Fast offering


Nothingspecial
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Can someone please explain this to me? I don't really understand what the obligations are for this offering. I know it is important, they send someone to my house to collect it but I am fuzzy on what the actually obligation is for? I can't really afford it so do I 'have' to pay it? Is it like tithing? If I miss a month is it ok to just pay it the next month or does it not count? I think with tithing if I pay it at some point during the year I am ok, it doesn't have to be right when I get paid, same for fast offering? Is the offering just for me or am I supposed to give based on me, my husband and children all together? I have heard if I don't give fast offering that if I ever needed help from the church I wouldn't get it, is that true? It doesn't feel like it would be but I really don't know much. Guess that's why they keep me in the nursery huh? :) I can teach 'I love my family' blind folded!

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On Fast Sunday a person is expected to Fast for 24 hour/2 meals. The money the person would have spent on food for those two meals is then expected to be donated as a 'Fast Offering' to help those in need. We are encouraged to be generous.

That is the policy.

The Fast Offering money is what funds (by and large) the Bishop's ability to help those in need

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While I don't know much about fast offerings I can tell you this. I've personally never paid fast offerings (I don't work for money and I'm a student so it's not like I have it to give really) , however recently I had a situation happen where I was in desperate need of help. The bishop actually came to me and offered help out of the fundings members have given.

So just because you don't pay it doesn't always mean that they won't help.

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If you're fasting, then it is expected that you offer the fast. If you're fasting so you can save money on lunch and dinner, then it's more like going hungry instead of fasting. Make sense?

You're under no obligation to fast. The Church has set apart the first Sunday of every month as a Fast and Testimony Sunday where we can Fast for a specific purpose (either individually or as a ward) and reflect on our Spiritual testimonies. We can choose to fast on this day or we can choose to fast another day or we can choose to fast more than just that day or we can choose to not fast at all. It's all up to you.

So, when you fast, the money you and your family saved by not eating for those 2 meals may be offered to the Church to be used to give to those in the ward who are in need of assistance. Those in need of assistance are taken cared of regardless of whether they themselves fast or not. As a matter of fact, you don't have to be a member of the church to get assistance. But, the church encourages people to first seek help from their families, then the local/state/fed officials, then the Church.

Part of the responsibilities of the deacons in the ward is to go around the ward collecting Fast Offerings on Fast and Testimony Sunday and then hand them to the bishopric. This is a service that they perform for ward members which serves many purposes beyond the collection of fast offerings. It is also a way for the deacons to get to know ward members and for ward members to get to know them personally. It is also a way for deacons to inquire if the family is in need of any service and pass the information along to the bishopric.

Hope this helps.

Edited by anatess
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You're under no obligation to fast.... or we can choose to not fast at all. It's all up to you.

It should be pointed out that the Lord expects us to fast in the same way the Lord expects us to pray. So unless one is not able to fast, we are, actually, under obligation to the Lord.

D&C 76:88

Also, I give unto you a commandment that ye shall continue in prayer and fasting from this time forth.

Gospel Principles lesson on Fasting This should answer any questions on fasting.

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estradling75 and anatess have both pointed out that the fast offering is something everyone from the very rich and the very poor can contribute. It is a offering of what you would have had or spent for two meals in your family. Sadly few families actually fast. A few years ago I was teaching a Sunday School class of 14 year old's on the subject of "the Fast" and the fast offering. I was surprised that not one student in my class had ever participated in a fast though some had gone without food from time to time - they had never fasted. I have also heard many say that they have a medical condition and cannot fast. Such statements are a clear indication to me that fasting is not understood nor is it practiced.

There are elements of a fast to which I will list a few - mostly the physical aspects. The greater parts of a fast are spiritual and difficult to list empirically.

1. Fasting is and act of sacrifice. Not just giving up but dedicating something to G-d and his kingdom and work. If we give money it is money that is given or offered for the benefit of others. We can also give what is called "in kind". Most often in the past this could be a some eggs or bread or something else. But this can also by our time and service - Which I believe is the greatest offering of all. This is when we give our time in the service of others - especially when it is most inconvenient (and I do not mean inconvenient as cutting into our favorite TV or facebook time.)

2. Fasting is a gift. An offering of faith of something that belongs to us that we willingly give to someone else as an offering to G-d.

3. Fasting must also include prayer and purpose. We indicate in our prayer to G-d the reason and our purpose in a fast. But it is more than just a purpose - this is a fast and purpose that we should direct to the need (spiritual or physical) of someone other than ourself.

