LDS 41 Questions for LDS Members

[Commander Xenophon]

Commander Xenophon, if you have any questions about Mormonism, you're free to ask. Like I said, Mormons spend lots of effort to answer questions. The only things would such down conversation are (these apply to all conversations about all subjects with all people, nothing Mormon specific):
1) If you (generic 'you') approach the intent to bash/insult/disrespect another's faith, in violation of 1 Corinthians 13.
2) If you're uninterested in listening to the answers (such as just wanting to prove your side right), then of course you're not going to hear them.
3) If you ask a question which requires more than one sentence to answer, and promptly interrupt/jump-the-gun before rest of the answer is explained, then you'll never get the full answer. And some answers are not simple, but do require study.
4) Somethings require the proper venue/time/place to explain. Obvious example: I would not give some the birds-and-the-bees over an on-line forum.

Ok, answer me these questions:

1. In the preceding fiscal yearthe total revenue of the LDS church and all entities wholly owned or controlled by it?
2. In the same fiscal year, what was the total expenditure of the LDS and all entities owned or controlled by it?
3. How specifically did the Church itself, not counting exodnditure of wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries, spend that money?
4. What does the church do with its surplus?
5. What are the church's long and short term plans in terms of capital expenditure?
6. What compensation, direct or indirect, including the use of office space, business travel, telecommunications, et cetera, do LDS religious leaders receive? (I have read claims they are unpaid, but this is only strictly true if, for example, the current Apostle/President reimburses rhe church for the use of his office, et cetera).
7. How many paid employees do the LDS and its subsidiaries have, and what is their average salary?
8. How many square feet of office space does the LDS and its subsidiaries own, rent or control?
9. How many temples and meeting houses does the LDS own or have under construction, and what is the average cost of each temple and meeting house?
10. What is the average size of the membership of a given stake?
11. How many stakes, and members, on average, does a given temple serve?
12. How many paid employees are reauired for the upkeep and maintenance of a typical meeting house or temple?
13. Have the Mormons stopped peforming proxy baptisms on Holocaust victims and other Orthodox Jews, as per their request?
14. What safeguards have been put in place to ensure that the wishes of members of religious communities, like Judaism, that view Mormon proxy baptisms of their members as sacriligeous are being respected?
15. What is the youngest age at which someone can perform a proxy baptism?
16. How many proxy baptisms are minors allowed to perform per day?
17. Why does the LDS want to know the criminal history of prospective members?
18. What happens to a Mormon who commits a crime?
19. What are the precise criteria for granting and revoking a Temple Reccommend?
20. Can a Mormon whose application for a Temple Reccommend was denied, or whose Temple Reccommend was revoked, appeal the decision, and if so, to who?
21. What policies and safeguards exist to protect laity from abuses by stake presidents?
22. If a Mormon dies before receicing a Temple endowment or memorizing the Freemasonry-style signs, grips and passwords associated with each degree of the Mormon priesthood, what happens to their soul?
23. Do Mormons believe in the physical resurrection of the dead?
24. Is it true a proxy baptism was performed for Jesus Christ? If so, why?
25. What is the purpose and function of prayer circles?
26. What happens if a family sealed together in a celestial marriage later breaks up in a secular divorce?
27. What are the procedures in the Mormon church for church discipline and excommunication?
28. What happens to Mormons who don't pay their tithes?
29. What happens to Mormons who cannot pay their tithes?
30. How are tithes calculated and assessed?
31. Are there any offenses for which someone can be permanently expelled from the Mormon church?
32. What happens to young men and women who do not engage in missionary service for the church?
33. What happens to Mormons who choose to drink caffeine products, liquor, or use tobacco products?
34. What happens to Mormon men who grow facial hair?
35. What happens to Mormons who publically disagree with official church doctrines, or the statements of Church leaders?
36. Please enumerate all of the Temple Ordinances and their functions.
37. Please provide me with the ritual/liturgy/script for each Temple Ordinance.
38. Please explain rhe Mormon believes regarding the seer stones, and whether any objects of this sort are still in the posession of the Church.
39. What precisely does the President do in the Holy of Holies at the Temple in Salt Lake City on the Day of Atonement?
40. Why are Mormons required to wear temple garments at all times? Are they removed during sexual intercourse?
41. Why are Mormons only allowed to buy these garments, or a sewing kit for them, from a church-owned supplier?

