Can non members speak in Sacrament Meeting?
Question
Gramps,
Can non members speak in Sacrament Meeting?
Gerald
Answer
Hi Gerald,
Thanks for your question. In describing sacrament meetings, Handbook 2 states:
Selecting and Orienting Participants
Selecting Participants. The bishopric selects members to participate in sacrament meetings.
So it is expected that only members will speak in sacrament meetings. Note that during fast and testimony meetings, the Handbook states (emphasis added):
After the sacrament, the bishopric member who is conducting the meeting bears a brief testimony. He then invites members to bear heartfelt testimonies and to relate faith-promoting experiences.
So even our fast and testimony meetings are intended for the Saints to bear testimony to each other.
However, I have witnessed several occasions when non-members address the congregation and even bear testimony. I have never seen a bishop prohibit this behavior. So while it is non-standard for non-members to bear testimony and not encouraged, I do not believe it is prohibited. Such a decision would be at the discretion of the bishop or other presiding authority in a fast and testimony meeting.
Gramps
Reviews
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Last year we had a foreign exchange student living with one of the families in our ward….she came to church with them most of the time and even though she wasn’t a member, before she returned home the bishop asked her to speak about her experience along with all the graduation seniors. We’ve also had nonmembers get up in fast and testimony meeting and testify of his the spirit had touched then that day.
I know, from experience, that exceptions can be made! I grew up in a home where my mom was inactive and my dad was not a member. However, I always went to church. I chose at a very young age to serve a mission, so there was no question the time came! My dad gave a very short talk at my mission farewell. He read his entire short message from a piece of paper which included “In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.” It was wonderful…just my experience…
I remember as a kid seeing a guy stand up in Testimony Meeting and say that he wasn’t a member but he had nice things to say about what we were saying.
It’s not standard, but I have seen non-members speak in Church functions under stake presidency and bishopric approval.
When people get up to the pulpit and speak about something obviously quite important to them it can be misunderstood by those not familiar with it. A man (a non member) got up once and spoke about something important to him and everyone there was embarrassed for his son who was there that day. It was not germane to fast Sunday or the worship service and it was not stopped, rather it petered out as the individual realized it did not fit the occasion. It was a testimony of the people there that they did not let the faux pas stop the bearing of testimony of what they knew and could testify of, of things connected to the Gospel.
It happened with another man. He was quite close to joining the church (his wife was a member and two of their older children.) and his testimony was in line with and appropriate to the coming changes in his life. His viewpoint from shortly before his baptism and his (slight change) viewpoint afterwards pointed that these changes were because of the gospel and not something done through family pressure. Though he was not a member his was a positive contribution.
The first one should not have happened though there was no good way to stop it faster than it was. It was basically ignored and the spirit of the members kept the day true to the Sabbath day, as well as a fast and testimony meeting.
On a different note, about 15 years ago I took my (non member) Mother to the Indianapolis stake to show her the genealogy library there. I met a gentleman who introduced himself as a non member (his wife was a member) but said he was a friend and defender of the LDS church. Mom was impressed.