8:30am Sacrament Meeting

[Broker]

I am contemplating the possibility of an 8:30am to 10:30am meeting time for next year. (reasons are another subject). 

Anyone out there have any experience meeting that early, and if so, did you like or dislike?

Are 8:30am meeting times common in the church (I have no idea).

Thanks...

[Calm]

1 hour ago, Broker said:

I am contemplating the possibility of an 8:30am to 10:30am meeting time for next year. (reasons are another subject). 

Anyone out there have any experience meeting that early, and if so, did you like or dislike?

Are 8:30am meeting times common in the church (I have no idea).

Thanks...

Horrid time imo. Families with little kids often didn’t make it till after the sacrament. I didn’t get to sleep till after midnight even prior to my sleep disorder becoming obvious, so I missed SM a lot that year even though I actually tried. (I don’t even try for 9 am anymore).

It was worse for those trying to meet before SM for bishopric, etc.  Had to make sure the bulletin was printed the day earlier or there was a clerk or someone who had keys to the library as even getting the bulletin ready for the 9 am meetings can be tight if depending on ward librarians to do it that morning.  Also made it more difficult for teachers to pick up their stuff early, which created delays in between SM and classes picking stuff up and printing stuff for their classes (was a ward librarian for eons, thankfully someone else was always willing to come early while I stayed late).

My husband liked it back then as he woke up early and we only had one kid at a time who needed help getting ready and they didn’t usually fight.  He wasn’t in a calling that required early meetings though.  Not so much an early riser now.  He liked having everything done early, but it is not like he did much in the afternoons besides napping, lol. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Calm

[Chum]

27 minutes ago, Broker said:

I am contemplating the possibility of an 8:30am to 10:30am meeting time for next year.  Anyone out there have any experience meeting that early, and if so, did you like or dislike?

I've never seen one before 9am. When we went from 9am to 10am our attendance was higher.  8:30 am might get you the seminary parents. Not sure about anyone else.

[Calm]

7 minutes ago, Chum said:

I've never seen one before 9am. When we went from 9am to 10am our attendance was higher.  8:30 am might get you the seminary parents. Not sure about anyone else.

We had 4 wards meeting…maybe five including a student branch. Hard to remember. Our church was having a much needed renovation (Californian style in Canadian weather) and our two wards and a student branch iirc met in the stake building with two of the usual wards.  I am pretty sure we met for only two hours, but can’t remember how it worked. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Calm

[Chum]

1 minute ago, Calm said:

We had 4 wards meeting…maybe five including a student branch. Hard to remember. Our church was having a much needed renovation (Californian style in Canadian weather) and our two wards and a student branch iirc met in the stake building with two of the usual wards.  

Good grief. We did two for about 10 years and a third Spanish branch for a year or two. Our first start time was 9am.

[halconero]

44 minutes ago, Broker said:

I am contemplating the possibility of an 8:30am to 10:30am meeting time for next year. (reasons are another subject). 

Anyone out there have any experience meeting that early, and if so, did you like or dislike?

Are 8:30am meeting times common in the church (I have no idea).

Thanks...

I've done 8:30 AM during my mission. It was extremely hard for families. It meant a lot of dads leaving home early to be there for bishopric, executive council, and ward council meetings at 6:30-7:00 in the morning. It meant everything was put on mom to get the kids up and ready.

[Calm]

On 12/19/2021 at 7:20 PM, Chum said:

Good grief. We did two for about 10 years and a third Spanish branch for a year or two. Our first start time was 9am.

Alberta has a ton of Saints, part of the Mormon Corridor in my view. My daughter had 4 other girls who were both in her school class and Primary class in grade 3 iirc. My son’s best friends at church were in other high schools, but they divided those up weirdly, 3 high schools in the ward, yet it didn’t cover that much area for a nonUtah ward, just basically  surrounded University of Calgary.  He had 15 kids his age in the ward, only a couple of girls, which meant he had a great scout group.  Good leaders too for the most part.  When he was in elementary, we were in Kansas and there was only one other family in the ward whose kids went to his school, none his age.  My daughter, otoh, had about 7, mostly girls, as we were in Canada by then.
 

