D&C 83: Women, Children, and the Lord's Storehouse
I was in the garage last Saturday, fitting the tenons on a cherry side table I started back in February. The piece has been sitting in clamps for three weeks while I worked out a problem with the leg taper. My youngest, Sam, wandered in and asked what I was doing. I told him I was trying to figure out how to make the legs look like they were holding the top up, not just stuck under it. He nodded, grabbed a scrap of walnut off the bench, and sat down on the stool to watch. He stayed for an hour.
That is the kind of claim a child has on a parent. Not a demand or a formal request. Just the quiet assumption that you are there, that you will explain the thing you are doing, that the space you occupy is also theirs. Section 83 of the Doctrine and Covenants puts words to that assumption.
What Is the Claim of Women and Children in D&C 83
The word that stands out in this section is "claim." It appears four times in six verses. The Lord is not suggesting that husbands and parents ought to consider supporting their families. He is saying that women have a claim on their husbands and children have a claim on their parents. It is a right, not a request.
Verse 2 says women have claim on their husbands for their maintenance until their husbands are taken. Verse 4 says children have claim on their parents for their maintenance until they are of age. The language is direct and legal. This is not aspirational counsel. It is a structure, like the joinery in a well-built piece of furniture. The joint is designed to hold weight, and if it fails, the whole thing collapses.
I think about this when I look at my own shop. The workbench I built ten years ago has a mortise-and-tenon joint at each leg. I cut those joints before I knew what I was doing, and they are still holding. The joint does not need to be pretty. It just needs to bear the load. The same is true of the obligation a parent carries. You do not need to be eloquent about it. You just need to show up and provide.
Doctrine and Covenants 83 Meaning: The Storehouse
The second half of the section shifts the responsibility from the family to the Church. Verse 5 says that when parents cannot provide an inheritance or maintenance, the children have a claim upon the Church, or in other words upon the Lord's storehouse. Verse 6 adds that widows and orphans shall be provided for, as also the poor.
The storehouse is not a metaphor or some vague abstract principle. It was a physical reserve of food, clothing, and supplies kept by the consecrations of the Church. The early Saints in Missouri were living the law of consecration, and the storehouse was the mechanism that made it work. Everyone contributed what they could, and the storehouse made sure nobody went without.
I keep a small stash of extra lumber in the corner of my garage. Offcuts, mostly. A few boards of walnut and cherry that were too good to throw away but not quite right for the project I was working on. Every time I start a new piece, I dig through that pile first. It is not a storehouse, exactly, but it is the same idea. A little margin set aside so that when something unexpected comes up, you are not starting from nothing.
And the storehouse shall be kept by the consecrations of the church; and widows and orphans shall be provided for, as also the poor.
That verse, D&C 83:6, is the hinge of the whole section. The storehouse is kept by consecrations. Not by taxes, not by assessments, not by mandatory contributions. By consecrations. People giving because they understand that the margin they create might be the margin someone else needs to survive.
Church Support for Widows and Orphans in LDS Scripture
The care of widows and orphans runs through scripture like a seam. James calls it pure religion. Isaiah says to plead for the widow. The law of Moses included provisions for the poor to gather in the fields. Section 83 is not inventing something new. It is codifying what has always been true.
What makes this section different is the specificity. The Lord does not say "be kind to widows." He says the storehouse shall provide for them. He names the institution, the source of funds, and makes it structural rather than situational. That matters because situational charity depends on who happens to notice. Structural provision depends on a system that is already in place.
I read Mosiah 17 recently, about Alma believing Abinadi and the cost of that belief. Abinadi was burned for telling the truth. Alma had to flee. There was no storehouse for him in that moment. But the principle of the Church providing for its own was being established even then, in the pattern of the people of God caring for one another through trial.
How the Law of Consecration Supports the Poor
Section 83 is a small section, only six verses, but it sits inside a larger framework. The law of consecration is the engine, the storehouse is the tank, and the claim of the poor, the widow, and the orphan is the reason the whole system exists.
Verse 6 says the storehouse is kept by the consecrations of the church. That means the resources come from the members, not from a few wealthy donors or a central fund that was set up once and never replenished. From the ongoing, regular consecration of everyone who belongs. The poor are not supported by the surplus of the rich. They are supported by the collective margin of the whole body.
I think about this when I look at the fast offerings envelope on the bishop's desk. It is easy to see that as a small thing. A few dollars. A meal skipped. But the sum of those small things is what keeps the storehouse full. The widow does not need to know who gave what. She just needs to know the storehouse is there.
Responsibilities of Parents and Husbands in LDS Scripture
The section opens with the family. That is not accidental. The Lord establishes the order: husband, then parent, then Church, making the family the first line of provision and the Church the safety net. The structure only escalates to the Church when the family cannot provide.
Verse 3 adds an interesting layer worth sitting with for a moment. It says that if women are not faithful, they shall not have fellowship in the church, yet they may remain upon their inheritances according to the laws of the land. Fellowship is tied to faithfulness, but inheritance is protected by civil law. The Lord does not strip a person of their legal rights because of their spiritual standing, and that measured approach protects the vulnerable while still holding covenant obligations in place.
I have been thinking about what it means to be the provider in a household. It is not just about the paycheck. It is about the kind of presence that makes a child feel safe enough to wander into the garage and sit on a stool for an hour. That is the claim they have. And it is not a small one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that women and children have a claim for support in D&C 83?
A claim in this context means a divine right to maintenance. It is not a suggestion or a best practice. It is a spiritual obligation. Husbands and parents are required to provide for their dependents, and that obligation is tied to their covenant standing with God.
Who is responsible for providing for widows and orphans according to this section?
The family is the first line of responsibility. When the family cannot provide, the responsibility shifts to the Church through the Lord's storehouse. The storehouse is funded by the consecrations of the members, and it exists specifically to ensure that widows, orphans, and the poor are not left without support.
What is the Lord's storehouse mentioned in D&C 83:5-6?
The storehouse is a physical reserve of resources created by the consecrations of Church members. It provided food, clothing, and shelter for those who could not provide for themselves. The modern equivalent includes the bishop's storehouse and the fast offering system, which operate on the same principle of collective provision.
How does this section relate to the law of consecration?
Section 83 is a practical application of the law of consecration. The law of consecration is the principle that everything belongs to the Lord, the storehouse is the mechanism that distributes resources to those in need, and the claim of the poor, the widow, and the orphan is the reason the system exists.
I finished the tenons on Saturday afternoon. Sam helped me test the fit. The legs are not perfect, but they will hold. That is the thing about a well-cut joint. It does not need to be beautiful. It just needs to bear the weight it was designed to carry.
-- D.