Holy Week- Do Mormons celebrate/observe it or not?

[teddyaware]

1 hour ago, Jay 4 Christ said:

No, we won't all be in his church, based on what I've learned about Mormon doctrine. Only those who have embraced the Mormon faith.

 

Mormon doctrine contradicts what you're saying, so why are Mormons trying to include everyone? 

 

Are Baptist in Christ church once he returns? The Mormon religion I've studied is saying no.

It’s established doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint that by the time of the final judgement all but the sons of perdition (those who utterly reject the gospel of Christ and salvation) will be saved from both physical and spiritual death through the grace and saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ. By logical extension, it’s therefore apparent that all men will eventually have to accept the living Christ who stands at the head of of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints if they are to receive an inheritance in one of the Father’s post-resurrection mansions of heavenly glory. My guess is that your misinformed ideas about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are due to your “studies” being mostly confined to sources that are hostile the restored Church of Christ.

32 They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born;

33 For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity;

34 Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come—

35 Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame.

36 These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels—

37 And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power;

38 Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath.

39 For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made.

40 And this is the gospel the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—

41 That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness;

42 That through him ALL MIGHT BE SAVED a]whom the Father had put into his power and made by him;

43 Who glorifies the Father, and SAVES ALL THE WORKS OF HIS HANDS, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him. (Doctrine and Covenants 76)

 

Edited March 11 by teddyaware

[teddyaware]

21 minutes ago, Jay 4 Christ said:

No, we won't all be in his church, based on what I've learned about Mormon doctrine. Only those who have embraced the Mormon faith.

 

Mormon doctrine contradicts what you're saying, so why are Mormons trying to include everyone? 

 

Are Baptist in Christ church once he returns? The Mormon religion I've studied is saying no.

It’s established doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint that by the time of the final judgement all but the sons of perdition (those who utterly reject the gospel of Christ and salvation) will be saved from both physical and spiritual death through the grace and saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ. By extension, it’s therefore apparent that all men will eventually have to accept the living Christ who stands at the head of of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints if they are to receive an inheritance in one of the Father’s post-resurrection heavenly mansions of glory. My guess is that your misinformed ideas about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are due to your “studies” being mostly confined to sources who are hostile the restored Church of Christ.

 

32 They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born;

33 For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity;

34 Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come—

35 Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame.

36 These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels—

37 And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power;

38 Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath.

39 For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made.

40 And this is the gospel the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—

41 That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness;

42 That through him ALL MIGHT BE SAVED a]whom the Father had put into his power and made by him;

43 Who glorifies the Father, and SAVES ALL THE WORKS OF HIS HANDS, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him. (Doctrine and Covenants 76)

 

[Notatbm]

1 hour ago, Jay 4 Christ said:

No, we won't all be in his church, based on what I've learned about Mormon doctrine. Only those who have embraced the Mormon faith.

 

Mormon doctrine contradicts what you're saying, so why are Mormons trying to include everyone? 

 

Are Baptist in Christ church once he returns? The Mormon religion I've studied is saying no.

You are correct. The only Church Christ recognizes is the Mormon church… according to Mormons. Everyone who seeks exaltation will have to join, be baptized and confirmed a member of the Mormon church. Then if they are married will need to get sealed in the temple to their spouse and whatever family members accept Mormonism.

Even those who have already died will have to accept the gospel according to Mormons. If they do, the proxy ordinance which was possibly already done for them will count as the ordinances performed. If they have not been done yet, they have to wait till they are. The proxy ordinances are mostly what goes on in Mormon temples. The rest is ordinances for members their first time through, sealings (marriages) and “second anointing” for a very select few. Read up on the second anointing, that one is pretty wild. All I can and will say here is having parents who climbed the Mormon ladder a bit and were connected to brass in salt lake, dementia sure brought out some interesting stuff that a lucid person would not let see the light of day. 

the Mormon church’s position is there are no valid ordinances on earth unless performed with the authority of Mormon priesthood keys  (authority). Basically a baptism in the Catholic church, Baptist church, etc is not valid nor is anything else any other church does. Thats where Brad Wilcox comment about playing church comes in. 
 

I’m not sure what your last paragraph is saying so I won’t comment on it. 

Edited March 11 by Notatbm

[Jay 4 Christ]

30 minutes ago, Notatbm said:

You are correct. The only Church Christ recognizes is the Mormon church… according to Mormons. Everyone who seeks exaltation will have to join, be baptized and confirmed a member of the Mormon church. Then if they are married will need to get sealed in the temple to their spouse and whatever family members accept Mormonism.