 

[Jane_Doe]

Dude, what happened to 1 or 2 questions? 41 simply cannot be adequately addressed in one post reply.

 

[Ironhold]

Given that you chose to buckshot questions instead of asking them individually, we have no choice but to give short answers ourselves in order to cover them all. A few of us may even skip questions because of this. You may wish to start again with several smaller threads instead.

In the preceding fiscal yearthe total revenue of the LDS church and all entities wholly owned or controlled by it?
In the same fiscal year, what was the total expenditure of the LDS and all entities owned or controlled by it?
How specifically did the Church itself, not counting exodnditure of wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries, spend that money?
What does the church do with its surplus?
What are the church's long and short term plans in terms of capital expenditure?
What compensation, direct or indirect, including the use of office space, business travel, telecommunications, et cetera, do LDS religious leaders receive? (I have read claims they are unpaid, but this is only strictly true if, for example, the current Apostle/President reimburses rhe church for the use of his office, et cetera).
How many paid employees do the LDS and its subsidiaries have, and what is their average salary?
How many square feet of office space does the LDS and its subsidiaries own, rent or control?

The whole "The church is a money-making machine!" hysteria is nonsense to people who actually know what's going on.

You see, most of those subsidiaries are wholly-owned subsidiaries, meaning that they are the masters of their own fate. The church created or purchased them to meet a specific need within the body of the church and can call on them to perform specific tasks, but beyond that they make their own decisions and handle their own finances.

For example, Bonneville Communications was created so that the church could have an in-house means of producing and broadcasting official events. Bonneville gives over so much broadcast time to the church, at which point it does what it wishes with the rest. Bonneville's network of radio stations, at its peak, actually included one station that rebroadcast Spanish-language Catholic religious programming and an "urban gospel" station (which likely broadcast Protestant programming). Its lone television station, meanwhile, started out as a DuMont affiliate before becoming an NBC affiliate; it is (in)famous for being on the list of NBC affiliates that will not air "Saturday Night Live" due to content issues and is one of the few stations in the nation to still sign off on a regular basis, but otherwise is no different from any other NBC affiliate in the nation.

How many temples and meeting houses does the LDS own or have under construction, and what is the average cost of each temple and meeting house?

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/facts-and-statistics

It always amazes me how few critics of the church actually bother going to the church website.

What is the average size of the membership of a given stake?
How many stakes, and members, on average, does a given temple serve?

It's case-by-case.

How many paid employees are reauired for the upkeep and maintenance of a typical meeting house or temple?

None. The bulk of the work is done on a volunteer basis, something that most mainline Christian faiths cannot boast.

Have the Mormons stopped peforming proxy baptisms on Holocaust victims and other Orthodox Jews, as per their request?
What safeguards have been put in place to ensure that the wishes of members of religious communities, like Judaism, that view Mormon proxy baptisms of their members as sacriligeous are being respected?

People are only supposed to submit names of individuals who they are directly related to in some fashion, and the names themselves are to be screened to ensure compliance.

There have been a few instances where individual names have slipped through, but what most critics ignore is that these have taken place in countries where English isn't the primary language yet the paperwork itself *was* in English, suggesting that a language barrier may have contributed to these names slipping through.

What is the youngest age at which someone can perform a proxy baptism?
How many proxy baptisms are minors allowed to perform per day?

12 is the youngest age, and so far as I know there's no set number.

Why does the LDS want to know the criminal history of prospective members?

Many jurisdictions place limits on what people can and cannot do depending upon what crimes they are guilty of. For example, persons who commit offenses that involve minors may be forbidden from having certain kinds of contact with them. I think you can imagine how important this would be then.

The church also wants to ensure that all members have repaid any debts to society as part of the penance process.

What happens to a Mormon who commits a crime?

It depends on the crime.

Minor offenses are a "What were you thinking?" type of deal, while particularly heinous offenses such as sex crimes and homicide are pretty well guaranteed to result in excommunication.

What are the precise criteria for granting and revoking a Temple Reccommend?

One interview with clergy leadership and one interview with regional leadership. In both cases, the questions are from a standardized list.

If a Mormon dies before receicing a Temple endowment or memorizing the Freemasonry-style signs, grips and passwords associated with each degree of the Mormon priesthood, what happens to their soul?

I've addressed the Masonry issue elsewhere. Please read what I linked you to. Continued allegations of this nature will not win you any friends.

