The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released
two statements in response to a pair of hot topics on LDS-related blogs — one
an emphasis on caring for the poor and the needy and the other an erroneous
purported closing of the Salt Lake Temple.
Blog postings reported that "to care for the poor and
the needy" would receive increased emphasis in the next edition of the
Church Handbook of Instructions, due to be released in 2010. The manual
contains directives, responsibilities and information for local and general LDS
Church leaders worldwide.
In the upcoming handbook, caring for the poor and the needy
will be stated as one of the church's purposes, along with its well-recognized,
three-fold mission statement.
"Caring for the poor and needy has always been a basic
tenet of the Church," said LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter. "The
language reference is simply a description of the purposes of the church to be
included in the next edition of the Church Handbook."
The three-fold mission of the LDS Church was first taught at
the April 1981 General Conference by then-President Spencer W. Kimball, who
said it was the inspired product of the church's First Presidency and Quorum of
the Twelve.
As stated, the aspects are:
"To proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to
every nation, kindred, tongue and people."To perfect the Saints by preparing them to receive
the ordinances of the gospel and by instruction and discipline to gain
exaltation."To redeem the dead by performing vicarious
ordinances of the gospel for those who have lived on the earth."
Caring for the poor and the needy has long been preached in
the LDS Church. In the same April 1981 General Conference, President Kimball
said, "We all have opportunities to render service to others. That is our
calling and our privilege. In serving the needs of others, we are mindful of
the words of the Savior: 'Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.'"
In the October 2009 General Conference, President Thomas S.
Monson — long lauded for his legacy of charity and compassion — echoed a
similar theme, calling on LDS members to not only intend to be charitable but
to act on those intentions.
"I am confident it is the intention of each member of
the church to serve and to help those in need," he said. "At baptism
we covenanted to 'bear one another's burdens, that they may be light.' How many
times has your heart been touched as you have witnessed the need of another?
How often have you intended to be the one to help? And yet how often has
day-to-day living interfered and you've left it for others to help, feeling
that 'Oh, surely someone will take care of that need.'"
Also, LDS Church Public Affairs used its Newsroom Blog, newsroom.lds.org/blog, to dispel a rumor that the Salt Lake Temple is closing for renovation. The rumored closing has increased
with the addition of two temples dedicated this year in the Salt Lake Valley,
the Draper Utah and Oquirrh Mountain Utah temples.
"Persistent rumors that the Salt Lake Temple is to be
closed for several years for significant remodeling have no basis in fact,"
according to Elder William R. Walker, a member of the Quorums of the Seventy
and executive director of the Temple Department. "There are no plans to
close the Salt Lake Temple for remodeling."
<!—[if gte mso 9]>
Normal.dotm
0
0
1
108
616
DMN
5
1
756
12.0
<![endif]—><!—[if gte mso 9]>
<![endif]—><!—[if gte mso 9]>
<![endif]—>
<!—[if gte mso 10]>
<![endif]—>
E-mail: taylor@desnews.com