Another mission for the church?

[Hemidakota]

Mormon Church to emphasize care for poor and needy

December 10th, 2009 @ 12:37pm

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is adding a fourth emphasis to its three-prong mission.

The LDS Church is adding, "to care for the poor and needy" to the threefold mission of the Church, which is to teach the gospel to the world, strengthen the membership of the Church and perform saving ordinances for the dead.

The change will be made in a new Church Handbook of Instructions, to be released next year, which will refer to them as "the purpose of the Church" instead of missions.

Church spokesman Scott Trotter said, "Caring for the poor and needy has always been a basic tenet of the Church. The language reference is simply a description of the purposes of the Church to be included in the next edition of the Church Handbook."

The change became public over the weekend during an adult session of an LDS stake conference in Holladay, where Bishop Richard C. Edgley, a counselor in the LDS Presiding Bishopric, spoke of the revision at the prodding of the stake president.

David H. Sundwall, who attended the conference, blogged about it at A Soft Answer.

[Maxel]

That's wonderful!

I like the subtitle of the blog: 'A Soft Answer: because the Ensign doesn’t have an Op/Ed page'.

[jmcic]

i think thats amazing

[deseretgov]

So it will now be the "fourfold purposes of the church"? I always thought that fell under "Perfect the Saints."

[Hemidakota]

Yepper...I for it after my last bout with the HP quorums. We need to be there for the poor and the needy. Even if we need to give up our Vipers, Cadillac, Vettes Lexus, million dollar homes....

[pam]

I thought that was always a focus of the Church. I guess they are just making it completely official now.

[Maxel]

Even if we need to give up our Vipers, Cadillac, Vettes Lexus, million dollar homes....

I will NEVER give up my million dollar home! It's mine I tell you, all mine!!

And it's all in my head, so I can't give it away anyway...

[Moksha]

This will eventually have a profound effect upon the political stance of many members if they wish for congruence between their politics and the Church's new mission.

[Guest mormonmusic]

I think this will lead to greater emphasis on the payment of fast offerings.

[Maxel]

This will eventually have a profound effect upon the political stance of many members if they wish for congruence between their politics and the Church's new mission.

Nah. I'm thinking not.

[Moksha]

Charity - Conservapedia

United States cities with the highest volunteer participation in religious venues

Now this blessing may extend to helping the poor in the soup kitchens and those living in cardboard boxes or over manhole grates. That conservapedia is rather glib about charities - some of which are gala balls to ranging from buying designer wear for pets to sending the marching band on tour. Take credit while you may, but don't forget to roll up your sleeves like Governor Jon Huntsman and serve Thanksgiving dinner to the hungry.

:)

[Maxel]

Can we leave the political discourse out of this thread?

I just want to be happy that the Church is expanding.

[Guest mormonmusic]

I think this new emphasis is due to the state of the economy and resulting fast offering deficits.

One concern I have about proclaiming a mission to help the poor and needy is that it will initially raise expectations among the poor and needy that we are there to do everything for them. As it stands, I've lived in Wards where many of the members have an "I DEMAND THAT YOU SERVE ME!" attitude. It's characterized by a sense of entitlement without gratitude or even a willingness to serve others themselves. I'm also concerned that raising expectations in this way will, in turn, stimulate even more frivolous requests for financial or other assistance. Some Bishops may simply deal with the requests by writing a check, which could then in turn make the deficits worse.

On the other hand, this new emphasis on Aiding the Poor and Needy may also come with tighter guidance on the disbursement of funds, and even more formal processes for helping the poor and needy to help reach the ultimate goal -- self-reliance of the family or individual in need.

I'm not saying I disagree with making this a new mission. Because as Heavenly Father says in D&C -- if you are not willing to look after the poor and needy, then you aren't his disciple.

But I hope there are mandated training sessions to the membership as a whole what "aiding the poor and needy" actually means. I did a few training sessions where I showed our HP quorum the process that our Bishop uses to determine the kind of help a person in need should receive, if any. Some were very much into it, and in agreement. Others were shocked and one said "If I have a financial problem and have to submit to that process, I'd send the home teacher or priesthood leader packing".

But it also sent the message that the goal of aiding the poor and needy is self-reliance, not sustaining a life style a person can't afford.

Edited December 11, 2009 by mormonmusic

[Maxel]

I'm sure the members of the Church will run into initial problems as the new emphasis is placed. However, I wonder if this new mission is not meant to promote actual service, and not just monetary aid? Considering the economy's horrible state, even the rich will have less money to give to the poor. What the economy doesn't affect, however, are the time and talents that members have been been given and cultivated.

I'm wondering if this is a first step towards creating a more zionistic, United Order-esque mindset among the members?

[Guest mormonmusic]

It probably will emphasize greater effort in the area of serving members in need.

I have to admit, though, I've NEVER seen a reluctance on the part of the membership to give their time to help others with a true need. We have few problems staffing the Bishop's Storehouse volunteer assignments in our Ward, or getting members to use their talents to help a member in need (like fixing their car if an member has sthe skills to do it).

The problem I see is with the poor and needy. I've sat in many an interview where they are simply not willing to change their life to be self-reliant -they want food or bills paid. Often they are asked to help out in some way -- like clean the chapel, and then they don't show up. Often they have long-term needs that we can't meet on a volunteer basis, yet they think it's the Church's job to meet that need -- for decades. There are logical changes I myself and the Bishop would be willing to do if we were in the same situation, but the people in need aren't willing to make those changes.

Now, there are lots of exceptions, by the way, but in the cases I was involved in, the biggest problem was the character of the people in need -- their unwillingness to make necessary changes in their lives, as counseled by myself and the Bishop. And our efforts switched to focus on helping them change their character. Often, there would come a point when we could no longer assist them. Then, we heard they moved on to a different situation consistent with their character.

Edited December 11, 2009 by mormonmusic