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What are Mormon church services like? Are visitors allowed at church meetings? Can I attend church?

Official Answer

Our primary family worship service is called sacrament meeting. This meeting is held in our chapels on Sunday and lasts approximately 70 minutes. Visitors are welcome to attend. It is common for families to attend, and we are accustomed to having children as part of the congregation.

A typical meeting would consist of the following:

  • Hymns: Religious songs sung by the congregation (hymn books are provided).
  • Prayers: Offered by local Church members.
  • Partaking of the sacrament (communion): The sacrament consists of prepared bread and water, which is blessed and passed by priesthood holders to those in attendance who wish to do so.
  • Speakers: Typically a meeting will have two or three assigned speakers.

(Note: We do not pass a plate or request donations as part of our worship services.)

Visitors are also welcome to attend other Sunday meetings that precede or follow sacrament meeting:

  • Sunday School classes are offered for each age group, beginning with 12 year olds.
  • Primary meetings consist of a group service and age-oriented classes for children 3 through 11 years of age.
  • A nursery is available for young children, ages 18 months to 3 years.
  • Young Women meetings provide classes for those 12 through 17 years of age.
  • Relief Society meeting is for women, ages 18 years and older.
  • Priesthood meetings provide age-oriented classes for males 12 years and older.
  • Brian

    Mormon church services are unique. When I first started attending I felt three hours was too long to be in church, but I quickly grew to like it because I realised that each of the three meetings has a very practical, edifying focus. The Sacrament meeting is the principal meeting and it is where everyone (women and men, young and old) come together to have the sacrament (communion) and hear talks by their fellow church members. Since there is no paid clergy, Mormons take turns speaking to the congregation about how a particular principle or doctrine has strengthened their faith in Christ. Depending on the size of the congregation, a Mormon can speak as often as once a year to once every two or three years. In Sunday School, the youth attend classes according to their age and the adults attend a class together. The curriculum varies from year to year, but the focus each year is on a book of scripture and how its lessons can help us develop stronger families, be better neighbours and parents, etc. For example, this year (2011) all the adults are studying the New Testament. In the third hour we group together as men and women. The men's class looks at how the gospel of Christ can help us in our roles as men, husbands, fathers, etc., while the women study how Christ's teachings can help them be better women, wives, mothers, etc. Visitors are welcome in all of these meetings. Show more

  • David

    Come to church with us! We would love to have you. I know attending an unfamiliar church meeting can be scary and intimidating. Feel free to go up to anyone you meet and tell them this is your first time coming. You should always feel welcome to come and attend with us. Mormon church meetings may be different than other church meetings you've attended. We typically have three meetings you can attend. Our main meeting, we call Sacrament Meeting, is intended for individuals and families to attend together. Sit up front, sit in the back. There are no assigned seats. In this meeting, we try to focus on the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ. You will hear several prayers and gospel messages given in this meeting. Another meeting we have on Sunday is Sunday-School. This meeting is designed to focus on specific teachings of Christ. It is often somewhat interactive, with some class members asking questions of the teacher throughout the lesson. You are free to ask questions or simply sit back and listen. We hope you feel a genuine spirit of warmth and friendship as you attend. The final meeting we have on Sunday is a Priesthood or Relief-Society meeting. Men and attend the Priesthood meeting and women attend Relief-Society. Here we focus on the teachings of Christ that are appropriate to our roles as men and women. You should also feel free to participate, ask questions, or simply sit back and listen. Show more

  • Brad

    Our fundamental religious service is what we call our Sacrament meeting. Anyone is welcome to join us in Sacrament meeting as well as our other Sunday meetings at any of our buildings. Sacrament is a time when we ponder and reflect on Jesus Christ's atonement for our sins, for He is the path by which we can repent of our wrongdoings and begin anew on a correct path with additional guidance from our Heavenly Father. Furthermore, on Sunday we have general Sunday School meetings where we talk more in-depth about the various doctrine of the gospel as well as meetings where we meet in groups of similarly-aged individuals to learn and discuss gospel topics more focused to each particular age group. We welcome anybody and everybody and would love to see you in our congregation spiritually connecting with your loving Heavenly Father and drawing nearer to him and his son, Jesus Christ. Show more

  • Julianne!

    Mormon church services are dignified and simple. A sacrament meeting will be conducted by a regular guy wearing a regular business suit. The organ will be played by a regular member of the congregation who is not paid for his or her service. The singing will be led by a regular member of the congretaion. The prayers will be given by regular folks. The sacrament will be blessed and passed by regular folks, usually teenage boys. The talks will be given by members of the congregation, often teenagers. Special music might be presented by regular folks, or the ward choir. Members of the ward choir are just regular members of the congregation who like to sing, and are not paid for their service. Looking around the congregation, you will most likely see some singles but also families including little children and babies. Babies tend to be fussy so the room will not be totally silent. We try to maintain reverence, but it's a learning process. The kids are not perfectly reverent, and neither are the rest of us. People are dressed in regular clothes, usually conservative and modest. Men and boys usually wear dress shirts and ties. Women and girls usually wear dresses or skirts. You are welcome to come and attend any of our worship services. You will not be asked to stand and sit, stand and sit, stand and sit. No one will pass a collection plate or ask you for money. You come in and sit and relax. And when you come, please sit by me! Show more

  • Stephen Koceja

    Everyone is welcome. We love visitors. Families are welcome and young children. This is a list of how the day progresses while in the chapel: A typical meeting would consist of the following: Hymns: Religious songs sung by the congregation (hymn books are provided). Prayers: Offered by local Church members. Partaking of the sacrament (communion): The sacrament consists of prepared bread and water, which is blessed and passed by priesthood holders to those in attendance who wish to do so. Speakers: Typically a meeting will have two or three assigned speakers. There are a list of meetings above as well. Visitors are welcome to that as well. Show more

