Church Attendance
When I was about 10 years old, living in Flowell, I became
fed-up with Primary; I did not like the singing. In those days we were not using the current
3-hour block, church meeting schedule on Sundays. We met at 9:00am, 10:30am and 7:00pm on
Sunday for Priesthood, Sunday School and Sacrament meetings respectfully. Then on Tuesday afternoon, the school bus
would drop the kids off at the church for Primary. I devised a plan to get off the bus, walk
directly down stairs in the church building, climb out a window and walk
home. This went on for some weeks, until
my classmates invited me to a class party.
I remember eating a piece of chocolate cake at the party and realizing
that they were trying to reactivate me!
Luckily, it was then that I decided to end my life of crime.
I am not too proud of what I did, and granted Primary is not
the same as Sacrament Meeting, but it pretty well revealed my attitude at that
time in my life of church meetings.
Church attendance is an interesting thing. Missionaries often hear while
contacting: “I have my own belief and do
not need a church, look at all the bad in the world caused by churches, all one
needs to do is to believe, going to church is not necessary, etc.” I have a friend in Nederland who, when I
mention church, thinks of a vengeful God who will punish him for sin with hell
fire and damnation. He heard that to
often over the pulpit as a child while his mother forced him to attend their
church. So, for years he has not gone to
church. He believes in God and is a fine
man but is still repulsed with the idea of an organized church in his life.
Christ did more than perform miracles, teach Christian
philosophies, and die on the cross. He
also organized and established his church.
The church was built on a foundation of Apostles and Prophets so that, through
revelation, Jesus Christ himself, being the chief cornerstone, could continue
to lead the church after his death.
(Eph. 2:19-20)
11 And he gave some, apostles;
and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ:
13 Till we all come in
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: (Eph. 4:11-13)
Did Christ ever teach or do something that was unimportant
or not necessary? If not, then it is
safe to assume, the church he organized was important. It was organized for the perfecting of the
saints until we all come in the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of
God, which has not happened yet. Jesus
set a pattern for the Apostles to govern the church. After the death of Judas, Matthias filled the
vacancy by inspiration to the remaining 11 Apostles through the Holy
Ghost. (Acts 1: 23-26) The church was obviously intended to
continue. Paul, who was also added as a
member of the 12 after the death of Peter, spent his whole ministry
establishing, organizing and building up units of the church throughout
Asia. That was not an accident or
un-needed effort.
The primitive church with its organization was important
then and the restored church is important now.
It is where many of the saving ordinances are performed i.e. baptism,
gift of the Holy Ghost, the sacrament and Priesthood ordinations. It is a place to receive revelation. Members of my friend’s church go once a week
for an hour, listen to the preacher and then go home. Members of our church spend a minimum of 3
hours together on Sunday followed by various church activities with each other
all week long. Some members hold offices
and all learn to get along with each other.
Thus, the church organization helps perfect the saints.
When I served as a Bishop, I generally spent time each
Sunday visiting with inactive members inviting them to come back. That
experience taught me among other things, one glaring lesson. The thought of the first 10 seconds after
walking in the front door is terrifying to an inactive member. It is usually the biggest hurdle for them to
come back. They fear people will turn to
look at them for the first time and think, “What are you doing here, after so
many years inactive?” It is an untrue
perception but it is real to them.
Fear of attendance could also be present with
investigators. Think of the concerns an
investigator may have. They do not want
to fall into an embarrassing situation. What
will people think when I walk in? Do I
stand or sit when singing? Am I expected
to sing? If we split into classes, do I participate? What is the sacrament? Do I partake?
Do they pass a donation tray around and how much should I pay? Etc.
Several years ago when I served in a Stake Presidency we
were invited as guests to the dedication of a new Catholic Church building in
Fillmore. I was uncomfortable entering
the building. I had no idea of what was
expected of me during different phases of the service. I wondered about the above questions too. Also, was I expected to go forward for
communion? I did not like the idea of
the Priest handling my wafer. Would it
offend them if I did not go forward?
As missionaries we should take time to explain our Sunday
services to investigators. Answer their
questions and put them at ease by removing concerns. Visit the meetinghouse with them earlier in
the week and show them around if necessary.
Tell them you will walk in with them after you meet them out front or pick
them up and come with them. Members on
joint teach can welcome them ahead of time to church on Sunday via email or a
visit. There are also excellent video
clips on the meetinghouse locator on the church web site.
Explain the sacrament to them before the bread tray is
headed down the row toward them. The
Lord said to not, “suffer any one knowingly to partake of my flesh and blood
unworthily,” (3 Nephi 18: 28) but the handbook states nothing should be done to
prevent nonmembers from partaking of the sacrament. They do not have a baptismal covenant to
renew, so partaking is actually meaningless.
Explain to them , “During the sacrament ordinance the members are
renewing their baptismal convenient in their worship. It is bread and water and you do not need to
partake of it but you can if you want.”
(…je hoeft ervan niet te nemen maar je mag het wel doen als je wilt.)
Hopefully we will have investigators who are more at peace
in their first church experience in the Belgium Netherlands Mission.
President Robinson
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