This past week I had a good discussion with my daughter about the value of religious communities and, specifically, going to church meetings each week. “Why go to church each week,” she asked, “And why can’t someone find community in other ways, such as serving at a homeless shelter?” They are good questions.
I don’t know whether I have any great answers, and her questions speak to the challenge churches face in remaining relevant to youth, but I think Christianity has something unique to offer humanity. To illustrate this I shared with her a story from Rachel Held Evans’ book Searching for Sunday (pp. 150-151, my comments in brackets):
The Right Reverend Michael Curry, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina [he is currently serving as the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church], tells the story of a young woman who became an Episcopalian in the 1940s. One Sunday, she invited the man she had been dating to join her at morning services. Both of them were African American, but the church they attended that day was all white, and right in the heart of segregated America. The young man waited in the pews while the congregation went forward to receive communion, anxious because he noticed that everyone in the congregation was drinking from the same chalice.
He had never seen black people and white people drink from the same water fountain, much less the same cup. His eye stayed on his girlfriend as, after receiving the bread, she waited for the cup. Finally, the priest lowered it to her lips and said, as he had to the others, “The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life.” The man decided that any church where black and white drank from the same cup had discovered something powerful, something he wanted to be a part of.
The couple was Bishop Curry’s parents.
Shortly before his trial and crucifixion, Jesus called together his disciples and shared a meal with them where he offered them bread and wine, referring to those items as his body and blood of the new covenant, afterward enjoining the disciples, “Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19). He dined with a motley crew of fishermen, tax collectors, and other societal cast-offs; however, at that table they were equal. In fact, the author of the Gospel of Luke places the disciples’ dispute about greatness right after the institution of the Lord’s Supper, with Jesus telling them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22:25-27).
So it is with us, as we get together each week and participate in a uniquely Christian practice of coming to the Lord’s table to eat of his flesh and blood. In doing so we come as equals – regardless of political beliefs, race, sex, income level, pedigree, or any other identifier other than Christian – in a ritual pregnant with the symbolism of love and oneness with Jesus. By eating his body and blood we become his body – all equal – and are then asked to take his image out to the world.
There is something powerful about this ritual, about coming together with others of varying backgrounds and throwing off all labels but one. It is an important message, especially in this divisive time.
What do you think? How might you have answered my daughter’s questions?
Wheat & Tares 
My answers to your daughter’s questions:
#1. If you weren’t attending Church on Sunday, what do you think you would end up doing, and would you have the discipline to maintain it each week? Modern society no longer considers Church attendance as significant. Thank s to my six-year-old son asking why we didn’t go to church anymore, we searched, found, and joined the LDS in 1999.
#2. The Gospel encourages us to be involved with humanitarian causes in our community, but I’m not sure of the reverse.
Your answer would end up producing a lot of awkward followup questions for any religion that rejects anyone from Communion for any reason. (I guess not Episcopal, but it paints starkly the damage done by the LDS policy of exclusion.)
This general topic is one that I am wrestling with myself. I see great value in the community found with attending a church. In the LDS this is very strong. I feel a need to be more service oriented. Sure there is JustServe.org, but I have not heard of any ward members doing anything via that. There are plenty of service opportunities within the ward and to ward members, but I feel a need to branch out of serving my ward to others that have deeper needs in addition to some that need cookies or a casserole.
There is a secular humanist “congregation” that I have signed up for their newsletter and it is just filled with service opportunities throughout the week. I don’t attend with that group, but I have to admit it has some appeal to me.
I am even a bit envious that I sense that Cody gets so much from the weekly sacrament. I can’t say the same thing about myself.
Andrew: You’re right, but I won’t carry LDS leadership’s water on that one. And were I LGBT, I’d see the policy of exclusion as a sign that I was unwelcome. I’d leave and find another home.
I should note, I did discuss with my daughter the other important aspects of church, such as community, shared purpose, opportunities for service, etc., but I don’t think those are unique to church so don’t, of themselves, provide an impetus for attending church meetings regularly.
And, of course, my response is very Christian-centered. If someone did not believe in Jesus Christ, attending church regularly would be subject to the utilitarian argument in my paragraph above, in which case church stands on utilitarian arguments alone, and probably doesn’t offer a benefit not also found in other organizations.
Wished you would have written this before my 4th Sunday lesson on the Sacrament last Sunday!. Good thoughts–highly symbolic ordinance which offers us the chance of mindfulness and communion with the spirit.
Preparing my seminary lesson for Moroni 6 tomorrow on this very topic. Moroni’s reasons for organized communion are to fast, to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls, and partake of the sacrament in remembrance of Christ, and I particularly like how he says “that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer” (verse 4). There’s also this great quote from Holland in the manual: “Most people don’t come to church looking merely for a few new gospel facts or to see old friends, though all of that is important. They come seeking a spiritual experience. They want peace. They want their faith fortified and their hope renewed. They want, in short, to be nourished by the good word of God, to be strengthened by the powers of heaven. Those of us who are called upon to speak or teach or lead have an obligation to help provide that, as best we possibly can” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “A Teacher Come from God,” Ensign, May 1998, 26). The ideal isn’t always the real, but thanks for these thoughts and discussion!
“i’d leave and find another home”. Cody, you already have.
Andrew S wrote:Your answer would end up producing a lot of awkward followup questions for any religion that rejects anyone from Communion for any reason. (I guess not Episcopal, but it paints starkly the damage done by the LDS policy of exclusion.)
Exclusion is everywhere.
