Last year we reported that a former employee of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ (LDS) financial office discovered that that church has a secret trust fund worth more than 100 billion dollars. This was made public by a former LDS member named Lars Nielson (see his video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDlFZF3RyhE). Nielson revealed that his twin brother, David, in 2019, sent an anonymous whistleblower letter to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The letter informed the IRS that the highest leadership of the LDS has accumulated a secret 501c3 non-profit reserve portfolio of stocks, bonds, cash, etc., called Ensign Peak Advisors (EPA). The fund is now worth more than 100 billion dollars. (To read the earlier post on this subject click here: http://www.marketfaith.org/2019/12/is-the-mormon-church-hoarding-billions-of-dollars/ ) The fund is accumulated by taking surplus unspent tithing money from church members and investing it in high yielding stocks and bonds.
As we reported, apparently the EPA fund is never utilized by the church for any kind of church activities, charitable activities, or anything else. Nielson did indicate, however, that a couple of billion dollars from the fund were used a few years ago to bail out a Mormon owned insurance company and to help finance a shopping mall in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Since both of those are for-profit businesses, the expenditures were, of course, a violation of the IRS regulations for 501c3 charitable trusts. The church says that, so far, they have received no requests for information from the IRS. The fund just keeps growing.
Well, now a member of a prominent LDS family is suing the church for fraud to get back more than five million dollars in tithes he paid over the years of his membership. He recently resigned his membership. James Huntsman is the son of the late Jon Huntsman, Sr., a businessman and large church donor, and the brother of former Utah governor and 2012 presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, Jr. James Huntsman last week filed the federal lawsuit in a US District Court in California on Tuesday. It is unclear if Huntsman had any other reasons for leaving the church.
According to Yahoo News (March 25) Huntsman’s lawsuit reads as follows, obviously referring to the above mentioned EPA: “For decades, in a fraudulent effort to elicit the donation of tithing funds from Mr. Huntsman and other devout Church members, the LDS Corporation repeatedly and publicly lied about the intended use of those funds, promising that they would be used for purely non-commercial purposes consistent with the Church’s stated priorities…. “Behind the scenes, however, rather than using tithing funds for the promised purposes, the LDS Corporation secretly lined its own pockets by using the funds to develop a multi-billion dollar commercial real estate and insurance empire that had nothing to do with charity.” This story again brings to light the long standing policy (since 1959) of the LDS Church not to report its financial dealings and holdings. But it has broader implications beyond the boarders of Mormonism. Even many evangelical churches and denominational entities are facing legal challenges to their financial policies. For instance, one major agency of a large evangelical denomination is now engaged in a law case that has been submitted to the United States Supreme Court who will soon decide whether to hear it.
We must ask, why would a church or organization describing itself as Christian need or want to not be forthcoming about its financial policies and practices? Alarmingly, over the past couple of decades it has become more common for local churches and denominational agencies not to be transparent in the amounts of donations it receives, how it uses those funds, and how much it pays its executives and employees. It seems to me that a church, more than any other kind of institution, should be totally upfront with its members and the public about its finances. For decades we have known that certain TV evangelists have unethically solicited funds, often making ridiculous promises of miracle healings and prosperity.
The difficulty with this situation is that churches claim protection against investigations of its dealings. As religious organizations they can claim the protection of the First Amendment to the US Constitution arguing that the government cannot interfere with their activities or how they use the donations they receive. That is a blessing for honest religious groups. The government has no place in the business of any legitimate religion. However, not all religious organizations are honest. For decades the Church of Scientology was refused non-profit status due to the high amounts they charged for their services. In 1993, however, the IRS relented and granted that status to them, shielding them from the prying eyes of the state.
Given this trend, I would like to suggest some basic stewardship principles for Christians to ask before donating to any religious church, parachurch group, or charity.
First, look carefully at the names and biographies of the ministry’s Board of Directors. If the names are not given, are obscure, or all from the same family, beware. A sound Christian organization will have board members representing a broad scope of people from its general constituency.
Second, we should start with giving to our local church. We should do our part to pay for the ministries and to pay the ministers of our local congregations. Again, if the church is reluctant to provide financial information to its members, you may want to know why.
We should also support those ministries and ministers that do special work outside the purview of the local church (yes, like MarketFaith Ministries). In all cases, we should be vigilant that the support we give is going to worthy biblically sound causes. We should be sure the ministries we support are totally transparent about their doctrinal beliefs and financial practices. God will hold us accountable not just for how much we give but to whom we give it.