Whistleblower - Ensign Peak Advisors

[SeattleUte]

Church issues response:

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist...hurch-finances

Perfect. Nice and terse. But they need a woman in that pic.

I heard from a true believer that they're accumulating more reserves because Millennials don't pay tithing.

[Bo Diddley]

I created an algorithm that can translate any statement into Art Vandelay speak. I just inserted that paragraph and this came out:

But seriously, too many appropriately used apostrophes.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Church issues response:

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist...hurch-finances

[Applejack]

I like that essay.

I laughed at this part:

After publishing an exhaustive 1,000-page deep dive into the church’s finances, noted historian and long-time church critic, D. Michael Quinn,

[Art Vandelay]

I created an algorithm that can translate any statement into Art Vandelay speak. I just inserted that paragraph and this came out:

[Donuthole]

I plan to plagiarize this in a group text I belong to. Though the lack of spelling errors and the double dashes, will likely give away I’m not the author.

I created an algorithm that can translate any statement into Art Vandelay speak. I just inserted that paragraph and this came out:

The big news, from all this, is that Christ's Restored Church has enough money to pay, to have the churches cleaned by folks who knows cleanin'. It's not so much news really, cause we already knowed that anyways. But, seriously, we, give up, most, of, our, Sunday and 10% of our earnin's. Can't we pay some folks to clean the building and clean it good? We all know these chapels was lots cleaner back when they was being cleaned by folks who knows cleanin and was gettin sum' out of the work. Also, I was once a bishop.

[Art Vandelay]

The biggest takeaway of all of this is that the church has more than enough money to pay to have the churches professionally cleaned. And it's not not really a takeaway, as we all knew that anyway. But seriously, we give up most of our Sunday and 10% of our income. Let's just pay someone to clean the building and clean it well. Because let's face it--the churches were a lot cleaner back when they were being cleaned by someone who was getting paid to do it.

/gripe

I plan to plagiarize this in a group text I belong to. Though the lack of spelling errors and the double dashes, will likely give away I’m not the author.

[Jeff Lebowski]

But you will appreciate the building so much more if you clean it.

This whole story gets a meh from me.

I did laugh at the church's PR paper and their spin on it.
https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2019...thank-goodness

I like that essay.

[falafel]

The biggest takeaway of all of this is that the church has more than enough money to pay to have the churches professionally cleaned. And it's not not really a takeaway, as we all knew that anyway. But seriously, we give up most of our Sunday and 10% of our income. Let's just pay someone to clean the building and clean it well. Because let's face it--the churches were a lot cleaner back when they were being cleaned by someone who was getting paid to do it.

/gripe

Let Desert Industries (or your local equivalent) do it. We have Opportunity Village clean our building. Seems like a no-brainer.

[LVAllen]

With those kinds of resources, I would think the church has been getting solid legal advice on how to maintain the tax exempt status. That would be a massive error to miss required spending minimums and then turn around and have to pay $30 Billion or more in taxes.

I think the whistleblower is taking a hail mary at a big payday. It's been 3 months since he submitted his info to the IRS. Why go public now? Maybe things aren't going his way.

A 74-page narrative attached to the actual form screams fringe on the flag to me.

EDIT: Here's the 74-page narrative. It compares the Church to Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit. I'm not joking. Page 28. This is not a document intended for the IRS to consider. Its title is a reference to the CES letter for crying out loud.

https://www.scribd.com/document/4393...n-IRS-Director

[creekster]

If you had a nice custodian the gym was usually open after school also, because of the churches being locked up the kids have no where to turn now except porn and video games hence we are in the troubles we are because of trying to save a little money.

If you are a kid that can't manage to track down a key to the chapel when you and your friends want to get in to play basketball then you have problems that go far beyond video games and porn.

[RC Vikings]

The biggest takeaway of all of this is that the church has more than enough money to pay to have the churches professionally cleaned. And it's not not really a takeaway, as we all knew that anyway. But seriously, we give up most of our Sunday and 10% of our income. Let's just pay someone to clean the building and clean it well. Because let's face it--the churches were a lot cleaner back when they were being cleaned by someone who was getting paid to do it.

/gripe

If you had a nice custodian the gym was usually open after school also, because of the churches being locked up the kids have no where to turn now except porn and video games hence we are in the troubles we are because of trying to save a little money.

[MartyFunkhouser]

The biggest takeaway of all of this is that the church has more than enough money to pay to have the churches professionally cleaned. And it's not not really a takeaway, as we all knew that anyway. But seriously, we give up most of our Sunday and 10% of our income. Let's just pay someone to clean the building and clean it well. Because let's face it--the churches were a lot cleaner back when they were being cleaned by someone who was getting paid to do it.

/gripe

But you will appreciate the building so much more if you clean it.

This whole story gets a meh from me.

I did laugh at the church's PR paper and their spin on it.
https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2019...thank-goodness

[wapiti]

I think the sticky point legally (and mentioned by wapiti) is that the non-profit Ensign Peak has to distribute back to a charitable purpose in order to keep their own non-profit tax exemption. They can't rely on the Church's expenditures, because the Church is a separate legal entity, although the Church is affiliated with Ensign Peak. If they haven't been doing that, that may be problematic.

With those kinds of resources, I would think the church has been getting solid legal advice on how to maintain the tax exempt status. That would be a massive error to miss required spending minimums and then turn around and have to pay $30 Billion or more in taxes.

I think the whistleblower is taking a hail mary at a big payday. It's been 3 months since he submitted his info to the IRS. Why go public now? Maybe things aren't going his way.

[LVAllen]

First, True Bluers dont give their money to the Church, they give it to God, and the Church holds it like a virtuous steward. Those who believe it is going to "the Church" are already on their way to apostacy.

Second, if $6B of $7B is paid every year toward Church expenses, this is included in the required spending for the Church to maintain tax exempt status. It doesn't have to go to charity, it has to go back to its members, and charity only if wanted.

If this were Scientology, every member would pay tithing, plus to cost to buy the land, plus the cost to build the chapel/temple, plus the cost to outfit the building plus furniture, supplies, heating fuel, etc. The Church buys all of this with its $6B annually. Scientology would get its tax exempt status revoked much much sooner than the Church, and we all know that aint gonna happen.

I think the sticky point legally (and mentioned by wapiti) is that the non-profit Ensign Peak has to distribute back to a charitable purpose in order to keep their own non-profit tax exemption. They can't rely on the Church's expenditures, because the Church is a separate legal entity, although the Church is affiliated with Ensign Peak. If they haven't been doing that, that may be problematic.