Did you do Home Church on Sunday? (I’m capitalizing it because it’s a thing now.) The local leaders of the various stakes, wards, and branches of the Church were all over the map on authorizing the sacrament. This is sort of the new normal for the Church, ambiguous communication from the top and a wide variety of implementation at the local level. Chez moi, the Stake President sent a letter to the whole stake, through the bishops, that basically authorized everyone in the stake to do the sacrament in the home. So, for the first time in several decades, we had Home Church. Here is my report.
I was actually willing to let it slide until our next who-knows-when congregational meeting, but I was outvoted 1-1. I went with cream-colored dockers, a blue shirt, and (again outvoted) a tie. I opened with a prayer. No announcements. One quiet verse of a sacrament hymn. As the emblems of the sacrament, we employed homemade sourdough bread and tap water in a crystal goblet as the joint water cup for the two of us. I was kind of moved by that 19th-century throwback to a joint goblet. She shared a scripture from Jacob 5. I read the short chapter on Jacob 5 from Michael Austin’s Buried Treasures: Reading the Book of Mormon Again for the First Time (BCC Press, 2017). She gave the closing prayer. It was nice. I can do this again a few times.
So: Did you do Home Church on Sunday? No church? Church of nature? Church of brunch (at the last restaurant still open in your town)? Did you bless and pass the sacrament in your own home? Did you dress up in your Sunday best, sport business casual, go with jeans and a tee shirt, or just shuffle out in PJs? Did you read a scripture chapter together, give a talk, or just watch a video? Inquiring minds need to know. This might be where we’re at for two or three months.
Wheat & Tares 
If active members were to really embrace home church, you have to wonder if some of them will find it difficult to return after several weeks. If semi-active members find themselves enjoying the new non-ward church reality, it will definitely be difficult for some to return. I noticed last Sunday many many ward members (I live in Sandy, Utah) outside on family walks, etc. I guess what I’m saying is that once we are allowed to return to the ward schedule, I don’t expect 100% of the active and semi-actives to return.
I think home church is like working out at home. You can do it. It’s certainly important and beneficial. But it’s not the same as physically going to the place that’s dedicated for that specific use There’s no denying what’s missed when people congregate with a common purpose.
Didn’t do home church, but I’ll report that the local ward/stake made it clear via email that sacrament was NOT to be administered at home. At least not yet. The stake is determining how best to proceed so that sacrament can be administered. Not sure what they’ll end up doing. But in just this last week things have become downright epistolary in our ward. The bishop did an email of his own, and the Elders Quorum president has done a couple. These included both practical and spiritual counsel. This is old-school ministering by epistle, and I don’t mean that in a cynical way. It feels very New Testament.
We had stake conference last weekend (which ended up getting cancelled), so we went to the church of God’s creation and went to the mountains. It was fantastic to breath fresh, clean air and be grateful for the beauty around us. We listened to a conference talk from last fall on our way. We’ll do sacrament at home next week. Should be a good experience.
We seemingly got permission a few days after other stakes. I plan to do Home Sacrament this coming Sunday but certainly not all of Home Church.
I wonder about people who don’t have the priesthood in their home. A way it could be improved is women… just sayin.
We did Sacrament at home and it was quite enjoyable. It reminded me of a number of my cities in Italy in the early 90’s. We were opening cities right and left, so often it was only my companion and me for Sacrament meeting. I also enjoyed blessing the Sacrament with my 16 year old son and the intimacy of just him, his mother (my wife) and me.
Our SP sent out something saying he was telling the Bishops to not yet authorize individuals to bless the sacrament at home. He mentioned that SLC said that members need to get the sacrament at least monthly (I have to assume that is “under current conditions, not the new norm). Monday we got an email from the bishop (but sounded like it was more forwarded from the stake) saying worthy priesthood members could bless/pass. They then went on for quite a while on all the details (some good as they are even allowing the recipients to break their bread and prep water and just crack open the door and say the prayer).
We kind of watched a few church video’s and took quite a nice long walk around the neighborhood as the weather has been nice.
We connected with our kids at university vis the internet, had a hymn (it wasn’t possible to sing altogether though) and prayer, a spiritual thought and then discussed the weeks come follow me curriculum with help from Ben Spackman’s blog post. Closing hymn and prayer. Took just under an hour.
Where we are permission had been given for worthy priesthood holders to administer the sacrament to their families. Up for debate was whether this meant, in households with just the one Priesthood holder they could administer it to themselves, as this is not something that happens with any other ordinance…
I believe I’m also correct in saying that ensuring families and individuals with no priesthood holder in the home receive the sacrament at least once a month was delegated to the ministering brethren of those families. That the ideal is that two brethren administer the sacrament where possible (interesting dilemma for families with just one priesthood holder, and situations where the ministering brethren are actually a husband and wife team…).
And then there are debates about what constitutes possible or not possible, and whether it is fair to ask ministers in an at risk group to do this..
so not exactly as straight forward as one might have liked…
And whether they still need to be asked in spite of their age because that is the proper line to follow, administratively and then expect them to be the ones to refuse… before other arrangements can be made…
We went to our cabin to hunker down for a few weeks. Our grown children begged us to go. I am 65 and the ward YW’s President , my husband is 68 and a counselor in the elders quorum presidency. We are not allowed to administer the sacrament because we are out of the ward boundaries. We would have to contact a bishop here, who does not know us and does not have our records. I thought that was interesting. Our bishop knows where we are. He has used our cabin. We are actually active TR holders. Silly rules.
