Appearance
Church Finances
The claim:
"There is zero transparency to members of the Church. Why is the one and only true Church keeping its books in the dark? Why would God's one true Church choose to 'keep them in darkness' over such a stewardship?"[1]
The CES Letter raises several financial concerns: the Church has massive commercial holdings, General Authorities receive "six figure church salaries," the Church spent more on a mall than on decades of humanitarian aid, tithing is coerced by tying it to temple attendance, and President Hinckley was "dishonest" about financial transparency.[1:1]
Some of these concerns have real substance. The Church's lack of full financial disclosure in the United States is a legitimate frustration. But the CES Letter also gets key facts wrong, strips context from quotes, and ignores what the Church does disclose.
The "paid clergy" question
The claim: General Authorities receive "six figure church salaries," making the Church's claim of an unpaid clergy dishonest.[2]
The word "salary" does real work in this framing. It conjures images of prosperity gospel megachurch pastors. The reality is different.
What the stipend actually is
General Authorities leave their careers when called to full-time service. They receive a uniform living allowance — the same amount regardless of position. The Church's official explanation: "None of the funds for this living allowance come from the tithing of Church members, but instead from proceeds of the Church's financial investments."[3]
In 2014, the stipend was approximately $120,000.[4] Estimates place the current equivalent taxable value around $178,000.[5] That's a professional-class income. It's not poverty. But compare it to what these leaders typically left behind — careers in law, medicine, business, academia — and to what leaders of comparable organizations earn.
The comparison that matters
| Leader | Organization | Estimated compensation |
|---|---|---|
| LDS General Authority | 17-million-member global church | ~$178,000 (uniform)[5:1] |
| Joel Osteen | Lakewood Church (~50,000 members) | ~$90 million/year (book deals, speaking)[6] |
| Kenneth Copeland | Kenneth Copeland Ministries | Net worth $300–760 million[7] |
| Average U.S. megachurch pastor | Single congregation | $147,000+ median[8] |
An apostle leading a 17-million-member worldwide church earns roughly what a megachurch pastor earns leading a single congregation. The CES Letter calls this a "six figure church salary." It could just as accurately be called "a fraction of what comparable religious leaders earn."
The 99.9% who serve for free
The stipend goes to approximately 117 General Authorities.[4:1] The Church has over 30,000 congregations worldwide. Each ward has a bishop, two counselors, a Relief Society presidency, an elders quorum presidency, a Young Women's presidency, a Primary presidency, Sunday School teachers, and more. None of them receive a cent.
Bishops — who function essentially as part-time pastors managing congregations of 200-500 people — work full-time jobs while spending 15-25 hours per week on Church service. Stake presidents oversee 5-12 congregations. Area Seventies manage Church operations across entire geographic regions. All unpaid.
The claim that the Church has "paid clergy" because 117 full-time leaders receive living allowances while hundreds of thousands of local leaders serve without compensation is technically true in the narrowest sense and deeply misleading as a characterization.
Bottom line: General Authorities receive a modest living allowance funded from investment returns, not tithing. Meanwhile, the vast majority of Church leadership — bishops, stake presidents, Relief Society presidents, and hundreds of thousands of others — serve entirely without pay.
Church wealth and commercial holdings
The claim: The Church built a "$1.5 billion luxury megamall" while spending only "$1.4 billion" on 26 years of humanitarian aid.[9]
This comparison is the CES Letter's most emotionally effective financial argument. It's also misleading on every number it uses.
City Creek Center
City Creek Center is a mixed-use development in downtown Salt Lake City. The Church has stated that no tithing funds were used — the project was financed through Property Reserve, Inc., the Church's commercial real estate arm.[10]
Why build it? By the early 2000s, the blocks surrounding Temple Square were deteriorating. Vacant storefronts, rising crime, declining foot traffic. The Church owned significant property in the area and faced a choice: watch its neighborhood decay or invest in revitalization.[11]
Jason Mathis, executive director of Salt Lake City's Downtown Alliance, described the Church's approach: "They're not worried about the next quarter. They have a much longer perspective than many other investors would have had."[12] The Sierra Club commended the Church as "good stewards" of the environment for the project's sustainable design.[13]
Was this a spiritually inspiring use of resources? Reasonable people can disagree. But the framing — a church spending tithing money on luxury shopping while people starve — doesn't match the facts. The money came from commercial investments, not tithing. And the development was urban revitalization, not vanity.
