In no other culture or religion is there anything quite like the practice of "sealing" families together in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon.) Unlike a civil marriage which concerns only a husband and wife, LDS temple sealing forges eternal family ties between couples and their children as well.
What Is a Mormon Sealing Ceremony?
Sealing is the ordinance that binds members of a family together in ways that are believed to be effective even after death. LDS sealing ceremonies are performed in the Mormon temple. The sealing ceremony is believed to be the most sacred and important of the Mormon temple rituals.
Sealing Mormon Spouses
Mormon couples who qualify for temple recommends can be married in the temple, which means that a husband and wife are sealed to one another in a sealing ceremony.
After husband and wife are sealed, all future children born to them are said to be "born in the covenant" (BIC) of temple sealing. Those children are automatically considered "sealed" to their parents.
Sealing LDS Families Together
Couples who are married anywhere outside the LDS temple are believed to be married for this lifetime only, and their children are considered bound to them for this lifetime only. Mormon couples and families in this situation who wish to be sealed in the temple may do so at any time, as long as the mother and father qualify for the necessary temple recommends.
Couples who marry in a civil ceremony outside the temple must generally wait one year to be sealed in the temple. New converts to the church are typically asked to wait for one year before going through the sealing ordinance with their families.
After a family's temple sealing, any more children born into the family are considered "born in the covenant." Legally adopted children, however, still need to be sealed to their adoptive families when the adoption is finalized.
How is an LDS Temple Sealing Done?
During a temple sealing, all participants wear white clothes as a reminder of the sacredness of the sealing ordinance. The man and woman kneel across an altar from each other and commit to be faithful to each other and to God. If they fulfill these promises to the best of their ability throughout their lives, it is believed that the sealing will be valid and the family will be together forever.
After the husband and wife have been sealed, any children being sealed to them go next. One at a time, each child places his or her hand over the hands of the parents while the officiator pronounces the child sealed to the parents.
In its simplest formulation, LDS temple sealing is an ordinance that ties spouses and their children together for eternity. It is taught in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that every Mormon family should look forward to and qualify for the blessing of temple sealing.
For more information about LDS families and Mormon family values, visit the Mormon Beliefs Main Page.
Jenny Evans - Jenny Evans is a freelance writer and editor specializing in parenting and the family. She is also the Mormonism Topic Editor for ...
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