In the Latter Day Saint movement, an ordinance is a sacred rite or ceremony that has spiritual and symbolic meanings and act as a means of conveying divine grace. Ordinances are physical acts which signify or symbolize an underlying spiritual act; for some ordinances, the spiritual act is the finalization of a covenant between the ordinance recipient and God.
Ordinances are usually performed by the authority of the priesthood and in the name of Jesus Christ. The use of the term "ordinance" by adherents is distinct from the use of the term in other branches of Christian tradition, where "ordinance (Christian)" is often used to imply that the act is merely symbolic and does not convey grace. Latter Day Saint use of the term "ordinance" carries the same meaning as the term "sacrament" as used by other Christian denominations.[1] Community of Christ-derived denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement also tend to refer to "sacraments" rather than "ordinances".
Some ordinances—such as baptism, confirmation and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper—are similar to those practiced by other Christian denominations. Other Latter Day Saint ordinances—including the endowment and sealings—are unique and usually performed within a Latter Day Saint temple.
Saving ordinances are those ordinances that are a requirement for exaltation.[2] [3] Most Latter Day Saints denominations see saving ordinances as necessary, but not sufficient, requirements for exaltation.
The following are examples of saving ordinances in most sects of the Latter Day Saint movement:
Performed by immersion at age eight or older. Baptism is seen as symbolic both of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection[4] and is also symbolic of the baptized individual putting off of the natural or sinful man and becoming spiritually reborn as a disciple of Jesus.
See main article: Endowment (Latter Day Saints) and Sealing (Latter Day Saints).
In some Latter Day Saint churches, additional saving ordinances are performed in temples. These include the endowment, the washing and anointing, and sealings. Currently, only the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)-derived and Cutlerite-derived[6] denominations within the Latter Day Saints movement practice all three. Other Latter Day Saint denominations, such as Community of Christ-derived[7] and Hedrickite-derived[8] denominations do not perform any of them. Still other denominations, such Strangite-derived[9] denominations, practice sealings but reject the washing and anointing and the endowment.
Referred to as a gift of "power from on high" by Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, although the purpose and meaning of the endowment varied during his lifetime. After 1842, the endowment usually consists of two phases: (1) an initiation, and (2) an instructional and testing phase. The initiation consisted of the washing and anointing, culminating in the clothing of the patron in a "Garment of the Holy Priesthood". The instructional and testing phase of the endowment consisted of a scripted reenactment of Adam and Eve's experience in the Garden of Eden.[10] The instruction is punctuated with personal covenants, gestures, and a prayer circle around an altar. At the end of instruction, the initiate's knowledge of symbolic gestures and keywords is tested at a "veil", a symbolic final frontier for the initiate to face the judgment of Jesus, before entering the presence of God in the Celestial Kingdom.
An ordinance where individuals are married and sealed as husband and wife as an eternal family. Any children the couple may already have are sealed to the family and any children born into this marriage after sealing are also sealed into that family which will live together forever, if obedient to God's commandments. Children that are brought into the family later, though not born into the family such as via adoption, can be sealed to the family later in a sealing ceremony without the need for the marriage portion. This ordinance is particularly performed by the LDS Church and branches of Mormon fundamentalism.
According to Latter Day Saint theology, ordinances can be performed vicariously (i.e., post-mortem) on behalf of any person who would desire to accept the ordinance but did not receive it. While some sects, such as the Hedrickite denominations, have rejected some or all vicariously performed ordinances, other denominations, such as the LDS Church, still perform the saving ordinances on behalf of their deceased ancestors. These are performed vicariously or by "proxy" on behalf of the dead, and church members believe that it is up to the deceased to accept or reject the offered ordinance in the spirit world. Since deceased persons no longer have an earthly existence, they are unable to directly participate in these "saving" ordinances themselves. The physical performance of these ordinances by proxy is seen as fulfillment of the requirement. As with living ordinances, ordinances for the dead are considered necessary but insufficient. It is believed that the spirits in the spirit world are offered the teachings of the full gospel of Jesus Christ and have the opportunity to accept or decline vicarious ordinances done on their behalf. Some LDS Church members refer to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:29 regarding baptism for the dead as evidence that this was a religious practice of ancient tradition that has now been restored by the LDS Church.[11]
Ordinances which are not a requirement for exaltation are referred to as non-saving ordinances. A non-saving ordinance may be performed on behalf of an individual many times; in practice, however, some non-saving ordinances are only performed once per individual. While not every denomination performs each of these ordinances, they can be found throughout Latter Day Saint theology.
The ordinance of animal sacrifice was instituted in the Strangite denominations, primarily as a part of Strangite celebration rituals. Although the chapter on "Sacrifices" in Strang's Book of the Law of the Lord speaks of them as being offered for sins, the prohibition on such sacrifices contained in 3 Nephi 9:19–20,[12] meant that Strang focused instead on sacrifice as an element of religious festivities,[13] especially the commemoration of the coronation a king. The head of every house, from the king to his lowest subject, was to offer "a heifer, or a lamb, or a dove. Every man a clean beast, or a clean fowl, according to his household."
This ordinance requires that a person having responsibility over a unit or an auxiliary of the church prayerfully seek revelation to determine which individual is to fill particular responsibilities within that organization. If the individual agrees—and many persons wait to receive spiritual confirmation before agreeing—then the individual is "called" to the position.
The ordinance of foot washing was instituted in the Rigdonite/Bickertonite denominations as a demonstration of personal humility. Members follow the ordinance of as described in four times a year, when members greet each other with a "holy kiss", preferably on the cheek, to signify that they are greeting each other in the love of God, in accordance with the description given in the King James Version of the New Testament.[14] [15] The Rigdonite/Bickertonite denominations believes that this is a very important ordinance, citing Jesus' statement to Peter: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me."[15]
An organized ritual of a congregation of shouting hosanna, as a recitation of praise to God, while waving a white handkerchief, and is usually performed as a ritual in the dedication of a Temple. It was first used as part in the dedication the Kirtland temple and was part of the Kirtland endowment ceremony.
Typically this ordinance is performed shortly only once after a child's birth in fulfillment of the commandment in the Doctrine and Covenants: "Every member of the church of Christ having children is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name." The purpose of the practice is twofold: to give a baby an official name and to provide an opportunity to give a blessing for the child's spiritual and physical welfare.
An antiphonic prayer around an altar, performed as part of the endowment and on other occasions, such among the Apostolic United Brethren and the True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days, where prayer circles within temples, endowment houses, and homes are still common.
An ordinance where a person is formally chosen and blessed to carry out a specific calling or responsibility in the church. Once a person has accepted the responsibility of holding a calling and has been "Sustained" by the members of the church for that position, one or more priesthood holders "set apart" the person to serve in that calling, usually accomplish by giving the person a priesthood blessing by the laying on of hands.
A cursing ordinance in which a priesthood holder leaves a curse instead of a blessing, by casting off the dust of their feet "against them as a testimony, and cleansing your feet by the wayside." It was most often used against those who rejected the teachings of the church, or who failed to provide missionaries, with food, money, or shelter. Since the early-20th century, the practice has been rare.
An ordinance performed for a sealed couple, sealing them up to eternal life, and anointing them as kings and queens, priests, and priestesses. In the LDS Church it is also called the fulness of the priesthood, and is a rare, but currently practiced ordinance for live participants,[17] and (less commonly) vicariously for deceased individuals,[18] though, it is usually only given in absolute secrecy to a small number of members after a lifetime of service.[19] The ordinance is also still performed by many Mormon fundamentalist groups.