As churches close, Latter-day Saint leaders encourage community members to care for those without a priesthood holder in the home

By Luke Diamond

With churches closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have authorized members to hold services in their homes, including the administration of one of the church’s most important ceremonies — a weekly sacrament of bread and water.

But there is a problem: Only priesthood holders, male members of the church deemed worthy, can perform the ceremony — and not every household has such a person present in their home.

“We’re in the process of coming up with a plan right now. This is something that hasn’t happened before,” said Duncan Johannson, the Elder’s Quorum ​president ​of the Young Single Adult Providence First Ward.

Johannson is among those who have expressed hope, however, that this challenge ties together community members.

Local church leaders are making efforts to reach out to all members to make sure everyone receives the ordinance at least monthly. Some ward leaders have asked families to invite those who cannot perform the ordinance themselves to their home sacrament meetings. Other leaders ​have arranged ​for the ordinance to be administered by members of local elders quorums, which are made up of all priesthood holders and prospective priesthood holders in a local community.

For church member Deanne Chambers, the result has been a feeling of inclusion at a time in which she might otherwise have felt spiritually neglected.

“Sunday was a lovely experience having the sacrament in the home of my daughter with her husband and kids,” said Chambers, who is a widow. “It was very special. I felt thought of and special when the elders​ arrived at my home.”

The sacrament — the equivalent of the ceremony often known as “communion” in other Christian denominations — is not of little consequence to Latter-day Saints.

“This is the most important thing that happens every week,” said church member Tiffany Brunner​, a California native who served a Latter-day Saint mission in New Jersey before returning to school at Utah State University.

“It’s hard, but I really think this is the type of thing that brings a community together,” said Shelby Foster, the Relief Society ​president ​of the Young Single Adult Providence First Ward. “When you are able to help out, it brings about a closeness in a ward that is difficult to have any other way.”