What Church Meetings Should They Attend?

Dear PaM,

Me and my roommate are having a fight. She says that going to Sunday School is optional, that as long as she goes to Sacrament and Relief Society, she's good, and can have a temple recommend, and so on. I just think that is silly. You can't say you're an active member of the church and skip an hour of church every week. What do you guys think?

Signed,

Loving Roommates

Peter: First of all, I don't know how I feel about Pam, I think I would even give Molly top billing if we could be Map instead. As to your question. Technically, your roommate is right, the required church meetings are Sacrament Meeting and Priesthood. So, I suppose even Relief Society is optional. 

Molly: Technically. But, I disagree with the whole premise of your question. Being a good member of the church is not a matter of checking off items on a list. If I was a firefighter, and never went to church at all on Sunday it wouldn't make me unworthy. We are all in different situations, and we should do the best that we can. So, if you are skipping Sunday school, because you're busy flirting in the halls are you really doing your best, are you striving to be like Christ? That's a question we all must answer individually.

Peter: We won't be judged on a checklist, but being a member of the church is about checklists, and they're there to help us. Temple recommend interviews are lists of requirements. We should use them to help lift ourselves to those standards. Our covenants are also lists of requirements we should be striving to meet. Knowing what is and isn't a requirement is helpful. 

Molly: More important though, is taking advantage of all the opportunities we have to grow as much as possible.

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