Five EASY Ways to Increase The Quality of Sacrament Meeting

We recently had a couple (I will call them the Smiths) over to our house. The Smiths had been unable to attend Church for the last six months due to health issues. They are excited to come back to Church. Our conversation quickly turned to Sacrament Meeting and how sometimes the quality is… Lacking. That is when Sister Smith asked, “But what can we do?” this article is the response to her question. So here are five easy ways to increase the quality of our Sacrament Meetings.

1st. Get EVERYONE singing.

The hymns are one of the most underutilized and most effective weapons against Satan. There is a reason that President J. Reuben Clark Jr declared that “We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer.” (Conference Report, Oct. 1936, Page 111). We’ve all been in a Sacrament Meeting before singing a hymn as a dirge and then looked at the hymn book and see that the song is to be sung “With Vigor.” How can we claim to have the plan of HAPPINESS when our singing rivals that of mourners at a funeral?

We really need to internalize that except for the prayers (including the Sacrament) the HYMNS are the single most potentially powerful aspect of Sacrament Meeting! This is not just my opinion, Boyd K. Packer taught, “Those who choose, conduct, present, and accompany the music may influence the spirit of reverence in our meetings more than a speaker does.” (Ensign, Nov. 1991, 22)

I don’t know how I can stress this point enough. When I talk to members about gaining a testimony the VAST majority said it came via music. I learned this lesson on my mission. My Mission President told us that when polled by the Church about recent visits to Temple Square the number ONE thing that people remember/impacted them was the singing of the hymns, particularly hymns like O My Father. Getting everyone engaged in singing in your wards will increase the spirituality and quality of the meetings faster than an athlete improves taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Therefore what? (Application)

If you are in the Bishopric STRESS THIS POINT. Encourage everyone to sing out with their hearts. The Spirit is not concerned with the skill level but the heart level. A great idea is to ask the conductor (or whoever chooses the music) to pick the hymns a month in advance so that you can share that list allowing members to learn/practice them before they are sung.

If you are the one who picks the music, realize that more important than singing obscure hymns is actually singing hymns! There is no achievement in picking hymns no one knows. You won’t get to heaven and have an upgrade in your mansion because you got your ward to sing a hymn that is never sung. I recommend of the 4 songs we sing (Opening, Sacrament, Rest, Closing) that at minimum 3 should be classics everyone knows like Redeemer of Israel, Praise to the Man, Hark, All Ye Nations. If you really want to sing songs no one knows, I suggest swapping the rest hymn for a musical number with that hymn OR only doing ONE song a week that is less known.

If you are a member of the ward, actually sing. You are not singing for the people in front of you or behind you to judge your skill level, you are singing for Jesus. Sing out to Him with your whole heart. Remember the wisdom of Heber J. Grant, who himself struggled to carry a tune, he taught that “The singing of the songs of Zion, though imperfectly, with the inspiration of God, will touch the hearts of the honest more effectively than if sung well without the Spirit of God.” (Improvement Era, July 1901, 686) Also, try to learn new hymns so that when a more obscure hymn is sung, it is not obscure to you!

2nd. START and END on time.

When someone is told “Sacrament Meeting goes from 9:00-10:00.” that is their expectation. When they show up on time but the meeting starts late, they are being told “your time does not matter.” All motivation to be early is removed when the meeting starts late. If we start at 9:10, then people won’t come till 9:10, if we want people there on time, we have to be on time ourselves!

Just as important as starting on time is also ending on time! We’ve all been in the meeting when someone is going over time. We know Sacrament Meeting ends at 10:00 and the last speaker should be done at 9:55… We watch as the clock slowly says 9:50, then 9:55, and then as 10:00 passes they often say something like, “Oh, I should wrap up my talk.” No, you should’ve done that 10 minutes ago so we had proper time for the closing hymn and prayer. At this point, they need to testify for 10 seconds and sit down.

