Oh, the good the church is capable of!

[_LDSToronto]

Did you know that in Salt Lake City the LDS Church gives money to the Salvation Army and the St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen, as well as the free lunchtime sandwiches to the poor, at the rectory of the Cathedral of the Madeleine?

This is wonderful, Moksha. However, did you know that in Toronto, they don't? Rather, they buy a $1million plot of land 90 minutes north and convert it to an LDS Young Women's campsite complete with hot water, potable water, showers, electricity, a full kitchen, canoes, groomed trails. And Ontario has over 60 provincial parks, more than half of which are a 90 minute drive from Toronto. If one did the calculations (and I have), it costs more to run the YW camp (never mind build it) than it does to rent campsites from well-equipped provincial parks. But, never mind all of that - while our middle-class YW are enjoying themselves, having hot showers, and complaining about the food, Toronto's homeless will go without.

H.

[_just me]

Um, not to rain on the parade but could you provide some proof that the church is able to do MORE financial humanitarian good due to its real estate investments?

From what we do know, according to the financials put out by the church in the UK, the church doesn't even use all of the money it collects in the Humanitarian Fund for helping people. And, yeah, that is kinda disappointing.

Avon gives more to charity (percent) than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Doesn't that give you pause? It sure shocked me to learn that.

Just Me (or anyone), where can I read about this - if the church publishes financials for the UK and other countries, are they publicly available?

H.

I'll see if I can run down the link. I should stick it in my favorites.

Okay, they kinda break it down and explain it here using figures from a few years ago: http://mormonthink.com/tithing.htm

You can go find the current financials here. It looks like 3 of the registered charities under that search are for the Utah based LDS church: http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Sh ... ryNumber=0

[_zeezrom]

I wonder if the membership at large would prefer the money of the church to stay in the church the way it does.

[_just me]

I wonder if the membership at large would prefer the money of the church to stay in the church the way it does.

I am sure most would be shocked to learn that the church does not spend 100% of the Humanitarian Fund money on charity.

[_zeezrom]

Oh wait a minute. I missed the thing about the humanitarian fund. I better look into that.

[_just me]

Oh wait a minute. I missed the thing about the humanitarian fund. I better look into that.

Yeah, read about that. It is sad.

From mormonthink.com:

In Summary - Humanitarian Aid Fund (2004 & 2005)

Income - £761,000
Expenditure - £86,000 (11%)
On Tsunami - zero
Balance sitting in the bank - £675,000

Fast Offering Fund (2004 & 2005)

Income (plus previous balance) - £4,102,000
Expenditure - £1,000,000 (24%)
On Tsunami - Impossible to quantify*
Balance sitting in the bank - £3,102,000

(* Given the money was spent in the UK and Ireland, other parts of Europe and Africa are probably nil. We know some parts of Africa were affected by the Tsunami but not much, and nowhere in the report was a reference made to helping Tsunami victims.)

[_Simon Belmont]

How many houses has the LDS church built for the less fortunate around the world? I have, personally, paid for the construction of 3 houses and 1 well in ghana since I decided to stop paying tithing to the LDS church and give my money to people that actually need it....

The measure of charity is how many houses are built?

[_just me]

Then it would run out of resources eventually. In this way they can perpetually help those in need around the world.

How many houses has the LDS church built for the less fortunate around the world? I have, personally, paid for the construction of 3 houses and 1 well in ghana since I decided to stop paying tithing to the LDS church and give my money to people that actually need it....

Screech, that is totally awesome!

[_Simon Belmont]

Simon,

Have u stopped to consider what the return might be for God if he spent the money to educate 1 billion people for the next 20 years?

Then what, zeezrom? There would be no church left to help people after that.

I am talking about perpetuity here, not a one-time "blow all your money" kind of thing.

[_1 Iron]

1iron,

Putting more into retirement and buying higher quality food. That's it so far. I have plans for what to do with my extra time but will not disclose because I'm not comfortable doing so. It is a personal thing. Something I've wanted to do for a long time. Dear to my heart.

Sounds interesting Zeezrom. I hope the best for you in whatever this matter may be.

To be fair, I am curious if you feel personally upset about what the church is doing with it's funds, or are more generally just upset about having paid tithing at all and this is an easy target? Because I can't say I've heard active members complain about this who tithe. I don't really feel inclined to complain myself. I think the church does alot. I've sat with members in need and seen first hand the aid the church has given locally. I've had relatives and members of my ward family serve service missions in various parts of the world; seen youth go to other countries to build schools, wells, and other projects. A gentleman in one of the wards in our stake leads groups to Mexico each year to build houses for less fortunate people - all paid for by members of the LDS church.

To be honest, Zeezrom, I can sympathize with the desire to see more done. But I can't empathize with the feelings behind the posts being shared here in general. It's not a well from which I'd wish to water my soul I guess.