Lesson 13: Aaronic Priesthood in Welfare

Objective

Welfare committee members will better understand how Aaronic Priesthood holders can assist in caring for the poor and needy.

Statement from the Church Handbook of Instructions

Invite a participant to read the following statement:

“A deacon . . . assists the bishop in ‘administering . . . temporal things’ (D&C 107:68). This may include gathering fast offerings, caring for the poor and needy, and caring for the meetinghouse and grounds. He also serves as a messenger for the bishop in Church meetings” (Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2: Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders [1998], 175–76).

Ask participants: How do teachers and priests also assist the bishop in administering temporal things?

Scripture

Invite a participant to read the following scripture, and discuss how this responsibility of Aaronic Priesthood holders allows them to become involved in welfare:

“Visit the house of each member, exhorting them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties” (D&C 20:51).

Key Points

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

1. The bishop presides over the Aaronic Priesthood (see Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2, 176).

2. The Aaronic Priesthood provides opportunities for young men to learn and practice all basic welfare principles, including work, service, sacrifice, self-reliance, helping to care for the needy, and participating in the fast.

3. Aaronic Priesthood holders play a key role in ensuring that all ward members are given an opportunity to contribute a fast offering (see Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2, 186).

4. Through individual, quorum, and joint service activities with the Young Women, Aaronic Priesthood holders learn the joy of service and carry out their duty to help care for the needy. Elder Robert L. Backman taught: “Please give our young men the opportunity to stretch their souls in service. Too often we only entertain, leaving our young men in the role of spectators. They will grow as they are involved, and they will develop love for their fellowmen, at the same time forgetting their own weaknesses and frailties as they serve. The sooner our young men have experiences in meaningful service, the sooner they will understand their priesthood responsibilities and their own capacity to truly be their brother’s keeper” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1982, 57; or Ensign, Nov. 1982, 40).

Ask participants: What does it mean for young men to “stretch their souls in service”? How does service in the ward’s welfare work prepare Aaronic Priesthood holders for their future responsibilities? Bear your testimony of the value of service in the lives of young men.

Ways to Involve Aaronic Priesthood Holders

Read or tell the story that accompanies this lesson. Ask the participants: How did the trip to Welfare Square impact how these Aaronic Priesthood holders fulfilled their welfare duties? What are some other activities that could have a similar impact on Aaronic Priesthood holders?

Discuss the following list of ways to involve Aaronic Priesthood holders in welfare activities. Ask participants to note which actions are suitable to their circumstances, which actions they apply consistently in their stake or ward, and which they could begin to apply to enhance the experience and abilities of Aaronic Priesthood holders. (The first four items are from the Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2, page 186.)

• Assign Aaronic Priesthood holders, especially deacons, to contact members each month to give opportunities to contribute fast offerings.

• If members are not home when Aaronic Priesthood holders visit, encourage follow-up visits.

• If members do not contribute, instruct priesthood holders to continue to give them the opportunity to do so.

• If distance or other circumstances make it necessary, assign Melchizedek Priesthood holders to assist the Aaronic Priesthood in gathering offerings.

• Assign priests and teachers as home teaching companions with Melchizedek Priesthood holders to visit households where they can assist with temporal challenges.

• Encourage young men to earn the Duty to God Award, which includes requirements that focus on temporal skills such as making a budget, preparing a résumé, making an educational plan, assisting members with special needs, and giving service.

• Involve Aaronic Priesthood holders regularly in meetinghouse upkeep, helping elderly or disabled members with house or yard work, and other activities that teach the joy of work.

Ask participants what other things they do to help Aaronic Priesthood holders apply welfare principles in their own lives and give effective service to the needy.

Bear your testimony about the importance of involving Aaronic Priesthood holders in the Lord’s work of caring for the poor and needy.

A Story of Aaronic Priesthood Service

[Fast] offerings are collected each month by the boys who are deacons as they visit each member’s home. . . on the Sabbath day. I recall that the boys in the congregation over which I presided had assembled one morning. . . mildly complaining about [having] to fulfill their assignment. Not a word of reproof was spoken, but during the following week, we escorted the boys to Welfare Square for a guided tour. They saw firsthand a lame person operating the telephone switchboard, an older man stocking shelves, women arranging clothing to be distributed—even a blind person placing labels on cans. Here were individuals earning their sustenance through their contributed labors. A penetrating silence came over the boys as they witnessed how their efforts each month helped to collect the sacred fast offering funds which aided the needy and provided employment for those who otherwise would be idle.

From that hallowed day forward, there was no urging required by our deacons. On fast Sunday mornings they were present. . . dressed in their Sunday best, anxious to do their duty as holders of the Aaronic Priesthood. No longer were they simply distributing and collecting envelopes. They were helping to provide food for the hungry and shelter for the homeless—all after the way of the Lord. Their smiles were more frequent, their pace more eager, their very souls more subdued. Perhaps now they were marching to the beat of a different drummer; perhaps now they better understood the classic passage, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matt. 25:40.) [Thomas S. Monson, in Conference Report, Oct. 1977, 10; or Ensign, Nov. 1977, 8]