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DoubtingTom wrote:
1) What does this “modest living allowance” entail?2) So the question remains, in what way is $130k plus benefits a “modest stipend?”
3) So whether or not to be bothered by the church’s paid leaders is a personal decision… Certainly the rhetoric in conference and in our manuals should reflect the reality.
A lot of what you say Doubting Tom resonates with me.
Regarding #2 I wouldn’t call it modest but I would call it reasonable. For successful professional men with a PhD, MD, JD, Pilot license, or whatever, they could earn significantly more in the real world. We’re not comparing $130k in SLC to Guatemala or Haiti – we’re comparing it to living in SLC which is where their costs are. A family living on $130k isn’t scraping by but it’s hardly luxury living. We don’t want them to smell like paupers dressing in paper bags either because then they would be more susceptible to corruption. I think their jobs sound stressful, demanding, time consuming, travel intensive, and tedious. The $130k number doesn’t bother me by itself but there is no context around that figure.
Question #1 hits at the heart of this. $130k tells only a small part of the story. They almost certainly have expense accounts or many other perks that are not included. My in laws live about 1 mile north of Temple Square and I’ve seen Q12 members being driven to what I assume is their residence in SUVs by men in sunglasses and suits. In other words it looks like they receive a driving service. Church pensions, health benefits, retirement plans, dental benefits, vision benefits, paid time off, free rent at church owned properties, children and grandchildren tuition at church schools and/or private schools, company cars or driving services, secure mobile and internet plans, body guards, paid travel for spouses (I wonder how many GAs take their wife for stake conferences in Hawaii) could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
Statement #3: THIS. our rhetoric doesn’t match reality, but I just can’t get worked up over $130k which is what many people seem to be bothered by.
I agree – let the Bishop handle the staffing of callings and programmatic stuff. Let someone else handle confession and sin and temple recommends. Let someone else handle welfare issues. Expand lds social services for people who need personal and marital counseling, and thensee the church do better with improving the Sunday experience. My only question is who handles discipline? And how do you get away from the judge, jury and executioner role of the Bishop? I see that as a flaw in my division of labor.
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