Major Church News: First Presidency Releases Letter about Louisiana Disaster

I am a day or two late in reporting this (trying to deal with some health issues and prepare to celebrate the 90th birthday of a dear family friend (who is, without doubt, more of a surrogate grandfather figure and longtime family friend whom my family affectionately calls "Uncle George"), but a development happened that brought it to the forefront of my list of Church news to report. Here is the blog post about that development.

In the wake of the Louisiana disaster, many Church members who have the ability to do so have spared no expense in purchasing necessary supplies and journeying to Louisiana to administer relief. While the Church has appreciated those efforts from those individuals, the problem with that scenario is that they are not coordinating their plans with the local Church and governmental leaders who have certain procedures in place for such disasters. This results in confusion on whether or not such efforts are sanctioned.

In an effort to clear that up, the First Presidency today released a letter that they instructed local leaders to read in their congregations this Sunday. The wording of the letter in question makes it clear that the Church places high importance on going through the proper channels and coordinating such efforts. The First Presidency clearly outlines what members can and should do in such situations.

As one who has been fiercely loyal to and supportive of the direction and counsel from our leaders, whatever form it takes, I would encourage any of my readers who claim to sustain these Brethren to follow their wise advice in this instance. As I mentioned in previous posts, excess money that is not used locally for fast offerings and other efforts is sent to Church headquarters and dispersed as the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes sees fit. That includes building a reserve to send out massive monetary and humanitarian aid to help areas stricken by natural disasters.

I gained a testimony of this process a long time ago, and that was only refined as I served for two years with the Humanitarian program of the Church. Not only did our center prepare hundreds and even thousands of hygiene, school, and medical kits to send to Church headquarters to contribute to such a reserve, but as an avid student of the work of Church finances, I have enjoyed hearing the report each April that the offerings of the Church have been used according to Church policy. I further observed this process firsthand as an assistant ward clerk over finances and membership records in ensuring that each donation was accurately recorded and accounted for. And in that process, I observed that there was at least one of the two (if not both) counselors in the bishopric helping out with that process. When the donations had been entered correctly for the week, I observed a few times how those contributions were taken to the local financial institution our stake used that would send them on to the Church.

And now, of course, we have seen that process evolve into electronic donations being processed directly from our accounts when it has been feasible to do so. That simplifies things a lot. Wire transfers are so much more safe and secure. And of course, as we know, the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes was established by revelation to include the members of the First Presidency, the Presiding Bishopric, and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Even when new members have come into that Council, that has not changed how effective the process works. And now, the Church has assembled an audit committee comprised of both Church members and non-Church members with expertise in accounting practices to certify that all is done according to policy and as prescribed by revelation.

So we have no need to fear that our offerings are being properly handled. In the meantime, it is wonderful to observe how it all comes together. And, in getting back to the First Presidency's letter, we now have the word of the Brethren on their guidance about what to do in the face of natural disasters such as this. Let us follow them.

That does it for this post. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. In the meantime, thank you for the privilege of your time. And may the Lord bless you all until my next post. Until that time, I wish you all the best.