Who remembers before the Church introduced the three hour block meetings? I remember welcoming the combined meetings with open arms! Before that in Europe it was a nightmare! Most members lived along way from the Chapel so it caused great problems! Priesthood meeting was 9.30 then after you had to drive home like a mad man to pick up the rest of the family in time for Sunday school at eleven! Then home till Sacrament meeting at 5.30! Some people brought their family and left them in the corridor while priesthood meeting was on, but children got very fractious and tempers frayed!Many people who had to travel by public transport only managed Sunday school and had to miss sacrament meeting as by the time you got home on public transport ,had to something to eat it was time to get back! Welcome, welcome Sabbath morning now we rest from every care! Some hope!

Yes I remember. We had priesthood at about 7:30 would go home and pick up the family for Sunday School at 9:00 and then have sacrament in the late afternoon, sometimes as late as 6:00.

Good times. I can't believe people put up with that schedule.

Two things I remember about the change to the three hour block:
1) it was touted as as evidence of the leaders’ “inspiration.”
2) there was concern that it would be harder for families to “keep the sabbath” when they weren’t going back and forth to church all day.

I used to go to church in the morning, have lunch at a friend's house and then go back again in the afternoon.

I remember those days, it was 3 bus rides each way to get to church. Took all day Sunday in addition to weekdays for auxiliaries etc. I was single at the time so it didn't bother me too much but it would have been different if I was married with children.
The 3 hour block came in before my first child was born. When it was announced I could see the advantage of less travelling etc, but also had many reservations which over time I found out I was right about.

I too remember the old schedule when priesthood meeting starting at 9:30 AM. Then Sunday school followed that. Around Noon we all went home and waited until 7:00 PM for sacrament meeting. The ward was about four square miles of farming community with about one third of that consisting of milking cows.

A new bishop tried to move sacrament meeting up to 5:00 PM but the milking farmers pitched a fit and said that they would have to stop attending if that happened. Apparently, cows have to be milked every 12 hours and changing the milking times wasn't an option. The cows won; Cows-1 Bishop-0.

When the new 3 hour block was announced, that was very big news and everyone was very happy. I think even Jesus was happy with that decision. The cows didn't care.

"The Block". Seriously, if this was based on inspiration & not just practical considerations you would think the inspiration would have included a name more spiritual than "The Block".

Like Sunbeep I grew up in a rural ward. We had Priesthood at 9:00 a.m. then Sunday School to follow. Families often pooled rides so the men didn't have to drive back home between meetings.

Afternoon or evening was for sacrament meeting. In the summer with long daylight we met as late as 8:00 p.m. In the winter it was 7:30 p.m. Sacrament meeting was also 1 1/2 hours long.

The change came with the gas shortages of the early 70s. It was probably a good change, but a 3 hour block for families with small children has always been a struggle.

I finally found a solution. I quit going to church.

hgc2 Wrote:
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> Sacrament meeting was also 1 1/2 hours long.


yes, it was!! 1 and a half very long hours in the agonizing time warp of MORmON meetings ....and certain General Priest DUD sessions as piped into the stake center via telephone for local consumption were somewhere between 9 to 15 hours long ....at least that is the way it seemed at times !!!!


> The change came with the gas shortages of the
> early 70s. It was probably a good change, but a 3
> hour block for families with small children has
> always been a struggle.
>
> I finally found a solution. I quit going to
> church.

BEST SOLUTION EVER !!!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwkTZzBTCyA

Don't forget primary and young men/women's mid-week.

And relief society was held on a weekday Morning! Back then many of the women were not employed except the school teachers and nurses. At some point I seem to recall they added a Sunday relief society class but I might be wrong on that.

My former husband was the bishop when this changed to the 3 hour block. It sure didn't free up any of his time and I highly resented the time that position took up. I even threatened divorce once and he was shocked!

I thought the three-hour block was instituted in the seventies in response to the fuel shortage, so people didn't have to make as many trips to church on Sunday and use as much gasoline.

It was around , during the gas shortage.

oops meant to write it was around 1979

That sounds better. I was in grad school the months of the 1973 OPEC-caused drama. But Wikipedia says there was another gas crisis in 1979.

When we left and went to a Baptist church we were pleasantly surprised! The service was just over an hour. Everyone together for the first 20 minutes with special stuff for children, then the children left and the adults had a service with a adult theme. Than afterwards tea and coffee and cake in the church. Much more civilised!

Living in Utah,the block wasn't anything attractive to me. I was in a student ward and working full time (before singles wards in Cache County).

My dad was a farmer and the block just gave him a reason not to attend any meetings. He would attend PM early mornings on Sundays and then go to the farm. He also taught school, so Sunday was his irrigation day. He'd come home later, have dinner, and then go to evening SM some of the time. Once they did the block, my dad didn't go as it disrupted his irrigation hours.

Block with little kids was not fun. SM was last when my kids were toddlers and I'd end up leaving SM with at least one of them and walk home (2 blocks away). My ex used to give me that look when I'd get up and leave. Not like they wanted to sit on his lap. Try having twins who both wanted to sit on your lap. You were almost undressed by the time you left church.

Block wasn't anything positive for my family in any way. I've never liked it.

R.S. was during the week, but then they started the evening R.S. for the women who worked outside the home. My mom was in the R.S. presidency when this change was made, so I remember her not being home one night a week and I was old enough that I was the one in charge of dinner, taking care of the younger children, and dishes. And feeding dad. ha ha ha He hated the nights my mom was gone.

