\u201cWith the church\u2019s blessing, Mormon girls are passing the sacrament \u2014 and not just to the members sitting next to them\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just for the record (since absolutely nobody has actually requested my opinion on the topic):<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I see absolutely no problem with the practice described in this article, and, very obviously, there are some benefits and practical reasons for adopting it.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
After all, for one thing, women and girls and other unordained persons routinely pass the sacrament trays along pews, and so forth. \u00a0There is nothing intrinsically \u201cpriestly\u201d or requiring ordination to the priesthood about passing a tray bearing bread fragments or small cups of water. \u00a0And standing up or walking a few paces doesn\u2019t significantly change that.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a biblical way of thinking about it:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The descendants of Levi in ancient Israel, the Levites, were entrusted with responsibilities for the most sacred Israelite shrines, which were the tabernacle and eventually the temple. \u00a0Aaron, a descendant of Levi, was among them. \u00a0But his specific line was given explicitly priestly responsibilities, as opposed to the more general support functions assigned to the rest of the Levites.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In other words, the Aaronites were a subset of the Levites. \u00a0Not all Levites were priests \u2014 most were not \u2014 but all Aaronic priests in ancient Israel were Levites (with a mere handful of possible exceptions).<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s restored Church, the deacons and teachers serve a support function that is analogous to that of the general population of ancient Levites. \u00a0The deacons carry the trays of consecrated bread and water to the congregation after the teachers have provided the bread and water to the priests, who bless it. \u00a0Of these three functions, only the third (the blessing of the emblems of the sacrament) has an actual priestly character \u2014 which, I suppose, is why the priests are called priests<\/em>!<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
In providing the bread and water for the priests, and in distributing the bread and water after the priests have blessed it, the teachers and deacons are fulfilling their assigned responsibility, but what they do parallels the Levitical role among the ancient Israelites more than it does the specifically priestly functions of the ancient Aaronites.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thus, if young women pass the sacrament along to others, they aren\u2019t assuming a priestly function.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
That said, I don\u2019t want to minimize this kind of service by any means. \u00a0And, in fact, I support any effort to think things through in order to provide as many chances to serve for unordained people \u2014 including young women and mature women \u2014 as possible. \u00a0I think that, sometimes, we\u2019ve assumed requirements of ordained priesthood authority where it was unnecessary to do so. \u00a0I specifically applaud the practices described in this article.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
As I\u2019ve stated before, by the way, I have absolutely no problem with the idea of ordaining women \u2014 except for the fact that, thus far, the Lord has neither commanded nor allowed such ordination. \u00a0If and when a revolution comes authorizing the ordaining of women, I will have no hesitation whatever about it. \u00a0Do I expect such a revelation? \u00a0I\u2019m not holding my breath. \u00a0But then, the Lord isn\u2019t likely to give me a forewarning on the matter.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 New this week in Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture (and, it should perhaps be noted, written by a non-relative of mine): \u00a0 \u201cTo Be Learned Is Good,\u00a0If One Stays on the Rails\u201d \u00a0 *** \u00a0 Many people \u2014 presumably basing their expectations on April\u2019s rather eventful conference, which was President Nelson\u2019s first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>