Consecration and Church Finance
8 Episodes
In the last few years the finances of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been in the media spotlight, and not always in positive ways. It’s no secret that the Church today has amassed an impressive financial reserve to ensure the accomplishment of its purposes. But it was not always so. There have been some narrow straits through which the church has had to pass to get where it is financially today. It’s quite compelling history, actually, which is why we wanted to dedicate a whole series to exploring this fascinating and important topic.
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Episodes
Episode 1
Consecration and the Beginning of Church Finances
In the last few years the finances of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been in the media spotlight, and not always in positive ways. It’s no secret that the Church today has amassed an impressive financial reserve to ensure the accomplishment of its purposes. But it was not always so. There have been some narrow straits through which the church has had to pass to get where it is financially today. It’s quite compelling history, actually, which is why …
58 Min
Episode 2
Are Church “For-Profit” Businesses Okay?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today owns and operates several successful for-profit businesses, from livestock and agriculture to publishing and digital media to real estate and many others. This has caused some to wonder, does a church focused on bringing people to Christ have any business getting involved in business? Are business ventures like these compatible with the mission of the church generally and the founding principles of consecration specifically? …
51 Min
Episode 3
Did Tithing Replace Consecration?
In the aftermath of the significant 1837 failure of the church’s banking business in Kirtland, Ohio, and the subsequent fallout with several church leaders, including death threats, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon fled Ohio to be with church members in Far West, Missouri. Shortly thereafter, in April 1838, the Lord commanded the saints to build the Far West temple, but charged them to not go into more debt to do so. Church leaders were then already steeped in debts from …
59 Min
Episode 4
Consecration in Nauvoo & Utah
In his July 1838 tithing revelation, the Lord both affirmed the law of consecration and modified the ongoing way in which the saints were expected to consecrate of their money and property. Rather than following the 1831 system outlined in D&C 42 of legally deeding all of their property to the bishop and receiving back from him a legal lease of property known as a stewardship, the Lord asked the saints instead to follow a tithing system of paying one tenth of all their …
60 Min
Episode 5
Zion-Building Through Poverty Elimination
Zion has been defined as God’s people being of one heart and one mind, dwelling together in righteousness, and having no poor among them. Since Joseph Smith’s day, Latter-day Saints have made continuous efforts toward this Zion ideal, including not only assisting the poor and needy but going even further to help them eliminate poverty from their lives by becoming self-reliant. In this episode of Church History Matters, we want to trace the fascinating story of …
55 Min
Episode 6
Modern Church Financial Controversies
How does the church justify putting in over $1 billion to build a mall in downtown Salt Lake City? And did they use tithing money to do that? Also, is it true that the church has over $100 billion in reserve? Why won’t church leaders just disclose exactly how much they actually have? And if it’s anywhere near that number, is it ethical for the church to continue to ask its members, especially its poorer members, to tithe? Furthermore, what’s the deal with the church paying a $5 million fine to …
72 Min
Episode 7
Early Church Finance Q&R! w/Drs. Elizabeth Kuehn & Jeffrey Mahas
Doctrine and Covenants 119 directs church members to pay essentially two tithings: the first tithing being a one-time donation of all of their surplus property, meaning whatever they don’t have immediate need of, and the second tithing being an ongoing payment of one tenth of what they would make in interest annually if they invested their total net worth at 6 percent. So when did we shift in the church away from the payment of tithing in that two-part way to the more general …
77 Min
Episode 8
Q&R w/Prof. Aaron Miller - Modern Money Controversies
Why did the church file 13F documents with separate shell companies if there was no tax advantage for doing so? Could there be more to the story than simply saying church leaders listened to bad legal counsel in the context of the recent SEC fine? What’s the latest on the case of James Huntsman, who is currently suing the church to get over $5 million of his tithing returned to him? And should church leaders be more transparent with church members about …
68 Min
Episode 9
Real vs. Rumor: An Interview with Dr. Keith Erekson
In this episode of Church History Matters, Casey and Scott are joined by special guest Dr. Keith Erekson, a church historian. Dr. Erekson wrote an important book entitled Real vs. Rumor: How to Dispel Latter-day Myths. It embodies many of the principles of truth-seeking we have been exploring throughout this series, and then some. Casey and Scott were excited to interview Dr. Erekson about his book and to invite him to demonstrate what those principles look like …
55 Min
Episode 10
Seekers Wanted: Interview with Dr. Anthony Sweat
What kind of thinking skills do we need to develop in order to gain and maintain the kind of robust faith we desire? This question is the central subject of a book by Dr. Anthony Sweat entitled Seekers Wanted: The Skills You Need for the Faith You Want. In this book, Dr. Sweat offers keen insights into many of the principles of truth seeking Scott and Casey have been exploring throughout this series, as well as many others. They were excited to interview Dr. Sweat for …