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Member Etiquette

I was recently in sacrament meeting sitting down and listening to the talk given when suddenly a loud chirping noise could be heard coming from behind me. I turned my head just enough for my ear to get a better listen... the person behind me had a cel phone, and did they just turn it off - no - they begin to talk to the person calling, but fortunately only for a few seconds. This seems to happen regularly.

Then there are other basic hygiene practices that if observed can avoid the transferring of diseases, etc. Do you have this problem in your area (Branch / Ward)?

Etiquette Member

I have never had anyone talk on a cell phone that I am aware. How rude. Seems to me they could put on vibrate, leave the room to answer or simply turn off and have it go to voice mail. I think if it is a problem in your area, each week, whoever is conducting the meeting should remind everyone to turn off cell phones and pagers. After a few months, it probably wouldn't be necessary to continue the reminder.

Member Etiquette Studies Doctrine Mormon

Well, I used that only as one example to start off the topic, but of course they (the leaders) do make mention of it, but after awhile it goes unheeded. There are basic things of hygiene and etiquette that I think should be inherent in an 'LDS Society' such as opening doors for the Sisters, leaving the wash basin clean after you use it, washing your hands before handling food, informing the janitor or leader of toilet paper / soap missing, offering up your hymn book or sharing with someone who has none, etc.

Etiquette Member

My bishop is quite a character, and on two separate occasions, his cell phone has rung in the middle of a fast & testimony meeting. It plays the Indiana Jones theme song.

It really bugs me when members who are obviously sick (coughing, sneezing, etc.) shake my hand. When I am sick, I tell people hello and that I don't want to give them a cold, so I'll say hello without shaking. I also try never to cough or sneeze into my hand - I use my shoulder or upper arm.

In my ward at home, I have no problem with parents bringing Cheerios or something to keep their kids quiet, but when they let the kids toss them all over the floor and then they leave them to get crunched into the carpet in the chapel, that seems pretty disrespectful. I also hope I will never get to the point as a parent where I will just let my toddlers walk everywhere during the meeting, including up on the stand. I've seen a few instances where the parents didn't retrieve their kid until she started banging on the piano.

On the positive side, one of my bishops used to use instant hand sanitizer several times every Sunday so he wouldn't spread germs. He would do that after each tithing settlement interview. That was a considerate gesture, especially since he would need to shake many hands during the day as the bishop.

I have seen many parents avert wandering toddler problems by having the parents or older children at the end of the row. I am thankful for mothers who take their fussy babies to the foyer or mother's lounge until they settle down. I am thankful for fathers who take crying children out so mothers can listen to the meeting. Most people exercise common courtesy, and most who don't simply don't know any better. But a little more awareness would certainly improve everybody's quality of life.

Etiquette Member

That one with the toddlers walking up on the stand and everywhere in the chapel while a meeting is going on is a classic. What is more annoying is when the parents don't even look in the direction of the child, it is as if they do not care, if not in the least for the child's safety.

What about when the Sunday block meeting is over and the kids go in the gym or outside and start to play wildly as though they were just let out of the zoo?

Member Etiquette

That's a big problem, especially since we have enough wards in the stake that when one ward's block is done, another ward has 15 minutes left in Sacrament Meeting. It's not just the kids, either; the adults are often loud talkers, and they seem to congregate near the chapel.

Another small pet peeve in Church etiquette, and it is small, is when people bear their testimonies and end "in the name of THY Son, Jesus Christ, Amen." When we are praying, we pray to God, whose Son Christ is. But when we are bearing testimony, we are speaking to the congregation. Christ is not the Son of the University Ward.

I suppose that could be a whole thread in itself - testimony meetings. Some of my favorite offenders in different wards have included:

-The guy who often talks about his Cadillacs, the Internet, or Amway for 15 minutes.

-The lady who just stands up and thanks all the primary workers and doesn't get around to bearing testimony of anything.

-The old Texan who rambles on about becoming a God and what he's gonna do when he is one. (This same guy talked in Sacrament Meeting about how he didn't know the Church was true when he joined - he just applied an engineering principle and decided the possible benefit if it is true outweighed the possible punishment if it isn't. He was a bishop once.)

Member Etiquette

This one bugs me too. I don't understand it. There is no need for this either. You should be teaching your child to sit as quietly as possible. Now, my grandson has ADD. He doesn't sit quietly so well. However, he is learning. I have never alowed him to walk freely during the meeting. He always understood his limit was the end of the pew. I would usually sit where he had some moving room on the pew but he couldn't leave that space. He now sits quietly and colors...most Sundays.

Member Etiquette Mormon Doctrine Studies

Yep, we have all the same issues in my ward. Once it was mentioned from the pulpit to limit the young men and young women's use of cell phones during class times, but never mentioned about folks in sacrament meeting. It should be common sense, right? At least, in my view.

When my son was a baby and then a toddler, I would take him out of the meeting immediately! It's really annoying to have someone directly behind you or across the row with a fussing or even screaming child who just sits there and struggles with them. My first instinct is to offer to help them out, to take the child and see if I can help calm them or distract them. Sometimes it works and sometimes not -- not all parents understand that I really want to help; with others, apparently I'm crossing a line that they don't like.

Another issue I had was during the ward Christmas play. This one family -- mom and 5 kids ranging from 10 to 20 years old -- had seats in the front row, and during the entire play they were walking back and forth, leaning over and whispering to each other; one of the older girls had on a pair of slippers that were so noisy going "scuff scuff scuff scuff" with every step! Back and forth, back and forth, scuff scuff scuff scuff. Oy! It was rude and disrespectful to those in the play as well as those in the audience.

Sorry, I got carried away there.

Roz