Why do deacons and teachers administer the sacrament?

[AGStacker]

Definition of ADMINISTER

1: to manage or supervise the execution, use, or conduct of <administer a trust fund>

2 a : to mete out : dispense <administer punishment>
b : to give ritually <administer the last rites>
c : to give remedially <administer a dose of medicine>


Doctrine and Covenants 20:58

58 But neither teachers nor deacons have authority to baptize, administer the sacrament, or lay on hands;

[ajax]

Not sure. But if they didn't administer the sacrament, what would they do?

And should we even be ordaining teens to deacon, teacher, priest based on age? When did that become standard practice?

[ebenezerarise]

From Joseph Fielding Smith's Answers to Gospel Questions:

“From the records of the Church, there seems to be no definite time when the Aaronic Priesthood was first given to boys. Some ordinations were given to very young men who showed aptitude as far back as the days of Kirtland; for instance, Don Carlos Smith, youngest brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was ordained and labored as a missionary when only fifteen years of age. (D.H.C., Vol. 4, p. 393.) George A. Smith, father of John Henry Smith, was active in the ministry when about fifteen years of age, and also was a member of Zion’s Camp in 1834. He was ordained a seventy when the first seventies were chosen in 1835 and was called into the Council of the Twelve when twenty-one years of age. Other young men who were worthy were ordained in those early days and sent out to preach the gospel. President Joseph F. Smith was ordained an elder and sent on a mission when he was fifteen. So we see the conferring of the priesthood was not completely confined to men in the days of Kirtland, Nauvoo, or in the Salt Lake Valley.”

New male converts were ordained first to offices in the Aaronic Priesthood, and then to offices in the Melchizedek Priesthood. Ordaining principally youth to the Aaronic Priesthood did not start until some time after the number of youth in the church, i.e. baptized children of members, became large enough to merit individual quorum consideration The definition of the current minimum ages for the Aaronic Priesthood offices was defined by the First Presidency of the Mormon Church in 1908.

[Original_Intent]

Not sure. But if they didn't administer the sacrament, what would they do?

And should we even be ordaining teens to deacon, teacher, priest based on age? When did that become standard practice?

It is not based on age. My son was ordained a priest at 15.

@AGStacker - I guess the deacons and teachers are not performing the ordinance, they are assisting the priests, under the direction of the bishop.

[ajax]

It is not based on age. My son was ordained a priest at 15.

For a majority, age is a qualifying factor - 12/14/16

[uglypitbull]

the deacons and teachers are not performing the ordinance, they are assisting the priests, under the direction of the bishop.

I concur with this......also, I wasn't ordained a priest until I was 37

[gkearney]

Originally in the LDS Church the sacrament, more properly called communion, was given to members in a form similar to that found in Catholic or Anglican traditions. That is the members coming forward to the table and the priest giving them the bread and wine (now water) for a common cup. In this they were actually administering the sacrament to the members.

The common cup disappeared from LDS church, and many other faiths as well, due to health concerns surrounding the 1918 flu pandemic. At that time the trays came into use and also the idea of the deacons and teachers taking them from the priests and passing them to the membership.

The passing of the trays has no real tie to the priesthood and in fact in the second word war, before boys holding the Aaronic Priesthood became widespread, women and girls also performed this duty due to the lack of men in some communities.

[EmmaLee]

It is not based on age. My son was ordained a priest at 15.

For a majority, age is a qualifying factor - 12/14/16

You're right, Ajax. From the 2010 Church Handbook of Instruction 2 -

http://www.lds.org/handbook/handbook-2- ... ng=eng#207" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The bishop oversees the conferral of the Aaronic Priesthood and ordinations to the offices of deacon, teacher, and priest. Worthy brethren should be ordained at the following minimum ages:

Deacon: age 12

Teacher: age 14

Priest: age 16

[AGStacker]

Stella answered my question.

[EmmaLee]

I've also wondered why we don't kneel anymore during the sacrament prayers. The Lord said, “And the elder or priest shall administer it; and after this manner shall he administer it—he shall kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer, saying:” (D&C 20: 76)

We should be kneeling as a congregation during the sacrament prayers, unless there's been a revelation countering the above command ("he shall" is a command) from the Lord. The priests are not kneeling "in proxy" for the congregation. The scripture says "with the church", meaning we should all be kneeling.

As for preparing and passing the sacrament, I found this post on another forum, which I agree with -

In my view neither the preparation nor the passing requires priesthood at all. We assign those tasks to the teachers and deacons because, for historial reasons, we have come to a position where instead of mature men we ordain young boys to these positions, and there was a need to come up with duties suitable to their young and limited abilities, and these were natural one to fill that bill. They’ve been doing it so long we have a tendency to assume that it is an eternal requirement that only males ordained to those priesthood offices have the authority to do such. But this simply isn’t true. The young women, or primary children, for that matter, could just as easily do it.

I’d suggest a read of William G. Hartley, “From Men to Boys: LDS Aaronic Priesthood Offices, 1829-1996,” Journal of Mormon History 22/1 (Spring 1996): 80-136.

In that article, Heber J. Grant is quoted as saying that passing the sacrament is not a priesthood duty. They just needed something for them to do (Ajax, you're right again, lol). Women frequently used to do the tasks that teachers do now, as far as putting the bread on the trays and filling the water cups. And every Sunday in our ward, children, females, and non-members "pass" the sacrament, so that obviously doesn't require someone with a priesthood ordination. So without further light and knowledge on the subject, when the Lord says, "administer the sacrament" in Doctrine and Covenants 20:58, I don't think he meant preparing and passing it, but rather overseeing the whole process and offering the prayers. I could be wrong and am willing to learn.

