Reason #111: LDS Church’s Lack of Financial Reporting

Recently I read accounts by two LDS ward (local congregation) finance clerks.  These are local priesthood holders who process tithing checks from their fellow ward members and then send the money on to the Church headquarters in Salt Lake City. One, who is presently active as a Mormon, says he will soon leave the LDS Church after seeing that his ward sends about $500,000 every year to Salt Lake, but is only given about $5,000 for its own budget for operational expenses.  (Apparently some of the headquarters’ frugality is also seen in the “calling” of local members to do janitorial work instead of hiring it done.) Another former ward finance clerk reported that he left the LDS church after realizing that his tithing alone equalled the entire...