LDS Communion Question

[amontoya]

I don’t know if this topic has been covered in other threads.

Who can receive LDS communion? Is it open to anyone? Must one be baptized in the LDS church to receive?

I grew up in a restorationist church that limited communion to only baptized members, and am curious about the LDS position.

 

[IrishHill]

I visited the LDS church a time or two and was offerd commuion but declined.

So,I assume anybody can:thumbsup:

 

[dianaiad]

I visited the LDS church a time or two and was offerd commuion but declined.

So,I assume anybody can:thumbsup:

You are SUPPOSED to be a baptized member, since for us it is, besides the traditional meaning, a renewing of our baptismal covenants. However, given the way it is offered (passed to the entire congregation where they sit, rather than having people come up to the altar to get it) it WILL be offered to everybody there. It’s up to the non-member to refuse it.

Nobody is going to make a huge fuss, if they do not refuse, though I hope someone will tactfully let them know–some other time than during the administration of it.

 

[ParkerD]

I don’t know if this topic has been covered in other threads.

Who can receive LDS communion? Is it open to anyone? Must one be baptized in the LDS church to receive?

I grew up in a restorationist church that limited communion to only baptized members, and am curious about the LDS position.

Hi, Amontoya,
As you may probably be aware, the most important aspect of receiving communion is “worthiness”, so if a visitor who is aware of that teaching in the Bible and yet perhaps has a pretty serious unresolved sin in their life, then they shouldn’t partake. It would mean they would merely decline when it was passed to them (others aren’t “watching” to see who declines–it is a private thing).

Since LDS communion is partly to re-covenant the baptismal covenant, then that is why if they were to ask someone they might be told it would be best to decline, unless the person feels a strong personal desire to show that they are indeed covenanting with Christ, and if they feel that way then I would think it would be OK. If that were going to be a long-term thing, then since the bishop of the ward is “presiding” over the ordinance of communion, the person attending several times would probably at some point want to let the bishop know they weren’t a member but were partaking with earnest sincerity about their personal covenant making with Christ, and ask him if it was OK. He would seek guidance through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and counsel the person accordingly in private.

I hope you are doing well, Amontoya. May the Lord bless you.

 

[amontoya]

Hi, Amontoya,
As you may probably be aware, the most important aspect of receiving communion is “worthiness”,

What is the standard of “worthiness?” Would it be the same standard used to determine who may enter the temple, or something lower?

so if a visitor who is aware of that teaching in the Bible and yet perhaps has a pretty serious unresolved sin in their life, then they shouldn’t partake. It would mean they would merely decline when it was passed to them (others aren’t “watching” to see who declines–it is a private thing).

What if a member has unresolved sin? Would he or she be advised to decline?

Since LDS communion is partly to re-covenant the baptismal covenant, then that is why if they were to ask someone they might be told it would be best to decline, unless the person feels a strong personal desire to show that they are indeed covenanting with Christ, and if they feel that way then I would think it would be OK. If that were going to be a long-term thing, then since the bishop of the ward is “presiding” over the ordinance of communion, the person attending several times would probably at some point want to let the bishop know they weren’t a member but were partaking with earnest sincerity about their personal covenant making with Christ, and ask him if it was OK. He would seek guidance through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and counsel the person accordingly in private.

What if a non-member lacked the desire to covenant with Christ, but continued to partake in communion? Would the bishop take any steps to prevent that person from receiving, or just let the matter rest because it is seen as “a private thing?”

I hope you are doing well, Amontoya. May the Lord bless you.

Right now, I’m being reminded that I should trust God to provide, and should not be anxious about the cares of this world. I have a difficult time remembering that.

Thank you for the reply, and God bless you.

 

[zerinus]

I don’t know if this topic has been covered in other threads.

Who can receive LDS communion? Is it open to anyone? Must one be baptized in the LDS church to receive?

I grew up in a restorationist church that limited communion to only baptized members, and am curious about the LDS position.

As far as I know non-members or investigators who visit our churches are not prohibited from partaking the Sacrament, nor advised not to. It is left up to their own conscience if they want to receive it or not.