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/mormon-church-creates-first-calgary-stake-in-more-than-15-years

Edited December 22, 2021 by Calm

[strappinglad]

Just finishing up doing the 9 am block. I think 8:30 would be hard . Now, I remember the early days with the 3 hour block when our ward did 4 pm to 7 pm. That was fun.... Mind you , that was not that long after we  had switched from morning church SS etc, and evening sacrament meeting so maybe not that bad. 

[rpn]

That's when we met for the entirety of my youth, when we spent the entire day at church, and lived in a farming community where 8:30 was after the chores were done and breakfast.

 

Absent some compelling reason (4 wards in the building is the one that comes to mind), I think 9 AM is the earliest time that should be set.  That allows the bishopric to meet as they need to, but all the members (many of whom work from 8-5) to sleep in a tiny bit.

[bluebell]

We meet at 9:00 am right now and that means that I have to get up at 6:00 to make sure that we all get to church on time and the kids have time to eat breakfast.  I don't know that Sundays should be such a hardship that they should require a mother to get up at 5:30 a.m., unless there are mitigating circumstances.

[Calm]

44 minutes ago, bluebell said:

We meet at 9:00 am right now and that means that I have to get up at 6:00 to make sure that we all get to church on time and the kids have time to eat breakfast.  I don't know that Sundays should be such a hardship that they should require a mother to get up at 5:30 a.m., unless there are mitigating circumstances.

What time do you get up for school days?

Added:  due to my sleep disorder, I took the evening and night shift and my husband took the morning. Being a professor his classes varied and thankfully during the relevant time period, he never had earlier than 9 iirc. 
 

So the experience of having to set my alarm to wake up to get the kids off is not part of my existence. On 9 AM Sundays my husband would just make a lot of noise. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Calm

[bluebell]

Just now, Calm said:

What time to you get up for school days?

7:00 a.m, because I don't have to get myself ready at the same time as everyone else.

Edited December 20, 2021 by bluebell

[cherryTreez]

I hate early church. We had 8:30 church once. We were debating moving or staying where we lived. That was a good push to move. And the next year was 3:30. None of those times work well with kids.  It was a small building with 3 wards and none could overlap they claimed.  We have 9 church coming and I am dreaded if. 

[MustardSeed]

8:30 church sounds awful.  Especially for teens who need more sleep than anyone but get less than anyone IMO. 
 

2 hours ago, bluebell said:

7:00 a.m, because I don't have to get myself ready at the same time as everyone else.

it’s odd but in the last few years I’ve become a ponytail / minimalist at church.  Not sure what shifted for me, but I guess that’s a different topic.  

Personally I could do 8:30 but I think 9 is hard enough for families. 

 

[bsjkki]

I like later church (start time between 10 am and 11:30, not too late). I am not a morning person. My husband would love 8:30 am church. I'm hoping my teens activity improves with later church in January. This year has been a struggle. Lots of travel and sickness in our life. I'm looking forward to the change.

[The Nehor]

Early morning church sometimes helps me as with my weird sleep schedule I can often get to bishopric before I am tired enough to fall asleep. Other times it is a crime against humanity. For more normal functioning people it is usually bad except for those cheerful happy morning people who everyone else tries hard not to loathe.

[Mike Drop]

8:30 ? Geewhiz. I don’t even finish my coffee till around 8:50. 8:30 would be a terrible time.

[sunstoned]

I've seen 9:00 a.m. starts, but nothing earlier.  I agree that 8:30 might not be the best idea. It is hard enough to get everyone ready by 9:00.  

[BRMC]

We've had our Bishopric meeting at 7:30, but never had service before 10:00.