The humanitarian comparison is outdated
The CES Letter cited "$1.4 billion" in total humanitarian aid from 1985 to 2011. That figure, even when it was current, excluded the Church's domestic welfare spending (bishops' storehouses, fast-offering assistance, employment services, Deseret Industries). It counted only the international humanitarian program.
The Church's charitable spending has scaled dramatically:
| Year | Caring for those in need |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $906 million[14] |
| 2022 | $1.0 billion[14:1] |
| 2023 | $1.3 billion[14:2] |
| 2024 | $1.45 billion[15] |
In 2024 alone, the Church spent more on caring for those in need than the entire 1985-2011 humanitarian total the CES Letter cited.[15:1] The trajectory is sharply upward.
What the money does
The 2024 "Caring for Those in Need" report documented:[15:2]
- 3,836 humanitarian projects across 192 countries
- $55.8 million for a global child nutrition initiative across 12 high-need countries
- 732 healthcare projects, 710 emergency relief projects, 591 food security projects
- 6.6 million volunteer hours at Church welfare and self-reliance facilities
- Partnerships with UNICEF, World Food Program USA, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, and others
That list doesn't include BYU tuition subsidies — where the Church spends roughly $1 billion per year on higher education.[16] BYU undergraduate tuition for members is approximately $6,688 per year, compared to a national private university average of $60,420.[17] That's nearly 90% below market rate.
It doesn't include the welfare system: 115 bishops' storehouses stocked with two years of provisions, Deseret Industries stores providing employment training and donated goods, Family Services counseling, employment centers, and the self-reliance program.[18]
And it doesn't include the global temple construction program, the missionary program (where missionaries and their families bear most of the cost), or the meetinghouse construction and maintenance that serves local communities.
Bottom line: The CES Letter's mall-vs-aid comparison used outdated figures and excluded most of the Church's charitable spending. In 2024 alone, the Church spent $1.45 billion caring for those in need — plus approximately $1 billion on education subsidies and hundreds of millions more on welfare programs.
Financial transparency
The claim: The Church has "zero transparency" about its finances. President Hinckley made a "dishonest" statement about why.[19]
This is where the CES Letter has its strongest point.
What's true
The Church stopped publishing detailed financial statements in the United States in 1959.[20] For over six decades, American members have not had access to a full accounting of how their tithing is spent. That is a legitimate concern, and it's one that many faithful members share.
The 2019 whistleblower report revealed that Ensign Peak Advisors, the Church's investment management arm, held over $100 billion in assets.[21] In 2023, the SEC fined the Church $1 million and Ensign Peak $4 million for using shell LLCs to obscure its investment portfolio in 13F filings from 1997 to 2019.[22] The Church acknowledged the error, paid the fines, and had already begun consolidated reporting in 2019.
These are real problems. The shell company structure was wrong. The SEC said so, the Church paid the fine, and the practice stopped.
What's also true
Several pieces of context change how this picture looks.
The Church does disclose finances where legally required. In the United Kingdom and Canada, the Church files detailed financial reports audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers.[23] These filings are publicly available.
Most U.S. churches don't disclose either. Churches in the United States are exempt from filing IRS Form 990 — the tax return required of most nonprofits. This exemption has been in place since 1913. The Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention, and virtually every other major denomination operate under the same exemption.[24] Many megachurch pastors refuse to disclose their compensation at all. Kenneth Copeland and Joel Osteen, for instance, do not file publicly available Form 990s.[25]
The lack of disclosure is not unique to this Church. It's the legal default for religious organizations in America.
