Running Head: Mormon Sunday Service Mormon Church Service 2 Mormon Sunday Service [Student Name] [School Name] [Course / Assignment] 14th April, 2014 [Instructor Name] Mormon Church Service This is a report of the ethnographic research that I conducted about the Mormon Sunday service on April 13, 2014 at Washington D.C ward. I had earlier called the ward representative, known as the bishop, who assigned me one of the missionaries in the church to act as my tour guide during the whole 3 hours service time. Since, I had arranged for an interview with the missionary in the church, I arrived at the venue on time at 8.00am, so as I could interview him before the service started at 9A.M. Basically, I wanted to know what to expect as regard the service, to find out whether they believe in Jesus Christ , if they give tithes since they don’t collect donations during the service, and to find out and why they value the book of Mormon so much as well as their belief in regard to the Bible. The Missionary was very welcoming and friendly. He took me for an orientation tour so to speak around the ward area and made sure that I was comfortable. He prepared me psychologically of what to expect during the service. Mostly what he told me about the service I had covered in my previous assignment so I was a bit informed. He claimed that the Mormons strongly believe in Jesus Christ as their savoir. He also informed me that the Mormons do give 10% of their income too the church. According to him, the Mormons value the Book of Mormon just as they value the Bible. I also learned from the missionary that the Bishop, who is the head of the ward, is assisted by two councilors and clerks referred to as bishopric . It was now time to start the Mormon Sunday Service. It was my first time to attend such a service and it was very interesting. I noticed that there were several members of the congregation that were assigned the duty of giving a program to people coming to the service, which consisted of a piece of paper detailing exactly what was to happen and in which order. I saw many pictures of the savior that decorated the walls of the foyers leading to the chapel. The chapel had pews but did not have real decoration or pictures apart from some flowers that had been put at the podium. The leaders, speakers and music people sit at the stand, which is a raised area at the front of the chapel. The stand also has an organ as well as piano on it. I observed that during the service people basically sit and listen, they do not respond in any way to the service except saying Amen after a prayer is said by one of them. The whole time, I simply had to sit; there was no standing or kneeling. I must admit it was a bit tiring and boring. I also noticed that the prayer is very different from the prayers offered in other churches. Mostly, their prayers involved thanking God f.

1. Running Head: Mormon Sunday Service
Mormon Church Service
2
Mormon Sunday Service
[Student Name]
[School Name]
[Course / Assignment]
14th April, 2014
[Instructor Name]
Mormon Church Service
This is a report of the ethnographic research that I conducted
about the Mormon Sunday service on April 13, 2014 at
Washington D.C ward. I had earlier called the ward
representative, known as the bishop, who assigned me one of
the missionaries in the church to act as my tour guide during the
whole 3 hours service time. Since, I had arranged for an
interview with the missionary in the church, I arrived at the
venue on time at 8.00am, so as I could interview him before the
service started at 9A.M. Basically, I wanted to know what to
expect as regard the service, to find out whether they believe in
Jesus Christ , if they give tithes since they don’t collect
donations during the service, and to find out and why they value
the book of Mormon so much as well as their belief in regard to
the Bible. The Missionary was very welcoming and friendly. He
took me for an orientation tour so to speak around the ward area
and made sure that I was comfortable. He prepared me
psychologically of what to expect during the service. Mostly
what he told me about the service I had covered in my previous
assignment so I was a bit informed. He claimed that the
Mormons strongly believe in Jesus Christ as their savoir. He
also informed me that the Mormons do give 10% of their
income too the church. According to him, the Mormons value

2. the Book of Mormon just as they value the Bible. I also learned
from the missionary that the Bishop, who is the head of the
ward, is assisted by two councilors and clerks referred to as
bishopric
.
It was now time to start the Mormon Sunday Service. It was my
first time to attend such a service and it was very interesting. I
noticed that there were several members of the congregation
that were assigned the duty of giving a program to people
coming to the service, which consisted of a piece of paper
detailing exactly what was to happen and in which order. I saw
many pictures of the savior that decorated the walls of the
foyers leading to the chapel. The chapel had pews but did not
have real decoration or pictures apart from some flowers that
had been put at the podium. The leaders, speakers and music
people sit at the stand, which is a raised area at the front of the
chapel. The stand also has an organ as well as piano on it. I
observed that during the service people basically sit and listen,
they do not respond in any way to the service except saying
Amen after a prayer is said by one of them. The whole time, I
simply had to sit; there was no standing or kneeling. I must
admit it was a bit tiring and boring. I also noticed that the
prayer is very different from the prayers offered in other
churches. Mostly, their prayers involved thanking God for their
prophets, such as Joseph Smith and others.
The main worship service is the sacrament meeting that took an
hour. I noticed
that the individual leading the service, that is, the bishop did
not wear an ecclesiastical robe but wore a suit and therefore it
is very difficult to differentiate him from the rest of the
church’s members. So, during my follow-up, I plan
to find out why the bishop does not wear an ecclesiastical robe.
The service started with congregational announcements done by
one of the local leaders. He then welcomed everyone and
outlined the meeting. Outlining the meeting involved saying
who will give the opening prayer, who the speaker is and the