Even those who have already died will have to accept the gospel according to Mormons. If they do, the proxy ordinance which was possibly already done for them will count as the ordinances performed. If they have not been done yet, they have to wait till they are. The proxy ordinances are mostly what goes on in Mormon temples. The rest is ordinances for members their first time through, sealings (marriages) and “second anointing” for a very select few. Read up on the second anointing, that one is pretty wild. All I can and will say here is having parents who climbed the Mormon ladder a bit and were connected to brass in salt lake, dementia sure brought out some interesting stuff that a lucid person would not let see the light of day. 

the Mormon church’s position is there are no valid ordinances on earth unless performed with the authority of Mormon priesthood keys  (authority). Basically a baptism in the Catholic church, Baptist church, etc is not valid nor is anything else any other church does. Thats where Brad Wilcox comment about playing church comes in. 
 

I’m not sure what your last paragraph is saying so I won’t comment on it. 

I've been reading Mormon books and listening to a lot of talks that I've watched, and your definition of Mormon theology is exactly what I've heard. Given that Mormon doctrine states otherwise, why do so many people on this discussion board seem to want to persuade me that Mormons and Christians are on an equal footing?

 

The doctrine makes it very clear that Christians are literally "playing church" if the Mormon church has all of God's authority while all Christian churches do not.

 

I want to know if Mormons genuinely think that their church is the only one with genuine religious authority from God. I'm asking the Mormons this question.

 

Apart from the Mormon faith, is there another Christian church that possesses 1% of God's authority?

[Notatbm]

11 minutes ago, Jay 4 Christ said:

I've been reading Mormon books and listening to a lot of talks that I've watched, and your definition of Mormon theology is exactly what I've heard. Given that Mormon doctrine states otherwise, why do so many people on this discussion board seem to want to persuade me that Mormons and Christians are on an equal footing?

 

The doctrine makes it very clear that Christians are literally "playing church" if the Mormon church has all of God's authority while all Christian churches do not.

 

I want to know if Mormons genuinely think that their church is the only one with genuine religious authority from God. I'm asking the Mormons this question.

 

Apart from the Mormon faith, is there another Christian church that possesses 1% of God's authority?

I don’t have a bunch of time right now but read this for additional perspective. The good news is a righteous Mormon can not only go the the celestial kingdom, he can become a God. 
 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132?lang=eng

[webbles]

4 minutes ago, Jay 4 Christ said:

I've been reading Mormon books and listening to a lot of talks that I've watched, and your definition of Mormon theology is exactly what I've heard. Given that Mormon doctrine states otherwise, why do so many people on this discussion board seem to want to persuade me that Mormons and Christians are on an equal footing?

 

The doctrine makes it very clear that Christians are literally "playing church" if the Mormon church has all of God's authority while all Christian churches do not.

 

I want to know if Mormons genuinely think that their church is the only one with genuine religious authority from God. I'm asking the Mormons this question.

 

Apart from the Mormon faith, is there another Christian church that possesses 1% of God's authority?

We believe that the only priesthood authority on Earth is found in the Church.  But we don't believe that we are the only ones with faith/belief or that our faith/belief is somehow stronger just because we have priesthood authority.  There are other Christians who are much better than current members.  We don't have a monopoly on good people.  Nor do we have a monopoly on miracles.  Nor do we have a monopoly on revelations/inspirations.

You seem to be focusing on the here and now.  Just because I'm baptized by someone with priesthood authority doesn't mean I have an automatic "get-in Celestial Kingdom card".  And just because someone hasn't been baptized by authority doesn't mean they have an automatic "left-out-of Celestial Kingdom card".  We are a fairly universalist church.  We believe that everyone will have the chance.  So you (I'm assuming you are not a member) could be in the Celestial Kingdom and I could not.  It depends on each person.  Yes, we believe you have to be baptized by authority but we are doing that by proxy for everyone so no one misses out on that requirement.

[MiserereNobis]

I love liturgy. The sanctification of time is a pretty dang cool idea. I can get why you wouldn't "celebrate" Holy Week in the sense of engaging in a liturgical service, but the idea of remembering the last week of Christ during the week leading up to Easter isn't bad, right? Nothing wrong with thinking about the resurrection on Good Friday, for example. It's a great way to prepare for Easter, the culminating feast of Christianity.

The sanctification of time is really made evident when you spend some time in a monastery.

