The prophet went back to Kirtland with Sidney Rigdon and received this revelation. In Section 41, Edward Partridge had been called to serve as a bishop in Missiouri. Now Newell K. Whitney is called to serve as a bishop in Ohio. In this section, the duties of a bishop are given and they are:
1. Look after the welfare of the members.
2. Keep the Lord's storehouse. This is now done by the presiding bishop of the church who is responsible for all of the tithe and fast offerings.
3. Receive the funds of the church. We turn in all of our tithing and fast offerings to the bishop.
4. Provide temporal assistance using the fast offerings. In earlier days, fast offerings were more often in the form of food.
5. Provide certificates of verification. These have evolved into the bishop being a judge in Israel and also our temple recommends.
Other duties will come in later sections. I can remember being immediately filled with a feeling of love and concern for my ward members the very first day I served as a bishop. Over the years I served, I became more and more aware of the mantle that descends on a bishop while he serves. There is no way that a bishop can do his job without the help of the Lord. When I was released, I immediately felt the loss of that mantle and was amazed at how different I felt without it. I had a feeling of being lost, weak and alone. There was no doubt that the mantle was real.
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