. Additionally, the talks that are given at General Conference are available in print the following month in our church magazine and for rebroadcast on the internet.
It's a bit like having continents subdivided by country, subdivided by state, subdivided by county, subdivided by city, subdivided by township. It's quite orderly, really.
Sacrament Meeting is the portion of our Sunday worship where we partake of the sacrament, have the opportunity to hear various members of the church speak on assigned topics and share in musical messages. It's form is loosely scripted - again to the point that you could go to any ward and they would be following the same order: Opening Hymn, Opening Prayer, Sacrament Hymn, Passing of the Sacrament (some religions would call it communion), a talk or 2, intermediate music of some kind (solos, intrumentals, groups, choir or congregational), another talk or 2, Closing Hymn and Closing Prayer. Because our church has no paid clergy, it is the members that teach each other through the pulpit. A member of the Bishophric (we do have a hierarchy of leadership at each level of the church) will ask members to speak on a certain topic. Even the youth (12-18 year olds) of the church are asked to speak on occassion.
The exception to the "talks and intermediate music" portion of the Sacrament Meeting formula is our Fast & Testimony Meetings. Generally these meetings occur on the first Sunday of each month (changes happen because of General Conference which are also held during the first full weekends of April and October). In these meetings, members are able and encouraged to share their testimonies with each other. The testimony could be as sweet and simple as a child saying that they love their family and they love Christ. It could also be something more elaborate with a spiritual truth. Generally we are asked to keep our testimonies short so that many people have the opportunity to share in the 40 minutes or so allowed for the bearing of testimonies.
I love Fast & Testimony Meetings. There are many Sundays when I think to myself that I really don't want to go and teach Primary after Sacrament Meeting but I actually get excited about testimony meetings. Sometimes I share something I've learned or experienced during the previous month. Many times, I just sit and listen and agree with the messages being shared and fill myself with the Holy Spirit that is present during those meetings. They help me get back on track and be more of the kind of person I want to be - keeping in mind I am still and will always be a work in progress.
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