Every year in the LDS church (actually, twice a year) we have this large meeting where we sustain our church leaders. What does that mean? The bishop / ecclesiastical leader gets up and says 'all those who sustain (name of the church president) as President of the church, please show by the uplifted hand,' or 'in the quorum of the twelve apostles, (names of the current twelve apostles) all those in favor please manifest,' and we all raise our hands. The bishop / ecclesiastical leader then says 'any opposed, please manifest,' and usually nobody raises their hand. It might seem confusing or redundant to those outside of the church, but in reality it is a very important part of the LDS faith. What we are basically doing is saying 'I show my support for these leaders, and I will do my best to follow their counsel and support them in their callings where possible.' It is not voting--it is showing solidarity and support. Today was stake conference, so we sustained our church leaders, and I pulled out my camera to take a picture. The funny thing, though, was that when I got back to my apartment, I realized that I had attended conference with the wrong stake! The 14th stake met in the tabernacle at 2pm, but I went there at 10am! I was wondering why I didn't recognize most of the people...
2008-02-24 23:26:50 • 1 Comments • Category: [Mormon Culture]  church crowds LDS_church spirituality
3.26 out of 53 votes