Whistleblower - Ensign Peak Advisors

[Uncle Ted]

My issue: there is so much good that could be done by utilizing the income from $100B. $60mm per year seems woefully low in humanitarian aid when you can make over 100x that annually in new excess tithes and interest earned.

Yeah, the saints in Utah got a new mall... we could use another one of those in Texas too.

[Green Monstah]

Where does that 60 million number come from? I ask because I’ve heard that vastly different amounts quoted over the last few days and prior to that.

40mm was cited in the WaPo article, but I believe ive read 60mm In different articles on church humanitarian aid.

[wally]

This article is a heads-up not to go on facebook for a while.... but I did anyway. All of my predictions were accurate. One guy I know even had a great 'zinger.' Went something like this: "Follow the Profit!" Have any of you ever seen that one?! Very witty because instead of spelling it as "Prophet" they spelled it as "Profit." Such smart humor!

[Jeff Lebowski]

40mm was cited in the WaPo article, but I believe ive read 60mm In different articles on church humanitarian aid.

Does that include aid to poor church members and domestic aid?

[Sleeping in EQ]

The optics of this are terrible, and not just for people who buy into Matt. 6:19.

[tooblue]

Does that include aid to poor church members and domestic aid?

No, it does not. That is part of the churches infrastructure that must be maintained annually, in addition to its buildings etc. The infrastructure includes services such as:

Bishops' Storehouses
Development Counseling Services
Home Storage Centers
Immigrant Services
Family Services
Self-Reliance Services

https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/?lang=eng

40 or 60 million goes to other entities with their own infrastructure.

[tooblue]

No, it does not. That is part of the churches infrastructure that must be maintained annually, in addition to its buildings etc. The infrastructure includes services such as:

Bishops' Storehouses
Development Counseling Services
Home Storage Centers
Immigrant Services
Family Services
Self-Reliance Services

https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/?lang=eng

40 or 60 million goes to other entities with their own infrastructure.

Further, how does the church even have the resources to share with say the NAACP?

https://naacp.org/latest/ldschurch/

What exactly does any one here think the NAACP is getting access to ...

"At a series of meetings and presentations held with members of the NAACP board of directors and senior staff along with general authorities of the Church and various Church department representatives, the two groups advanced conversations and efforts on their education and employment initiative that the Church and the NAACP have undertaken as a joint venture. The two groups worked on ways to customize the Church’s self-reliance services materials and programs to be most effective for the initiative."

[tooblue]

The optics of this are terrible, and not just for people who buy into Matt. 6:19.

How many members of your Stake or Ward receive bi-monthly food assistance from your local Bishop's store house? How many members of your congregation (youth and adults) has your Bishop sent to meet with counsellors working for LDS social services and the salary of the counsellor is paid for by the church at no cost to the member?

[Jeff Lebowski]

No, it does not. That is part of the churches infrastructure that must be maintained annually, in addition to its buildings etc. The infrastructure includes services such as:

Bishops' Storehouses
Development Counseling Services
Home Storage Centers
Immigrant Services
Family Services
Self-Reliance Services

https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/?lang=eng

40 or 60 million goes to other entities with their own infrastructure.

Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. And is probably why you see so many different numbers. Folks are probably making wild guesses.

[Moliere]

My issue: there is so much good that could be done by utilizing the income from $100B. $60mm per year seems woefully low in humanitarian aid when you can make over 100x that annually in new excess tithes and interest earned.

Yep.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yep.

Dude, you could do a whole season of podcasts on this issue alone.

[tooblue]

Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. And is probably why you see so many different numbers. Folks are probably making wild guesses.

Perhaps my posts came across as rude. The aim of my tone is bluntness. I get very frustrated with this idea that the church is hoarding money and that there is no transparency. Information is available via the provident living Web site. Hades, if you want to find a Bishops' storehouse near you it's no more complicated than finding a chapel near you:

https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/find-a-welfare-location?lang=eng

Beyond chapels, temples and universities the church has invested in and built a remarkable distribution infrastructure that must be annually maintained. What can't be provided by its network of farms and canning facilities is bought in bulk by the church to be distributed by a storehouse. Everyday items such as deodorant, soap, diapers, toiletries, shampoo, tampons/pads etc. are available to members in need throughout North America. This is all supported by distribution networks that include warehouses and shipping facilities. Where does the money come from to maintain these facilities, fleets of trucks, drivers, managers etc.?

This is in addition to all of the other services available to members: counselling, legal aid, employment services etc. For me personally, if being asked to clean the chapel once or twice a year means the church can hire and pay more counsellors to meet with people with serious mental issues that a Lay Bishop is not trained to adequately help, I am all for it. Hades, I will clean the chapel once a month if I need to.

How do I know all this? I served as a Bishop (outside of the US), and my wife is currently the Relief Society President. I have immediate family that is currently meeting with a counsellor from LDS family services. There are two young adult members of my congregation currently serving Service Missions.

What's more, I haven't even addressed the same infrastructure that exists in Europe. I personally know one individual who works for the church as an LDS family services counsellor. The individual speaks Spanish, French and German fluently. Her spouse is the Bishop of a European Ward. We're close friends and have compared notes. Also consider that the same infrastructure that has been built up over 30, 40, 50, 80 years in North America is also being built in South America, Africa, Asia, Australia ...

The money is being spent wisely.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

The optics of this are terrible, and not just for people who buy into Matt. 6:19.

Thankfully the church invested in City Creek as a hedge against the terrible optics.

[Flystripper]

Thankfully the church invested in City Creek as a hedge against the terrible optics.

retail investments...as one who works for a firm that is closing most of the retail establishments worldwide my view is that this this probably wasn't a great long-term fiscal decision. Good thing there are plenty of reserves!

[Jeff Lebowski]

Thankfully the church invested in City Creek as a hedge against the terrible optics.

OK, that was funny.