3 Tips for a Successful LDS Sacrament Prayer Meeting at Home + Free Printable

To help make Sundays go more smoothly, we’ve created this simple free printable to help you schedule out your own LDS sacrament prayer meeting at home to go along with Come Follow Me, published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Hey y’all, it’s been a crazy week, hasn’t it?

Many of you are out of school and are searching desperately for ways to do school at home for your kids. (Check out our huge list of free resources here with a free printable schedule.)

A lot of you are also trying to figure out how to make Sundays at home a positive experience for your families. It’s not going to be easy, having church and school all canceled.

Having the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Sacrament Meeting at Home

To help make Sundays go more smoothly, we’ve created this simple free printable to help you schedule out your own sacrament prayer meeting at home.

For many areas, how you do sacramental prayers will vary based on the direction of your local leaders. In our area, for example, our bishops are willing to take upon organizing how to get the blessing over the sacrament to everyone once per month.

To be very clear, you should not be blessing and passing the sacrament on your own without explicit direction from your local priesthood authorities.

In our case, we will simply skip over the part where we bless and pass the sacrament. As a family, we can partake in reading the sacrament prayers from the scriptures and discussing the symbolism to help us remember our covenants. This sacred remembrance makes our time together a meaningful sacrament, inviting Jesus Christ to bless and guide our lives.

Three Tips for a Smooth Sacrament Meeting at Home with Kids

In addition to the free printable, we also have three tips, inspired by the teachings in the New Testament and the examples of the Twelve Apostles, to help you have a successful sacrament meeting at home.

Tip #1

Set aside a specific time to partake of the sacrament during your Sunday home sacrament meeting program. Scheduling is so important, especially right now. Ensure that your designated time aligns with the schedule of the sacrament table in your local congregation.

Having a certain time to partake in the prayers and sacrament makes it easier to have a structured day, which children desperately need. It also helps you make sure it actually happens! Have a proactive plan that you set as a goal, and try your best to make it special.

Make sure you choose a time that works best for your family, bearing witness unto thee, allowing the sacrament to be a moment of remembrance and a time when your family feels blessed. Don’t try to continue at the same time as your regular church hours. For example, don’t try to hold sacrament right before lunchtime, or you’ll have hungry children (and parents!) to deal with.

Tip #2

Create a sacred space for your Sacrament meeting at home, inviting the presence of God the Eternal Father and Jesus Christ into your midst.

The Sabbath day is meant to be set apart from the rest of the world, providing a special time for worship, reflection, and communion with the Holy Ghost and thy Son Jesus Christ. Similarly, worshiping as a family should be set apart from the rest of your daily routine, creating a dedicated time to strengthen your bond with your Heavenly Father and reflect on your baptismal covenants.

Since we can’t physically leave to go to church, set up an area where, as a family led by a presiding officer, you can gather to discuss Jesus Christ, our Savior, and the importance of following the commandments.

We like to use our living room or our homeschool room.

We don’t have the extra space (like an extra room) to do this in, but we can set aside an area and make it sacred. For example, is it clean and free of clutter? Are toys and other distractions put away? Are there items you can bring out, like a picture of the Savior?

Then at the end of your program, you can put some of those items away and use the space how you normally do.

Tip #3

Have an organized plan for your sacrament meeting at home.

Whether or not you use our free printed program, you should have an organized routine for how you want your sacrament meeting to go. You should always begin and end with a prayer. Having at least one hymn at partaking of the sacrament before beginning will always bring in the Spirit.

Our daily Come Follow Me Devotionals always come with a list of unique activities you can do each Sunday. These Sunday ideas fit right in with the Come, Follow Me principles that you’ve been studying throughout the week.

Some other ideas to add to your home sacrament meeting program are:

Let children practice writing and giving short talks (like they might in Primary). Our six-year-old even teaches a short lesson sometimes! (With help from parents.)
Memorize a scripture verse or Article of Faith
Share special moments you had during the week when you felt the Spirit (even though you might be getting cabin fever!)
Learn a special musical number to perform for the family
Create special Sunday meeting journals to write down feelings and impressions (or draw them, for younger children) during your home program.