The Church of Joy

This is Elder Patrick Kearon, the newest called Apostle of Jesus Christ in our modern day. I recently listened to a BYU Speech given by him in September and instantly was enamored with his candor, his wit, his pure love. David also listened with me and gained a love for him.  Then, during General Conference, Ethan also expressed how much he connected with Elder Kearon saying, “I love that guy so much!” 

One of my favorite things is watching my children connect with a certain apostle. Maybe this is a post for another time, but I distinctly remember one child’s prayers being answered several conferences in a row by the same apostle.  Like, specific answers to specific questions!  I love how the Lord works through His prophets.

Elder Kearon’s talk from this past conference could not have been more timely for me. Recently, our stake has “cracked down” (for lack of better phrasing) on reverence in sacrament meetings.  Within our family there was some cognitive dissonance around what was being preached and what we felt was our way of worshiping at church. Elder Kearon’s description of “ folding our arms tightly around our chests, bowing our heads, closing our eyes, and holding still—indefinitely!” was totally relevant to what we’d been witnessing! 

I understand that we do need to treat our buildings, especially our chapels and sacrament meetings, as a place of worship.  We must respect that some come with heavy hearts needing to silently commune with their Savior.  I have had Sundays when I want to go around talking to everyone, welcoming them, chatting, catching up, shaking hands and hugging.  There are other Sundays when I literally just want to get to our pew and ignore everyone on in the room. I do not believe Sacrament meeting needs to be another social hour of loud laughter and shouts across the room. However, the idea of “Joyful Reverence” permeates my soul!  

When J and I visited Spain last year we saw many cathedrals.  When I think of those glorious buildings I think of joyful reverence.  In the center of the cathedral there was set up a safe place for silent prayers while on the outer edges there was hushed conversations of awe and wonder.  When entering a cathedral you could feel the vastness of space above, honoring the heavens.  You could also feel the peace of quiet worship closer to the earth.  I really cannot think of any other way to describe it other than “joyful reverence.”

While discussing 3 Nephi in Sunday School a few weeks ago, our conversation turned to what we are doing in our wards to gather Israel. Though we talked about being welcoming, the conversation turned a bit more to the idea of personal accountability for your church experience.  Several comments of, “ if you feel lonely reach out to others.”  I believe this is true, but I also understand we each have different levels of comfortability “reaching out.” So, I appreciated one man sharing that it is also a ward leadership responsibility to create an environment that is uplifting, rather than burdensome.  In fact, Elder Kearon mentions this in his talk, too. “Ward and branch councils can envision and create a culture of joyful reverence for our sacrament hour, identifying practical steps and visual cues to help.” 

Both sides of this coin can be summed up in the phrase “joyful worship!”  If I go to church thinking about joyful worship, whether I am in need of quiet solitude or eager to befriend my neighbor, my church experience will be the same — centered on Jesus Christ. 

We come to church to worship our Savior, Jesus Christ with other believing disciples of Him.  We come to church to fulfill our covenants with the Father.  To mourn with those that mourn and bear one another’s burdens and also to strengthen one another in our testimonies of Him who gave us life and breath.  Our sacrament meeting talks, our class lessons, our conversations must be centered on Jesus Christ.  He is our answer to all social struggles.  He is our answer to loneliness.  He is our answer to unity.  He is who we joyfully worship!  

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Is this spirit of collective rejoicing in Christ what you find? Is this what you bring? Maybe you think this doesn’t have much to do with you, or perhaps you are simply used to how things have always been done. But we can all contribute, no matter our age or our calling, to making our sacrament meetings the joy-filled, Christ-focused, welcoming hour they can be, alive with a spirit of joyful reverence. — Elder Patrick Kearon