Money Money Money

[tjohnson]

For those interested, here's a link to information about the church's financial information from the research Time magazine did in 1997. A quick summary:

over $30 BILLION in assets
over $6 BILLION in annual gross income

"If the Mormon Church were a corporation, that yearly revenue would place it midway through the Fortune 500, a little below Union Carbide and the Paine Webber Group, but bigger than Nike and the Gap."

"Time lists the church's assets as $12 billion in U.S. meeting houses and temples; $5 billion in meeting houses and temples in foreign countries; $6 billion in unspecified investments; $5 billion in ranch and farm real estate and $1 billion in "schools, etc."

"The story details just a few of the church's expansive holdings, including the world's largest beef ranch -- the 312,000-acre Deseret Cattle and Citrus Ranch outside Orlando, Fla. The ranch's land alone is worth $858 million."

"The church also owns America's largest producer of nuts, as well as Bonneville International Corp., the country's 14th largest radio chain, and the Beneficial Life Insurance Co., with assets of $1.6 billion."

Realize, this was in 1997 when the church had 10 million members, so these numbers are probably low. :eek:

http://www.lds-mormon.com/wealth.shtml

http://www.lds-mormon.com/time.shtml

:mad: ---------------------------- :mad:

[Jeff_Ricks]

"The church also owns America's largest producer of nuts..."


Hmmmm..... there's a joke in there somewhere. :D

Jeff

[silverfox]

Hmmmm..... there's a joke in there somewhere. :D

Jeff

LOL!!!! :D

[silverfox]

Realize, this was in 1997 when the church had 10 million members, so these numbers are probably low. :eek:

http://www.lds-mormon.com/wealth.shtml

http://www.lds-mormon.com/time.shtml

:mad: ---------------------------- :mad:

I've always wondered how the church counts it's members. Do they count non active members? Children under 8 who are BIC? I've heard it all depends on what they are reporting on.

This is one of the main reasons I wanted my membership officially terminated. I don't want to be in their numbers when I am so against what they stand for. (money)

I've heard lots of missionary stories where there at times is so much pressure to convert, convert, convert that misshies do whatever is necessary to get investigators to the baptismal font.

Last summer a friend of my married daughter's came home from his mission. About a month later two girls arrived to visit him whom he had baptized. My daugther brought them over for dinner and I was surprised when after dinner they went outside to smoke. Hmmmm. New converts? Smoking? Never saw that before. I didn't care and they would giggle when I would take them sightseeing because they knew I didn't care if they smoked. My daughter asked her friend about it and he said yeah, he had challenged them to at least get baptized and then work on quitting afterward.

Any other stories like this? Has the bar for misshies been raised while the bar for converts lowered????

[noodle]

I've always wondered how the church counts it's members. Do they count non active members? Children under 8 who are BIC? I've heard it all depends on what they are reporting on.

This is one of the main reasons I wanted my membership officially terminated. I don't want to be in their numbers when I am so against what they stand for. (money)

I've heard lots of missionary stories where there at times is so much pressure to convert, convert, convert that misshies do whatever is necessary to get investigators to the baptismal font.

Last summer a friend of my married daughter's came home from his mission. About a month later two girls arrived to visit him whom he had baptized. My daugther brought them over for dinner and I was surprised when after dinner they went outside to smoke. Hmmmm. New converts? Smoking? Never saw that before. I didn't care and they would giggle when I would take them sightseeing because they knew I didn't care if they smoked. My daughter asked her friend about it and he said yeah, he had challenged them to at least get baptized and then work on quitting afterward.

Any other stories like this? Has the bar for misshies been raised while the bar for converts lowered????

When my sis-in-law was baptized over 20 years ago, she was told to take the plunge (:p) even though she couldn't get past some of her concerns about Joseph Smith. She was told that it would come with time, prayer, etc. When my RM son got home 6 months ago, he spoke of several investigators who wanted to be baptized, but they were denied because of concerns about their psychiatric health...they couldn't make this choice with a sound mind. The missionaries were told NOT to baptize them. There was also one who was Muslim, and he was also denied, supposedly because he was returning to his country, and this might have been a death sentence for him.

BTW, I have a BIC younger son who was never baptized. Wonder if he is counted in the numbers?

[tjohnson]

I've always wondered how the church counts it's members. Do they count non active members? Children under 8 who are BIC? I've heard it all depends on what they are reporting on.


Although I don't have any supporting documents, I have always heard they do count non-active members (most churches do), but they don't count children under the age of 8. So then the question is, what about a child age 9 that has not been baptized? :confused:

[free thinker]

I was TBM when I first read that article in Time. I remember Gordon Hinclkey stating at general conference, that it was greatly overstated. He mentioned that the church was a "user of resources" as much as a holder of them. I am paraphrasing. I was very proud of the numbers at the time, as I saw myself as a part of this great work of God, that was obviously rolling on.

Now my perspective is quite different. I realize that so many folks go without certain things, and sacrifice, as the church just becomes more money saturated. What in the world do you need all that money for? :Crazy: Oh well, they are not getting mine anymore. :cool:

Free Thinker

[pokatator]

I have always believed there was a true "profit" in Salt Lake.