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Members of the Church are assigned to minister to others in their wards and branches so that they can learn of and attend to their needs.2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.This story appears here courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not for use by other media.
By Mary Richards, Church News
In his most recent general conference address, President Russell M. Nelson said, “Now is the time for us to make our discipleship our highest priority” (“The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again,” October 2024).
For Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson, ministering is linked to discipleship.
“Ministering is part of our discipleship and helps us become more like our Savior,” she said. “It is more about who we are becoming than what we have done.”
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are assigned to minister to others in their wards and branches so that they can learn of and attend to their needs.
But President Johnson said that asking, “Did I do my ministering?” isn’t the right question.
“The question is, ‘Does the person to whom I’m assigned feel like they have been ministered to?’” she explained. ‘Do they feel a sense of belonging in our congregation? Do they feel loved? That’s what we are aiming for.”
Ministering Assignments
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A ministering companionship greets a woman at the door of her home.2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Elder Robert M. Daines, a General Authority Seventy who is assigned to the Church’s Priesthood and Family Department, said scrolling through social media or reading the news can get overwhelming. People often want to make a difference but don’t know where to start.
They can start with the people to whom they minister, he said. “If I aspire to be a disciple of Jesus, and I don’t think I can solve hunger around the world, I’ve got three names, I can start there. That’s helpful.”
While members naturally may befriend others in their ward or stake and look out for them, the Church is a church of organization and assignments, said President Johnson.
“For a season, I’m assigned to several people in my ward as a minister, with the idea that with that assignment and that practice, it will just become second nature for me to act as the Savior would, recognizing the needs of those to whom I have been assigned,” she said.
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A woman sits with mother and two children. Ministers seek to find and meet the needs of those to whom they are assigned. Photo courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.When or if a new assignment comes, the hope is that the relationship continues with the first person.
“We aim to think and act like the Savior,” President Johnson said. “We are trying to cultivate disciples of Jesus Christ. We practice our discipleship when we accept and fulfill our ministering assignments.”
Sister Elaine Thornton, a member of the Relief Society General Advisory Council, said she used to struggle with finding a way to show love naturally after receiving an assignment.
“But Christ showed up because He was asked by Heavenly Father every single time to show up,” she said. “And so I felt like I can do any assignment, and it can still be out of love.”
When flooding affected her neighborhood, Sister Thornton asked the sisters to whom she is assigned to minister to come help her with sandbagging.
“The beautiful thing about that was I learned that they will now ask me for a favor. Why? Because I’ve asked them. I made it safer,” she said.
Eating and Talking Together
Elder Daines suggested that one way to think about ministering is to look to the Savior. The Savior said that He came to minister, not to be ministered to (Matthew 20:28). What did he mean by that? The Greek word for minister used in that famous verse is “diakoneo” — related to the word for deacon — and it means to be a waiter or server, like at a restaurant. And its no accident that the image of being a minister/waiter involves food.
Elder Daines said that, for example, in the Gospel of Luke, the vast majority of the Savior’s ministry was over a meal, on the way to a meal, or a story about a meal. That’s no accident.
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Supper at Emmaus, by Simon Harmon Vedder.2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.“What better way to get to get to know, understand and start to serve and love another person than to have dinner together or even just a small dessert — you can invite people over and spend time together,” he said. And in places where Church members are farther apart, they can stay together after church on Sundays to eat together and minister to each other.
Sister Thornton said she might have dropped off a loaf of bread at times in her life, but when she started communicating with her ministering sisters, she realized they wanted a visit. “And I listened. I learned to listen better.”
President Johnson said ministering is not a task to be finished each month.
“Ministering is a mindset, and so I’m never going to ‘finish it.’ I’m never going to put a check mark by it because it’s the way I think; it’s the way I act,” President Johnson said.
Elder Daines said there is a woman in his old ward in California who has lived in a rest home for many years. And those who minister to her go to eat Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner with her and bring her books she likes to read. This service has lead to a real relationship, he said.
Sometimes ministering sounds like a burden — but this is the opposite. “This lifts my burden and my desire to build Zion. It’s just these three people; have them over for dinner, see what happens.”
More information about ministering is found in chapter 21 of the General Handbook and at ministering.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Copyright 2025 Deseret News Publishing Company.