![]() ![]() Our emphasis on this subject is not grounds for crisis thinking or panic. In reality, all six elements of personal and family preparedness are to be emphasized so that the Latter-day Saints may be better prepared to meet the ordinary, day-to-day requirements of successful living. Some people have reacted to the theme of preparedness as if it were a doomsday matter. Home production and storage is a very necessary element of personal and family preparedness however, it is not the only element, nor is it necessarily the most significant element. They are: first, literacy and education second, career development third, financial and resource management fourth, home production and storage fifth, physical health and sixth, social-emotional strength. May I remind you of the six elements of personal and family preparedness, all of which should be taught. From some of the reports we receive, altogether too many members feel that home storage is the total program. Personal responsibility is basic to the Lord’s plan. For many years the Brethren from this pulpit have stressed and will continue to stress the need for personal and family preparedness. Now let’s discuss how the bishop fulfills his welfare service assignments.įirst, of course, the bishop and the ward welfare services committee have the responsibility to teach the members of the ward the principles of welfare services. Thus we see how significant the bishop’s role is. Whatever help he calls in, he is still responsible.” (Clark, unpublished article.) ![]() The bishop cannot escape this duty he cannot shirk it he cannot pass it on to someone else, and so relieve himself. “This is his high and solemn obligation, imposed by the Lord Himself. It is his duty and his only to determine to whom, when, how, and how much shall be given to any member of his ward from Church funds and as ward help. “Thus by the word of the Lord the sole mandate to care for and the sole discretion in caring for, the poor of the Church is lodged in the bishop, and short of actual transgression no one can call his action into question. No one else is charged with this duty and responsibility, no one else is endowed with the power and functions necessary for this work. “The office of bishop is in administering all temporal things, … having a knowledge of them by the Spirit of truth.” ( D&C 107:68, 71.) In his calling he is to be endowed with the spirit of discernment to detect those “professing and yet … not of God” ( D&C 46:27) he is to search “after the poor to administer to their wants by humbling the rich and the proud” ( D&C 84:112).Īgain from President Clark: “Thus to the bishop is given all the powers, and responsibilities which the Lord has specifically prescribed in the Doctrine and Covenants for the caring of the poor, to him go the funds necessary therefor, and to him are given the gifts and functions necessary for carrying on this work. Let us next consider what the Lord says about this subject as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants: “For temporal needs he is to draw from the storehouse spiritually he is to see that they are or become the pure in heart, that their spirits are contrite, that their ‘hearts are broken.’” (Unpublished article by President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., July 9, 1941.) President Clark goes on to define the bishop’s duty in both the temporal and spiritual aspects of his welfare services responsibility: “The bishop is to ‘administer to the wants of the elders’, to ‘visit the poor and the needy and administer to their relief’, … The spiritual nature of our work is absolutely essential to its success. The Lord said it must needs be done in mine own way. The spiritual nature of the work sets it apart from the world. If this were not so, it would be merely an organization of men and would have all the weaknesses of man-made organizations. I fear that the welfare services effort often appears to many to be temporal only in nature it is in fact also spiritual. “The welfare plan is a permanent plan for the purpose of extending temporary assistance to the individual, so far as his temporal needs are concerned, but permanent benefits so far as his spiritual welfare is involved.” (President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., April 5, 1949.) May I begin by referring to a significant and very basic statement made by President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., in which he summarized the purposes of welfare services: My dear brothers and sisters, I would like to discuss with you this morning some of the essentials in Church welfare services, giving particular attention to the bishop’s responsibilities and the role of the storehouse in carrying out these responsibilities. ![]()
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