Non-Members of the Church

[Knujmy]

I am a member of the LDS Church, but I have a neighbor who is not. My question is does the church help non-members with food? If so, what do I tell my neighbors to do for this help?

[bl8tant]

Normally only faithful members (where the exact defintion of "faithful" is left open to the bishop's interpretation) are eligible for church aid. You might talk to your bishop, but he's likely to suggest that your neighbors seek help elsewhere. Do you have local food banks or other organizations that specialize in providing food aid?

[Just_A_Guy]

I've seen non-Mormons have orders filled at their local bishop's storehouse, which suggests that the policy may vary locally. I'm with bl8tant--check with your local bishop first.

[MarginOfError]

Normally only faithful members (where the exact defintion of "faithful" is left open to the bishop's interpretation) are eligible for church aid. You might talk to your bishop, but he's likely to suggest that your neighbors seek help elsewhere. Do you have local food banks or other organizations that specialize in providing food aid?

This actually isn't true. A bishop has a responsibility to seek out the needy in his stewardship. He is called as the bishop of everyone in a geographical area. Members of other faiths (or even no faith) may receive welfare assistance from the Church at the bishops discretion. Some bishops, however, will ask the recipient to live according to the standards of the Gospel while receiving aid.

Another issue to consider is that the Church is not very well equipped to provide long term welfare assistance. If the person will need assistance for a while, the Church may address immediate concerns, but they may also try to get them into some government programs.

The person to speak to about this would be your bishop. He may either visit the family himself, or he may assign the Relief Society President to perform a needs assessment. Another option is to speak with your quorum, and they may be willing to put together some items that the family needs and then you could deliver the items to your neighbor.

[miztrniceguy]

Or you could give from your food storage, and then ask the bishop if he could help you replenish it.

[Moksha]

Or you could give from your food storage, ...

Good point, I have rummaged through my freezer and pantry before to find stuff I could give to a neighbor in need. Just make sure you ask the neighbor first to make sure they are cool with such a gift.

[prisonchaplain]

I'd encourage non-members to hang out at LDS.net for awhile, conveniently find a way to be available for one of the site gatherings, and hope to get invited by one of the more caring members...seems like that worked for me a few years back. :-)

[bl8tant]

This actually isn't true. A bishop has a responsibility to seek out the needy in his stewardship. He is called as the bishop of everyone in a geographical area. Members of other faiths (or even no faith) may receive welfare assistance from the Church at the bishops discretion. Some bishops, however, will ask the recipient to live according to the standards of the Gospel while receiving aid.

Thanks for clarifying that, MOE. I knew that the bishop had stewardship over the entire area of the ward, not just the members. In my experience, though, my bishops have been very careful about providing aid to non-members, perhaps because the needs within the ward memberships have been so great. Good to know that they have the ability to help those in need regardless of their membership status.

[pam]

I'd encourage non-members to hang out at LDS.net for awhile, conveniently find a way to be available for one of the site gatherings, and hope to get invited by one of the more caring members...seems like that worked for me a few years back. :-)

Wow you could become our best missionary PC.

[Saguaro]

My bishop recently helped a homeless mom and her son who are not members that had been hanging out in our area. He bought them food from the storehouse and some decent clothes from DI so they could looks respectable enough to look for a job.

[bcguy]

I don't know about this. I have giving small change to homeless who look like they deserved it. But also, gave money to a native Indian outside of a donut dhop, he went in, looked a the menu for 2 seconds and walked out of the store. Kinda lost my faith in the homeless at that point in that period of time.