Has anyone else seen this?

We get Bloomberg in my office. Can't wait to see this edition.

Most of you that read my blog know that I am Mormon. If you didn't, now you do :) With Mitt Romney running for President, I knew that this kind of press would be inevitable. It still kind of hurts though. It's hard when people try to explain a church or its members by using "wordly" explanations. Not everyone does things purely for gain. I know that seems like an anomaly in today's world...and maybe it is, but I think you may be surprised to know that good people who want to help others, still exist. The church has already issued a response, which you can read here.

Here are some of my favorite highlights:

"Tithing is an ancient biblical principle and has been practiced by many churches through the centuries. Independent studies show, however, that nowhere else in America today is the principle of tithing so widely and faithfully followed as among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The vast majority of the income used to manage the Church comes from tithing, not from businesses or investments.

Tithing has thus proved to be an enormous blessing to the Church and its people, along with simple but sound economic principles such as avoiding debt, living within one’s means and setting aside funds for a rainy day.

The key to understanding Church finances is to understand that they are a means to an end. They allow the Church to carry out its religious mission across the world.

Does the Church own for-profit businesses? Yes. In the Church’s earlier history as it was establishing itself in the remote Intermountain West, some of those businesses were necessitated by the simple fact that they didn’t exist elsewhere in the community. Gradually, as private businesses developed and the need for Church-owned businesses diminished, they were sold off, donated to the community or discontinued. Zions Bank and the LDS Hospital system are examples.

Today, the Church’s business assets support the Church’s mission and principles by serving as a rainy day fund. Agricultural holdings now operated as for-profit enterprises can be converted into welfare farms in the event of a global food crisis. Companies such as KSL Television and the Deseret News provide strategically valuable communication tools.

Tithing funds are used to support five key areas of activity:

•Providing buildings or places of worship for members around the world. We have thousands of such buildings and continue to open more, sometimes several in a week.

•Providing education programs, including support for our universities and our seminary and institute programs.

•Supporting the Church’s worldwide missionary program.

•Building and operating nearly 140 temples around the world and the administration of the world’s largest family history program.

•Supporting the Church’s welfare programs and humanitarian aid, which serve people around the world — both members of the Church as well as those who are not members.

The Church exists to improve the lives of people across the world by bringing them closer to Jesus Christ. The assets of the Church are used in ways to support that mission. Buildings are built for members to come together to worship God and to be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. Missionaries are sent to invite people to come to Christ. Resources are used to provide food and clothing for the needy and to provide ways for people to lift themselves up and be self-reliant. What is important is not the cost but the outcome. As former Church President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “The only true wealth of the Church is in the faith of its people.”
 


Those who attempt to define the Church as an institution devoted to amassing monetary wealth miss the entire point: the Church’s purpose is to bring people to Christ and to follow His example by lifting the burdens of those who are struggling. The key to understanding the Church is to see it not as a worldwide corporation, but as millions of faithful members in thousands of congregations across the world following Christ and caring for each other and their neighbors."