Edited March 11 by MiserereNobis

[Devobah]

21 minutes ago, MiserereNobis said:

I love liturgy. The sanctification of time is a pretty dang cool idea. I can get why you wouldn't "celebrate" Holy Week in the sense of engaging in a liturgical service, but the idea of remembering the last week of Christ during the week leading up to Easter isn't bad, right? Nothing wrong with thinking about the resurrection on Good Friday, for example. It's a great way to prepare for Easter, the culminating feast of Christianity.

The sanctification of time is really made evident when you spend some time in a monastery.

I think that one of the things I appreciate that a lot of people don't quite understand is that sanctification is a process, the same with understanding and learning the scriptures and doctrines. We live in a world of instant retrieval of information, food, amongst other things as well. The Lord takes His time with us, and our process is much like caterpillar into a butterfly. Not everything in the scriptures is instant and often requires much thought and study. 

[bluebell]

55 minutes ago, MiserereNobis said:

I love liturgy. The sanctification of time is a pretty dang cool idea. I can get why you wouldn't "celebrate" Holy Week in the sense of engaging in a liturgical service, but the idea of remembering the last week of Christ during the week leading up to Easter isn't bad, right? Nothing wrong with thinking about the resurrection on Good Friday, for example. It's a great way to prepare for Easter, the culminating feast of Christianity.

The sanctification of time is really made evident when you spend some time in a monastery.

Oh definitely.  The church has really pushed this year for us to put special effort into remembering Christ from Christmas to Easter, to help us do better as a membership than we have in the past with treating Easter just as big of a deal and important as Christmas.

[Kenngo1969]

4 hours ago, MiserereNobis said:

I love liturgy. The sanctification of time is a pretty dang cool idea. I can get why you wouldn't "celebrate" Holy Week in the sense of engaging in a liturgical service, but the idea of remembering the last week of Christ during the week leading up to Easter isn't bad, right? Nothing wrong with thinking about the resurrection on Good Friday, for example. It's a great way to prepare for Easter, the culminating feast of Christianity.

The sanctification of time is really made evident when you spend some time in a monastery.

I realize this is like me attempting to "play tennis with the net down" to suggest this to one of my non-Latter-day-Saint friends, but, to your parting point, spending time in one of the Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does much the same thing for [many, and hopefully most/all] of us.  

Edited March 11 by Kenngo1969

[Calm]

On 3/11/2026 at 12:06 PM, MiserereNobis said:

I love liturgy. The sanctification of time is a pretty dang cool idea. I can get why you wouldn't "celebrate" Holy Week in the sense of engaging in a liturgical service, but the idea of remembering the last week of Christ during the week leading up to Easter isn't bad, right? Nothing wrong with thinking about the resurrection on Good Friday, for example. It's a great way to prepare for Easter, the culminating feast of Christianity.

The sanctification of time is really made evident when you spend some time in a monastery.

The low church tradition was the background of many early members.  It still permeates our Sunday observances imo, pretty much everything outside the temple. There used to be an element of pride among some members that we did so much with so little in the past in my experience.  Pride in the minimalism in our buildings and services as well as leadership (not hiring people for jobs where many other faiths did, depending on the willingness to donate time as well as money, etc).

I believe as the culture around us becomes less obviously religious, we will develop more rituals we can bring into our homes to create sacred space there.  Family Home Evening is a long time practice (few would call it a ritual, but I tend to have a broad definition of the term, I will use practice for the less structured rituals of religious life for this post, I think).  The push to begin and end the day with prayer and daily scripture study are other practices that have been going since at least my childhood (60s).  I include seminary as a more communal structured version of this for youth.  

I don’t know if it was just my mom talking about how homes should be refuges from the loudness and chaos and busyness of the world or they talked about homes as refuges from the world as well in my childhood, but it was a theme at least by the 70s in my ward if not beyond.  Part of this was not only avoiding contention, being a home of love, but also having visual reminders of faith, especially for children.  I think there’s been a big push for religious artwork in homes in the past 50 years or so.  It may be just that my own family didn’t have religious artwork, including my grandparents and extended family, but the grandparents and most of my aunts and uncles were born and raised in Utah and most devout, all had scriptures and many books by church authorities in their homes, so I am assuming artwork just wasn’t pushed that much.  I didn’t have LDS friends growing up, except for one family when quite young.  I also don’t remember any trips to Deseretbook when visiting relatives in Utah though there were likely some, so I can’t remember what offerings of artwork they had prior to my college years (late 70s).  I haven’t much to base my conclusions on therefore except for my extended family.  While I don’t remember religious art, I always remember the books because I would read anything within my reach (hands and mind).  Even when there were no Deseretbooks around, there was the Seventies? libraries/bookstores in the churches iirc.