Partaking of the Sacrament, however, is forbidden for Church members who are in transgression, until they have gone through the repentance process and are approved by their bishops to resume receiving it.

 

[ParkerD]

What is the standard of “worthiness?” Would it be the same standard used to determine who may enter the temple, or something lower?

Amontoya,
Something lower, definitely, since tithing worthiness is not at all part of such a “standard”. If there was unresolved (through repentance including meeting privately with the bishop for him to help in the steps toward repentance and to discern worthiness) sexual sin or abusive behavior in the family or with others, then the person should decline. If the person has counseled with the bishop and been asked to refrain for a period of time and asked to continue in a pattern of showing sincere change to show sincere repentance during that time, then they should obey the bishop. The bishop seeks and is guided by discernment, and has a handbook of instructions concerning specific serious misconduct, and that general handbook has been carefully prepared by the apostles.

What if a member has unresolved sin? Would he or she be advised to decline?

Yes, privately by the bishop, if he so discerns the need. He may discern that the person has repented already in certain instances.

What if a non-member lacked the desire to covenant with Christ, but continued to partake in communion? Would the bishop take any steps to prevent that person from receiving, or just let the matter rest because it is seen as “a private thing?”

The bishop “watches over the flock.” If the discernment through the Holy Ghost whispers to him that he ought to have an interview with such and such a person (perhaps this happens as he observes them during a meeting and receives that impression), then he would usually have an “executive secretary” contact the person such as by phone, and ask if they would come to a private “meeting with the bishop”. The “executive secretary” would not be told why.

I would say it would be quite a rare instance that a bishop would receive such an impression about meeting with a non-member who was attending frequently, but it could certainly happen. No one is asked if they have or are “covenanting with Christ.” It is assumed that they are, since that is what the prayers say they are doing by partaking.

Right now, I’m being reminded that I should trust God to provide, and should not be anxious about the cares of this world. I have a difficult time remembering that.

I hope things turn around for you in that area, then. But I guess with eight children I’ve been pretty “over-anxious” during the years myself, so maybe the big picture is that we learn to trust God through the experiences of “we made it through another crisis” (whether big or small) “and He helped us get through it.”

Thank you for the reply, and God bless you.

Thanks. Much peace and joy to you in your life.

 

[SirThomasMore]

Not sure how worthy yuou need to be to drink water and eat wonder bread.

Jesus was very clear about how to administer the Sacrament. Joe dcided Jesus was wrong.

 

[dianaiad]

What is the standard of “worthiness?” Would it be the same standard used to determine who may enter the temple, or something lower?

That’s…between the partaker and God…conscience privately speaking.

What if a member has unresolved sin? Would he or she be advised to decline?

That again is all about conscience. Very serious sin (by that, I mean sin which really does weigh too hard on the soul to be handled by personal prayer and repentence) that prompts the member to counsel with the Bishop might result in a discussion about that, but that is very rare.

What if a non-member lacked the desire to covenant with Christ, but continued to partake in communion? Would the bishop take any steps to prevent that person from receiving, or just let the matter rest because it is seen as “a private thing?”

That depends upon whether the Bishop knows about the whole thing, In my experience, a non-Member would be quietly told, by missionaries or by the friends who brought him or her, that partaking in the Sacrament unworthily is, at worst, a serious sin and more than a little disrespectful of our beliefs. and at best, useless–and something that any Mormon who KNEW that the non-member was aware that he was simply taking the bread and water for the heck of it would gently dissuade him from doing. I hope.

However, I think that the motives of someone who did this and bragged about doing so to others (how else would they know that the non-member 'lacked the desire to covenant with Christ?) are probably a tad…odd.

Right now, I’m being reminded that I should trust God to provide, and should not be anxious about the cares of this world. I have a difficult time remembering that.

Thank you for the reply, and God bless you.

That’s…calling ‘being human.’ The thing is, we all know that God is a lot more concerned about our eternal welfare than whether we can pay the mortgage, so it’s harder to ‘let go’ than it might be.