Lesson 5: Welfare Duties of the Bishop

Objective

Each bishop will commit to fulfill the welfare responsibilities of his office more diligently.

(Note: Remind participants not to disclose confidential information as they discuss this topic.)

Materials for This Lesson

Essentials of Welfare videocassette (53045) or In the Service of Your God DVD (54645)

Caring for the Needy study guide (32294)

Statements from the Church Handbook of Instructions

Invite a participant to read the following statements:

The Lord has given bishops a special mandate to care for the poor and needy. (See Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1: Stake Presidencies and Bishoprics [2006], 16; see also D&C 84:112; 107:68.)

“[The Lord’s] storehouse is established when faithful members consecrate to the bishop their time, talents, skills, compassion, materials, and financial means in caring for the poor. . . . The Lord’s storehouse, therefore, exists in each ward. The bishop is the agent of the storehouse. Guided by inspiration from the Lord, he distributes the Saints’ offerings to the poor and needy” (Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2: Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders [1998], 256).

To fulfill his calling effectively, the bishop should seek out the poor, the needy, the single parent, the aged, the disabled, the fatherless, the widowed, and others who have special needs. The bishop can identify needy ward members through promptings of the Spirit; during meetings of the ward priesthood executive committee, ward council, and ward welfare committee; through interviews with the elders quorum president, high priests group leader, and Relief Society president; and through home teachers and visiting teachers. (See Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1, 14.)

The bishop uses fast offerings to provide necessities to needy members. He also directs the use of other ward resources, including the time, talents, skills, compassion, and consecrated materials of ward members. (See Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1, 18.)

Ask bishops: What ward resources other than fast offerings have you used to provide for the needy?

Scripture

Invite a participant to read the following scripture:

“And inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me; and they shall be laid before the bishop of my church and his counselors” (D&C 42:31).

Ask bishops: How have members of your ward been blessed as they have imparted of their substance and resources to the poor?

Key Points

Help participants understand the following points, and discuss them as necessary:

1. “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. . . . No one else is charged with this duty and responsibility, no one else is endowed with the power and functions necessary for this work” (J. Reuben Clark Jr., in Caring for the Needy [study guide, 1986], 4).

2. President James E. Faust taught: “Who determines who is poor in Utah, Peru, Nigeria, Samoa, Germany and elsewhere? Conditions are so different around the world that the local bishop in each area determines which of his people according to their local circumstances are poor” (in welfare message for April 1991 general conference).

3. The stake president trains bishops in their welfare duties and ensures that correct principles are being applied (see Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1, 3, 8-9).

4. The bishop presides over the ward welfare committee and ensures that ward leaders are instructed in their welfare duties. With the help of the committee, he also ensures that members are taught to provide for themselves and their families, to fast and give a generous offering, and to care for the needy (see Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2, 318).

Ask participants: How can bishops fulfill this responsibility to ensure that members and leaders understand their welfare duties?

5. The bishop is to seek out the poor and needy and discern by the Spirit how the Church should assist (see Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1, 14; Caring for the Needy, 4; lesson Welfare Duties of the Relief Society). President Marion G. Romney taught this principle: “Who should I assist? How much assistance should I give? How often and how long should I assist? No hard-and-fast rule will ever be given in answer to these questions. As the common judge, you [the bishop] must live worthy to get the answers for each case from the only source provided—the inspiration of heaven” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1979, 140; or Ensign, Nov. 1979, 96).

Ask bishops to share experiences in which the Spirit has helped them to seek out the poor and needy and to know how to fulfill their welfare duties.

6. The bishop should follow approved procedures in administering welfare assistance.

Briefly review some of these procedures (see Caring for the Needy, 4–6).

7. The bishop should wisely use the ward welfare committee, priesthood quorums, and the Relief Society to do much of the work of caring for the needy, preventing welfare needs, gathering fast offerings, fostering self-reliance, and resolving long-term needs (see Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1, 16–18; Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2, 259–260, 318; lessons Welfare Duties of the Priesthood Quorums and Welfare Duties of the Relief Society).

Video Presentation

Show parts 1 and 2 of “Caring for the Needy” (part of the videocassette Essentials of Welfare or the DVD In the Service of Your God ), if available. Discuss with participants what this bishop did as he presided over an effective ward welfare committee and as he administered effective welfare assistance.

Practice

Ask participants to discuss with a partner how they would handle the situations depicted in the video. Invite them to note what they will try to do as a result of this lesson.

Read or tell the following story, "Mein Bruder." Bear testimony of the sacred nature of the bishop’s welfare duties and of the blessings that come from such service.

“Mein Bruder”

On a cold winter’s night in 1951, there was a knock at my door. A German brother from Ogden, Utah, announced himself and said, “Are you Bishop Monson?” I answered in the affirmative. He began to weep and said, “My brother, his wife, and family are coming here from Germany. They are going to live in your ward. Will you come with us to see the apartment we have rented for them?”

On the way to the apartment, he told me he had not seen his brother for many years. Through the holocaust of World War II, his brother had been faithful to the Church. . . .

[The apartment] was cold and dreary. The paint was peeling, the wallpaper soiled, the cupboards empty. A forty-watt bulb, suspended from the living room ceiling, revealed a linoleum floor covering with a large hole in the center. I was heartsick. I thought, “What a dismal welcome for a family which has endured so much.”

My thoughts were interrupted by the brother’s statement, “It isn’t much, but it’s better than they have in Germany.” . . . The family would arrive in Salt Lake City in three weeks—just two days before Christmas.

Sleep was slow in coming to me that night. The next morning was Sunday. In our ward welfare committee meeting, one of my counselors said, “Bishop, you look worried. Is something wrong?”

I recounted to those present my experience of the night before, revealing the details of the uninviting apartment. There were a few moments of silence. Then Brother Eardley, the group leader of the high priests, said, “Bishop, . . . I am an electrical contractor. Would you permit the high priests of this ward to rewire that apartment? I would also like to invite my suppliers to contribute a new stove and a new refrigerator. Do I have your permission?”

I answered with a glad “Certainly.”

Then Brother Balmforth . . . responded, “Bishop, as you know, I’m in the carpet business. I would like to invite my suppliers to contribute some carpet . . . and eliminate that worn linoleum.”

Then Brother Bowden, the president of the elders quorum, spoke up. He was a painting contractor. He said, “I’ll furnish the paint. May the elders paint and wallpaper that apartment?”

Sister Miller, the Relief Society president, was next to speak. “We in the Relief Society cannot stand the thought of empty cupboards. May we fill them?”

The three weeks which followed are ever to be remembered. It seemed that the entire ward joined in the project. . . . The family arrived from Germany. . . . We walked up the staircase leading to the apartment. . . .

The door opened to reveal a literal newness of life. We were greeted by the aroma of freshly painted woodwork and newly papered walls. Gone was the forty-watt bulb, along with the worn linoleum it had illuminated. We stepped on carpet deep and beautiful. A walk to the kitchen presented to our view a new stove and new refrigerator. The cupboard doors were still open; however, they now revealed every shelf filled with food. As usual, the Relief Society had done its work.

. . . The father, realizing that this was all his, took me by the hand to express his thanks. His emotion was too great. He buried his head in my shoulder and repeated the words, “Mein Bruder, mein Bruder, mein Bruder.”

It was time to leave. As we walked down the stairs and out into the night air, snow was falling. Not a word was spoken. Finally, a young girl asked, “Bishop, I feel better than I have ever felt before. Can you tell me why?”

I responded with the words of the Master: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). [Thomas S. Monson, in Conference Report, Apr. 1986, 81–82; or Ensign, May 1986, 64–65]