President Gordon B. Hinckley
I thank the Lord for good bishops in this Church. . . . May you know that peace which comes alone from God to those who serve Him.
Brethren, tonight I am going to do something a little
unusual. I am going to repeat some elements of a talk which I gave 15 years
ago in our general priesthood meeting. I am going to speak of and to the
bishops of the Church, this wonderful body of men who are in a very real
sense the shepherds of Israel.
Everyone who participates in this conference is accountable to a bishop
or a branch president. Tremendous are the burdens which they carry, and I
invite every member of the Church to do all that he or she can to lift the
burden under which our bishops and branch presidents labor.
We must pray for them. They need help as they carry their heavy loads. We
can be more supportive and less dependent upon them. We can assist them in
every way possible. We can thank them for all that they do for us. We are
wearing them out in a short time by the burdens which we impose upon them.
We have more than 18,000 bishops in the Church. Every one is a man who has
been called by the spirit of prophecy and revelation and set apart and ordained
by the laying on of hands. Every one of them holds the keys of the presidency
of his ward. Each is a high priest, the presiding high priest of his ward.
Each carries tremendous responsibilities of stewardship. Each stands as a
father to his people.
None receives money for his service. No ward bishop is compensated by the
Church for his work as a bishop.
The requirements of a bishop today are as they were in the days of Paul,
who wrote to Timothy:
"A bishop then must be blameless, the husband
of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality,
apt to teach;
"Not given to wine, no striker [that is,
not a bully or a violent person], . . . not a brawler, not covetous;
"One that ruleth well his own house, having
his children in subjection with all gravity;
"(For if a man know not how to rule his
own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
"Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation
of the devil" (1
Timothy 3:2–6).
In his letter to Titus, Paul adds that "a
bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; . . .
"Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may
be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers" (Titus
1:7, 9).
Those words aptly describe a bishop today in The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints.
Let me now speak directly to the thousands of bishops who are in attendance
tonight. Let me say first that I love you for your integrity and goodness.
You must be men of integrity. You must stand as examples to the congregations
over which you preside. You must stand on higher ground so that you can lift
others. You must be absolutely honest, for you handle the funds of the Lord,
the tithes of the people, the offerings that come of their fasting, and the
contributions which they make from their own strained resources. How great
is your trust as the keepers of the purse of the Lord!
Your goodness must be as an ensign to your people. Your morals must be impeccable.
The wiles of the adversary may be held before you because he knows that if
he can destroy you, he can injure an entire ward. You must exercise wisdom
in all of your relationships lest someone read into your observed actions
some taint of moral sin. You cannot succumb to the temptation to read pornographic
literature or even in the secrecy of your own chamber to view pornographic
films. Your moral strength must be such that if ever you are called upon
to sit in judgment on the questionable morals of others, you may do so without
personal compromise or embarrassment.
You cannot use your office as bishop to further your own business interests
lest through some ensuing financial mishap accusation be placed against you
by those who succumbed to your persuasiveness.
You cannot compromise your qualifications to sit as a common judge in Israel.
It is a fearsome and awesome responsibility to stand as a judge of the people.
You must be their judge in some instances as to worthiness to hold membership
in the Church, worthiness to enter the house of the Lord, worthiness to be
baptized, worthiness to receive the priesthood, worthiness to serve missions,
worthiness to teach and to serve as officers in the organizations. You must
be the judge of their eligibility in times of distress to receive help from
the fast offerings of the people and commodities from the storehouse of the
Lord. None for whom you are responsible must go hungry or without clothing
or shelter though they be reluctant to ask. You must know something of the
circumstances of all of the flock over whom you preside.
You must be their counselor, their comforter, their anchor and strength
in times of sorrow and trouble. You must be strong with that strength
which
comes from the Lord. You must be wise with that wisdom which comes from
the Lord. Your door must be open to hear their cries and your
back strong to
carry their burdens, your heart sensitive to judge their needs, your
godly love broad enough and strong enough to encompass even the wrongdoer
and
the critic. You must be a man of patience, willing to listen and striving
to
understand. You are the only one to whom some can turn. You must be there
when every other source has failed. Permit me to read you a few lines
from a letter sent to a bishop.
"Dear Bishop:
"It has been almost two years since I desperately called you asking
for help. At that time I was ready to kill myself. I had no one else to turn
to—no money, no job, no friends. My house had been taken, and I had
no place to live. The Church was my last hope.
