Church based Welfare systems (Mormon, LDS, churches, scriptures)

[WK4J]

Moderator cut: delete

If you do a little research into both the Mormon welfare system and Catholic Charities you will find they do a tremendous about of good with almost 100% of the revenue given to them making it into the hands of those in need. They also do a very good job of weeding out the freeloaders and those not willing to work to support themselves and their families. If the government could be half as good as these 2 are we would be reducing the need for welfare at a rapid pace. I realize there will always be a need but while the US does very little to help people become self sufficient these 2 systems do a remarkable job. Now I don't agree with either groups religion at all, but I do admire these systems they have built. If these men should win and could transform our welfare system to mirror that of their churches we would see millions move from welfare to work and become productive citizens.

Any thought on these church based welfare systems?

I will also mention a 3rd very large and successful church based system. In Alabama when the tornado's hit last year, FEMA ended up knocking on doors and advertising to get people to take the supplies they had brought because not many people needed them after the Southern Baptist came through and provided for the peoples needs. It was amazing. I had a FEMA guy trying to get me to take cases of bottle watter and boxes of food even though I had no damage at all and my electricity was not off for more than an hour. He said they had stuff going to waste because local churches and church agencies had gotten out so fast with so much.

[Cloudless]

I know little about the welfare programs of the Catholic or LDS church, but I assume that their being structured, orderly, and tightly-managed bureaucracies, they have massive and effective fund-distributing systems in place. With the amount of donations which are collected from their congregants, these churches can efficiently create a charitable ministry and appoint someone to dole out the monies to families or individuals who require various levels of assistance.

I think that evangelical churches would do well to be more considerate and generous to designate charitable ministries for assisting the financial needs of the poor members of the congregation, and even for strangers and guests in need. There ought to be standards established for churches to reserve a portion of money for poor folk who may be unemployed, injured, or mentally impaired. Each person or member who contributes should see the bulk of his donation go toward meeting needs in the local church, and the rest could be sent across the globe for various missionary or disaster ministries.

Poor Christians should not be forced to seek government assistance for help to buy food or pay bills, because they were ignored or denied assistance when they asked the church. They may be struggling to find suitable work, or be facing discrimination from employers, and be growing more destitute and desperate as their payment obligations remain unpaid. God has made allowance in the scriptures (Acts 6:1-7, Ephesians 4:28) for poor people (widows, orphans, disabled, etc.) to receive provisions for basic material needs. These should not be considered welfare payments, but single donations for specific issues. This giving provides the sustenance for Christians who encounter numerous and enormous challenges and difficulties in their struggle to survive on this perilous planet.