FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Question: Did the Church use tithing funds to finance the purchases and buildings?
In the April 2003 general conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley explained “tithing funds have not and will not be used to acquire this property. Nor will they be used in developing it for commercial purposes.” Instead, “funds for this have come and will come from those commercial entities owned by the Church. These resources, together with the earnings of invested reserve funds, will accommodate this program.”[1] Multiple statements were subsequently made reinforcing the fact that tithing funds would not and were not used for the development project.[2]
Some claims are made that tithing really was used because some of the money came from earnings on invested reserve funds, which funds were set up using tithing donations. However, financial documents have shown that only earnings on invested funds, not the original funds themselves, were used to finance the development project.[3]- ↑ Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Condition of the Church,” April 2003 general conference.
- ↑ A compilation of statements is available in “Order Granting Motion for Summary Judgment,” James Huntsman v. Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, case 2:21-cv-02504-SVW-SK, page 3 of 12.
- ↑ A financial analysis on these redacted documents is available in “Order Granting Motion for Summary Judgment,” James Huntsman v. Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, case 2:21-cv-02504-SVW-SK, pages 7–8 of 12.