Latter-day Saint Practices and Holy Days

How do Latter-day Saints worship on Sunday?

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meet each Sunday in a local congregation, called a ward, for a one-hour sacrament meeting and about an hour of classes.¹² This page covers that church; the Branches page covers the others that trace their origins to Joseph Smith. The church teaches that the Sabbath is set apart for rest and worship, at church and at home.³ Its handbook and newsroom invite all to attend.¹⁴

Sacrament meeting includes hymns, prayers, the sacrament, and talks. The bishopric, the bishop and his two counselors, most often invites ward members, including youth and children, to speak, and the ward has no paid clergy.¹²⁴ Once a month, usually on the first Sunday, the meeting is a fast and testimony meeting. It has no assigned speakers. The person conducting bears a brief testimony and invites members of the congregation to share theirs, a testimony being a declaration of gospel truths as inspired by the Holy Ghost.¹

In January 2019, the church began a two-hour Sunday schedule. As of November 2026, Sunday School and the classes for adults and youth, such as the Relief Society, the women's organization, meet every week for 25 minutes each, and Primary, the children's organization, meets for 55 minutes.⁵¹²

What is the sacrament?

The sacrament is the church's form of communion: members take bread and water to remember Jesus's sacrifice and to renew their covenants, or binding promises, with God.⁶ The church's newsroom calls it the equivalent of communion in many other Christian churches.⁷

Boys and men who hold priesthood offices prepare, bless, and pass it.⁶ The prayer over the bread says that those who partake are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments (Doctrine and Covenants 20:77)⁸. The prayer in Doctrine and Covenants 20:79 names wine. The church's history page says Latter-day Saints replaced wine with water in the early 1900s. Doctrine and Covenants 27:2 says it does not matter what is eaten or drunk at the sacrament if it is done with an eye single to God's glory.⁸⁹⁶

How do Latter-day Saints pray and study the scriptures?

Members pray to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, alone and in families.¹⁰ The church encourages daily scripture study.¹¹ Family home evening is a weekly time for families and individuals to study the gospel and spend time together. The church asks its leaders to keep Monday evenings free of meetings, though families may choose another day.¹²

What are tithing, fasting, and fast offerings?

Tithing is the donation of one-tenth of one's income to the church, and only members may pay it.¹³ The church points to the ancient law of tithing, as in Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house (Malachi 3:10)¹⁴, and to Doctrine and Covenants 119.¹³ The church says its tithing funds build temples and meetinghouses, support missionary work, and educate members.¹⁵

Once a month, usually on the first Sunday, members go without food and water for two consecutive meals in a 24-hour period and give the money they would have spent as a fast offering.¹⁶¹ The church asks for an offering at least equal to the value of the meals skipped. Bishops use the offerings to help people in need with food, clothing, and housing.¹⁷

What is the Word of Wisdom?

The church teaches that the Word of Wisdom is a revelation Joseph Smith received in 1833, now Doctrine and Covenants 89, in which the Lord teaches healthy practices: fruits, vegetables, and grains are good, and meat is to be used sparingly.¹⁸ The church's General Handbook says prophets have clarified that it also includes abstaining from tobacco, alcohol, and tea and coffee. The church teaches that the Lord promises increased health, wisdom, knowledge, and protection to those who obey it, and that prophets have taught members to avoid substances that impair judgment or are harmful or highly addictive, whether legal or illegal.¹⁸¹⁹

The church's history page places the revelation in a time of public debate over alcohol and health, and says Emma Smith raised a concern about tobacco use at the School of the Prophets.⁹ The revelation was first offered not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom (Doctrine and Covenants 89:2)⁸. The history page says leaders taught it as a command for two generations while tolerating varied practice, and that the Lord inspired Heber J. Grant in 1921 to require abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea for a temple recommend.⁹

How are congregations led?

Local congregations are led by members who serve without pay in assignments called callings.² A Newsroom page with a 2012 infographic says a ward has about 200 to 500 members and a bishop, who usually serves about five years. It says a stake, a group of wards, has about 2,000 to 5,000 members and a stake president, who usually serves about nine years.²

The church says leaders pray about whom to call. Callings are not sought or campaigned for, and members are presented to the congregation to be sustained by a show of hands.²²⁰

The church ordains men and boys, from the year they turn 12, to offices in the priesthood, which it teaches is the authority and power of God.²²¹ Women lead the Relief Society, the Young Women, and the Primary, and serve as teachers.² The church also teaches that women and men who keep their covenants are blessed with priesthood power in their homes.²¹

What do missionaries do, and who serves?

