Be With and Strengthen

One of the important themes of Doctrine and Covenants 20 is the need for members of the church to care for one another and to be together. For example, the elders were to gather together every three months: “The several elders composing this church of Christ are to meet in conference once in three months, or from time to time as said conferences shall direct or appoint; And said conferences are to do whatever church business is necessary to be done at the time” (v61). Not only were the Saints to gather in meeting places, but the priests were also given this instruction: “The priest’s duty is to preach, teach, expound, exhort, and baptize, and administer the sacrament, And visit the house of each member, and exhort them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties” (v46-47). The Lord wants each member visited in their home and taught and encouraged. In case they missed that, the Lord repeated almost the same thing a few verses later: “But when there is an elder present, he is only to preach, teach, expound, exhort, and baptize, And visit the house of each member, exhorting them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties” (v50-51). Those holding the priesthood were to serve and care for all the members. The teacher was given a similar responsibility: “The teacher’s duty is to watch over the church always, and be with and strengthen them; And see that there is no iniquity in the church, neither hardness with each other, neither lying, backbiting, nor evil speaking; And see that the church meet together often, and also see that all the members do their duty” (v53-55). The Lord wants His Saints to be together and to strengthen each other. Clearly for the new church, watching over and taking care of the members—including encouraging them to live righteously—was an important part of the restoration. Every member was to be accounted for and nurtured spiritually, with “a regular list of all the names of the whole church may be kept in a book” so that the Saints were numbered and remembered (v82).    

The priesthood ordinances described in this section also highlight the importance of being together as saints. For example, we also have instructions for the sacrament. In addition to it being a sacred ordinance where the members make covenants with the Savior individually, it is also meant to be an important time of gathering and worshipping together. We read, “It is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus.” It was not to be done alone. The instructions on the sacrament include this: “And the elder or priest shall administer it; and after this manner shall he administer it—he shall kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer” (v75-76). The injunction to kneel together suggests that the ordinance is meant to be accomplished together with a united congregation covenanting with the Savior. The pronoun used in the prayers is “we” and not “I”—it is a group prayer meant to be one united voice towards the Lord. The ordinance of blessing children also must be done as a group united together: “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” (v70). This shows both the need to gather for the ordinance and the importance of each individual person—even babies—to be watched over by the Church. The ordination to priesthood offices mentioned in this section also underscore the need for the Saints to gather together, for these ordinations cannot be completed individually: “Every elder, priest, teacher, or deacon is to be ordained according to the gifts and callings of God unto him; and he is to be ordained by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is in the one who ordains him” (v60). When carefully read, we can see that this foundational document of the Church of Christ in the last days insists that we as His followers must gather often and watch over one another. As Moroni described in his chapter that was part of the inspiration for this section, as members of Christ’s church we are to “meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls” (Moroni 6:5).