Non-LDS Family at Services


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I been inactive for a while and now I am getting married to a Non-LDS member with two kids.  I have been going to her church for the last year(her congregtion is about 20 people registered)

 

She is moving to my state with her family and she is going to come to my church meetings and we agree that I will not force any memberhship on her and the kids.

 

Now how would I explain this to the bishop and the missionaries?  The kids are used to taking the sarcrement at the old church and how should I handle this with the ward?

 

The kids has been to once lds meeting in their area and is excited to come to church but don't want to be members until they are ready. 

 

 

Any ideas and suggetions?

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When you ask, "Now how would I explain this to the bishop and the missionaries," what exactly is the "this" referring to?  The fact that you will not force membership on your new wife and her kids?  If so, that strikes me as a perfectly valid choice that you have made, and if people inquire you should simply describe the facts as truthfully and as pleasantly as possible.  I can't imagine any rational adult (outside of ISIS) faulting you for refusing to force a religion on someone.

 

Otherwise, I think Palerider is exactly right.  If you're concerned that your new friendships with charming Mormons might make your new wife and kids feel pressured to join the Church, then sit them down (your new wife and kids, not the charming Mormons) and tell them you want them to relax and enjoy their new LDS experiences and to watch, observe, and learn... but that it's up to them where they ultimately land, and that you will love them just the same no matter what they decide.  (But I'll be rooting for the LDS side.)

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I been inactive for a while and now I am getting married to a Non-LDS member with two kids. I have been going to her church for the last year(her congregtion is about 20 people registered)

She is moving to my state with her family and she is going to come to my church meetings and we agree that I will not force any memberhship on her and the kids.

Now how would I explain this to the bishop and the missionaries? The kids are used to taking the sarcrement at the old church and how should I handle this with the ward?

The kids has been to once lds meeting in their area and is excited to come to church but don't want to be members until they are ready.

Any ideas and suggetions?

They are kids, let them partake...no worries.
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The sacrament is a sacred ordinance and should not be taken lightly (even if we take it weekly).

 

The sacrament controversy towards children (under 8) and non-members is that we have numerous prophetic statements that the sacrament is a renewal of our covenants. So (the logic goes) if there are no covenants, then they should not partake.

 

The other side of this is the testimony in the scriptures that the sacrament is taken in remembrance of Christ and him crucified. So (the logic goes) if the worshipers have a testimony of Christ and wish to commemorate his sacrifice, then let them partake.

 

Ponder it. Pray about it. and counsel with your family.

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If they are not baptized they have no covenants attached to the Sacrament. For them to take it is eating a piece of bread and drinking some water. If it makes them more comfortable to take it let them. It happens all the time in our Ward. The only time anything is said about it is the occasional long term investigator who begins to act like a member then the Bishop has met with them and asked them to abstain.

 

The only time I have seen a real issue is when the Bishopric made a mistake and gave a very long term investigator a talk assignment when I was Mission Leader. No one stopped the person but many members were unhappy about it and a couple complained to the Investigator.

 

You might find a few members are bent out of shape over them taking the sacrament but really it is none of their business who takes or doesn't take it.

 

Just take the time to explain the entire issue to your family so if someone does complain they are not caught of guard. But anyone as far as I know is allowed to take the sacrament unless specifically told not to by a Church Leader. It just doesn't carry the same importance.

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My kid has a 15-year-old non-member friend who has been coming to church with us for months.  He takes bread and water.  I don't see it as a big deal.  He closes his eyes and prays about what he's about to hear and then takes the sacrament when it comes by.  Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting.  There were so many people who stood up the minute the bishop said it's now time to hear everyone's testimony.  If it weren't for that, he would have stood up to say something too.  I was just fine with that.

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When my mother and I were investigating the Church, we sat with the missionaries who were teaching us. They specifically told us not to take the sacrament.

 

I've been through 6+ sets of missionaries while investigating.  Not a single one of them said anything to me about it... not even the Bishop whose son gave the thing to me.

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I've been through 6+ sets of missionaries while investigating. Not a single one of them said anything to me about it... not even the Bishop whose son gave the thing to me.

I've often wondered if the missionaries we were with at the time knew what they were talking about. I guess their thinking was that since it is a renewal of our baptismal covenants, and we weren't baptized yet, we had nothing to "renew", and therefore no need to partake. Of course this was back in about 1977 or 1978, so perhaps the guidelines regarding it have changed.

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I've often wondered if the missionaries we were with at the time knew what they were talking about. I guess their thinking was that since it is a renewal of our baptismal covenants, and we weren't baptized yet, we had nothing to "renew", and therefore no need to partake. Of course this was back in about 1977 or 1978, so perhaps the guidelines regarding it have changed.

 

It could be that they thought (or you may have interpreted it this way) that since you have no need to partake, you shouldn't partake.  There's a difference between "no need to partake" and "cannot partake".  Know what I mean?

 

In Catholicism, it's not a "no need to partake".  It's a "cannot partake".  But that has a lot to do with the transubstantiation that Catholics believe happens to the bread after it is blessed - something that the LDS don't believe happens to their sacrament bread.

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It could be that they thought (or you may have interpreted it this way) that since you have no need to partake, you shouldn't partake. There's a difference between "no need to partake" and "cannot partake". Know what I mean?

In Catholicism, it's not a "no need to partake". It's a "cannot partake". But that has a lot to do with the transubstantiation that Catholics believe happens to the bread after it is blessed - something that the LDS don't believe happens to their sacrament bread.

I think I may have interpreted what they said wrong. I do remember our first visit to the Church and sitting with them. I believe the missionary's exact words were, "People who aren't members don't usually take the sacrament."

We probably didn't take it because we thought it was wrong to do so based on what the missionary said, plus we didn't understand what the sacrament was all about at that time.

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