3. hymns to be sang for that service. This was immediately
followed by an opening hymn that was led by the leader of
music and played by a pianist. I noticed that very few people
were singing, me included, as most could not pick the key of the
hymn and therefore, it was not lively. This was followed right
away by a prayer offered by a church member who was
requested to do so earlier.
Now, it was time for the Sacrament and it started with a hymn
about the atonement of Jesus Christ. Then, the Sacrament was
blessed by two priests through a prayer. They first blessed the
bread and it was passed by two teenage boys (who I learned
from the missionary that are known as deacons and must be
more than 12 years old). After the bread is passed, they then
blessed the water (most churches use wine or grape juice). The
deacons passed the bread and water in trays and I noticed that
they took hold of the tray using the right hand and took a piece
of bread using the left hand and pass the tray to the next person.
The deacon stood at the end of the seats so as to take the tray
and pass it to the next row. As I had discovered during my
previous assignment visitors do not take the communion, so I
just passed it to the next person when it was my turn. I noticed
too that kids just pass the communion and I learned from the
missionary that one has to be baptized in the church to take the
communion and that kids get baptized at 8 years, so after that
they can take the communion. Contrary to many other churches
whereby all members of the congregation waits until every
member hold the sacrament so as they can take it together, I
noticed that everyone took the sacrament immediately it landed
on his/her hands. The whole church was silent during this time
and I learned from the missionary that one was supposed to
reflect on Jesus Christ as the savoir as well as renew his/her
baptismal covenants during this time. One can also decide to
read scriptures about atonement of Jesus Christ during this time
(Givens, 2004).
It was now time for talks or what in most churches is called the
sermon. During the talks, there was no formal reading of

4. scriptures from the podium as happens in many churches but
those giving talks extensively cite from the scriptures. There
were 3 speakers, two teenage boys and one adult, who held talks
for around 10-15 minutes each. After the speakers, the service
ended with a hymn and a closing prayer conducted by a member
of the congregation.
During the service, I noticed that the church does not recognize
visitors as there was no time they gave visitors a chance to greet
the congregation and introduce themselves as is common in
many churches. I also noticed that during the service there was
a lot of disruption, people moving in and out anyhow and
children crying all over, that made it very hard for one to
concentrate fully. The service to me felt more like a religious
conference rather than a Sunday service.
After the Sacrament Meeting, it was time for the Sunday school
classes that are arranged according to age groups as I had
discussed in my previous assignment. Being a visitor, I chose to
attend the Gospel Principle class that is customized for new
members. During this one hour, I was taught a lot about the
church beliefs and faith. I learned that the Mormons dress
modestly during the worship service so as to show respect to
God, and also that though the church leaders, including the
bishop are paid, they volunteer (Arrington, 1979).
After the Sunday classes, it was time for the other one hour
class about Relief Society and Priesthood. I didn’t attend this
meeting as I was by then very tired, but I inquired about it from
the missionary. He told me that the classes are grouped
according to gender and age since it involved learning things
specific to a gender and age. For example, women are taught
how to be good wives, or how to bring up children in Godly
ways. Mostly, men and boys are taught about serving in the
church as priests or deacons respectively (Givens, 2004).
In analyzing my observations I would have to say that I would
categorize the function of these events as

5. 1. Filling individual needs, especially psychological or
emotional.
The services seemed to provide comfort hope and relief from
fear and despair.
2. Explanation, especially of origins or causes.
The event was based around the belief in Jesus Christ as a Lord
and Savior and symbolic representations of the history behind
Christ
.
3. Source of “Ultimate Sanctions”.
Services spoke about how the people should act according to the
Book of Morman and the Bible, while the classes were held to
teach how to live as individuals both male and female serving a
different role
.
References
Arrington, L.J. (1979). The Mormon Experience: A History of
the Latter-day Saints; University of Illinois
Press.
Givens, T.L. (2004). The Latter-day Saint Experience in
America (The American Religious
Experience) Greenwood Press.
Moro, P. (Ed.). (2013). Magic, witchcraft, and religion: A
reader in the anthropology of religion (9th ed.). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill.
�This should be completed

6. �For the final paper, you need an introduction that includes a
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�Avoid repeating words and phrases throughout the paper
�Some of the language you are using is informal or
conversational in style. Academic writing is structured and
formal. What may seem appropriate in everyday conversation is
not necessarily appropriate for your essay.
�This should be written in an essay format.
�You need to take the paper from an ethnographic description
to an academic analysis of the religious event
�Expand this analysis – it is a good start.
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the paper and reaffirms your thesis.