(i.e., there is no set time either in or outside of a formal meeting where the funds are requested). Young men (deacons or teachers in the Aaronic Priesthood) are often assigned to pass by members' residences to inquire if they can convey any fast offerings to the bishop. In some areas, members may also pay fast offerings on the Internet. There is no requirement to make any financial donation to fast offerings or any of the church's other funds in order to maintain one's membership; such donations are encouraged but are not mandatory. Distribution No publicly available accounting of fast offerings exists. (The LDS Church does disclose its financials in the United Kingdom, Canada, and other jurisdictions where it is required to do so by law. These financials are audited by the UK office of PricewaterhouseCoopers.) However, it is claimed by the church that fast offering funds are primarily available to the bishop to distribute to those in need in the area where they were collected, but that any excess (or deficiency) is shared with the rest of the church, first on a stake level, then on wider levels. Bishops are instructed by church guidelines that they have "a divine mandate to seek out and care for the poor (see D&C 84:112). It is not enough to assist [with fast offerings] only when asked." Purpose of fast offerings, and financial prudence While administering to the needs of the poor through use of the fast offering funds, each bishop is also counseled to encourage individuals and families to become self-reliant through reducing debt, seeking work opportunities or improved income through education if needed, and paying tithes and offerings to receive temporal blessings from the Lord as promised in Malachi 3:8–12. In Early Christianity The practice of Sunday fast offerings are well-attested to in early postapostolic Christianity. As is recorded in the early Christian work The Shepherd of Hermas, extremely popular among Christians in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries: And thus shalt thou do. Having fulfilled what is written, on that day on which thou fastest thou shalt taste nothing but bread and water; and from thy meats, which thou wouldest have eaten, thou shalt reckon up the amount of that day's expenditure, which thou wouldest have incurred, and shalt give it to a widow, or an orphan, or to one in want, and so shalt thou humble thy soul, that