The Church Hopper

On Sunday, September 11, 2022, I visited The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on North Main Street in Danville, VA. The funny thing about this church is that I grew up going to the church right beside it. So for 21 years, I saw this church multiple times a week, but had never set foot in it until that day. Their grass has always been on point!

Their service (they call it a meeting) starts at 10am and is for all ages, and lasts for an hour. Then they have age-appropriate classes from 11am-12pm. The church is beautiful and somewhat modern on the outside, but the inside is very set back in time. Everything was a different shade of tan… EVERYTHING! I walked into their sanctuary (which they call a chapel) and sat down right as the service was starting. They had a man (brother as he was called) leading the order of the meeting. Their service was much like a meeting in the way that it was run with the exception of songs throughout. Communion (the sacrament) was served to everyone by the young men who are training to be missionaries for the church. They serve bread and water as the sacrament – versus bread and juice/wine. Yes, I was confused also… So, I looked up why, here is the link Question: Why do Mormons use water instead of wine for their sacrament services? – FAIR (fairlatterdaysaints.org)

They had two speakers for this meeting: one brother and one sister. They both spoke on the theme of Adversity. At the end of the service the congregation broke into classes. There were no instructions given from the pulpit, so as a visitor I would have no clue as to where to go… So, I just left. I hate that I do not have anything else to add to this post. My overall experience was pretty bland. I will say that their website, which seems to be run by the higher ups of the Latter Day Saints, was impressive. They even had a link to contact them if you did not want to attend church alone – that they would send a missionary to meet you outside to walk in with you and sit with you! Loved that added option of hospitality!!