The Traveler

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Thank you everyone! I appreciate all the help. I am so glad to learn the rumor about not giving so no help is not true.

The deacons are the ones that are supposed to check on members welfare when they collect the fast offering?! They are young boys, how would they ever be able to assess that? I thought that was why I did the visit teaching thing every month? Or home teachers though since they only call once a year maybe they get help from the deacons that way?

How would one fast if they had a medical condition then? I don't have one but I have often heard that too when I tried to talk to people about it before. I just didn't understand it. I have tried the last couple of months but it I didnt do it right. I forgot the money one Sunday, absently caught myself eating another time, didn't know really the purpose another so I had really no idea why I was going without, etc. I am trying, it just isn't going well. Does it always have to be for someone else on the fast and testimony Sunday and I have to do a different fast for things I might be in need of? Can not doing the fast prevent a temple recommend? I can't have one of those but I do still try to do the right thing. If I don't give my testimony is it all for nothing then? I won't do that. I won't get up in front of everyone, I don't need any more judgement passed on me.

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Please note that the bishops have wide discretion in who he helps. Thus a bishop can have any restriction he feels is necessary. Bishop's can and have turned people down. If there is a lot of demands on the funds a bishop has he might feel it necessary to focus on the more 'active' (For whatever definition of active he wishes to use) members of the ward. If this happens it is more a sign of the bishop's limits then a person rebuke (Although it would be hard not to see it that way)

Deacons are not to check on the welfare of the family when collecting fast offerings. They generally don't have the time or the relationship to do so effectively.

Fasting most principles of the gospel is something we learn as we do. When we mess up we learn from it and try to do better next time. Then when we think we got it down new aspects come to our attention and we start learning again. So your efforts are not for nothing and are not in vain, you are simply learning

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The deacons are the ones that are supposed to check on members welfare when they collect the fast offering?! They are young boys, how would they ever be able to assess that? I thought that was why I did the visit teaching thing every month? Or home teachers though since they only call once a year maybe they get help from the deacons that way?

Awareness of the welfare and checking on the members is the bishop's responsibility. He relies on hometeaching for help in that as he cannot usually visit every member on his own.

How would one fast if they had a medical condition then? I don't have one but I have often heard that too when I tried to talk to people about it before. I just didn't understand it.

If you cannot legitimately fast, then don't fast. If you can, do. It's fairly straightforward. I think a lot of people make excuses to not fast that they shouldn't...but that's between them and the Lord.

Does it always have to be for someone else on the fast and testimony Sunday and I have to do a different fast for things I might be in need of?

Fast for any righteous purpose. Answers to questions. Greater spiritual enlightenment. Drawing closer to the Lord. Missionary work. Health issues (for yourself, family, friends, etc.). Or any other righteous purpose. And you do not need a single purpose. Just like prayer, you can fast for any and all reasons you deem important all at the same time. It doesn't dilute the meaning or power of a fast to do so. The Lord is all-powerful, after all...and fasting is really more about a show of faith.

Extra fasts can be useful if one feels it is appropriate for a special reason.

Can not doing the fast prevent a temple recommend? I can't have one of those but I do still try to do the right thing.

No. Fasting is not required for a temple recommend.

If I don't give my testimony is it all for nothing then? I won't do that. I won't get up in front of everyone, I don't need any more judgement passed on me.

Bearing testimony has nothing to do with fasting. The bearing of testimony on Fast Sundays is more of a tradition. Bearing your testimony is a good and important thing to do, and when you are ready, you should. If you are not ready, you're not ready.

Concerning judgment, that's just your own paranoia (though an understandable one) talking. If any one judges you negatively for bearing your testimony (even if you did it wrong), which is unlikely, then they are in need of some serious repentance.

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I'm diabetic. I don't fast. I can eat a smaller meal than usual or a protein shake, but my endo is iffy on the fasting thing for a diabetic. I still contribute a fast offering, though I think it is small compared to others. On the other hand, rice and beans, vegan 'meat' and pasta doesn't cost much, so there's not a lot to contribute based on my food costs.

My ward stopped with the deacons picking up tithing/fast offerings. I don't know why. We've got a fairly dispersed ward and someone had to drive them around in a car, so maybe it wasn't as convenient to have them do it, compared maybe to Utah, where there are LDS everywhere.

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