Almost everyone stops listening when a speaker goes over time, and all the kids start to get restless, and the teachers who’ve prepared lessons start to see their time shrink as well. It is just incredibly rude, and self-righteous to go over your time allotment. Plus, often it causes us to skip the closing hymn either partially or entirely.

Therefore what?

If you are a member of the Bishopric ensure your meetings start on time and end on time. Make your intentions known. Tell the members your goals, and then stick to them! You might need to politely signal to a speaker that they are over time, or tell the next person in line for testimonies that unfortunately you are out of time. But DO THE HARD THINGS because they invite the Spirit as you respect people’s time.

If you are just a member of the ward do your part too! Ensure that you arrive on time (this is a struggle bus with kids, I know). But try your best. When giving a talk or sharing a testimony ensure that you are mindful of the time. Do your part to make the starting/ending on time easier.

3rd. Have REAL talks.

Could you imagine if Elder Holland stood up in the next General Conference and said, “I’ve been asked today by President Nelson to give a talk based on the 2021 Conference talk by Elder Gong.” No? That is because that is not how talks are EVER given in General Conference. Let us follow the example of the brethren. Talks in General Conference are either full of stories and personal experiences (Like Elder Holland, President Nelson, and President Monson) or they are an exposé on a doctrinal/topic (Like President Oaks, Elder Maxwell, and Elder McConkie).

We’ve been given an example, yet far too often we ignore it in favor of asking someone to give a talk based on someone else’s talk. I jokingly told one of my old Bishop’s that if he asked me to do a talk on a talk I would just go read the talk over the pulpit. If he wants me to talk, give me a topic, not a talk. (Click HERE for an entire article describing how my old Bishop made this change to real talks and the impact it had). Talks based on our personal experiences are rich and full of passion. And as an added benefit, talks of this nature often allow speakers to look up from a written talk and share from their hearts!

Therefore what?

If you are a member of a Bishopric follow the example of the brethren and don’t ask people to base their talks on another person’s talk! Ask them to share their conversation stories either to the gospel or a principle. Or perhaps their family’s conversion story. If you have a topic let them know that is the desired theme. Keep it simple! “Can you give a 5-8 minute talk about tithing, either your conversion story to the principle, a miracle you’ve had, or the doctrines of tithing that you find important.” Or “Can you give a 5-8 minute talk about how you/your family joined the Church?”

If you are a member who has been asked to give a talk, give a real talk! Follow the examples of the brethren! Share stories, relate personal experiences, or if it is an important topic you want to dive into, give an exposé! But be warned, with an exposé it is super easy to drone on or dive into the fringes, avoid both of those things.

4th. Welcome people!

My old Stake President loved to shake people’s hands and learn their names. But it was not until he visited my ward and shared this story that I learned why it is so important to him to learn names and greet people. Here is his story in his words:

“Back when I was a Bishop in this very building over the UVU 20th Ward one Sunday a brother needed to meet with me before Sacrament meeting, the meeting when long and I did not want to cut this dear brother short as he needed to talk. By the time our meeting ended it was time for church to start.

As I entered the chapel with the overflow and two cultural hall extensions full of YSA’s, over 300 people attended our ward each week, I felt that I needed to shake their hands. But I did not have the time to shake 300 hands. So I started to make my way to the front of the room, shanking a few hands along the way, by now all eyes were on me as the meeting needed to start, again I felt prompted “Turn around and shake hands” but again I told myself I did not have time! The meeting needed to start.

I then stopped on the steps. *He then pointed at the steps to his right and said* it was on those very steps I stopped, in this very room! And the Spirit told me “DAVID TURN AROUND AND SHAKE HIS HAND!” So I turned around.

Everyone watching me, I walked down the aisle, into the overflow and to a young man whose head was in his hands and resting his hands on his knees. I got down on a knee and told him “Hi, I am Bishop Haden” to which this young man raised his head from his lap with tears streaming down his face and he told me that he had told God that morning that if no one said hi to him, he was never going to come back.

