A bishop's storehouse in

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church) usually refers to a commodity resource center that is used by

bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

(lay leaders of local congregations analogous to

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and A ...

s or parish priests in other Christian denominations) of the church to provide goods to needy individuals. The storehouses stock basic foods and essential household items. The term can also be used figuratively to refer to all of the time, talents, skills, materials, compassion, and financial means of the members of the church that are available to be applied in the service of the needy. there are 138 bishop's storehouses in operation.

Origin

Entrance to Stirling, Alberta - Tourist info

The concept of the bishop's storehouse is based on a revelation received by

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

, founder of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by J ...

, on February 9, 1831, whereby he was instructed to keep goods "in my he Lord'sstorehouse, to administer to the poor and the needy".

Doctrine and Covenants The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C or D. and C.) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Chur ...

br>42:33–34, 55.
/ref> The first bishop's storehouse was established in Bishop Newel K. Whitney's store in

Kirtland, Ohio Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,937 at the 2020 census. Kirtland is known for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement from 1831 to 1837 and is the site of the movement's first t ...

Operation

Most of the goods in the storehouse are purchased with

fast offering Fast offering is the term used in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to denote money or usable commodities donated to the church, which are then used to provide financial or other assistance to those in need. The local bish ...

funds or produced on church-owned agricultural property. The storehouses are staffed by volunteers or church service

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

. Persons in need, whether members of the church or not, can access the storehouse by approaching a bishop or local

Relief Society The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, United States, and has more than 7 million members in over 18 ...

president. The bishop decides whether or not the person will be given assistance and works with the Relief Society president in determining what the person will be given. The usual practice is to ask the recipient to work or render some form of service in exchange for the good given them. Bishop's storehouses are not commercial entities and goods are generally not for sale to the public through them.

Building vs. available resources

There are buildings owned throughout the world that serve as bishop's storehouses. In areas of the world without a dedicated building, the bishop can render assistance by purchasing food and household necessities with church

funds and delivering the goods to the recipient. This may also be done when the recipient has special dietary needs not catered to through the storehouse. The bishop can also draw on the "storehouse" of church members' available time, talents, and abilities to assist the needy.

Notes

References

*LDS Church (2004)
''Providing in the Lord's Way: A Leader's Guide to Welfare''
*R. Quinn Gardner
"Bishop's storehouse"
in ''

Encyclopedia of Mormonism The ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'' is a semi-official English-language encyclopedia for topics relevant to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, see also "Mormon"). The five-volume texts have been digitized and are available ...

'', pp. 123–125. * {{citation , first= Jennifer , last= Garza , title= Storehouse of Faith: For Mormons, being prepared for any emergency is nothing new , newspaper=

Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...

, date= 2003-03-01 , url= http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/story/6196877p-7151602c.html , archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20030804013026/http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/story/6196877p-7151602c.html , archivedate= 2003-08-04. * Glen L. Rudd (1995). ''Pure Religion: The Story of Church Welfare Since 1930'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church) * Janet I. Tu
"Mormon canneries preserve the spirit of self-reliance"
''

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington s ...

'', 2008-11-08

External links

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