Today we attended the Sacrament Service at the nearby Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints. Do I have your attention now? I'm not going to tell you why just yet - I like to keep my readers in suspense.
I've always found myself, in a weird way, drawn to the Mormon Church. I think it's probably more curiosity then anything. Obviously there is something controversial enough that it sparks debate. Mitt Romney was in our paper today just because of his religious beliefs, for example. I've read a few things in the past about what they believe, but I've never completely studied the religion. So, this week I read some things on the internet and yesterday we stopped by the library to pick up a few books on the subject. I know enough about their unique beliefs but I really wanted to know why and how so many millions of people around the world accept the message of "another testament".
I'll cut to the chase now. We have become friends with our next door neighbors who are LDS. We've had each other over more then once to hang out, barbecue, etc. It probably doesn't come as a big surprise that we have similar values and try to live our lives in the same way. The ironic thing about it all is that we have more values in common with them then our Catholic neighbors on the other side. As a side note, we found out today that they both share the same birthdays as Stacey and I - Krista and I and Paul and Stacey were both born on the same day. Statistically speaking, that has got to close to impossible.
We went to their church today because they were dedicating their new baby girl and had invited us to attend. Sure, I have always been interested in seeing what goes on inside a LDS church, but in the end it was more about doing what I consider was the right thing. Both of their families were in town for the dedication and we felt honored to be invited to this obviously meaningful event. I'm still going to finish the books I checked out at the library and might even try to read some or all of the Book of Mormon in the coming weeks. Don't worry, we aren't looking to join a new church. I think it's part of our responsibility as Christians to be informed on these issues and differences.
All of the excitement of being invited to join what I would consider a friendly yet private group quickly faded as the hour service progressed. The typical Sunday at an LDS church is three hours, broken up into the three segments of the Sacrament (communion), followed by Sunday school (scripture study), and ending with the men and the women breaking up into separate groups. Our entire group only stayed for the first hour for the dedication though. During this time all of the kids stayed in the sanctuary with their parents. Julia and Jonathan did surprisingly well. Anyway, the sanctuary was modestly decorated. There were no religious symbols anywhere that I could see (they don't feature the cross as they prefer to emphasize the resurrection). Although the scripture study was coming the following hour, there was no reading of verses from the Bible or the Book of Mormon. We had the dedication, they served communion, and we sang a few hymns, but the majority of the time was taken up by members of the congregation sharing a personal story. One little girl talked about how she gave the Book of Mormon to her teacher. A man my age went on for about 15 minutes about how spiritual matters are like eating, swallowing and digesting his favorite food: steak. Not only was it an odd topic, it really wasn't delivered well nor did it make much sense.
Overall, the portion of service we attended seemed completely empty of any meaning. We were a little surprised at the lack of people in attendance. We left the service a little bit surprised just how disinterested everyone seemed to be. Most people, including those sitting at the pulpit, just stared off into space looking a bit miserable. The body language, the singing, the praying, the talking - everything was completely lacking even a drop of joy - in a word: dead. The experience made the most dull and conservative Protestant denominations seem like flamboyant charismatics. Maybe I was expecting something more from what I thought were very dedicated and passionate members. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised.