sacrament to the shutins

I have a Home Teacher in my ward that visits a home bound person. He has requested to have the blessing of taking the sacrament to this individual. The only issue is he will not go out and visit on Sunday.

Is there any church policy one way or the other on this?? Should we allow the sacrament to be administered on day's other than Sunday??

Thanks!!

longc wrote:The only issue is he will not go out and visit on Sunday.

Is the issue with the HT, the home bound person or circumstances beyond either's control?

I'd have to thumb though the manual, but I suspect that's a bishop's call.

russellhltn wrote:I suspect that's a bishop's call.

The decision to take in the sacrament is at the bishop's discretion. but there is no Sunday-only restriction to the ordinance itself.

And in some countries around the world, the Sabbath day is Friday or Saturday, not Sunday. So that is the day our members meet, as well.

As far as I know, there are no policies that the sacrament can only be given on Sunday. In fact, I've heard (though not from any official source) that the apostles meet during the week to take the sacrament, as part of a different meeting, since on Sundays they are so often attending stake conferences.

1. There is no "Sunday only" restriction on the sacrament.
When I lived in Israel, we had our branch meetings (incl. the sacrament) on Saturday. Our friends in Saudi Arabia had them on Friday.

When we lived in Hong Kong, there was a branch to support the huge population of domestic workers (house maids) who only get one day a week off - which could be any day of the week, so that branch had a sacrament meeting every day to accommodate those dear sisters. (if you are ever in HK, you can go to sacrament any day at 1:00 p.m.).

2. If the Home Teacher can't or won't go on Sunday, the Bishop can assign any Priest or Melchizedek Priesthood holder to take the sacrament to the home bound person. It can be a great spiritual service experience for priests. Several of my sons had that wonderful opportunity in our ward when they were priests. My father was home bound for his last few years and he developed an incredible bond with the priests from his ward who brought him the sacrament every week.

sbradshaw wrote:As far as I know, there are no policies that the sacrament can only be given on Sunday. In fact, I've heard (though not from any official source) that the apostles meet during the week to take the sacrament, as part of a different meeting, since on Sundays they are so often attending stake conferences.

In addition, stake disciplinary councils always start with the Sacrament, regardless of the day of the week.

drepouille wrote:In addition, stake disciplinary councils always start with the Sacrament, regardless of the day of the week.

Let's not get off on a tangent, but lest anyone draw an incorrect conclusion, what drepouille refers to must be a local practice; there's certainly nothing in the handbooks that would indicate that administering the sacrament is a required element of stake disciplinary councils.

Nonetheless, back to the original point that is relevant to this topic, there is indeed ample evidence that the sacrament may be administered on days other than Sunday.

The bishop has the keys of the sacrament (aaronic Pristhood)
But to administer the sacrament in a day besides the “Sunday” our sabbath day, only the area presidency has the keys to allow to be done in a different day, not the bishop.

That is way some countries can minister the sacrament in different days of the week, because their day of rest is not Sunday.

I went after this information here in Brazil, and that was what I was told.

In GHB 18.9.1, instructions are given regarding administering the sacrament. My reading is that for sacrament meetings, the Handbook requirement is that sacrament meetings occur on the Sabbath, and thus any exceptions indeed would need to have approval from a General level. Likewise, home administration of the sacrament during an extended period when no sacrament meetings occur, also is specified to occur on the Sabbath. However, the paragraph on a Bishop authorizing the sacrament to be taken to a member outside of sacrament meeting, does not specify that this also must occur on the Sabbath. I'm uncertain what the specific policy might have been back in 2016 when this question was posed, but at least currently that's what the Handbook specifies.

I am a senior missionary in the Philippines and we have low activity ratios. Many cannot attend on Sunday as they work 7 days a week. Many have an evening or morning available. I know there is indication of the sacrament being given on days other than Sundays, but are sacrament meetings held in any country on multiple days other than the designated Sabbath. Sunday is Sabbath here, but most cannot attend due to work schedules.

Please read my post above in this thread.

In Hong Kong, the international district has well over a thousand domestic workers who are members, (at least there were that many before the pandemic) mostly from the Philippines, essentially all sisters, who only get one day off a week, but it may not be Sunday.

So, there is a branch that meets every day to accommodate them so each member can attend on their day off (which is their sabbath). The branch has a full schedule of meetings every day and the sacrament is administered every day so all members can participate. Kind of interesting - there is a RS presidency for each day, and the sisters who attend on Monday never meet the sisters who attend on Tuesday, etc.

I am sure it took approval from at least the area president, but it has been operating for many years.

tgmeyer wrote: Thu May 04, 2023 7:13 pm I am a senior missionary in the Philippines and we have low activity ratios. Many cannot attend on Sunday as they work 7 days a week. Many have an evening or morning available. I know there is indication of the sacrament being given on days other than Sundays, but are sacrament meetings held in any country on multiple days other than the designated Sabbath. Sunday is Sabbath here, but most cannot attend due to work schedules.

Yes. In Israel, sacrament meetings are held on Saturday. In many predominantly Muslim countries like Egypt and Jordan, sacrament meetings are held on Friday. In parts of Hong Kong, there are sacrament meetings every day of the week, and the Hong Kong temple is occasionally open on Sundays, to accommodate a large population with difficult work schedules. I believe these exceptions would have needed approval either at the area level or the general level (not the ward or stake level).

(For completeness, Sunday being the preferred day of worship for Latter-day Saints follows mainstream Christian tradition, but is affirmed as acceptable to the Lord in Doctrine and Covenants 59 – on "this, the Lord’s day" – the revelation was given on a Sunday. So Sunday is the general rule, but other days can be approved by authorized leaders as exceptions. This is helpful when explaining our Sunday worship to Christian friends who believe in keeping a seventh-day Sabbath.)