#LDS FOOD STOREHOUSE PROFESSIONAL#
#LDS FOOD STOREHOUSE SERIES#

#LDS FOOD STOREHOUSE SERIES#

Fleeing persecution, church members in 1847 began a series of journeys to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah. The origin of the storehouses stretches back to the church's early roots. This dynamic, Stark said, 'makes for a very strong church.' A long story

#LDS FOOD STOREHOUSE PROFESSIONAL#

Lay leadership gives the church members a more personal and mystical connection to faith, Stark said, and it also means the church is run with the professional expertise its members can bring from successful business careers.Д¬hurch officials say those who've served on the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the church's highest leaders after the president, have included an airline industry executive, a Utah Supreme Court justice, an attorney and a heart surgeon. In addition to tithing 10 percent of their income, adherent church members fast for two meals a month and contribute the cost of those meals to the church's welfare programs, which include the storehouses. 'They've got this enormous firepower to do all sorts of things.' Stark has known elderly Mormons who get taken to doctors' appointments or have their houses painted. 'The local bishop has all sorts of people for whom he's got to find things to do,' said Stark, the sociology of religion professor. Observant Mormons are expected to volunteer some of their time regularly. With 5.9 million members nationally and 750,000 in California, the church has a lot of volunteers to choose from. 'The people he has helping him are also inspired. 'We really feel and believe 100 percent that our church is led by a prophet of God,' said Diane Pergrossi, 61, who is on an 18-month calling to stock shelves and fill food delivery bins in the storehouse. Others volunteering at the Concord storehouse said they feel no pressure - and that they always have the choice to refuse. Some volunteer as a way to pay back the help they've received. The actual president of the entire church, currently Thomas S. Bishops and stake presidents are themselves volunteers, creating a lay priesthood that defines the grassroots nature of the faith. The volunteers are selected by bishops, the individuals who oversee wards, or stake presidents, who oversee clusters of wards. But for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the church is formally known, someone actually calls. Callings, in religious terms, are often thought of as inner motivations. 'It's part of our dedication to the church,' said Bishop. The volunteers include Wayne Bishop, 65, a retired electrical engineer from Pleasanton who is on an 18-month stint, spending roughly 20 hours a week co-managing the Concord storehouse. But the intensely private church declined to say how many people or how much food that represented. As the recession has deepened, the church says it has seamlessly kept up with demand that increased 20 percent over the past year. Volunteers drive trucks and deliver the food to distant wards - what Mormons call their sanctuaries - if recipients live more than 30 miles from a storehouse. They grow the food on Mormon-owned farms, and package it at the storehouses. What makes the 110 storehouses around the country remarkable is that they are part of a system run almost entirely by volunteers. 'They're damn sophisticated people, for sure,' said Rodney Stark, professor of sociology of religion at Baylor University and the author of 'The Rise of Mormonism.' But the recession and the increased demand it's putting on Mormon storehouses give a unique look into the elaborate organization of a religious group gaining influence in America. The breadth and sophistication of Mormon social networks was glimpsed during the Proposition 8 campaign. 'I'm not asking for money or somebody to do things for me,' said Hammer, 36, a Brentwood father of three who carried away bread, milk, eggs, cheese, fruits and vegetables.

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