You could go to one yourself and fine out. The sunday services are open to everybody. :) I can guarantee that there's a congregation that meets somewhere near you. Well. Unless you live in China or certain parts of the Middle East.
But I'll go ahead and give a description. It depends a bit what day you turn up, once a month there's Fast Sunday that's slightly different, but the standard service begins with a hymn and a prayer, after which they take care of annoucements and "ward business" that includes the confirmation of newly baptized members, blessing newborn babies, and the Bishop awarding congratulations to children who have graduated from the children's program, boy scouts who've earned certain scouting awards, and young women who've earned certain equivalent Young Women's awards.
Most weeks though there's not much ward business, and they sing another hymn and then proceed to the blessing and passing of the sacrament, where bread and water are passed among the congregation, which I gather pretty much all Christian groups do in some form. :)
Then the speakers address the congregation. There's no "preacher" as such, the speakers are usually just drawn from the congregation. (They're told a week or so before that they'll be speaking, and usually the Bishop asks them to speak on some specific topic.) Generally there will be 2-3 speakers, sometimes including a youth speaker, and all that together takes up an hour and fifteen minutes, at the end of which there's another hymn, another prayer, and the service is over.
It's followed by two class blocks, a Sunday School class, of which there are various classes held for various ages, and a meeting where the women of the Relief Society and the men of the Priesthood (which means all the women and all the men) meet in their groups, while the youth meet in Young Women's and Young Men's, and the children meet in Primary. This usually involves another hymn, another prayer, that particular organization's specific business, and a short lesson of some kind.
Now what goes on in the Temple is somewhat restricted, but that's not a weekly thing, most members attend no more than once a month or so, some far less frequently than that. I generally only go a couple of times a year.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 11:43 pm (UTC)But I'll go ahead and give a description. It depends a bit what day you turn up, once a month there's Fast Sunday that's slightly different, but the standard service begins with a hymn and a prayer, after which they take care of annoucements and "ward business" that includes the confirmation of newly baptized members, blessing newborn babies, and the Bishop awarding congratulations to children who have graduated from the children's program, boy scouts who've earned certain scouting awards, and young women who've earned certain equivalent Young Women's awards.
Most weeks though there's not much ward business, and they sing another hymn and then proceed to the blessing and passing of the sacrament, where bread and water are passed among the congregation, which I gather pretty much all Christian groups do in some form. :)
Then the speakers address the congregation. There's no "preacher" as such, the speakers are usually just drawn from the congregation. (They're told a week or so before that they'll be speaking, and usually the Bishop asks them to speak on some specific topic.) Generally there will be 2-3 speakers, sometimes including a youth speaker, and all that together takes up an hour and fifteen minutes, at the end of which there's another hymn, another prayer, and the service is over.
It's followed by two class blocks, a Sunday School class, of which there are various classes held for various ages, and a meeting where the women of the Relief Society and the men of the Priesthood (which means all the women and all the men) meet in their groups, while the youth meet in Young Women's and Young Men's, and the children meet in Primary. This usually involves another hymn, another prayer, that particular organization's specific business, and a short lesson of some kind.
Now what goes on in the Temple is somewhat restricted, but that's not a weekly thing, most members attend no more than once a month or so, some far less frequently than that. I generally only go a couple of times a year.