We held a testimony meeting in the living room in PJ’s and then watched Music and the Spoken Word. My son wanted to do sacrament but I said it was ok to miss a week.
We had Home Church. We wore casual clothes. I blessed the sacrament. We had big pieces of homemade bread and half full regular sized cups of tap water. Afterward we watched a video about Jacob 5 and gave our kids the chance to beat their testimonies which they always want to but are too shy. Later I visited one of my ministering families to administer the sacrament. I guessed they were old school and would appreciate my dressing up so I went shirt and tie. They were all dressed up when I got there, so I guess I made the right call.
Our children loved home church, but I think they’ll miss primary and nursery after a few weeks, and transitioning back may be rough.
No home church for us. However, the bishop sent around an email authorizing all priesthood holders with a current temple recommend to bless and distribute the sacrament. The bishop actually went out of his way to call me to tell me that I was allowed to bless and distribute the sacrament to my family (I don’t have a current TR). I said thank you and proceeded not to do it. I thought it a bit odd to be worrying about the sacrament, something that will resume on a weekly basis at some point in the near future, when there are so many other things to be worrying about right now. Already, the church skips the sacrament at least 4 times a year with stake conference and general conference.
Our stake authorized Sacrament in the home right away and encouraged it at least monthly, but preferably weekly. They also encouraged us to invite single sisters where possible and if health allows. I’m not sure anyone would want to come to a family of our size, given the risk, so we gave that opportunity to others.
I blessed, and my oldest passed. We had one talk ( my daughter had been scheduled to do it in Primary anyway), then closed. I then gave my Primary lesson ( my calling). We kept the whole thing to about half an hour. I was a little amused that my five year old managed to actually find all his Church clothes and quickly get ready himself for the first time despite no pressure of being late. And even with only a few pieces of bread, the youngest still take their time looking for the largest. An enjoyable day, and one I think I could do indefinitely, but I also look forward to meeting together again.
On Saturday my Bishop sent an email authorizing all “worthy” (I loathe that word) priests and Melchizedek priesthood holders to do the sacrament in their homes. He said that we should NOT try to replicate a sacrament meeting, but encouraged everyone to study the come follow me curriculum.
For a Reasons, we didn’t do it, but probably will next week, not in standard church attire cuz DW doesn’t put much stock on that, and I don’t care a bit anymore. Years back I would have worn a white shirt and tie.
In the afternoon we enjoyed a short hike.
Our household (I am a single woman, living with my parents, and my dad has dementia such that blessing the sacrament ourselves is probably out) decided to have a work-ship meeting on Sunday (an idea stolen from my visits to our local Presbyterian church). We made craft kits with supplies from our basement and delivered to families in our ward who have kids out of school. It was a great use of our extra time!
We have had no word from our ward or stake leadership about anything at all, except for one email a couple of hours after the church announcement telling us that church had, in fact, been cancelled. I’m not feeling optimistic about the once-a-month sacrament from some ministering brother as I haven’t been assigned any in the 6 months I’ve been in my ward. Since I’ve had incredibly positive experiences participating in communion with other denominations where there was no priesthood blessing on the tokens, I might just bless my own, and spend some time with God.
As an aside, somewhere deep in the bowels of the COB is a bean counter with a spreadsheet adding up all the money being saved by effectively closing church buildings for a number of weeks. Actually, I am enjoying home church 🙂
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
Sounds some stakes are just waving their hands and saying “Go for it, one and all,” for home sacrament. Others are going slow and careful. But I think they’ll all settle in to a blanket authorization in a week or two. I hope they don’t turn the temple recommend into a worthy-to-bless-the-sacrament recommend. The TR is turning into an all-purpose filtering and shaming device.
I’m one of those single sisters with no priesthood in the home. No sacrament for me for the foreseeable future.
tomirvine999, somewhere there are other bean counters adding up,the costs of flying thousands of missionaries home, and I’m pretty sure Ensign Peak bean counters are having apoplectic shock over their Billion$$$ in the stock market.
My stake president sent out an email filled with uplifting quotes and platitudes, but was ambiguous about the sacrament–he recommended that members should try to get it at least once a month, but no direction about how that is supposed to happen logistically. Later, my bishop sent out a similar email, but no mention of the sacrament at all. My bishop is very practical but he is also the type that won’t try anything unless it’s specifically spelled out in the handbook or directed by the stake presidency.
I know my kids well enough to not subject them to “home church” like I see other families doing on social media. They don’t enjoy normal church, so replicating that experience at home is a losing battle, especially when its such a beautiful day outside. I’m perfectly content to take my family to “worship services” at The Church of the Big Blue Dome.
Rockwell, we got the “do NOT do sacrament meeting” instruction as well. I found that baffling. Anyone know why that is?
I also found that I don’t care to listen to people telling me how to worship in my own home.
“I also found that I don’t care to listen to people telling me how to worship in my own home.”
Amen, sister.