Washington Post: Mormon Church has misled members on finance

[_Bond James Bond]

You know deep in this conglomerate is at least one share of Starbucks or Anheuser Busch.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

If I were a member, and was determined to remain so, I’d only tithe on my increase, and that sure wouldn’t include a rainy day fund, retirement plan, any real estate I own, college funds, reinvestments, and anything else I could think of I could just hand waive away. Why not? In fact, I think I’d just donate around .02% of my net worth and call it good. If it’s good enough for the Lord it’s good enough for me.

- Doc

[_I have a question]

The Church is building a Latter-day Tower Of Babel out of dollars.

[_Fence Sitter]

If members followed the example of the church they could just invest their own tithing for 20 years or more, then pay it and keep all the profits for a rainy day operating expenses like big expensive cars that help them get to church and back or big expensive homes where they can pray each day.

[_I have a question]

An interesting opinion from Robert Gehrke of SLT

Members and nonmembers alike can decide for themselves what they think, and how they viewed the church before the report probably will dictate whether or not they are shocked.

But I would suggest that, to the extent that this $100 billion revelation was a surprise, perhaps it shouldn’t have been.

Let’s set the LDS Church — and all churches — aside for the moment, and look at the 1.6 million registered nonprofits in the country in 2018. We’re talking about civil rights organizations, humanitarian groups, chambers of commerce and, yes, now The Salt Lake Tribune.

All of them have to file some version of Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service, which is available to the public. It’s generally high-level data — income, donations, expenses, assets, programming, affiliated organizations, salaries of top executives, that kind of thing.

That sort of transparency requirement comes with receiving the often considerable benefit of tax exempt status. But religions don’t have to do this. Religions don’t have to say how much money they brought in and how much they spent. They don’t have to identify how much is going to humanitarian work or affiliated organizations or investments. If they did, this bombshell of a story would have been old news.

Transparency among nonprofits matters because it allows people to see how an organization spends its money before they donate. Numerous groups exist that analyze and rate the data on the 990s to make it more available. In a number of high-profile instances, nonprofit organizations are held to account when they fail to live up to their mission.

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/12 ... e-billion/

Churches should earn their tax exemption by providing the financial transparency other nonprofits are obligated to provide.

[_I have a question]

Peggy weighs in...

Whether the LDS Church violated federal tax law by stockpiling a $100 billion investment portfolio from contributions intended for charity is hardly the only — or even the main — question members are now confronting.

To many in the more than 16 million-member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the bigger issues involve how the Utah-based faith spends its extensive funds and why it doesn’t share that information with adherents.

Social media are awash in comments from Latter-day Saints expressing shock and disappointment about the size of the faith’s accounts — especially while tithe-paying families struggle to pay ordinary bills — juxtaposed against statements of pride that the church has managed to accumulate so much money.

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/12 ... -obey-all/

A few years ago, authorities changed the language on its tithing and donation slips to read: “All donations become the church's property and will be used at the church's sole discretion to further the church's overall mission."

That was “yet another step away from the greater financial transparency we used to see — for instance, when more robust financial reports were provided to the membership during General Conference,” said Patrick Mason, head of Mormon studies at Utah State University. “Now, not only do church members not know anything substantial about the institution’s finances, but they can’t even be confident that the money they expressly donate for fast offerings or humanitarian relief is actually going to the poor and needy.”

[_candygal]

I wonder how many members will notice that the goal of the church to collect money so they can spread Christ's gospel has become more important than actually living it?

Love this...and how true!!

[_Kishkumen]

A few years ago, authorities changed the language on its tithing and donation slips to read: “All donations become the church's property and will be used at the church's sole discretion to further the church's overall mission."

That was “yet another step away from the greater financial transparency we used to see — for instance, when more robust financial reports were provided to the membership during General Conference,” said Patrick Mason, head of Mormon studies at Utah State University. “Now, not only do church members not know anything substantial about the institution’s finances, but they can’t even be confident that the money they expressly donate for fast offerings or humanitarian relief is actually going to the poor and needy.”

I recall the trend of paying tithing in fast offerings. I don’t recall ever learning how widespread this strategy was, but the change to the tithing and donation slips happened not long thereafter. To me it felt like one more door to participation in good conscience had been closed.

[_Shulem]

I want my damned money back, Goddamnit!

[_Shulem]

Rot in hell, Hinkley!