Quote:
Originally Posted by Mormon Red Death
Bishop,
A couple of months ago I asked about the Deacons helping with setting up the sacrament as we only have one teacher. As I reading in D&C 20 this afternoon I came upon these verses. Please note verse 57. Doesn't our situation meet the "If occasion requires" clause? Am I way off here in my interpretation of the D&C?
53 The teacher’s duty is to watch over the church always, and be with and strengthen them;
54 And see that there is no iniquity in the church, neither hardness with each other, neither lying, backbiting, nor evil speaking;
55 And see that the church meet together often, and also see that all the members do their duty.
56 And he is to take the lead of meetings in the absence of the elder or priest—
57 And is to be assisted always, in all his duties in the church, by the deacons, if occasion requires.
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You might have a case from the passage you cite, although someone could, for starters, try to distinguish between "assiting in duties in the church" and "assisting in duties in the priesthood."
Regardless, the HoI and tradition run counter to your interpretation and your Bishop will follow them.
There are some interesting things in this area that fall beneath the notice of most. One is that ANYONE in the LDS Church can pass the Sacrament. A sister can pass the tray to someone else, and there's nothing magical about standing and passing or passing to more than one person. Although the Deacon's responsibility with the Sacrament is often referred to as "passing," the priesthood function being exercised is actually OVERSEEING the passing and ensuring that the bread and water are offered to everyone (with respect for parents' decisions about their children--and especially young children-- being the norm).
It would violate cultural expectations if, for example, a sister stood up and passed the tray across the aisle, but in the LDS Church the only things wrong with such an action are in the "unwritten order of things" and in the implication that it might somehow send a "wrong" message (there might be some letter or something addressing this, but I've never heard of one). More than a few breakoffs from the Church fault us for this very thing. Some of the polygamist groups won't let women pass the emblems at all and others have a one-to-one interaction between the priesthood holder and the congregant. I've heard of some Christian groups that won't even let women partake of the Sacrament because Jesus, in the Gospel accounts, only offered it to men.
That the Lord's Supper in the early church was a celebratory, community meal, one that sometimes got out of hand (see Paul's description of people getting drunk on the Sacramental wine and overeating the bread of the Lord's body while others went hungry in 1 Cor. 11), affirms, I think, that community participation (communion, as it were) is key and that, while Paul is upbraiding the Corinthians for focusing on their individual consumption, the Suppers in Corinth at least were fairly informal.
On the one hand I think it would be cool to have an old style "Supper of the Lord." OTOH, I understand why this doesn't happen in the Church.