Posted on 01/31/2013 5:05:06 PM PST by Colofornian
Late last year (2012) a copy of the 2006 Mission President’s Handbook was posted on an individual’s blog site. This document, produced by the Mormon Church as a practical instruction manual for mission presidents, “contains basic policies and guidelines established by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to help you lead your missionaries and direct the work” (6). The book is not intended for general readership; “general” readers have found that it contains some things that are surprising in light of the public face that the Church puts forth.
PaycheckOne such surprise is found in Appendix B, Family Finances. It begins,
“While you are serving as mission president, the Church reimburses the necessary living expenses for you, your wife, and your dependent children. Dependent children are defined as those who are under age 26, have not been married, and are not employed full-time. Living expenses include food, clothing, household supplies, family activities, dry cleaning, personal long-distance calls to family, and modest gifts (for example, Christmas, birthdays, or anniversary).” (80)
Additional reimbursable or paid expenses are also listed including (but not limited to) medical expenses; support for children serving full-time missions; dance lessons (and the like) for elementary and secondary school-aged children as well as their school tuition, fees and books; undergraduate college tuition; a gardener; a housekeeper; internet and other utilities; babysitters; transportation expenses including the use of a car and all fuel and maintenance expenses; and personal health and life insurance premiums.
The handbook instructs,
“The amount of any funds reimbursed to you should be kept strictly confidential and should not be discussed with missionaries, other mission presidents, friends, or family members.” (80)
One can only speculate about the reasons for this confidentiality among friends and family. But the mission president is also instructed to keep mum about these financial benefits to the taxman.
“Because you are engaged in volunteer religious service, no employer-employee relationship exists between you and the Church. As a result, any funds reimbursed to you from the Church are not considered income for tax purposes; they are not reported to the government, and taxes are not withheld with regard to these funds…
“To avoid raising unnecessary tax questions, please follow these guidelines closely:
“Do not share information on funds you receive from the Church with those who help you with financial or tax matters. Any exceptions should be discussed with the Church Tax Division.
“Never represent in any way that you are paid for your service.
“If you are required to file an income-tax report for other purposes, do not list any funds you receive from the Church, regardless of where you serve or where you hold citizenship.” (82)
Eric Johnson and Bill McKeever did some calculations on a hypothetical mission president serving in the state of Utah. This imaginary Mormon Church leader ended up with benefits equaling $99,500 per year. Furthermore, Eric Johnson writes,
“It must be mentioned that tithing on these items are not supposed to be paid. Unlike other church members, this family can receive temple recommends without paying tithing on “income.” Hence, for the value of this compensation, which we list here at almost $100,000, the tithe amount would be at least $10,000. So, this particular mission president—who, remember, is considered a “volunteer”—is getting compensation for at least $110,000! Not bad for someone who is not supposedly getting a wage!”
Indeed.
On top of that, since the Lds bishops don't have to tithe 10% of this additional "benefit," it amounts about $110,000 worth of benefits.
Romney lost, like you wanted. You can quit bashing Mormons and enjoy Obama.
It is obvious you don’t know what you are talking about.
Mission Presidents are not Bishops.
This isn’t that unusual. My wife grew up as a MK in Brasil (Baptist) and things like having a housekeeper was normal there. It is a cultural norm, it helps the missionaries get a connection to the community, and it is one more way to give into the community.
Every religion pays their priests and ministers. What’s your point?
It seems it costs Baptist missionaries about the same amount per person in the field. The costs are in line.
http://jeremywallace.net/2011/12/02/why-independent-baptist-missions-is-failing/
The problem has been Baptists haven’t been supporting their missionaries so they have been collapsing in numbers. Maybe they should learn from the LDS.
They claim all their leaders are “unpaid”
Ah, sugar.
This is the Religion Forum, this is a discussion about the alleged “non paid” so called clergy, that mormonISM prompts.
If you are not interested in discussions that revolve around religion, maybe you should not view the threads.
This thread has nothing to do with Romney, it has to do with mormonISM.
They don’t encourage secrecy from the government as best I can tell.
“Romney lost,”
We nominated a loser. That happens.
Obama takes from my pocket.
Why do you insist on knocking good people?
Why do you post lies, half truths, misinformation about something you know little to nothing about. Do you like lying about churches?
It just happens to be one of the main reasons that they claim the Christian church apostatized. Mormons believe that protestants are employed by the devil to deceive people.
Sacred handshake bttp!
Trunky relatives on mission in Nauvoo ping.
Which part was untrue?
My uncle was a bishop, around the early to mid ‘70. his “unpaid” benefits measured around $40K at that time.
I call bigotry wherever I see it, “sugar”.
What bigotry?
This is just an article in the religion forum.
Do you have something to contribute to the information or are you just anti the poster?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.