The Church does publish annual auditing reports. Each General Conference, the Church Auditing Department confirms that funds have been received and spent in accordance with established Church procedures.[26] This is less than a full financial statement, but it's not "zero transparency."
The Church publishes annual welfare and humanitarian spending. The "Caring for Those in Need" reports, referenced above, provide detailed breakdowns of charitable expenditures by category and region.[15:3]
The Hinckley interview
The CES Letter quotes a 2002 interview where a German journalist asked President Hinckley why the Church doesn't publish its budgets. Hinckley replied: "We simply think that the...that information belongs to those who made the contribution, and not to the world."[27]
The CES Letter calls this "dishonest" and argues members can't see the books either. But Hinckley's statement wasn't about hiding information from members — it was about not publishing financial details for public consumption. Whether that's the right policy is debatable. Calling it dishonest requires reading something into it that isn't there.
Where this leaves us
Should the Church provide more financial transparency to its members? Many faithful members think so. The 2023 SEC fine underscored the point. Greater transparency would build trust.
But "zero transparency" is an overstatement. The Church publishes audit confirmations, detailed humanitarian reports, and full financial filings in countries that require them. The real question isn't whether the Church discloses nothing — it's whether it discloses enough. That's a fair debate, but it's a different claim than the one the CES Letter makes.
Bottom line: The Church's lack of detailed U.S. financial disclosure is a legitimate concern shared by many faithful members. But calling it "zero transparency" ignores the audit reports, humanitarian summaries, and legally required filings in the UK and Canada. The 2023 SEC fine was a genuine misstep — one the Church acknowledged and corrected.
Tithing
The claim: Tithing is coercive because it's required for temple attendance, and the Church prioritizes tithing over feeding families.[28]
Tithing is not a modern invention
The CES Letter treats tithing as though it were a peculiar demand of a wealthy institution. In reality, it's one of the oldest religious practices in the Western tradition.
Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20). The Mosaic law codified the practice across Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The prophet Malachi delivered one of the most quoted passages in scripture: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse...and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven" (Malachi 3:10).[29]
Jesus affirmed tithing in Matthew 23:23, telling the Pharisees they were right to tithe but wrong to neglect "the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith."[30]
The modern Latter-day Saint practice is codified in Doctrine and Covenants 119, an 1838 revelation defining tithing as "one-tenth of all their interest annually."[31] Latter-day Saints didn't invent tithing. They practice a principle rooted in thousands of years of Judeo-Christian tradition.
The "tithing before food" quote
The CES Letter quotes a December 2012 Ensign article: "If paying tithing means that you can't pay for water or electricity, pay tithing...Even if paying tithing means that you don't have enough money to feed your family, pay tithing."[32]
The full article tells the story of the Vigil family, recent converts who approached their bishop about how to pay tithing during financial hardship. The bishop taught them the principle. The family chose to pay tithing. Subsequently, Evelyn received a job promotion and Amado found employment. During lean periods, they received assistance from the bishop's storehouse — the Church's welfare system designed precisely for this situation.[33]
The quote is real. But the CES Letter removes the part of the story where the Church's own welfare system provides food assistance to the family during their difficulty. The system is designed to work together: members who pay tithing and face hardship receive help from the bishop's storehouse. The Church isn't telling people to starve. It's telling people to trust the covenant, knowing that a safety net exists.
The Lorenzo Snow quote
The CES Letter alleges the Church "dishonestly alters" Lorenzo Snow's words by removing "who has means" from his 1899 General Conference address. The original: "I plead with you in the name of the Lord, and I pray that every man, woman and child who has means shall pay one-tenth of their income as a tithing."[34]
The Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow manual renders it: "I plead with you in the name of the Lord, and I pray that every man, woman and child ... shall pay one-tenth of their income as a tithing."
The ellipsis replaces "who has means." That's a meaningful omission. Faithful members can reasonably wish the manual had preserved the original wording. But the practical reality hasn't changed — bishops are instructed to be sensitive to members' circumstances, and no one is denied temple recommends for being genuinely destitute. The temple recommend question asks whether you are a "full tithe payer," and the bishop and member discuss what that means for their situation.