*President Haden then stopped, got choked up, and told us* I’ve failed to listen to many promptings in my life, but I am thankful I listened to that prompting, that young man later become one of my faithful Elder Quorum Presidents!

I don’t think I can illustrate the importance of welcoming people better than President Haden’s story. It is so important that people feel welcomed. Ideally, everyone would welcome everyone else and it would be great! Ideally, the lost sheep would simply come back and find the shepherd too! We don’t live in a world of ideally but rather reality. In reality, there are potentially dozens of people every Sunday that NEED someone to say hi to them, learn their names, and welcome them to Church.

Therefore what?

If you are in a Bishopric call people to be greeters. Charge them with learning people’s names so that they can say hello to them BY NAME. It is vital to learn someone’s name.

If you are in a Presidency/Bishopric another idea is to greet people as they leave Sacrament Meeting. In my old YSA ward, we had so many new people every single week that the only way the Bishopric could keep on top of it was to get into the weeds themselves. During the closing song, two members of the Bishopric would go down to the doors to the chapel. At the same time, members of the Elders Quorum and Relief Society Presidencies would go to the cultural hall doors. So that as the meeting closed people had to exit via a door manned by a leader who then learned their names and thanked them for coming and invited them to Sunday School.

If you are a normal member, realize you don’t need a calling to greet people if no one is doing it. I did that in one of my wards. No one was being greeted, I felt unwanted, so I stood at the door and welcomed everyone to Sacrament Meeting. Was it awkward? Sometimes it was totally awkward, but it was worth it. I learned the names of people, I was able to welcome them to Church, and soon the ward called official greeters, and everyone coming in any of the doors felt welcomed.

5th. Testify and promise blessings!

Have you ever noticed how the last speaker at a General, Regional, Area, and Stake Conference is always the Presiding Authority? As the Presiding Authority, it is their duty to ensure that the doctrine taught is accurate, but they have another perk, they always get the last word in a meeting. They have the chance to talk for a few seconds to a few minutes. This allows them the opportunity to not just correct false doctrine, but to testify of the doctrines taught, and most importantly PROMISE BLESSINGS for obedience. This is how President Nelson closed the October 2020 Conference, “I bless you to be filled with the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ. His peace is beyond all mortal understanding. I bless you with an increased desire and ability to obey the laws of God. I promise that as you do, you will be showered with blessings, including greater courage, increased personal revelation, sweeter harmony in your homes, and joy even amid uncertainty.”

Therefore what?

If you are in the Bishopric, ensure that time is planned to allow the Presiding Authority the opportunity to speak.

If you are the Presiding Authority, take advantage of the chance to stand up at the end of the meeting and testify of the truths taught and then promise blessings. Now, be mindful of point #2 and make sure you are punctual.

If you are a normal member, you might be thinking, “How does this apply to me?” Well, when we give talks we have the ability to testify and promise blessings too. It is a COMMON practice by the brethren in Conference to close their talks with their testimonies as well as promised blessings. You can do so too. End your talk about tithing by testifying that the windows of heaven were opened to you, and promise that they will be opened to others too! There are PLENTY of promises already made that we can merely cite to evoke blessings.

Now, an important note: testimonies in Fast and Testimony Meeting are NOT the time for people to be giving talks or going up and promising random blessings to people. Please ensure that your testimonies follow the teachings of the prophets and are actual testimonies! See “3 Types of ‘Testimonies’ the Prophets and Apostles Have Told us to Avoid.“

Conclusion

I hope this article has highlighted that regardless of your current calling, everyone can play a role in helping improve the quality of their Sacrament Meeting. I testify that these principles are true. As you sing the hymns, as you are reverent and respectful enough to start and end on time, as you share your personal experiences, and as you welcome people and get to know their names you will gain an added measure of the Spirit, you will become a lifter not a leaner, a doer not a doubter! And the quality of your Sacrament Meetings will increase.