I won't pretend that I haven't been very much affected by the horrible church shooting and burning that took place in Michigan yesterday, because I belong to the same denomination, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am borrowing the text of today's post from an excellent post I read on Facebook yesterday, in the interest of spreading some light and understanding about the Christian church that was attacked.
Hey friends- in light of things going on in the world today, I have read lots and lots of comment sections (bad plan) and seen lots and lots of confusion, and I feel led to make this little post about my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to refer to us most respectfully, but commonly known as "Mormons." Not the same as FLDS or RLDS) in case anyone wants some clarifying info.
First off- We believe in Jesus Christ! We worship Him! He is our Lord and Savior! We have a modern, living prophet lives in this world today, and we believe our prophet receives revelation from God for the people of the world, just like the prophets in Biblical times did. He is the prophet of the world, and the President of our church. Our now-previous prophet, Russell M. Nelson, died last night of (presumably) natural causes at the age of 101. He was not killed in the shooting in Michigan. (Major misconception I've seen several times.) We love him and mourn his loss, but believe that he will be reunited with his family gone before him and our Lord, Jesus Christ, in joy and peace that he truly deserves. We will sustain a new Prophet in a worldwide meeting next weekend (coincidentally- this is a meeting that takes place twice every year in April and October, not a meeting specifically due to the death of President Nelson) called General Conference.
It is heartbreaking for these two events to have occurred within hours of each other, but at the moment, there's no evidence of a connection or lack thereof between this attack and the death of our Prophet.
Next, some terminology I've seen causing confusion. Our church is very well organized. We attend weekly Sunday meetings in geographically-divided groups called "Wards." There are several Wards in a Stake. Most of our church buildings house anywhere from one to four Wards, depending on the population density in the area. When more than one Ward attends meetings in the same building, they are generally on either reversed, staggered, or overlapping schedules, to use the building most efficiently. These buildings are separate from our Temples, which we reserve for our most sacred worship.
Our main Sunday meeting, comparable to communion or Eucharist, is called "Sacrament Meeting." It's an hour long, and we partake of bread and water in remembrance of Jesus Christ's Atonement and the promises we have made to God. Our Sacrament is passed by boys ages 11+ (deacons), prepared by boys 13+ (teachers), and blessed by boys 15+ (priests). All members of the ward attend Sacrament Meeting together, from newborn on up.
During our second hour, where we divide by age for our Sunday School classes. The children's Sunday School is called "Primary," and serves children from 18 months to 3 years old in a Nursery, and 3-11 in groups divided by birth year (and sometimes combined). The meeting that was attacked today was a Sacrament Meeting, meaning that all ages of one Ward were together in the chapel of the meetinghouse at the time.
Our Wards are led by Bishops, who have counselors, and together make up what we call a "Bishopric." They are lay ministers, meaning they are volunteers who devote their time to leading the congregation without payment. In most cases (unless they're retired) they have full-time jobs and families just like the members of the congregation. Bishops do not "preach" in our Sacrament meetings- they preside over the meeting, but we (Ward members) take turns speaking during our meetings. All Sunday School teaching, music, maintenance, etc., is facilitated by members as volunteer services.
You may hear/read rumors that this was "Primary Program Week," which I have seen posted in many places and may or may not be accurate. A "Primary Program" is the one week of the year that the children ages 3-11 take over Sacrament Meeting and share the Gospel of Christ in song and spoken word under the direction of the Primary leaders. This (fall/Q4) is the time of year that Primary Programs traditionally take place, and they tend to be some of the best-attended Sacrament Meetings of the year.
We have a lot of terms that are used in other religions, but don't quite mean the same thing, and like I said I'm already seeing tons of misunderstandings in response to media reports (and frankly just a lot of reporters doing their absolute best in an awful situation that don't know quite the right terminology). If you see something that confuses you or sounds strange, please feel free to comment here or send me a private message and I'll be happy to do my best to clarify. That goes for jargon, doctrine, cultural references, anything.
I believe the better we know each other the easier it is to love each other, so I'm happy to offer an opportunity for you to get to know Latter-day Saints, "The Mormons," a little better here, if you'd like. Heaven knows we desperately need more love in this world.
I'm not sure who to give credit to for this explanation, but it is true and correct as far as I am concerned. I love my Christian brothers and sisters in Christ - all who are trying to believe in and follow Jesus, no matter what their denomination. I love the church I have belonged to all of my life. It is where I have come to know and love Jesus. I pray we can all come together as Christians and seek and spread the love that Jesus taught instead of divisiveness and hate.
Until next time,
💔Deb💗
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God;
for God is love.
~I John 4: 7-8