Is tying tithing to temple attendance "coercive"?
The CES Letter frames the temple recommend requirement as financial coercion. But every religious tradition ties participation to behavioral expectations. Catholics must be in a state of grace to receive Communion. Muslims must complete ablutions before prayer. Jews observe kashrut. Connecting temple attendance to covenant observance — including tithing — is consistent with how religious communities have always operated.
Tithing is understood by Latter-day Saints as a covenant, not a fee. You don't pay to enter the temple the way you buy a ticket. You demonstrate faithfulness across several dimensions — honesty, chastity, the Word of Wisdom, tithing — and the temple recommend reflects that holistic commitment.
Bottom line: Tithing is a biblical principle practiced for millennia, not a modern scheme. The "pay tithing before food" story omits the part where the Church's welfare system provided food to the family. And tying temple attendance to covenant observance is standard religious practice, not coercion.
The Ensign Peak question
The claim: The Church is hoarding $100 billion while people suffer.
This deserves a direct answer.
The facts
Ensign Peak Advisors manages the Church's investment portfolio, which was reported at over $100 billion in publicly traded securities as of 2019.[21:1] The Church also holds significant real estate, agricultural land (including Deseret Ranches in Florida), and commercial properties through subsidiaries like Property Reserve, Inc. and AgReserves, Inc.
That's a lot of money.
The context
The Church operates in 192 countries. It builds and maintains over 350 temples, 30,000+ meetinghouses, multiple universities, a global missionary program, and the welfare system described above. These are long-term capital obligations that require reserves.
Reserves are not unusual for institutions of this scale. Harvard University's endowment exceeds $50 billion — for a school with roughly 23,000 students. Yale's exceeds $40 billion. Norway's Government Pension Fund holds $1.7 trillion for 5.4 million citizens. On a per-capita basis, the Church's reserves are modest compared to these institutions.[35]
The investment returns fund operations. The Church has stated that General Authority stipends, and significant portions of operational costs, come from investment returns rather than tithing.[3:1] A large portfolio generating returns is what makes that possible.
The trajectory of charitable giving is upward. From $906 million in 2021 to $1.45 billion in 2024, the Church's charitable spending is growing rapidly.[15:4] Whether it should grow faster is a fair question. But the trend line matters.
The real criticism
The strongest version of this criticism isn't that the Church has money. It's that the Church accumulated this reserve while not being transparent about its existence. Members paid tithing for decades without knowing the Church was building a $100 billion investment fund. The 2023 SEC fine confirmed that the fund's size was deliberately obscured through shell companies.
That's a trust issue, and it's legitimate. The Church would benefit from greater transparency about how it manages and deploys these resources.
But the CES Letter doesn't make that nuanced argument. It implies the Church is hoarding money while people starve — which ignores the billions spent annually on welfare, education, humanitarian aid, and temple construction. The question "Why does the Church have so much money?" is fair. The answer "Because it's secretly pocketing tithing while doing nothing" is false.
Bottom line: The Church's $100+ billion reserve is real and its concealment was wrong. But the money funds global operations, and the Church spent $1.45 billion on charitable care in 2024 alone. The legitimate criticism is about transparency, not greed.
What the Church does with its resources
The CES Letter presents Church finances as a story of greed and deception. The full picture looks different.
By the numbers
| Category | Annual impact |
|---|---|
| Humanitarian and welfare care | $1.45 billion (2024)[15:5] |
| Higher education subsidies | ~$1 billion/year[16:1] |
| BYU tuition (members) | $6,688/year vs. $60,420 national private average[17:1] |
| Humanitarian projects | 3,836 across 192 countries (2024)[15:6] |
| Bishops' storehouses | 115 locations, two-year food supply maintained[18:1] |
| Deseret Industries | ~50 stores providing employment training[18:2] |
| Volunteer service hours | 6.6 million (2024)[15:7] |
The welfare system no one talks about
When a Latter-day Saint loses a job, gets sick, or faces a crisis, the bishop can authorize immediate assistance from the bishop's storehouse — food, rent, utilities. No application forms. No government bureaucracy. No waiting period. A bishop can write a check the same day.