  • Megdalynn

    We have 3 different meetings during our Church service. The longest one is for everyone - entire families sit together on seats, or rows of benches. The meeting is opened with a prayer and a Hymn, followed by some simple announcements and occasionally changes in what jobs people have been doing at church. Then comes the best part of the meeting - the sacrament. We sing a Hymn about Christ's sacrifice, and a special prayer is said over small pieces of bread. If we agree to the terms of the prayer, we partake of the bread as it is reverently distributed throughout the congregation. Then a special prayer is said over individual little cups of water, and if we agree to the terms of the prayer, we drink the water as it is reverently distributed throughout the congregation. The rest of the meeting is filled with words spoken by members of the congregation. We don't have a 'Preacher' who preaches to us every week. Once a month this time is open to whomever feels prompted to speak, and the other Sundays feature specific members of the congregation who have been invited in advance to speak regarding a particular topic. Almost all of us are not professional speakers, and sometimes speaking in Church is very intimidating, so the member may even read their speech from a paper that they have prepared before the meeting. There is usually a hymn in between these speakers, and a hymn and prayer at the end of the meeting. We refer to this meeting as "Sacrament Meeting" and it tends to last an hour and fifteen minutes. Sunday School consists of studying the scriptures and words of the prophets, and a teacher is assigned to prepare a lesson and guide discussions. Children and young adults have their own Sunday School classes, by age groups. It is opened and concluded with prayer. This meeting lasts about 45 minutes. The final meeting is conducted for Adult members of the individual sexes: the men in one room, the women in another. These meetings open with a prayer and hymn. The women call their meeting "Relief Society" and the men refer to theirs as "Preisthood". This meeting also lasts about 45 minutes, and is usually taught by a member who has been assigned a specific subject to teach on. Children attend "Primary" which consists of a gospel centered message and activity, and religious songs. Young adults attend their own meetings with members of the same sex, teen-aged ladies attend "Young Women" and teen-aged gentleman attend "Young Men". These meetings lasts about 45 minutes, and ends with a prayer. We welcome visitors to ANY and ALL of these meetings! Please join us as we worship God and learn more about His plan for us! Yes, YOU can attend, and if you don't want to show up alone you should ask the Missionaries to come with you. They will make sure to introduce you to members of the congregation! Show more

  • Jordan

    Visitors are not only allowed at Church meetings, we love to have them! A normal service in the Mormon Church is divided into three parts, each about an hour long. The first part is a meeting of the full congregation, known as "Sacrament Meeting." It begins and ends with prayer, has a few congregational hymns, and will have two or three talks and maybe a special musical number, all from members of the ward (or congregation), chosen in advance. The most important part of the meeting, however, is when members of the Church take the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper (known simply as "the Sacrament"). When we take the bread and water of the Sacrament, symbolic of Jesus Christ's body and blood, we make promises to our Heavenly Father to remember Jesus and to follow Him. These are the same promises we make when we are baptized; in fact, the Sacrament is meant as a way for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to renew our commitment to follow those promises. Those who have not been baptized usually don't take the Sacrament, but everyone is invited to attend and take in the wonderful Spirit that can be felt as we remember our Savior together. Show more

  • Ezekiel Orro

    As recieved in modern day revelation, we are to "turn away none who are seeking the truth" or anyone else for that matter. Church is not an exclusive thing, anyone is free to come to a regular Sunday meeting or an activity, or any other event that's happening. The Gospel is for everyone, and more importantly anyone and everyone can beefit from it, that is the beauty of it. Show more

  • Matt

    Yes! You are very welcome to join us in worshipping our Heavenly Father during any church service. Our main service and most important one is called sacrament meeting, where we partake of the bread and water, sing hymns, pray, and listen to two or three assigned speakers from the congregation on a gospel topic. Sacrament meeting is the most sacred meeting of the church and the time for us to receive answers from God through his Holy Spirit, or what is called Revelation. You will not be expected to give any donation or to do anything more than sit, feel the Spirit, and enjoy the learning process. My favorite thing about attending church is the peace that I feel there and the joy that comes through the Holy Ghost. There are also some sunday school classes that either follow the sacrament meeting or precede it, one in particular is very special to me. It is called Gospel Principles where we discuss how the Gospel affects our lives and how we can live it better by talking in simpler terms for real growth. Sunday school classes are taught in age appropriate groups for the best way to learn. I personally invite you to attend church this Sunday in the Chapel near you. Show more

  • Stefan Lusvardi

    Church is broken down into three parts: 1) Sacrament Meeting 2) Sunday School and 3) Priesthood/Relief Society/Young Women/Primary. The most important part of church is Sacrament Meeting. Partaking of the sacrament is a way we show God that we want to follow Him. The distribution of the sacrament is very quiet, peaceful, and comfortable. It is a time for us to reflect on our relationship with God. Following the distribution of the sacrament, members of the congregation are invited to give short talks 5-15 min. on gospel topics. Sacrament Meeting also includes time for the singing of Hymns and prayer. Sunday School is a time for us to learn more about gospel topics in a classroom environment. Everybody is separated into classes by age. Typically there is one large adult class and then smaller classes for youth. A teacher gives a lesson on a gospel topic and students are invited to ask questions and participate in the lesson. During Priesthood (Men ages 12+)/Relief Society (Women 18+)/Young Women (Women 12-18)/Primary (Children 2-11), we attend gender and age specific classes. In Priesthood, the men learn how to be kinder to their wives. They learn how to give service and be good fathers in the home. At Relief Society, the women talk about how to become better wives and mothers. I love going to church. Church is an opportunity for me to learn and grow, but it is also an opportunity for me to help others learn and grow. Show more

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