The First General Handbook

Lee Van Dam served as a missionary in Hong Kong and Singapore where he taught the gospel in Cantonese, later returning as president of the China Hong Kong mission. He has also served as a branch president, bishop, high councilor, stake presidency counselor, and assistant director of Church Hosting. He is currently an elders quorum instructor. Lee has an MBA from the University of Utah and worked first for Ford Motor Company, then in real estate management, consulting, and sales, and was the owner and principal broker of Van Dam & Associates. Lee and his wife Holly are the parents of two daughters and seven grandchildren. He is the author of four books. Highlights 01:45 Introduction to Lee Van Dam and his new book, The Sacrament: A Historical View 03:15 Being called as a Mission President 04:30 Books that Lee has written 11:00 Writing his book on the sacrament. It’s about the historical evolution of the sacrament. 11:45 The first sacrament passed was on April 6, 1830. The sacrament in the early days was passed on any day that they could, not necessarily every Sunday. 13:00 What the scriptures say about the sacrament and the changes that have been made 14:00 Changing the practice of everyone drinking from a goblet to individual cups. This change came about in 1911. 21:30 There was not a general handbook for the church till 1898. Lee explains the evolution of the church’s handbook. 23:15 In the absence of a handbook, the saints did things as they saw fit. They used to kneel and sometimes hold their hands up during the sacrament prayers. 24:15 The changes that have been made to General Conference 25:50 Sunday school and the sacrament. From 1877-1980 the sacrament was also served in Sunday school. 28:00 What are sacrament gems? 29:30 How Sunday meetings used to be and how the names of callings and meetings have changed 31:30 Interesting places where the sacrament has been administered 35:00 Do you have to wear a white shirt to pass the sacrament or is it tradition? 38:50 The presiding authority taking the sacrament first 46:00 Worthiness and the sacrament 50:40 What covenants are renewed when taking the sacrament? Just baptism covenants or all of them? 53:45 The history of preparing, blessing, and passing the sacrament. It wasn’t always clearly defined. 57:20 Will there be a sacrament meeting someday where Jesus Christ presides? Links The Sacrament: A Historical View Because it is on a Church-related subject, Lee is happy to provide a free copy to anyone who wishes to have one, while supplies last. Send your name and U.S. mailing address via the Leading Saints contact form and we will forward it on to him. Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcast Listen on YouTube Get 14-day access to the Core Leader Library The Leading Saints Podcast has ranked in the top 20 Christianity podcasts in iTunes, gets over 500,000 listens each month, and has over 10 million total downloads as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help latter-day saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, J. Devn Cornish, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, DeAnna Murphy, Michael Goodman, Richard Ostler, Ganel-Lyn Condie, and many more in over 500 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.