Then suddenly Greg Olsen’s work seemed like it was everywhere.  We even have a few of his now, but it’s the fantasy stuff, not the religious. The kids wanted his Jesus pictures growing up, they even gave them as birthday gifts in primary, so they joined kids’ artwork as the only non coordinating art in the house (either the art had to work with the room or I made the room work with the art, everything has to look like it belongs, it’s part of the family, not just visiting in my home or I get antsy).  When I worked in the churchish bookstore my favorites were Chad Hawkins’ line drawings of temples, at the time he was working on getting all of them, but I wonder if he fell too far behind and gave up.

I have one religious piece in my home now, but it’s not the usual, Cherubim and a Flaming Sword by J Kirk Richards.  The symbolism that draws me is the tree of life, the cross (sword), and the otherworldly and threeness of the angels.  The Tree of Life motif is probably my favorite visual theme….though probably mostly because I love trees.  Our walls are too bumpy for wallpaper or I would have one basement room full of a forest mural, very green, very old earth, quiet and enclosed.  Pity we don’t have sacred groves attached to all our chapels.

I think we are quite late to the table with sacred holidays for increasing experience of sacred time and space.  Christmas wasn’t a huge deal in my view at Church with much additional celebration beyond what could fit into Sundays and personal family time (the choir would sing and there would be a Christmas program during Sacrament Meeting instead of talks), though the Church had the Tabernacle choir performances and lighted temple square for decades and both were semi rituals for BYU students while I was there.  And of course the was the yearly Nativity story to be told by us kids using the Primary diorama? setup we got in church to help us remember what Christmas was really for….our contribution to the home’s decorations (Mom decorated the tree, they were always beautiful).

I am expecting more holiday observances, not in the sense of sacraments, but in creating more opportunities for bringing our minds to faith to create more spiritual anchors throughout the year.  Makes sense to adapt traditions of others rather than attempting to create our own as there will likely be additional reinforcements beyond what we can just get at church.

If This Little Light of Mine can find a place in our hymnbook, who knows what we will adapt for our needs!  

Edited March 13 by Calm

[3DOP]

On 3/11/2026 at 1:06 PM, MiserereNobis said:

I love liturgy. The sanctification of time is a pretty dang cool idea. I can get why you wouldn't "celebrate" Holy Week in the sense of engaging in a liturgical service, but the idea of remembering the last week of Christ during the week leading up to Easter isn't bad, right? Nothing wrong with thinking about the resurrection on Good Friday, for example. It's a great way to prepare for Easter, the culminating feast of Christianity.

The sanctification of time is really made evident when you spend some time in a monastery.

Jesse! I had been following and thinking how I needed to close the thread by making a post about what times and seasons are about liturgically and catechetically (word?). Heh. I am glad to see you. Still in the Southwest? Teaching? I retired almost a year ago.

[Kenngo1969]

On 3/11/2026 at 8:38 AM, bluebell said:

I read a quote from Brigham Young that talks about how after Christ returns all the churches will still exist. There will still be Muslims, Buddhist, Baptists, etc. Because all good people will still be here on the Earth and will still be the same as they were before He came.  Everything will take time, even becoming a Zion people. I need to see if I can find the quote now.  I found it so interesting!

I asked the font of all knowledge, Google Gemini , the following question:

Quote

I believe it was Joseph Smith, but it may have been another President/Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who said that during the Millennium, the thousand-year period of peace following the Savior's return, other churches and faiths would still exist: Everyone will have to acknowledge Christ's Kingship/Lordship, but once they do that, they will remain free to practice whatever faith they choose. Can you find that quote for me?

In relevant part, here is its response:

The core of the teaching is that while the Savior's government will be the only political authority, individuals will retain their agency to worship—or not worship—as they choose.

 

Quote

 

The core of the teaching is that while the Savior's government will be the only political authority, individuals will retain their agency to worship—or not worship—as they choose.

The Key Quotes

Brigham Young articulated this most clearly in 1866:

 

"In the millennium men will have the privilege of being Presbyterians, Methodists, or Infidels, but they will not have the privilege of treating the name and character of Deity as they have done heretofore. No, but every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to the glory of God the Father that Jesus is the Christ." (Journal of Discourses 11:275)

He further explained that while everyone must acknowledge Christ’s civil authority, conversion to His Church is a separate, voluntary matter:

"When all nations are so subdued to Jesus that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess, there will still be millions on the earth who will not believe in him; but they will be obliged to acknowledge his kingly government." (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 115)

---

Clarifying the Doctrine

Later leaders, such as Joseph Fielding Smith, expanded on this by explaining who would be allowed to remain on the earth to practice these other faiths:

• Terrestrial Law: Those who remain will be the "honorable men of the earth" who lived a clean and virtuous life, even if they did not accept the restored Gospel. ... 

