ZooomChurch: An Un-Usual Meeting

April 26, 2020 Last Sunday I zoomed into church at the Jarvis home. Rebecca was conducting the meeting. I watched Eric Jarvis bless and passed the bread. Thomas blessed the water and passed it. The water had been previously poured into 5 plastic cups: red, yellow, light blue, dark blue, orange. I told Catherine later that I was horrified. I wondered if she had purchased them at the dollar store for this purpose. She said no, those are the cups from the children’s childhood. I told her that I thought the sacrament should have been served in crystal glasses. She said, no reason not to, and that she had no idea why those plastic glasses were used. It was the men’s choice.

During the sacrament, Hebe was told which cup was hers. She said no thanks.

The lesson was given by Norman Kong, a non-member, who is staying at the Jarvis house for the duration of isolation. Norman has been there about 4 weeks now and for the first time this week, Hebe is accepting him as part of the family. Norman nodded that this is correct. Everyone in the family seems happy for this change. Even Hebe.

Norman spoke to his understanding of two verses of the Book of Mormon. I loved it when he said he didn’t know the back story to the 2 verses, nor what would come ahead but he parsed out those 2 verses, making his own sense of them. He asked others to give their view of what the verses meant and so everyone gave their opinion about the verses: everyone around the Jarvis table, the family on the telephone, the grandparents who had zoomed in from Edmonton, me. We all had a chance to speak.

Not Hebe. She was disinterested and colouring over at the counter. I know she is listening in for occasionally she speaks up to correct someone else’s misunderstanding if she hears something that seems wrong to her.

Norman didn’t know how to finished the lesson. Thomas and Eric told him the formula that is often used in Mormonism, a set of words that what has been said has come from the heart and said “in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen”. Norman tried out the formula. We sang Do What is Right. It took Thomas a long time to pick the song, going back and forth in the book, trying to find a song he liked. Back and forth. Back and forth. I wanted to sing the same song again that we had sung at the opening of the meeting. Thomas said we probably couldn’t pass that with his parents. Finally, he just took Catherine’s suggestion of singing“Do what is right”. I was wanting a closer look at the text as we sang. There used to be staccato marks about the words in the chorus. Do. (quick pause) What. (quick pause) Is. (quick pause) Right. (quick pause) That was a lot of fun to sing when I was young.

Catherine is pretty adept with the technology. She had the verses of the song up in a split second for those of us on Zoom to see all 4 verses. She cued in taped music for the hymn with, she muted us out since the split second lag between our singing and theirs, kind of ruins the song. We got to hear the family sing in parts – soprano, alto, tenor, bass. I sang along from my basement in Calgary.

The closing prayer came from George Jarvis in Edmonton. I gave the prayer last time. Then a bag of delicious Costco Cadbury Easter Eggs was placed on the table and I took as many virtually, as I wished.

The plastic cups were taken to the sink.

George said at one point during the meeting, that it made him wish he could be back there in Montreal, visiting the family. I am going to make his wish come true for me when the airplanes fly frequently to Montreal again. Still, I felt as though I had joined them.

I loved all of the irregularities of this church. The meeting was conducted by a woman. The lesson was given by a non-member. The dress code was relaxed. There was accommodation for the differences in the family, Hebe over at the other counter and free to move around. The opening hymn was unknown to anyone in the group. The sacrament was served on a common kitchen plate and in family friendly plastic cups. There was time for a comment from everyone on what it means to turn one’s heart to doing good. George remarked that both C/Katherines, the mother and the mother-in-law, might do a little less in the way of good and a little more in the way of self-care. No one knows how that miracle will happen. There are probably others in the group for whom the same could be said. I think this is a time for extreme caution in health.

Although a good time was had by all, I am left feeling troubled that we have not worked out a way to have the sacrament available to all electronically. There is something very wrong in limiting this ordinance to those who are physically present with the person who blesses the sacrament. I don’t know what should change. Either make it available to all, or present it as an option, making it less necessary. It is not that we have to take the sacrament every week. It is not passed during stake or regional conferences, for example.

Arta