It’s Saturday morning and most meetinghouses for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are a bustle with congregation members in casual clothes vacuuming the chapel, cleaning bathrooms, scrubbing windows, wiping down doorknobs, and taking out the trash.
For the last several years, members of LDS congregations worldwide have been asked to clean their own buildings, replacing what was once the task of janitors hired by the church. Though meetinghouses still hire out help for repairs, congregation member volunteers do the weekly cleaning.
According to church leaders, the primary purpose of member participation is to benefit and bless all, including the youth and less active by providing opportunities to serve. It also reinforces and deepens respect for the Lord’s houses of worship. It is noted that the opportunity to clean the meetinghouse is not about saving money, but about a spiritual opportunity to show respect to the Lord.