For Wellington man, Craig Newsome, worshipping each Sunday with others in his local congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a chance to belong, to believe and to become a better person.
“I love coming to church because when I first started attending sacrament it was one of the first places that I started feeling the Holy Ghost,” Newsome says.
“Sacrament meeting” is the name that Latter-day Saints use to refer to weekly worship services.
Meetings include hymns, prayers, sermons, and the opportunity to participate in the sacrament ordinance ─ which is similar to communion in other Christian churches.
“I would come to sacrament meeting,” he says, “and I would start inexplicably tearing up, and I thought it was really weird.”
“What’s going on?” Newsome remembers asking friends he was sitting alongside.
“I love the opportunity I have every week to take the sacrament and remember everything Jesus has done for me.”
He teaches the adult Sunday School class twice each month and plays the piano for worship services.
Watch introductory videos about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; this video about worship services; and this video which outlines basic beliefs of the Church.