"The Priesthood will now bless the sacrament"

[Anonymous]

I hear this pretty much every week in Sacrament Meeting:

“The priesthood will now bless and pass the sacrament.”

“We’d like to thank the priesthood for their reference in administering the sacrament.”

Why does this phrasing bother me so much?? :eh:

[Anonymous]

Would it bother you less if they said “those holding the priesthood “? Just asking a question to try and boil it down to what the issue is.

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[Anonymous]

LookingHard wrote:

Would it bother you less if they said “those holding the priesthood “? Just asking a question to try and boil it down to what the issue is.

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Yes, exactly.

I wish we wouldn’t conflate the priesthood holders with the priesthood itself.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, those phrases are routine in my ward. I think it’s a part of the culture, tradition, and habit; things we say on autopilot without really thinking.

Here’s one for you…

Closing a testimony “in the name of thy son…”

[attachment=0]y_u_no.png[/attachment]

[Anonymous]

The sacrament is one thing that I am so glad that the men do. I hear that phrase on Sunday,and my brain interprets it as, “And now, the men will serve us.”

Culturally, if women were involved, the passing of the sacrament could quickly fall to women. The last thing women need is another SERVING role.

[Anonymous]

It doesn’t bother me in itself. What does bother me is the constant repetition. The church experience after several decades is extremely boring. The only thing that keeps church alive for me is being engaged in service of some kind — having people to see or things to do. And that avenue is not attractive to me anymore given some of the experiences I’ve had.

I have heard them say “We would like to thank the priesthood for the dignified and reverent manner in which they passed the sacrament”. This sends a message that reverence is important. Sending little messages like that helps create a reverent culture, which I think is of value. But the repetition is still a big concern for me.

[Anonymous]

I wish that the bishop would thank the priesthood holders, rather than the priesthood itself. The PH did not administer the sacrament – the trays did not levitate and distribute themselves among the congregation, although that would certainly get SM attendance up.

[Anonymous]

It is interesting the cultural things that creep into our language that we seem to just hear all the time? Is it very different than thanking the Relief Society for coordinating the Christmas time efforts to have families in need receive food or meals or whatever the effort of service was? It is referring to the group, right?

Being thankful for people’s efforts of service is good for leadership to do often and openly. How they express it right is sometimes too lazily done.

[Anonymous]

I’ve always thought of Jesus or HF blessing the sacrament & the PH offering the prayer.

[Anonymous]

What would you like them to say, Joni? In other words, how do you think it could be worded better?

[Anonymous]

DarkJedi wrote:

What would you like them to say, Joni? In other words, how do you think it could be worded better?

We have been told that the men are not the priesthood. Perhaps it would be more internally consistent to say something like “members of the priesthood organizations.”

[Anonymous]

Yep – just add the word “holders.” Or say “priesthood brethren” if you don’t think “priesthood holders” sounds churchy enough.

My husband says that HE is not the priesthood – Jesus is. He didn’t notice “We’d like to thank the priesthood” until I pointed it out to him, but agreed that it should probably be changed.

I’ve heard of wards where they thank *everyone* for being reverent during the sacrament. That makes a lot of sense. I also think that hearing “We’d like to thank the priesthood for their reverence” loses a lot of its meaning when you hear it every week.

[Anonymous]

I guess I always interpreted the “priesthood will bless the sacrament” as a sort of collective term for that particular group doing it. I never thought much about it, mostly seeing it as a trite administrative phrase. Having been the one conducting SM, it can be more intimidating that you think and my mind generally goes to mush – so I have used the same trite terminology just because that’s what comes out.

That said, I have heard it said “after which the sacrament will be administered” or “the sacrament will be blessed and passed” without any reference to priesthood in the beginning. I don’t recall the exact wording my bishopric uses. I was in a different ward today and I don’t remember what they said, either. I do think our ward almost always says “we’d like to thank the priesthood for the reverent manner in which they blessed and passed the sacrament” at the end.

[Anonymous]

Saying “holders of the Aaronic Priesthood will now administer the Sacrament” seems legalistic and mechanical. People refer to the Relief Society and other groups the same way. E.g. The Primary will sing a musical number. The whole Primary is hundreds of thousands of children.

I do agree that thanking those who passed the Sacrament for their reverence is unnecessary. Our wards bishopric thanks the entire congregation for their reverence or doesn’t thank anyone.

[Anonymous]

I like Joni’s suggestions.

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