About church welfare:

1) The funds come from fast offerings, not from tithing.

2) Policies hvae changed. Fast offerings used to be kept locally and used locally, but now all goes to Salt Lake and distributed as needed.

3) Bishops have a great deal of discretion over use of welfare funds. But there is a natural reticence to assisting those outside of church membership. The bishop usually has first hand knowledge of his ward membership. He knows and understands his ward family, but he may not know those outside of the ward membership. The funds come from the membership so he is reluctant to assist those who are not members of the church.

4) Cash is seldolm if ever given directly to a recipient. If rent is to be paid a check is made directly to the landlord. Utilities are paid directly to the utility compnay.

5) Food and shelter are primary needs. Food is issued from a bishops warehouse where available.

6) Dry goods in the US are primarily issued via a bishops order to Deseret Industries if available. This would include appliances, furnishings, clothing and whatever else is appropriate.

7) Recipients are expected to use personal resources that would have been spent on food, for example, to cover other expenses.

8) Local laws have to be followed. Assistance given may jeopardize a recipients government welfare assistance. This has to be taken into account.

9) A bishop could request others in the ward individually or collectively to help finance a need if he felt church funds would be questionable.

10) Distributions are discrete and confidential. The terms and conditions should not be public. Therefore, one cannot know and should not second guess why a bishop gives assistance to one over another.

11) Some members can get a false sense of entitlement and have unreasonable expectations for church assistance. When the bishop doesn’t meet those expectations then hostility and apostasy can follow.

12) Individuals are at liberty to be as charitable to others as they would wish. The church places no restrictions on our own personal charity to others.

13) Bishops make errors. Most hope to err on the side of generosity. Give them a break.