What to wear to a mormon church service

RUNNING HEAD: Mormon Church Service 1

Mormon Church Service

April 7, 2014

Mormon Church Service

The Mormon Church is properly known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This church can be said to have originated from western New York as its founder Joseph Smith was born and brought up there. The church started in the late 1820s when Joseph Smith attracted some followers as he was reading and translating the Book of Mormon. He initially called it the Church of Christ and later in 1838 through a revelation he renamed it the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and it has been referred that way to-date . However, the church is often called Mormon as its followers believe in the Book of Mormon as the word of God (Arrington, 1979).

The Mormon worship services are divided geographically into branches and wards. A branch cannot hold more than 200 members while as a ward can hold 100 members . I intend to observe the Mormon Sunday service at the Washington ward on 13 April, 2013. I plan to call on time to find out when the service begins and also to arrange for interviews with prominent people in the church before and even after the service to establish more about their faith and beliefs .

Typically, Mormons meet on Sundays in a chapel for three one-hour meetings: the sacrament; Sunday Schools and church auxiliary meetings. The Sacrament meeting is the main meeting. During this meeting, members of the church sit together as families so as to participate in the sacrament as well as receive sermons from their leaders and fellow Mormons.

The Mormons are expected to dress well during the Mormon worship service. Women are expected to wear dresses or skirts whereas men usually wear dress denims and dress shirts, normally with a tie. Anyone can attend this service even if one does not share their faith. The Sacrament Meeting starts with songs and prayers. Members of this church receive a sacramental communion that includes bread and water during the service. The sacramental communion serves as a remembrance of the Last Supper. Non-members are not supposed to take the communion; they are supposed to pass it along to the next person. After the communion, two to three talks are given by members of the congregation . Interesting this church does not pass a plate or ask for contributions during the service . After the Sacrament meeting, visitors are at liberty to leave or if they wish attend the other two meetings (Givens, 2004).

The Second meeting involves holding Sunday school classes that are grouped according to age. There are usually introductory classes arranged for visitors. Adult Sunday school classes mostly involve learning about the church doctrines and principles. Youth Sunday classes are designed to cater for the needs of the youth (Arrington, 1979).

The third meeting includes priesthood meetings, relief society and young women meetings. Men and boys more than 12 years old attend priesthood classes . These classes are also grouped according to age, though at the beginning they meet together for a prayer, song and announcements, then they separate into their different classes. Men attend High Priests or Elder Quorum. The youth are divided into three quorums: Deacons; Teachers and priests. Young girls attend Young Women whereas women attend Relief Society. Just as men, they both meet together at the beginning of the classes for a prayer, song and announcements and later separate into their individual classes. Kids that are less than 12 years old attend the primary that is divided into two groups: senior primary between 8 and 11 years and junior primary between 4 and 7 years. Kids aged between 18months and 3 years attend a nursery class. During these services, the Mormons do not do anything that may be regarded as cultish or secret (Givens, 2004).

References

Arrington, L.J. (1979). The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints; University of Illinois Press.

Givens, T.L. (2004). The Latter-day Saint Experience in America (The American Religious Experience) Greenwood Press.

�Please provide in-text citations for detailed knowledge that comes from your references.

�Citation needed

�Make sure that you arrange these interviews very soon!

�Numbers one through nine need to be spelled out; 10 and above can use numeric symbols

�What kinds of talks? And why? Find out when you go to the service.

�Do they collect tithes of any sort?

�Why is there a separation based on gender and age?