 

 

A word of caution: Gemini can pull from various sources, both official and not.  If "Joe Schmoe's Latter-day Saint Site" says that [x] is official teaching, that is, of course, different from ChurchofJesusChrist[dot org], saying that it's official teaching, and Gemini may conflate the two.  But, for what it's worth ... 

[bluebell]

6 hours ago, Kenngo1969 said:

I asked the font of all knowledge, Google Gemini , the following question:

In relevant part, here is its response:

The core of the teaching is that while the Savior's government will be the only political authority, individuals will retain their agency to worship—or not worship—as they choose.

 

 

A word of caution: Gemini can pull from various sources, both official and not.  If "Joe Schmoe's Latter-day Saint Site" says that [x] is official teaching, that is, of course, different from ChurchofJesusChrist[dot org], saying that it's official teaching, and Gemini may conflate the two.  But, for what it's worth ... 

Thanks Ken!

[Kenngo1969]

1 hour ago, bluebell said:

Thanks Ken!

You betcha!  

[MustardSeed]

Exactly what I was saying. Anybody who follows Christ will be following Christ. It will be his church. I really doubt anybody will be saying “ I told you so”

[bluebell]

2 minutes ago, MustardSeed said:

Exactly what I was saying. Anybody who follows Christ will be following Christ. It will be his church. I really doubt anybody will be saying “ I told you so”

I never understand when people in other churches accuse us of believing that everyone will have to become 'mormon' to be saved.  

[Tony uk]

3 hours ago, bluebell said:

I never understand when people in other churches accuse us of believing that everyone will have to become 'mormon' to be saved.  

So true. Always best to leave the big judgements to God.

[MustardSeed]

20 hours ago, bluebell said:

I never understand when people in other churches accuse us of believing that everyone will have to become 'mormon' to be saved.  

I do understand, from an outsiders perspective- 1. we send out missionaries and we also baptize the dead so people might think we want everyone, dead or alive, to be Mormons- 2. We can be heard to say consistantly “this is gods only true church” , this combined with missionary efforts to baptize can appear like we believe Mormonism is the only saving grace. 
 

I’ve never baptized or  converted a single person into The COJCOLDS.  But I have helped many people dive deeper into their own faith, religious based or otherwise, and that feels amazing because I know that they, (along with sister jones from my church) will be eager to accept all of Christs ways and doctrines AND ORDINANCES as needed.  

[bluebell]

3 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

I do understand, from an outsiders perspective- 1. we send out missionaries and we also baptize the dead so people might think we want everyone, dead or alive, to be Mormons- 2. We can be heard to say consistantly “this is gods only true church” , this combined with missionary efforts to baptize can appear like we believe Mormonism is the only saving grace. 
 

I’ve never baptized or  converted a single person into The COJCOLDS.  But I have helped many people dive deeper into their own faith, religious based or otherwise, and that feels amazing because I know that they, (along with sister jones from my church) will be eager to accept all of Christs ways and doctrines AND ORDINANCES as needed.  

You're right.

From an outside, cursory understanding of our beliefs, I can see how they get there and it's not much of a leap.  My confusion comes when we have explained our beliefs to them, and pointed out that we don't actually believe that all members are going to heaven and all nonmembers are going to hell, and they still keep repeating our beliefs wrong.  It's like when a Trinitarian explains to a member that they don't believe that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are all the same person just at different times but some members still act like asking them "Why would Jesus pray to Himself??" is going to blow the lid right off the doctrine of the Trinity.

Humans really love us some strawman arguments.  We will cling to them like they are a life preserver in the ocean, as if being able to debunk our own faulty and incorrect understanding of someone else's beliefs proves us right.  I'm sure there is psychology that explains it but it still catches me off guard sometimes how irrational and obstinate we rational beings can be.

[teddyaware]

On 3/14/2026 at 2:10 PM, bluebell said:

I never understand when people in other churches accuse us of believing that everyone will have to become 'mormon' to be saved.  

After reading and sufficiently considering the implications of the following 2 verses from Doctrine and Covenants 138, I’m wondering if it’s possible to explain how anyone who’s languishing in darkness in the spirit world is ever going to be freed from the bondage of sin and be saved if they reject the preaching of the restored gospel in the spirit world? 
 

57 I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead.

58 The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God. (Doctrine and Covenants 138)

Edited March 15 by teddyaware