Funding Missionary by local church funds

[cahoca]

Our bishop would like to help fund a member missionary on a monthly basis. How do I set this up properly?

[davesudweeks]

Our bishop would like to help fund a member missionary on a monthly basis. How do I set this up properly?

We have a family in our ward with a son on a mission but employment challenges. Some ward members donate to the son's mission account but it is not consistent. Here is how we handle it:

As the ward clerk, I review the monthly statement when it comes in, sign it, and pass it to the Bishop for his review/signature. At that time, I tell him the status of the missionary's account and ask if he wants me to zero it out with a transfer. It only takes a few minutes to transfer from ward mission to the missionary's sub-account.

I don't think there is a way to do this automatically - each transfer is a manual action. That said, the overall mission account (which includes the balance of the missionary sub-accounts) is the most important thing to keep an eye on. I have twins serving missions so we make sure we zero-out their balance every month or two, but if they are negative for a month its no big deal because the overall ward mission fund is fine and I let the bishop know what's going on. I have extended family who donates online to their missions occasionally so I wait to see where it stands first before I zero it out each time.

[russellhltn]

What do you mean by "member missionary"? I'd suggest reading Handbook 1: 4.6: Financing Missionary Service. By in large, the system is set up only to support young full-time missionaries. That sub account is setup and withdrawals are done automatically by headquarters. You only have to guide donations into that sub-account.

Handbook 1: 4.6.3 seems to provide for supporting some other types of missionaries, but I've never heard how that was done.

If you're talking about a Ward Missionary as defined in Handbook 2: 5.1.4, which serves in their home ward as a calling, there is no provision for financing them as a missionary.

[davesudweeks]

I took the OP to indicate a full time missionary serving from their unit, which is how I structured my response. In rereading their post, I may have been in error.

Good points for the OP about checking the handbook for other situations.