Comments on: They Had Questions, 1959

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:21:46 +0000

Anne, I think the “officialness” of ending them came when the block meeting schedule was announced and prayer meetings were not part of it. There wouldn’t be time in the program for a prayer meeting between the first and second hours (trying to cram a meeting in during those minutes would, I think, leave teachers feeling anything BUT spiritual and prepared to teach!) But I’ll see if I can find any discussion of it and report back.

By: Anne (U.K)

Anne (U.K) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:24:03 +0000

oh, I had forgotten about prayer meetings! We used to hold them before APYW on a Tuesday night when I first joined. And they held them before Sunday School and Sacrament. Were they ‘officially’ abandoned after the introduction of the Consolidated Schedule, or did they just die a death?

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:04:49 +0000

This reminds me of the line in the old missionary discussions about “wouldn’t you really like to be judged by someone like Jesus?”

I guess I’m just not up to dividing sheep from goats.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:50:18 +0000

Eric FTW — not just for the punning but because it actually makes sense. (Or did I not get enough sleep? No, 12 hours is about right.)

Researcher, I had forgotten about that kind of prayer meeting. I’ve only attended one, don’t think I’ve ever seen minutes of any like that, and guess that they are and were optional according to the management style of a particular bishop.

By: J. Stapley

J. Stapley — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:20:27 +0000

I remember pre-sacrament prayer meetings for participants in some wards in the late 1990s; but t’is true, I didn’t know about the earlier prayer meeting. I figured it was a bit late for the more formal ritual meeting and the idea that an announcement would be useful (implying a lot of people there) piqued my interest.

By: Researcher

Researcher — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:26:02 +0000

What’s a prayer meeting? I certainly won’t admit to being a goat (!), but I remember attending one right before my mission; it would have been for my missionary farewell. Early 1990s.

The stake I grew up in had the practice of holding a prayer meeting before each sacrament meeting. The bishop and counselors and people who were talking in the meeting and those who were saying the prayers and perhaps a few other people (executive secretary? ward clerk? a music person?) would meet and say a prayer together and go over the schedule of the meeting. The bishop would ask the people who were praying in sacrament meeting to remember to pray for Sister so-and-so or Brother such-and-such, who were having severe health problems.

Was this church policy, or a local hold-over from earlier days? It sure seemed to make the meetings run more smoothly and start on time more frequently than they seem to now.

Thanks for the suggestions on the organ, Hunter and Maurine. It makes me giggle, however, to think of asking the bishop to give me the high sign. I’m sure he’d love to do it, but I wouldn’t be able to see him, and things are working fine right now.

By: Eric Boysen

Eric Boysen — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:47:15 +0000

Alright, we’ll release all the attentions, but the children still need to attend, and the adult tensions will rise proportionately.

By: jeans

jeans — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:45:59 +0000

No! We cannot arrest the attention of young children! Not okay! …??!?

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:22:13 +0000

It occurs to me that J. probably hoped these were ritual-related meetings focused on prayer. But alas, the highest ritual was determining which class had 2-1/2 minute talks next month, or whose turn it was to host the Relief Society board meeting luncheon.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:20:25 +0000

I confess to being an old goat[ess] — J., prayer meeting was a short (~15 min.) meeting held a half hour before most auxiliary meetings. It was a “faculty” meeting in that auxiliary business was conducted and announcements were made. There was a brief spiritual thought, and a prayer. Everybody left, theoretically in a spiritual mood, with 15 minutes to set up their classrooms and get to opening exercises in a calm, unrushed way.

Prayer meetings went away with the block schedule, of course. LDS-Archives has minutes of thousands of prayer meetings, recorded just like all the other official meetings.