An idea for bringing the Spirit into a Testimony Meeting

Bishops and Branch Presidents…

We have a daughter and family who live in Maryland. Her ward has a relatively new bishop. He did something in their Testimony meeting last Sunday that I had never considered, but thought it was an idea worth passing along.

Feel NO obligation to do this, but wanted you to know that while the guidelines for sacrament meeting are appropriately very confining, there’s still room to think outside the proverbial box.

Apparently, in the Testimony Meeting, the bishop, who was conducting did the following:

1. When he announced the sacrament hymn, “I Stand All Amazed,” he also announced that they would sing the 2nd and 3rd verses without accompaniment (a cappella). Our daughter said it really helped focus the congregation on the lyrics.

2. Then after he bore his testimony of the Savior’s love in his own life, to start the testimony portion of the meeting, he asked everyone to turn to a neighbor or someone sitting in the pew to the side or behind and share back and forth in just one minute “How have you seen the Savior’s love bless your life?" He cautioned: “We must be very quiet. Please use your temple voice” 

Our daughter said it was not only a sweet, tender, sprit-filled moment, but the testimonies that followed during the meeting were all focused on the Savior.

Again, feel NO obligation to do this, but I was so impressed by this bishop’s approach, within the Handbook guidelines, to bring the Spirit into his ward’s Testimony meeting that I thought I would share.

Thank you, all of you, for what you’re doing to lift and bless the members of your ward spiritually each Sunday in sacrament meeting.

Gratefully,

President Lewis

P.S. By the way, Vivienne and I recently attended the sacrament meeting of another daughter’s ward (in Utah) where the speaker (apparently a “popular” knowledgeable Sunday school teacher and she knew it) spoke in sacrament meeting. She brought a teaching object into the sacrament meeting and interacted with the congregation like it was a classroom. In my opinion, it detracted from the spirit of the meeting not enhanced. Her husband then spoke and he had lots of stories to tell, finally closing his talk 20 minutes after the hour. 

The handbook guidelines are very important and I’m not suggesting that we should go outside that "box.”