Now there’s some power…

“Teach, preach, expound, exhort, and invite all to come unto Christ”? Check

“Visit the house of each member”? Check

“See that there is no iniquity in the church”? Check

Whatever else–I’m running this on memory only.

Teachers and deacons do not perform ordinances–they’re the Levites of the latter-day church. And any distinction of duties or responsibilities between the two offices is not based on the section 20 descriptions: which ends, as to teachers “and are to be assisted by the deacons, as occasion requires.”

Culture wars, gotta love it. Reminds me of the really old SNL sketch of the Spanish language TV game show, “Quien es muy Macho!”

As always, these Q&A sessions with George Q. Cannon are fun to read, and instructive.

Regarding the priesthood and passing the sacrement, Bill Hartley wrote in his wonderful JMH Article the Heber J. Grant, wrote “there was ‘no rule in the Church’ that only priesthood bearers could carry the sacrament to the congregation after it was blessed. While it was ‘custom’ for priesthood men or boys to pass around the bread and water, he said, ‘it would in no wise invalidate the ordinance’ if some ‘worthy young brethren lacking priesthood performed it in the absence of ordained boys’ and he had “no objection” if it were done.” He wrote further that “Women and custodians usually prepared the sacrament table, so it did not appear on a list of priesthood duties until 1933.”

I also enjoyed the bit on eighth-day blessings. This was a debate (home or at church) that spanned decades and Church policy was fairly dynamic. I like the tradition of the eighth-day blessings, though. I haven’t been able to pin down when people stopped doing them. Probably during Grant’s administration, if I had to guess.

All of this is to say that maybe “we don’t know” is enough of an answer? And GQC has done that on plenty of other occasions in this “I Have a Question” series (so that’s why his suggestion to avoid speculation really stuck out this time).

I do appreciate GQC’s generally genial and gentlemanly tone in answering the questions (e.g., “Sometimes in blessing children, however, the original as well as the Christian name is mentioned, which is, of course, not in the least improper“). Bravo.

Definitely something to write on the inside of your lesson manual for those rilly speshul speculative class discussions, Coffinberry.

We might ask: “Suppose this is true, of what use is it, and how are people benefited by teaching it?”

Now there is a quote to keep and a standard to judge by!