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Welfare Instruction Materials for New Leaders Now Available

New multimedia-enriched PowerPoint presentations designed to help Church leaders and members better understand welfare principles, duties, and operations are now available in the Welfare New Leader Instruction area of providentliving.org.

The presentations address several different areas. Some of the presentations are targeted to Church leaders, including the presentatons about principles of welfare, helping others with self-reliance, and welfare duties of bishops, priesthood quorums, and Relief Societies. Other areas outline different welfare branches such as Employment Resource Services, the Bishops’ Storehouse, LDS Family Services, and Deseret Industries, among others.

“Input from the Presiding Bishopric, general Relief Society presidency, and welfare managers was taken into account during the creation and design,” said Roger Webb, manager of evaluation and training for Welfare Services.

The presentations include messages from President Thomas S. Monson, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Presiding Bishopric, and the general Relief Society presidency. Information found in the presentations complements the Basic Principles of Welfare and Self-Reliance DVD produced in February 2009.

Church leaders can download the presentations and save them on their computer. A free download of PowerPoint Viewer is available on the website for users who do not have PowerPoint. These features allow leaders to present the materials in areas without Internet access. The presentations are currently available only in English; however, Welfare Services is in the process of translating them into other languages.

“The presentations are designed for leaders to share with a group,” Brother Webb said. “Typical presenters include bishops, Relief Society presidents, and agent stake presidents. Newly appointed bishops, ward employment specialists, and Relief Society sisters are all potential audiences.”

For example, during a stake bishops’ welfare council meeting, the chairman of the council could use the new training materials as a guide for a discussion with his fellow bishops on how to effectively help others with self-reliance. The Relief Society president may choose to use the LDS Family Services presentation as a way to introduce the resource to sisters in the ward.

Through the use of video, audio, and other multimedia elements, new bishops and Melchizedek Priesthood quorum and Relief Society leaders can better understand their responsibilities and how to care for the poor and needy and foster self-reliance. In turn, ward and community members are blessed by their training and efforts.