GA Salaries Article — Comments

If true I’m in the surprised it’s so low camp.

I don’t know why where the money comes from is such an issue. For me it’s not about where the money came from, any good business can shuffle funds around to present whatever narrative they want to present, it’s called accounting. For me the issue is opportunity cost. Given that many of these men give up their entire lives low six figures isn’t really that much.

why not pay local leaders for the many hours they put in as well?

I don’t think I’d like that. I feel that we already have an element of people competing for the prestige of holding certain callings. I’d hate for a stipend associated with certain callings to hold a microphone up to that. Plus I think it would create problems that we currently don’t have. People in positions of leadership giving callings to their buddies for financial reasons. Maybe some would even go as far as giving callings to buddies if the buddy agrees to kick some of that back in the direction of the person that issued the call. People aren’t perfect.

I have a few different thoughts on this, mostly that I commented on this post: https://wheatandtares.org/2017/01/10/ever-wonder-how-much-president-monson-gets-paid-now-we-know/

1 – When I first learned about this (years and years ago), I felt foolish for my insistence that they weren’t paid when I was a missionary. For PR to claim that the information has been out there forever, hiding in plain sight, feels disingenuous to me. I don’t object to paid clergy. Personally, I think the Anglicans get a far superior quality of minister than we do, and there’s something appealing about being able to fire a bad pastor like the Evangelicals can. But the BOM creates this problem by saying even the chief priest and even the king didn’t get paid. Then again, the BOM is against polygamy too, and look where that got us.

2 – PR says one reason they are paid is so that callings aren’t just restricted to the wealthy. Right. Thing is, they are in fact mostly restricted to the wealthy, and it would be kind of weird otherwise. If you take someone who’s making $40K and say they can be a GA for $120K, that’s a HUGE step up in lifestyle. It probably would create whole new problems.

3 – Yes, they had mostly lucrative salaried careers they left to do this, BUT they are paid this salary well into their dotage when the rest of us are living off our dwindling retirement. That is actually a pretty big economic advantage. I don’t begrudge them their book deals. Fame sells. I’m not buying their books anyway. I’d like to return a few General Conference talks for a refund.

4 – They justify not paying women anything because auxilliary positions are part time and voluntary. Right. But why can’t there be a graduated scale? Why do we have to make sure that women aren’t compensated? It seems so petty to me. Like I said elsewhere, if they ever did ordain women they’d also simultaneously upgrade all the men to Platinum level priesthood.

The salary listed for Elder Eyring is so low I cannot believe it’s true. It makes me question what other types of payment are missing. Is there any long term or deferred compensation – or benefits? This is not the whole picture and it speaks to the need for transparency.

The salary listed for Elder Eyring is so low I cannot believe it’s true. It makes me question what other types of payment are missing. Is there any long term or deferred compensation – or benefits? This is not the whole picture and it speaks to the need for transparency.

I agree about transparency. This and misleading talk about not having paid ministry bother me the most. I remember being confused and fairly put off about the latter as a missionary when I found out the GAs get paid.

I’ve read multiple places that there are additional perks, such as children (but not grandchildren) of GAs getting tuition paid at BYU and BYUI, and possibly tax-free housing benefits. (EDIT: Those housing benefits are on the leaked documents.) Also, I believe most of the top GAs (apostles, presiding bishopric) sit on one or more boards of businesses managed by Deseret Management Corporation, which would probably pay additional six-figure salaries. If so, total benefits are low to mid six figures.

These amounts would have bothered me pre-FC, and I would have eventually explained them away by appealing to cost of living and the relative nature of words like “rich” and “modest.” I’m surprised at how much I don’t care about the actual figures now – they just require no explanation anymore.

I’m also surprised at how much I want to root for MormonWikiLeaks.

In the end, I guess I don’t care. What I post here won’t change anything, but I think having a paid Bishop would be a good thing, and a paid SP. So often things don’t happen that should, and could really bless the lives of members if only the Bishops had time to devote to their callings.

And I wish, more than anything, that we had better access to the services of LDS Social services for counseling and other stuff to help us. Church experience is light on practical advice and long on general concepts and values. Counseling could have really helped me years ago when I suffered leadership abuse.

One of the things I’ve identified as a major contributing factor in local unethical behavior is the fact that local leaders are both counselors and judges. This can put them in a position where they have to aid spiritual healing while feeling like they have to render judgment. When they assume the wrong role too much, bad things happen. Members with big problems will avoid local leaders because they’re afraid of that.

I have an idea that might fix that problem, the problem of local leaders not having enough time, and the problem of members not getting professional help: create a paid position of spiritual counselor. It would be full-time, part-time, ward-level, or stake-level depending on need. Let’s call the person in the position a “pastor.” Having a faith crisis? Being abused? LGBT? Can’t kick porn? Can’t get rid of guilt? Don’t think you’re worthy of a temple recommend? See the pastor. The bishop and stake president could refer people to the pastor, too, with referrals under some circumstances required by policy. As well as being trained to provide spiritual support, they’d be trained to recognize abuse and mental illness. Require and enforce as much confidentiality as allowed by law.

At the moment, this is just a half-formed, ill-considered pipe dream.

In the end, I guess I don’t care. What I post here won’t change anything, but I think having a paid Bishop would be a good thing, and a paid SP. So often things don’t happen that should, and could really bless the lives of members if only the Bishops had time to devote to their callings.

And I wish, more than anything, that we had better access to the services of LDS Social services for counseling and other stuff to help us. Church experience is light on practical advice and long on general concepts and values. Counseling could have really helped me years ago when I suffered leadership abuse.

One of the things I’ve identified as a major contributing factor in local unethical behavior is the fact that local leaders are both counselors and judges. This can put them in a position where they have to aid spiritual healing while feeling like they have to render judgment. When they assume the wrong role too much, bad things happen. Members with big problems will avoid local leaders because they’re afraid of that.

I have an idea that might fix that problem, the problem of local leaders not having enough time, and the problem of members not getting professional help: create a paid position of spiritual counselor. It would be full-time, part-time, ward-level, or stake-level depending on need. Let’s call the person in the position a “pastor.” Having a faith crisis? Being abused? LGBT? Can’t kick porn? Can’t get rid of guilt? Don’t think you’re worthy of a temple recommend? See the pastor. The bishop and stake president could refer people to the pastor, too, with referrals under some circumstances required by policy. As well as being trained to provide spiritual support, they’d be trained to recognize abuse and mental illness. Require and enforce as much confidentiality as allowed by law.

At the moment, this is just a half-formed, ill-considered pipe dream.

I like this idea. In fact, at the jail where I work we have a paid chaplain who provides spiritual guidance and counseling for not only inmates, but for staff as well. He has a degree in counseling and is trained to deal with crisis situations. Honestly, because of his experience and education I would be more inclined to go to him rather than Bishop so-and-so who may work as a plumber and who might have no clue how to talk with and counsel members. I look at the position of Bishop more as an administrator rather than a counselor or spiritual leader. I’ve had a couple bishops who were utter a**holes and lost respect for them.

Just another thought of using a paid position to improve the lives of the membership.

The SDA’s in my area have the free services of a financial planner.

This seems to me like such a win-win investment. The financial planner can help the members get their financial houses in order. Having a more financially stable and independent membership is good for church donations.

I understand that he/she is extra proficient at willing portions of your estate to the church upon your death.

This person need not even be LDS as long as he/she understands the church expectations of tithing and fast offerings.