I remember those days when I was very young. I remember my Dad leaving for Priesthood early in the morning, then later trips for all of us for Sacrament meeting and youth Sunday School. Primary was a weekday activity.

Yep start at 7.30 Bishopric Meeting then Priesthood go home get family for Sunday School go home then come back for Sacrament meeting then see people who were waiting outside the office then take family back then return to do tithing with Ward Clerk then take the money and deposit in the bank night safe then worry myself sick in case I hadn't done enough.

We lived in the country, 10 miles from the church. So dad and then us boys would head into PHood meeting at 8AM and mom followed at 10 for SS. Then back home for lunch and goofing off and then back in for SM at 6PM. Fucked up the whole day.
Fast Sunday was good because after the Whaling and Blubbering seeion we'd often head to my aunt's place close to the Rockies to ride horses.

I liked the old schedule! Why you ask. Because we were converts all except for my father. Dear old dad refused to let us drive 14 miles to church. Then 14 miles back home only to go back 14 miles and then return 14 miles again. He said we could either go to Sunday School or Sacrament but not both. That suited us all just fine until they combined the whole thing into one big three hour block. Yuck! Give me the old days with my demanding non-Mormon dad.

I remember the long Sundays and meetings throughout the week. I grew up in California. I lived 20 minutes from our chapel. When I was eight, a new chapel was built that was only about five miles away. That made Sundays easier for my family.

In addition to all of the Sunday meetings. There were meetings through out the week:

Tue: Primary, late afternoon
Wed: Scouts, Mutual
Thu: Relief Society

The three hour block happened when I was on my mission. It made it easier to sell the Church to investigators because they weren't overwhelmed by so many meetings.

It’s amazing that it took the “inspired” leaders so many years to figure out how stupid it was to have people drive back and forth to church three times every Sunday. Maybe they never bothered to consider the fact that not everyone lives in Utah.

Other than one year of BYU, I’ve never lived in the moridor. Once, when I was a teenager, we had a relative visit from Utah. Sunday morning, he asked if I would like to ride with him to priesthood meeting. He asked how to get to the chapel, and I said “turn left at the stop sign.” We drove for a few minutes, and he asked “are you sure this is the way?” I said, “yes, the chapel is on this street.” We drove further, and he again questioned my navigation. I told him that I had been attending church in the same place for years, and that I had no doubt where it was. He said “in Salt Lake, we would have driven through three stakes by now.”

I don't "remember" the three-hour block.
I left before they implemented it.

I liked the "spread-out" meetings as a kid.
It gave me time to go home and watch some football with my inactive dad in between meetings. Have some lunch. Change out of my mormon duds for a bit to relax, before changing back to go to Sac. meeting. Then I'd change out again, only to repeat to go to a fireside later on.

It was about 8 miles to the ward building from our house. By the time I had my driver's license (and a car), my older brother, myself, and my mom all drove ourselves, 'cause we had different meetings at different times. I also liked *that* -- so much better than the mad rush to get everybody into the car, especially when mom had to do an RS meeting or something outside of "normal" times, so us kids had to sit there and do nothing.

Mormon friends, when the "block" was first introduced, raved about it. A couple years after that, there was no more raving. They all hated it. How about that. :)

My family lived about a 25 minute drive from church, so we spent a lot of Sunday in the car before the debut of the three hour block.

I have a couple of fond memories about the time before the three hour block. For a time, one Sunday a month our ward had a pot luck lunch in the cultural hall in between church sessions. The adults socialized and the kids played. Our church even had a playground. We also got to invite friends over (or go to a friend's house) after Sunday School. They would come for lunch and we would play and then go back for Sacrament Meeting.

The Church did some pilot programs at various stakes to try out the 3 hour block.

The first implementation was in the Fall of 1973 when Arab states tried to liberate lands occupied by Israel and the Arab oil producers started an oil embargo that caused a lot of disruption in the Winter. The full movement to a Church Wide mandatory block meeting did not start until 1980 in an effort to increase Church Attendance.

In the summer of 1973 my friend's father owned a nice sailboat that he kept at the Silver Sands Marina on the Great Salt Lake; our ward was small and all of the Priests were good friends and we sluffed Sunday School class and headed out to the Sail Boat for a sail out to Antelope Island ... unfortunately the wind died and the small emergency motor had been taken out of it's box in the back of the boat and we had to paddle the stupid sailboat several miles back to the dock. Unfortunately there were non priests to bless the sacrament and no priests to be found anywhere. Our bishop thought it was funny but our priest quorum adviser was a Nazi Mormon and informed our parents and made us do penance every Sunday after that.

Okay, Never-Mo here. Something discussed in this thread has confused me greatly.

In the Baptist church we have Sunday School, but there is no requirement to go to it. It is normally just the old ladies who want to do more Bible study and stuff.

This thread seems to indicate that it is mandatory to go to Sunday School, or that it is at least equal to going to a Sacrament meeting?

Is this seriously something in the LDS church? Is Sunday School really considered that important?

This actually kind of blows my mind if true.

Yes honey.

Consider your mind blown!

M@t

Yes, Betty. "Sunday School" is mandatory.
EVERY meeting in mormonism is mandatory.

When they first implemented the 3-hr block where I live, they told me it was temporary due to the gas shortage. When the gas shortage finally lifted, I asked: "When are we going to change back?" I missed the evening Sacrament Meetings. As a single adult, I never went to Sunday School anymore.