GAs being paid and "lay ministry"?

[Anonymous]

Quote:

SilentDawning wrote: “thing it does, is it allows the church to say “no tithing funds were used to fund X, Y, Z”. I see that as its primary justification.”

So .. The church has a HUGE prosperous private corporation. There are no individual stockholders. I cannot buy stock and I did not inherit stock through my pioneer ancestors. It has major financial investments in, owns, or operates department stores, banks, an island cultural center, an insurance company, huge cattle ranches in Oklahoma, Florida, and Texas that involve the cattle futures market, shopping malls, massive housing developments in Florida, and high rise condos on the east coast.

But .. WHAT do they fund? Other that more investments? What in the church is funded out the the private corporation/business side of the church?

Anyone know?

[Anonymous]

amateurparent wrote:

So .. The church has a HUGE prosperous private corporation. There are no individual stockholders. I cannot buy stock and I did not inherit stock through my pioneer ancestors. It has major financial investments in, owns, or operates department stores, banks, an island cultural center, an insurance company, huge cattle ranches in Oklahoma, Florida, and Texas that involve the cattle futures market, shopping malls, massive housing developments in Florida, and high rise condos on the east coast.

But .. WHAT do they fund? Other that more investments? What in the church is funded out the the private corporation/business side of the church?

Anyone know?

Quote:

Number Two: Over the last thirty years, Virtucon has grown by leaps and bounds. About fifteen years ago, we changed from volatile chemicals to the communication industry. We own cable companies in thirty-eight states.

[the thirty-eight states illuminate on a map]

Number Two: In addition to our cable holdings, we own a steel mill in Cleveland.

[a steel mill miniature illuminates in Cleveland]

Number Two: Shipping in Texas.

[a ship off the coast of Texas illuminates]

Number Two: Oil refineries in Seattle.

[an oil refinery illuminates in Seattle]

Number Two: And a factory in Chicago that makes miniature models of factories.

:thumbup:

[Anonymous]

Quote:

Anyone know?

Because the records are secret, unless you get access to someone who knows the financials, and they are willing to disclose, it will be estimated, or inferred….

BUT I did read a book called Mormon America. Very intelligent, well-researched book that aims to be fair but also doesn’t let the church off the hook like an Apologist would.

They indicated that yes, the church has a lot of commercial investments, and moves the funds around between its various entities as they see fit. Beyond that I don’t know for sure. But I recommend Mormon America as a good read. It describes the church, some of its controversies, its own charitable giving, etcetera. It helped me shed the model of “church as mystic organization totally inspired” to “church as temporal organization like most others”.

I will say this, there were times when I needed help from the church — counseling from LDS Social Services, and they were so busy and understaffed there was no one who could help me. They were too booked up. Your tithing dollars at work .

I often feel they should be doing more with their wealth to make the lives of members better. And that could mean expanding their services to make them more accessible to dedicated church members, struggling with issues spawned in the Ward in which I lived…

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