This system runs on fast offerings (voluntary monthly donations from members who skip two meals) and is administered by local leaders who know the families personally. It's one of the most efficient private welfare systems in the world, and it operates almost entirely on volunteer labor.
Education access
BYU-Pathway Worldwide offers online degree programs starting at roughly $75 per credit hour — a fraction of typical online university costs.[36] The Church's education system serves students across the globe, with particular impact in developing countries where affordable higher education barely exists.
A note on honest criticism
Should the Church disclose more to its members? Probably. Was the shell company structure at Ensign Peak a mistake? The SEC thought so. Could the Church give more to those in need? Many faithful members think so.
But the CES Letter isn't making those arguments. It's building a case that the Church is a corrupt institution exploiting its members. To build that case, it inflates numbers, omits context, uses outdated statistics, and presents partial quotes as the whole story.
The Church has real financial decisions to defend. It doesn't need to defend caricatures.
Bottom line: The Church's finances involve legitimate questions about transparency and stewardship. But a Church that spends $1.45 billion annually on humanitarian care, subsidizes university education at nearly 90% below market rates, operates a volunteer-run welfare system, and funds its leader stipends from investment returns — not tithing — doesn't fit the portrait the CES Letter paints.
Runnells, CES Letter (2017), "Other Concerns," p. 116. "There is zero transparency to members of the Church." ↩︎ ↩︎
Runnells, CES Letter (2017), "Other Concerns," p. 118. References "six figure church salaries" for General Authorities. ↩︎
"Do General Authorities get paid?" FAQ, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://faq.churchofjesuschrist.org/do-general-authorities-get-paid ↩︎ ↩︎
"Paid and unpaid Church leaders," FAIR. https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Paid_and_unpaid_Church_leaders. In 2014, the stipend was increased from $116,400 to $120,000. ↩︎ ↩︎
Estimates based on historical stipend data and reported annual increases of approximately 3.1%. See "General Authority Compensation & Church Employment," The Widow's Mite Report. https://thewidowsmite.org/comp/ ↩︎ ↩︎
"8 Richest Pastors in America," Beliefnet. https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/christianity/8-richest-pastors-in-america.aspx. Osteen reportedly earns approximately $90 million per year from book deals, speaking, and other ventures. ↩︎
"A Look at Some of the Wealthiest Pastors," Universal Life Church. https://www.ulc.org/ulc-blog/a-look-at-some-of-the-wealthiest-pastors. Copeland's net worth estimated at $300–760 million. ↩︎
"100 Highly Paid Ministry Leaders — 2025," MinistryWatch. https://ministrywatch.com/100-highly-paid-ministry-leaders-2025/ ↩︎
Runnells, CES Letter (2017), "Other Concerns," p. 116. The CES Letter originally listed the mall cost as "$5 billion" in April 2013, later correcting to "$1.5 billion." ↩︎
"Church Statement on City Creek Center," Church Newsroom. The Church has stated that no tithing funds were used for the City Creek Center project, with financing coming through Property Reserve, Inc. ↩︎
"City Creek Mall," Debunking the CES Letter. https://debunking-cesletter.com/other-concerns-1/finances-of-the-church/city-creek/ ↩︎
Jason Mathis, executive director of Salt Lake City's Downtown Alliance, quoted regarding the Church's long-term investment perspective in the City Creek area. ↩︎
The Sierra Club commended the Church as "good stewards" of the environment regarding City Creek Center's sustainable design features. ↩︎
"How the Church of Jesus Christ Cared for Those in Need," Church Newsroom annual reports, 2021–2023. https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/2022-annual-report-caring-for-those-in-need ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