"As you know, I had left the Church at the age of 17 and had broken just
about every rule and commandment that there was in my search for happiness and
fulfillment. Instead of happiness, my life was filled with misery, anguish,
and despair. There was no hope or future for me. I even pleaded with God
to let me die, to take me out of my misery. Not even He wanted me. I felt
that He had rejected me, too.
"That’s when I turned to you and the
Church. . . .
"You listened with understanding, you counseled,
you guided, you helped.
"I began to grow and develop in understanding
and knowledge of the gospel. I found that I had to make certain basic changes
in my life that
were terribly difficult, but that within me I had the worth and strength
to do so.
"I learned that as I lived the gospel and
repented, I had no more fear. I was filled with an inner peace. The clouds
of anguish and despair were
gone. Because of the Atonement, my weaknesses and sins were forgiven through
Jesus Christ and His love for me.
"He has blessed and strengthened me. He
has opened pathways for me, given me direction, and kept me from harm.
I have found that as I overcame
each obstacle, my business began to grow, enabling my family to benefit and
making me feel as though I had accomplished something.
"Bishop, you have given me understanding
and support through these past two years. I never would have reached this
point if not for your love
and patience. Thank you for being what you are as the servant of the Lord
to help me, His wandering child."
Bishops, you stand as watchmen on the tower of the wards over which you
preside. There are many teachers in each ward. But you must be the chief
teacher among them. You must see that there is no false doctrine creeping
in among the people. You must see that they grow in faith and testimony,
in integrity and righteousness and a sense of service. You must see that
their love for the Lord strengthens and manifests itself in greater love
for one another.
You must be their confessor, privy to their deepest secrets, holding absolutely
inviolate the confidences placed in you. Yours is a privileged communication
that must be guarded and respected against all intruders. There may be temptations
to tell. You cannot succumb.
Unless specifically mandated by legal requirement in cases of abuse, what
is told to you in confidence must remain with you. The Church maintains a
hotline which you should call concerning cases of abuse which may come to
you.
You as an individual preside over the Aaronic Priesthood of the ward. You
are their leader, their teacher, their example, whether you wish to be or
not. You are the presiding high priest, the father to the ward family, to
be called upon as arbiter in disagreements, as defender of the accused.
You preside in meetings where the doctrine is taught. You are accountable
for the spiritual nature of those meetings and for the administration of
the sacrament to the members, that all may be reminded of sacred covenants
and obligations incumbent upon those who have taken upon them the name of
the Lord.
You must stand as the strong friend of the widow and the orphan, the weak
and the beleaguered, the attacked and the helpless.
The sound of your trumpet must be certain and unequivocal. In your ward
you stand as the head of the army of the Lord, leading them on to victory
in the conquest against sin, indifference, and apostasy.
I know that the work is hard at times. There are never enough hours to get
it done. The calls are numerous and frequent. You have other things to do.
That is true. You must not rob your employer of the time and energy that
are rightfully his. You must not rob your family of time which belongs to
them. But as most of you have come to know, as you seek for divine guidance,
you are blessed with wisdom beyond your own and strength and capacity you
did not know you had. It is possible to budget your time so that you neglect
neither your employer, your family, nor your flock.
God bless the good bishops of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
You may on occasion be inclined to complain about the burdens of your office.
But you also know the joys of your service. Heavy as the load may be, you
know this is the sweetest, the most rewarding, the most important thing you
have ever done outside the walls of your own home.
I thank the Lord for you. I thank the Lord for good bishops in this Church
throughout the world. I pray for you, all 18,000 of you. I plead with you
to be strong. I plead with you to be true. I plead with you to be uncompromising
in your own lives and in the goals you set for others. Though your days be
long and wearisome, may your rest be sweet and in your hearts may you know
that peace which comes alone from God to those who serve Him.
I bear testimony of the strength and goodness of the bishops of this Church.
I pay tribute to counselors who help them and to all who serve under their
direction in response to the calls they make.
We do not expect the impossible from you. We ask that you do the very best
you can. Delegate to others every aspect of the work that you legitimately
can. And then leave matters in the hands of the Lord.
Someday you will be released. It will be a time of sadness for you. But
there will be comfort as your people thank you. Nor will they ever forget
you. They will remember you and speak with appreciation through years to
come, for among all Church officers you are nearest to them. You have been
called, ordained, and set apart as shepherds to the flock. You have been
endowed with discernment, judgment, and love to bless their lives. In the
process, you will bless your own.
I bear testimony of the divine nature of your calling and of the magnificent
way in which you fulfill it. May you, your counselors, your wives, and your
children be blessed as you serve the children of the Lord, I humbly pray,
in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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