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I didn’t want to post this in a public forum because I wasn’t positive about the official policy and I didn’t feel like potentially calling out my local leaders. Our local services were cancelled this past Sunday due to weather. The saints enjoyed a guilt free Sunday off.
In one e-mail they ask people to study scripture, do family history work, etc. in lieu of attending church. Fair enough. They also asked people not to administer the sacrament in their homes. This situation seems like the perfect opportunity to have a very intimate sacrament meeting as a family, a missed opportunity.
As I understand the policy the bishop is the one that holds the keys (permission giver) for someone to administer the sacrament outside of church. I figured they could have given permission to all “worthy priesthood holders” (pulling the worthiness card to scare off the sinners
Why explicitly tell people not to bless the sacrament in their homes? These are my guesses:
1) They don’t want families with no PH holders in the home to feel left out… just the families with gay children (I kid, I kid).
2) Missing sacrament for a week or two is no big deal. We don’t do it during general conference or stake conference. In an unrelated note I remember this one time when we did do it during stake conference (I think I’m remembering this correctly) and it took forever.
3) They are worried that someone that isn’t worthy will end up blessing the sacrament.
As I was reading it…I was thinking the first part of #1…I think if they said that in a ward-wide communication…it would immediately create the issue of how to get it do all those who don’t have PH. It would create a need for HTers to try to get out and do it or it would make many feel bad. Easier to just tell people they don’t need to do it and they can wait until the congregation gathers again.
As people get together and talk about it in leadership meetings…perhaps thoughts around #2 and #3 come up as more reasons to justify it…but I’m guessing it is because of concern to not create a situation where people feel left out.
It confirms to me my feelings that sacrament is not something that must be an every week thing. There are times we don’t take it, and it is just fine. When I told my prior bishop I would skip church sometimes and hike in the mountains…he would reply with “but you must take the sacrament every week, you can’t do that in nature in the mountains by yourself.” It was kind of a thing he would say to dispel the idea we can skip every once in a while. But…I never bought into it. I go on vacation and skip the sacrament, I get sick and no one brings it to me, and if church is canceled because of weather we don’t have it.
I appreciate stake and ward leaders that stick to practical ideas, because some members will want to be told what to do.
A part of the communication was to go out and minister to one another. 
I’m sure that means take care of more serious issues like someone’s power is out, a tree fell on someone’s house, etc. and that missing the sacrament is not an issue that one should go out and risk it for.
Many years ago, different place, single, and before email, we had a Sunday snow storm that cancelled church. We did a phone chain kind of thing with home teachers calling their families. Our bishop did tell us we could do the sacrament at home if we wanted, and if we lived close enough together (there was a family that lived a couple blocks away) we could do it together. I did go to that family’s home and we did the sacrament and a little testimony meeting. It was nice. In talking to people the following week we found that most people didn’t do the sacrament and it was no big deal. I’d go with scenario #1 in your case – he was probably worried about lack of priesthood, or maybe it was a combination with #3. And it is clear because we don’t do sacrament on conference weekends that missing it one week here and there really isn’t that big a deal. That does bring up another question, though, because the sacrament is a major part of the current emphasis on the Sabbath.
What the others said. No long answer from me on this one.
😳
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