The church says missionaries represent Jesus Christ and the church. The General Handbook ties missionary service to the commission to take the gospel to all nations and baptize them, which it says was renewed in the latter days. Young teaching missionaries are assigned to teach the gospel away from home, and young service missionaries serve the church and the community while living at home.²²

Single men ages 18 to 25 may serve as teaching missionaries, usually for 24 months, and single women ages 18 to 29, usually for 18 months. Married members 40 and older may serve as senior missionaries as a couple if they have no dependent children, and single members 40 and older may serve if they have no minor children at home, usually for 6 to 23 months.²² The President of the Church, whom the church sustains as a prophet, seer, and revelator, generally extends the call, and Apostles, members of its Quorum of the Twelve, make the assignments for young missionaries.²²²³ The church's report through December 31, 2025 counts 78,596 full-time teaching missionaries.²⁴

What are baptism and confirmation?

Baptism by immersion, performed by someone with priesthood authority, is the first ordinance, or sacred rite, of the church, and it is required for membership.²⁵ The person is then confirmed a member by the laying on of hands and, the church teaches, receives the Holy Ghost.⁶ The church does not baptize infants. It teaches that little children are redeemed through Christ's mercy and are baptized at age eight, which it calls the age of accountability. Full-time missionaries interview converts before baptism.²⁵⁶

The church teaches that baptism requires priesthood authority,²⁵ and the General Handbook teaches that the Latter-day Saint church is the only organization on earth with it.²¹ Other churches take their own view. The Catholic Church ruled in 2001 that Latter-day Saint baptism is not valid, citing differences over the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and over Christ's institution of baptism. The Orthodox Church in America's 2023 clergy guidelines list Latter-day Saints among the non-Trinitarian groups whose converts must be baptized.²⁶²⁷ See the Christianity Branches page.

What do Latter-day Saint temples do?

The church calls temples houses of the Lord and distinguishes them from the chapels where Sunday worship takes place.²⁸⁴ At the end of 2025 it had 204 temples in operation.²⁴ It says a temple's principal purpose is to provide the ordinances that enable God's children to return to live with him.²⁸

Temple ordinances include the endowment, sealings, and proxy ordinances done for people who have died. In the endowment, adults receive instruction and make covenants. The church says it teaches about the Creation, the Fall of Adam and Eve, the plan of redemption through Jesus, and the journey back to God.²⁹ In a sealing, the church teaches, a husband and wife, or children and their parents, are joined for eternity.²⁸

In proxy ordinances, members act for people who have died, who, the church teaches, may accept or reject them.³⁰ The church encourages members to identify deceased relatives and perform the ordinances for them, as part of what the General Handbook calls temple and family history work.³¹

The church points to Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? (1 Corinthians 15:29)¹⁴³² Interpreters read the verse in several ways. The notes to the Catholic New American Bible say the practice is not further explained in the letter and is not necessarily mentioned with approval, but that Paul cites it as one more sign of belief in the resurrection.³³ A. T. Robertson, a Southern Baptist New Testament scholar, calls the passage a puzzle with over thirty suggested readings.³⁴³⁵

To enter, a member needs a temple recommend, which follows two interviews, one with a member of the bishopric and one with a member of the stake presidency.²⁸ Before a new temple is dedicated, the church holds a free public open house. After that, the temple is reserved for members.³⁶ Endowed adults wear a temple garment under their clothing as a daily reminder of their covenants.³⁷ This guide goes no further than what the church itself has published about temple worship.

What other rites mark a Latter-day Saint life?

A newborn is named and blessed, usually in a fast and testimony meeting, by priesthood holders standing in a circle.⁶ Boys are typically ordained deacons, teachers, and priests at the start of the year they turn 12, 14, and 16.⁶ A person who is sick may ask Melchizedek Priesthood holders for a blessing, given by the laying on of hands, with an anointing of consecrated olive oil.⁶ A member may receive a patriarchal blessing, given by an ordained patriarch, which declares the person's lineage in the house of Israel and offers guidance.³⁸ When a member dies, the bishop visits the family, and ward members help.¹

What is general conference?

General conference is the worldwide gathering of the church, held twice a year, in the first weekend of April and the first weekend of October.³⁹ An undated Newsroom page says church leaders speak in five sessions and that the talks are broadcast in as many as 70 languages and published afterward for study.³⁹ At general conference the First Presidency typically presents the names of newly called leaders, and members sustain them by raising a hand.⁴⁰²⁰

What holidays and special days do Latter-day Saints keep?

The church's rhythm is weekly and monthly, with a few yearly days.

Occasion	When	What it marks
Sabbath	Every Sunday	Rest and worship, with the sacrament3
Fast Sunday	Usually the first Sunday of the month	A fast, fast offerings, and testimonies1
General conference	The first weekend of April and October	Messages from church leaders39
Easter	Easter Sunday	The Resurrection of Jesus and, the church teaches, of all people. Services review New Testament and Book of Mormon accounts, with hymns and often cantatas. The church does not keep Ash Wednesday, Lent, or Holy Week41
Christmas	The Christmas season	The birth, life, Atonement, and Resurrection of Jesus42
Pioneer Day	July 24	The arrival of the first pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847; a Utah state holiday that Latter-day Saints elsewhere may join in recognizing43