Exclusion means–the act of not allowing someone or something to take part in an activity or to enter a place:
Here are a few examples of exclusion that have been in the news.
her exclusion from the list of Oscar nominees
the exclusion of disruptive students from school
he was excluded from graduate school because of his GPA
she was excluded from the military because of her arrest for illegal drug use
Jack was asked to leave a gay bar because he isn’t gay
he couldn’t be baptized because he wouldn’t commitment to obeying the law of chasity
whites were not invited to the pool party because they weren’t a person of color (this was in the news recently)
city ordinance excludes parking here without a city permit
Jared,
Most institutions don’t claim to have a message that is universal to everyone and absolutely required for everyone (or else).
That is, the Oscar nominees doesn’t claim that it is required for everyone or that it is for everyone.
So, I’ll take your example here to mean that you recognize that the LDS church is just one option among many.
We agree. Mormon doctrine has multiple kingdoms of glory (note the word glory) that accommodates nearly every person imaginable. Even those like Hitler will have a kingdom of glory after paying a price.
Jared, I seriously doubt anyone would be asked to leave a gay bar because they weren’t gay. Likely if they were harassing people because of their gay identities, but NOT for being straight.
Gay people live in a straight world and they do it — when they’re accepted — with humor, graciousness, and even ease. They love and accept their straight sibs, parents, neighbors and friends.
If someone feels excluded from gay society I’d ask them to examine their own prejudices and see if they aren’t excluding themselves.
markablog: Yes, I did leave. Despite not being LGBT, I saw the policy as exclusionary and left. The policy was a component of my leaving, though not the only reason.
I hate going to church, I’d much rather sleep in or hang out at home. Having said that, there is something powerful about going to church. I don’t know if it’s the sacrament or being with others who are there because they’re trying to do what they think God wants them to do, but I have noticed a change in my spirit for when I suck it up and go.
Others don’t feel it and I respect that but for me, that’s why I’d advocate for going.
We often conflate Sabbath with Sunday at every reading of the scriptures. In the OT, however, all feast days, weddings, sacred days were sabbaths. I believe that when we see sacrament on the sabbath, we read « sacrament on Sunday ». « Keep the sabbath day holy » doesn’t just refer to Sunday…..in a church….sitting down… and all the other traditions we have built around it. It refers to all holy days.
A careful reading of the visit of Christ to the Nephites in the BOM reveals that they had the sacrament days in a row, not all on Sunday. Reading more carefully about the actions associated with the sabbath (kneeling, being filled-physically and spiritually, remembering) are not done well in a Sunday building situation. My point is, if your reason for going to church on Sunday is to fulfill a commandment, then study to see what the commandment is. Have we designed a practice that doesn’t fulfill a commandment? Why do we go to church (really we mean « why do we go to a building at a certain time with certain people ») on Sunday? Is that what Jesus practiced or meant by the commandment? What did Joseph Smith do? I now feel I need these answers before I enforce Sunday attendance and pass it off as being obedient to God’s commandments.
Catholics ask that non-Catholics, with the exception of members of Eastern Orthodox communities,,to not receive the Eucharist as their understanding of the sacrament is completely different. Catholics, both Roman and Eastern, believe that the Eucharist is the real body and blood of Christ. As Flannery O’Connor said “Well, if it’s a symbol, to hell with it.”
Why attend church:
1. Prepare for death. You’re gonna walk that dark path alone and believing in something helps and doing it with the support of community helps a lot. Most will bury more than one of the following; parents, spouse, children or dear friends. Some might say preparing for life is similar to it.
2. Cradle to grave, across generations tight-knit community. Nothing works as well as good churches..
3. Family support , Structure for finding a spouse and preparing for marriage, help raising children with integrity and character, caring for the elderly, sick, poor and lonely.
4. Worship God. Not just talk about it or learn concepts or tidbits of advice. But to encounter the Lord in a real and powerful way. Can be done solo, but there is strength and power in numbers.
Extract money, boss people around, promote gossip, damage vulnerable people, feel special and superior, judgmentalism, that sort of thing works for some.
I leave it to the reader to determine how their ward is doing in each of these areas.
Jared, I hope you, and most of the rest of the church who haven’t yet, eventually manage to descend from the rameumptom and genuinely fellowship the poor in spirit instead of just preaching at them. Jesus graced those his people regarded as filth and traitors with his presence, and the only people he ever condemned were those who taught division and exclusion from their chief seats in the synagogues. Why would he act any differently just because he’s in heaven? Why would he command us to act any differently?
If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to share a vision with you.
Jesus arrives again, surrounded by the hosts of heaven. Mormons in their Sunday best pack the Conference Center and tune in to the worldwide broadcast, eagerly waiting for him to claim his kingdom. But Jesus is out doing good: freeing slaves, feeding the poor, healing the sick, visiting LGBT support groups, mending families torn apart by religious differences. Eventually, the disappointed Mormons tune out and go home.
Many days later, those who need no physician finally begin to catch up with him. They always ask, “Lord, didn’t you come to visit us, too?” He always answers, “I tried to visit you, but you weren’t where I expected to find you.”
Mike, I love all of those reasons. I even love #4, and I’m agnostic (though still Christian).
In Priesthood last week the the instructor showed a church video that was about a country in Africa (I can’t remember which one) that a few years ago shut down the LDS church and made it a crime to attend church. The video interview a man who said he, his family and some friends met in his house each Sunday for sacrament and fellowship. After the video the instructor asked us what this taught us. I think I gave the wrong answer. I raised my hand first and said that I learned you didn’t need the organized church to have the sacrament and feel the spirit. The instructor said yes, that is one thing, and then moved on! (Those poor young Elders didn’t know what hit them!)
Great shot Bishop Bill.
It used to be the young “Elders” stirring up the High Priests who were the snoozers and sugar-coaters. What is with these youngins? Too much digital stupification?
Thank you TheRightTrousers for that beautiful vision. I think that is exactly what Jesus would do 😊