How the Church of Jesus Christ Uses Tithes and Donations (2024)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses the sacred tithes and generous donations of its members in worldwide efforts to love God and neighbor. In light of recent media stories that have misrepresented the Church’s approach, the Church provides the following summary.
The Church is committed to helping the poor and needy. Latter-day Saint Charities is a global program that primarily benefits those who are not Latter-day Saints. In times of need and during other emergencies, we partner with many global organizations like the Red Cross to provide assistance. President Russell M. Nelson spoke recently about some of these efforts. And this represents only a small portion of what the Church spends to care for those in need. The most recent annual report shows that the Church’s humanitarian arm has given more than $2.2 billion in aid in 197 countries since it was created in 1985. In addition, through the Church’s welfare program, leaders of the faith’s 30,000-plus congregations regularly help men, women and children with food, housing and other temporal needs, totaling billions more dollars in assistance.
The Church builds temples and connects families through family history. The Church is heavily focused on the doctrinal principle of connecting families across generations. This spiritual work is done in 217 announced or operating temples, an effort supported by the faith’s nonprofit family history organization, FamilySearch, which also freely offers its genealogical resources to anyone.
The Church provides worship and gathering space for its members. The Church must fund facilities, education and activity programs for its 30,500 congregations. Meetinghousesalso serve as spaces for community education, family history research and emergency response.
The Church supports a global missionary program. Currently, more than 65,000 Latter-day Saint missionaries around the world are preaching the good news of Jesus Christ — an effort that requires significant financial support from the Church beyond the missionaries’ personal or family contributions. The faith’s approximately 400 missions include mission homes, apartments, offices and automobiles — all funded by the Church.
The Church invests in education. The Church believes that both secular and spiritual learning are eternal, and it invests significant financial resources in education. The Church’s Seminaries and Institutes program provides daily religious instruction to some 400,000 high school students and 300,000 university students each year. The Church provides higher education opportunities globally through its expansive PathwayConnect program, which paves the way to a university degree for those with limited opportunities or resources. And the Church operates several universities and a business college serving a combined 93,000 students.
“The fact that the Church of Jesus Christ has been able to fund the operation of meetinghouses, temples, educational institutions and missionary work — while also building up reservoirs of resources for the difficult days that eventually come — is a model that should be celebrated and emulated by governments and other institutions around the world,” one opinion editor writes.
The Church follows the same sound financial principles it teaches its membership. It avoids debt, lives within its budget and prepares for the future. Little wonder the pages of the Wall Street Journal recently praised Utah’s strong economy, in part because of the state’s “predominant [Latter-day Saint] culture that encourages out-of-fashion virtues such as thrift, delayed gratification and stable families.”
D. Michael Quinn, a scholar who published a 600-page history of Church finances in 2017, summed up his findings as “an enormously faith-promoting story.” He told a newspaper reporter that if Latter-day Saints could see “the larger picture,” they would “breathe a sigh of relief and see the church is not a profit-making business.”
“Yes, the church saves and invests its surplus pennies,” a Deseret News op-ed concludes, “but it also helps vastly reduce the debt of college students, gives to the poor regardless of background and supports one of the largest non-governmental welfare programs in the country. Most importantly, it does all this without enriching those at the top.”
The sacred funds donated by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are an expression of faith, devotion and obedience to the biblical law of tithing and a desire to build Christ’s Church through living the two great commandments to love God and neighbor.
Style Guide Note:When reporting about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, please use the complete name of the Church in the first reference. For more information on the use of the name of the Church, go to our online Style Guide.
Tithing donations are most usually remitted through the local congregational leader, or bishop, and from there to Church headquarters, where they are allocated and disbursed directly to the Church's many worldwide programs, including its educational, missionary, building, humanitarian and welfare efforts.
Tithing donations are always used for the Lord's purposes, which He reveals through a council of His servants. Some of these uses are: Building and maintaining temples, chapels, and other Church buildings.Supporting the activities and operations of local Church congregations.
In keeping with the biblical practice of tithes, Latter-day Saints offer one-tenth of their income to the Church. These funds are used to: Provide buildings or places of worship for members around the world.Provide education programs, including support for Church universities and seminary and institute programs.
Since ancient times, God has commanded His people to give one-tenth of all they earn back to Him. This commandment is still in effect today. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints give one-tenth of their income back to God through His Church.
Here are some examples of what the church may use your tithes for: Paying pastors, ministers, and other church staff members. Funding outreach programs like soup kitchens and donations for the needy. Maintaining the church building and equipment.
Instead, tithing is meant for our benefit, because sacrificing a portion of our income reminds us to rely on God to meet our needs. Plus, it makes us more aware of the needs of others. In fact, supporting the needs of pastors and the work of the local church is one of the main reasons behind tithing.
Jesus says, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
He will not punish you if you do not give a tithe. There is a big difference in paying tithes and giving tithes. God does not was us the pay Him anything because everything has been paid by His Son, Jesus Christ.
Rooted in biblical truths, tithing is an act of faith, obedience, and gratitude. By embracing this sacred practice, we experience God's faithfulness, unlock abundant blessings, break free from greed, and deepen our relationship with Him.
SEC investigators found the church "went to great lengths" to hide $32 billion in securities over nearly 20 years. It created 13 shell companies that were "assigned a local phone number that would go directly to voicemail" in case regulators checked in.
A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges an investment arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints misused hundreds of thousands of dollars donated by three men by investing the money instead of using it for charitable purposes as they assert was promised.
Tithing donations are most usually remitted through the local congregational leader, or bishop, and from there to Church headquarters, where they are allocated and disbursed directly to the Church's many worldwide programs, including its educational, missionary, building, humanitarian and welfare efforts.
Tithing has its roots in the Biblical tale of Abraham presenting a tenth of the war spoils to Melchizedek, the king of Salem. In the Old Testament, Jews brought 10% of their harvest to a storehouse as a welfare plan for the needy or in case of famine.
Tithing is mentioned three times in the New Testament, but is never prescribed and is only incidental to other teachings (Matthew 23:23, Luke 18:12, Hebrews 7:1-10).
Tithing is used to pay the church's bills and fund the church's programs. Whatever is left over, about $1 billion a year, is put into a reserve fund at Ensign Peak and invested. As a registered nonprofit, those investments grow tax free, Nielsen said.
You donate 10 percent of your income for tithing (see Doctrine and Covenants 119). You give your tithing to a member of your bishopric or branch presidency or submit it online at donations.lds.org.
The church reported giving $1.3 billion in charitable aid in 2023. Here's a snapshot of how the church provided aid last year: $1.36 billion in total. 6.2 million volunteer hours.
In the July 8, 1838, revelation, the Lord answered the Saints' question with these instructions: first, the Saints should make a one-time donation of all their surplus property; “and after that,” the revelation said, “those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually.” 5 An additional ...
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