Mormons - Who controls the wealth?

Question

The Mormon church gets millions every month from donations.
They hold stock in companies such as coke.
They own vast amounts of land.
Their members pay their own way to preach the church.
They build unbelievable church buildings.
They own many companies.
So far I haven't seen a single program to help the needy, that is sponsored by the mormon church, such as the salvation army.

My question is, who controls all this money?
How much do you think they have?
And do you think it's holy to use god's name to gain weath?

Answer 1

First, I will answer to you other Mormons that have answered: I am SICK and TIRED of LDS people accusing people with questions for 'not having the facts straight', for 'being ignorant', for 'attacking the Church', or for 'being Anti-Mormon'. That's not the way to change a person's perception about your religion. Most of the time, it is actually the members of the Church who "haven't checked their sources". If the only people you ever ask are other Church members, you will only get half the story. Anyway, here's the answer, it'll probably be a bit longer than the others, because it has the WHOLE STORY. Enjoy! : )

Yes, the LDS/Mormon Church has a HUGE program to help the needy. The Church was actually the second-largest private contributor to the rebuilding/rescue efforts after the Indonesian Tsunami in 2004, and the third- or fourth-largest in the cleanup after hurricanes Katrina and Rita just a couple years ago.

To answer a previous responder, YES, the LDS Church DOES own stock in Coca-Cola. It owns stock in several hundred companies, actually. Members, if they so choose, can even pay their 10% tithing in stock, you just can't do it with the standard envelope and tithing slip.

The Church operates debt-free, meaning that they don't take out a loan for any of their buildings or projects. Everything is paid for before a project can even begin.

The Church owns huge amounts of land, many of them future Temple sites (such is the case in Missouri, France, several African countries, and in South America). The land will also be used to build out more of the Church's humanitarian and public-service programs, such as LDS family services (adoption services for those who can't afford to do it through governments).

Although missionaries pay $400 per month for their missions ($9600 for a two-year mission), the average mission costs almost twice that much. Living expenses alone account for more than that. Then you have the pamphlets, the health insurance that the Church pays for all of its missionaries (missionaries pay absolutely nothing for any medical expense; most insurance policies that cover just 80% medical costs are around $320-$375 per month for a young, healthy person), mission supplies, and spending money for each missionary to be able to do basic things such as shopping, haircuts, shoe repair (they walk a lot!).

Church buildings are made with the highest-quality materials available, and as often as possible, they are materials that come from the country where they will be used. In other words, to build a church in Switzerland, one of the most expensive countries in the world, they're not going to outsource everything to China or India. They get as much material as possible from Switzerland and have about 95% of the work done in Switzerland. This is obviously more expensive than outsourcing.

The Church also owns many companies. It owns publishing companies, banks, distribution companies, and even a few lending companies. The Church operates its Perpetual Education Fund, which loans money to students from third-world countries to study in other countries, like the US, Canada, Europe, or Russia. These loans have rates that are lower than the US inflation rate, so it doesn't bring any profits to the Church, but it permits people who otherwise would have no possibility of a professional future to obtain an education. Most prominently, the Church owns "The Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church", which is the legal entity that owns almost all of the Church's assets. This corporation's 'CEO', if you will, is the Presiding Bishop, and his 'CFO' and 'COO' are his counselors. The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve also serve as the "board" for the Corp, with the Church President as "chairman of the board".

Although the Church has 'no paid clergy', it does have 'paid administration'. In other words, President Hinckley, the entire Quorum of the Twelve, Presiding Bishopric, etc. is not paid for the ministry or as religious workers, however, they are paid for the administrative (read: business) work they do for the Church. They get paid to sign documents, to make decisions, to coordinate Church programs, etc. They do not, however, get paid to preach or teach. Most of their pay (about 80%) is in expense reimbursement, paid housing, paid vehicles, and other living expenses that allow them to spend 70-80 hours per week seeing to the needs of the Church. Almost all General Authorities are retired and have no other means of income other than their retirement packages or investments that they set up during their working life.

The Church also pays tens of millions of dollars every year to further genealogical efforts for its members and other organizations. About 70% of all genealogical material available in the United States has gone through the Church's hands at one point or another. The Church has microfilmed just about all of it as well, making it available to all future generations.

In conclusion, yes the Church is wealthy. VERY wealthy. But keep in mind that it is the Church who owns it, and not any individual or set of individuals. Any change in how the money is distributed must have unanimous approval of the First Presidency and the Presiding Bishopric, as well as a majority vote of the Quorum of the Twelve. By Church rule, it must finally be brought before the body of the members of the Church for a sustaining vote, so that they are all aware.

To answer your other question, no one really knows how much the Church has, but in 2001, it was estimated that their Net Income, after all expenses, placed 66th among US organizations, ranking right behind Nike and right ahead of Gap Clothing. That being said, I would estimate that the Church owns several billion dollars of liquid assets.

Answer 2

1. The active members of the church tithe 10%.
2. The Mormon Church does not own stock in Coca Cola.
3. Much of the land that is owned serve as agricultural sources and used for the Church's needy and the needy throughout the world.
4. The Mormon Church is an unpaid ministry, but served by the priesthood of God.
5. Yes, the temples of the Lord are impressive, indeed!
6. The companies that the Church owns seems to grow with every fabricated or stretched myth by anti-Mormons.
7. The Mormon Church contributes time and money for all disasters and emergencies. Victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans received help from church members weekly from my ward and stake. We do not advertise the good that is done world-wide because Jesus said not to flaunt such things before the world.
8. The First Presidency of the Church controls all expenditures and tithing income for building maintenance, relief work, and temple building.
9. Unknown about how much the Church is worth.
10. All that is done is for the church and its membership and those standing in need world-wide. The majority of earnings that help build up the storehouse of God is done by individual membership and their tithing. The Church also contributes. Any wealth that is accumulated is through doing the Lord's work for the membership and for the needy.

How quick you are to disparage a Church and its organization through fabricated lies and mistruths! But that is nothing new. The Mormon Church will continue to be persecuted until the Second Coming of Christ. If you sincerely want more answers then go to the source--your local LDS Church meetinghouse on Sundays.

p.s. Bravo to Mdyh's second paragraph in his answer!

Answer 3

Looks like you got some pretty good answers. You obviously didn't look for the information before asking the question. Anytime there is a major catastrophy or problem the Mormons are always one of the first groups to give their assistance, world wide. They may not do it as openly as the likes of the Salvation Army, but it isn't about getting praise or recognition, but making a difference.

Also, all of the church's buildings/projects are paid for 100% up front, so the church has no debt.

In addition to the above link, here are a few more. Good luck.

Answer 4

I found this link -
http://www.lds.org/ldsfoundation/0,6892,407-1-0,00.html

As everyone knows, the Mormon Church does not have a paid clergy. All proceeds are used to build churches, support welfare programs and further the missionary efforts.

Is it holy to use God's name to gain wealth? Wealth for who? In the case of the Mormon Church, that wealth is to further the work of the Lord. I would not confuse the wealth of the Mormon Church with the likes of paid ministries that use the money for their own personal gain.

Answer 5

It's God's money. We give 10% or more to the church.
We don't need to advertise our programs for the needy. We have LDS social services, Deseret Industries (like the salvation army) and many others.
We also work with other organizations that are already in place to help the needy.
So get off your tower!

Answer 6

The tithe-payers control the wealth, because if no one paid the tithe, there wouldn't be any wealth.