[ajax]

3 Nephi 18:5
And when the multitude had eaten and were filled, he said unto the disciples: Behold there shall one be ordained among you, and to him will I give power that he shall break bread and bless it and give it unto the people of my church[I'm guessing Elder or Priest], unto all those who shall believe and be baptized in my name.

Moroni 4:1
The manner of their elders and priests administering the flesh and blood of Christ unto the church; and they administered it according to the commandments of Christ; wherefore we know the manner to be true; and the elder or priest did minister it—

@AGStacker - I guess the deacons and teachers are not performing the ordinance, they are assisting the priests, under the direction of the bishop.

Does administering the sacrament include setting up, taking down, and passing? (but we all pass)

Or are those just "assisting" functions outside of the real administration that really anybody could do?

Should only Elder/Priest set up and take down?
Should only Elder/Priest pass? What about my wife or daughter who passes to me?

[EmmaLee]

In my mind, the Lord gives HIS very clear definition of what "administering the sacrament" means -

“And the elder or priest shall administer it; and after this manner shall he administer it—he shall kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer, saying:” (D&C 20: 76)

So to me, the Lord is saying to administer the sacrament is to "kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer" - anything above and beyond this (setting up, taking down, passing, etc...) is not part of the "administering".

[AGStacker]

In my mind, the Lord gives HIS very clear definition of what "administering the sacrament" means -

“And the elder or priest shall administer it; and after this manner shall he administer it—he shall kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer, saying:” (D&C 20: 76)

So to me, the Lord is saying to administer the sacrament is to "kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer" - anything above and beyond this (setting up, taking down, passing, etc...) is not part of the "administering".

This makes sense to me.

[ajax]

So to me, the Lord is saying to administer the sacrament is to "kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer" - anything above and beyond (preparing, passing, etc...) this is not part of the "administering".

So basically anybody could prepare, pass etc, - male, female, deacon, beehive, teacher, mia-maid or anybody else the bishop assigns?

So, we have made these assignments to the teachers and deacons and over time they have evolved into administering the sacrament and a priesthood duty?

Would these be correct?

[EmmaLee]

That's how I understand it, Ajax. In the early days of the church (and even when my Grandma was a girl), women were the ones who prepared the sacrament, as far as laying the bread out, pouring the wine/water, etc... essentially, all the "setting up" and "taking down" tasks. The scripture does mention "breaking" as part of the ordinance, so in my opinion, the elder/priest would need to be the one to actually break the bread. But as for everything else - setting up, taking down, and passing - I do not see any scriptural directive or requirement for priesthood holders to do any of those things. If there is, I'd appreciate the reference(s).

[ajax]

Makes sense.

I would love to see a "rogue" bishop shake things up a bit.

[AussieOi]

Makes sense.

I would love to see a "rogue" bishop shake things up a bit.

Wine
kneel
elders meant to do it
we don't even say the right prayer

What was the early church apostasy about again?

[ajax]

"kneel with the church"

I'd like to see that. I think that in and of itself would make the ordinance that much more sacred.

[EmmaLee]

Not only would it make the ordinance more sacred, we are commanded by the Lord to do it - from my post above -

I've also wondered why we don't kneel anymore during the sacrament prayers. The Lord said, “And the elder or priest shall administer it; and after this manner shall he administer it—he shall kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer, saying:” (D&C 20: 76)

We should be kneeling as a congregation during the sacrament prayers, unless there's been a revelation countering the above command ("he shall" is a command) from the Lord. The priests are not kneeling "in proxy" for the congregation. The scripture says "with the church", meaning we should all be kneeling.

Also -

"And they did kneel down with the church, and pray to the Father in the name of Christ, saying:" (Moroni 4:2)

[gkearney]

On a practical side we would need to install knellers in our churches similar to those found in Catholic or Anglican churches. Also our pews are to close together in most chapels.

[SpeedRacer]

I thought the priests were the ones administering, and the teachers were only putting stuff on trays, and the deacons passing it. Is somone doing it different?

[AussieOi]

Yrs, we lds are.

Go read d and c again.

Says clearly elders do Sacrament.

Priests can, but only if yjete is no elders.


Pretty poor isn't it. As a church we follow handbooks more than scripture.

Praise to the msn.
Thank you god for the prophet
Follow the prophet and all that

[EmmaLee]

On a practical side we would need to install knellers in our churches similar to those found in Catholic or Anglican churches. Also our pews are to close together in most chapels.

Yep, it would cost some money to refit the chapels, but our church has plenty of that. I remember going to church one Sunday as a youth with a Catholic friend of mine and upon seeing that they knelt during portions of the meeting thought, "Wow, what a neat idea; how appropriate to worship God on our knees during worship service" - and then wondered why we didn't have those knellers or cushions to kneel on in our church. And that was before I realized we were commanded by the Lord to do just that.

[ajax]

I thought the priests were the ones administering, and the teachers were only putting stuff on trays, and the deacons passing it. Is somone doing it different?

If teachers and deacons assignments are not administering the sacrament, why don't we allow others to help? namely the YW?

The church handbook says "Deacons, teachers, priests, and Melchizedek Priesthood holders may pass the sacrament." Why only them?

It also states one of the duties of a deacon is to pass the sacrament. One of the duties of a teacher is to prepare the sacrament. Most of the duties listed are backed up by scripture. These are not. Why?

Why have we made these assignments "priesthood duties". If I were to suggest to my bishop to allow beehives/mia-maids/laurels to help in preparing and passing the sacrament, I'm pretty sure I know what he would say.

[AussieOi]

Why? Because we have no idea what the priesthood is or how to properly use it.
Also we are fitting an 1840s cultural paradigm into the doctrine in today's world.