"A World of Caring: A Closer Look at the Church's Global Assistance Efforts," Church Newsroom, 2025. https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/2024-caring-for-those-in-need-summary. The Church spent $1.45 billion caring for those in need in 2024 across 3,836 projects in 192 countries. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Aaron Miller, "Church Finances: Recent Controversies and Broader Perspectives," FAIR Conference, August 2024. https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/conference_home/august-2024_fair_conference/church-finances-recent-controversies-and-broader-perspectives. Miller notes the Church spends approximately $1 billion annually on higher education. ↩︎ ↩︎
BYU undergraduate tuition and fees for LDS members, 2024--2025 academic year: $6,688. See "Tuition," BYU Enrollment Services. https://enrollment.byu.edu/tuition. National average private university cost of attendance: $60,420. See "BYU Tuition Subsidy," The Widow's Mite Report. https://thewidowsmite.org/byu-tuition/ ↩︎ ↩︎
"Welfare and Self Reliance," Church Newsroom. https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/topic/welfare-and-self-reliance. The system includes 115 bishops' storehouses and approximately 50 Deseret Industries locations. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Runnells, CES Letter (2017), "Other Concerns," pp. 116–117. ↩︎
D. Michael Quinn, "The Present, Past, and Future of LDS Financial Transparency," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 48, no. 4 (2015). https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/the-present-past-and-future-of-lds-financial-transparency/. The Church published detailed financial statements from 1915 to 1959. ↩︎
"Mormon Church Stockpiled $100 Billion Intended for Charities and Misled LDS Members, Whistleblower Says," Newsweek, December 17, 2019. The whistleblower report alleged Ensign Peak Advisors held over $100 billion in assets. ↩︎ ↩︎
"SEC Charges The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Its Investment Management Company for Disclosure Failures and Misstated Filings," SEC Press Release 2023-35, February 21, 2023. https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023-35. The Church paid a $1 million penalty and Ensign Peak paid $4 million. ↩︎
The Church files detailed financial reports in the United Kingdom (audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers) and Canada, where disclosure is legally required. See "Church Finances in Canada and Australia," By Common Consent, November 4, 2022. https://bycommonconsent.com/2022/11/04/church-finances-in-canada-and-australia/ ↩︎
Churches in the United States have been exempt from filing IRS Form 990 since the Revenue Act of 1913. This exemption applies to all religious organizations, not just the Church of Jesus Christ. ↩︎
Many prominent megachurch pastors do not file publicly available Form 990s, including Joel Osteen and Kenneth Copeland. See "100 Highly Paid Ministry Leaders — 2025," MinistryWatch. https://ministrywatch.com/100-highly-paid-ministry-leaders-2025/ ↩︎
At each General Conference, the Church Auditing Department reports that Church funds have been received and expended in accordance with approved Church budgets, policies, and accounting practices. ↩︎
Runnells, CES Letter (2017), "Other Concerns," p. 117. The CES Letter quotes President Hinckley's 2002 interview with a German journalist. ↩︎
Runnells, CES Letter (2017), "Other Concerns," pp. 117–118. ↩︎
Malachi 3:10, King James Version. ↩︎
Matthew 23:23, King James Version. ↩︎
Doctrine and Covenants 119:4. "And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever." Received July 8, 1838. ↩︎
Runnells, CES Letter (2017), "Other Concerns," p. 117, quoting from the December 2012 Ensign. ↩︎
"Tithing before rent, water, electricity, and feeding your family — full account of story," Debunking the CES Letter. https://debunking-cesletter.com/other-concerns-1/finances-of-the-church/full-account-of-story/ ↩︎
Runnells, CES Letter (2017), "Other Concerns," pp. 118–119. ↩︎
Aaron Miller, "Church Finances: Recent Controversies and Broader Perspectives," FAIR Conference, August 2024. Miller compared per-capita asset levels: Harvard (~$1.2 million per student), Yale (~$1.3 million per student), Norway Government Pension Fund (~$270,000 per citizen) vs. the Church (~$8,800 per member). ↩︎
BYU-Pathway Worldwide tuition starts at approximately $75 per credit hour. See "Tuition & Fees," BYU-Pathway Worldwide. https://www.byupathway.edu/tuition ↩︎