That being said, what doesn't happen in life can be done vicariously in the temple.

Do Mormons believe in the physical resurrection of the dead?

Yes.

Is it true a proxy baptism was performed for Jesus Christ? If so, why?

First I've heard of it, assuming that it even is true.

What is the purpose and function of prayer circles?

Eh?

What happens if a family sealed together in a celestial marriage later breaks up in a secular divorce?

It depends on why the divorce takes place. I say this as if the divorce is caused by issues like criminal activity or spousal abuse, then the offender may well be excommunicated anyway and so the point is moot.

What are the procedures in the Mormon church for church discipline and excommunication?

In essence, excommunication is a last resort, reserved only for those individuals whose sins are just that massive or who have a record of consistently thumbing their noses at the church.

Before it gets to that point a person may be asked to speak with various church leaders, usually the local clergy. Lesser punishments may be handed out if applicable. But if it does go so far as an excommunication, then *all* the local clergy in a given area must gather together as a council so as to ensure that no one person goes off half-cocked.

What happens to Mormons who don't pay their tithes?
What happens to Mormons who cannot pay their tithes?
How are tithes calculated and assessed?

It's up to the person to determine what their individual tithing is and whether it represents a "full" tithe or not. A person who does not pay a "full" tithe won't get a temple recommend, but otherwise they can continue in their membership. And if a person is in dire enough financial straits, then they can actually be declared "exempt". I used to be a branch finance clerk, and so I've seen it happen before.

Are there any offenses for which someone can be permanently expelled from the Mormon church?

Basically, the only truly unforgivable sin is to blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. That is, you must receive a revelation which is clear and unmistakable yet deliberately go against it. Basically, it'd be like seeing that the sky was blue and telling everyone it was black out.

What happens to young men and women who do not engage in missionary service for the church?

Officially, church policy is that people should only go on missions if they wish to. If a person doesn't go, then the church doesn't hold it against them.

However, there is still a big cultural push, and so individuals may find themselves dealing with individuals who haven't gotten the memo.

What happens to Mormons who choose to drink caffeine products, liquor, or use tobacco products?

They won't pass muster for their temple recommend, and may be steered towards programs to help them give up alcohol & tobacco, especially if their habits are disruptive to peoples' lives.

What happens to Mormon men who grow facial hair?

You mean like the van dyke I'm rockin' right now?

What happens to Mormons who publically disagree with official church doctrines, or the statements of Church leaders?

If a person simply disagrees, then that's one thing.

It's only an issue if they try to encourage open and active rebellion and/or abuse a position within the church to promote their own personal beliefs ahead of what is official.

The former is the real reason why the "Ordain Women" leader was kicked from the church. Although the mainstream media considered her a darling because of her "progressive" views, closer scrutiny of her actions shows that she was a little snot who insisted on making a scene at every opportunity when quiet debate would have sufficed to get her point across.

I myself routinely get away with things that would see me permanently banned from other churches in my area.

Please enumerate all of the Temple Ordinances and their functions.
Please provide me with the ritual/liturgy/script for each Temple Ordinance.
Please explain rhe Mormon believes regarding the seer stones, and whether any objects of this sort are still in the posession of the Church.
What precisely does the President do in the Holy of Holies at the Temple in Salt Lake City on the Day of Atonement?

This is guaranteed to offend since you're asking publicly.

Why are Mormons required to wear temple garments at all times? Are they removed during sexual intercourse?

No such requirement exists; it's up to the individual to decide.

Why are Mormons only allowed to buy these garments, or a sewing kit for them, from a church-owned supplier?

Ever see a "Good Christian" use a pair of temple garments to wipe their butt with in public as part of a protest against the LDS faith?

Shocking as it may sound, it happens.

The idea is to place a choke point in the supply process so that these people will hopefully not be able to get their hands on any more, lest those be desecrated as well.

 

[Jane_Doe]

Ok, answer me these questions:


1 In the preceding fiscal yearthe total revenue of the LDS church and all entities wholly owned or controlled by it?

2 In the same fiscal year, what was the total expenditure of the LDS and all entities owned or controlled by it?

3 How specifically did the Church itself, not counting exodnditure of wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries, spend that money?

4 What does the church do with its surplus?

5 What are the church's long and short term plans in terms of capital expenditure?

6 What compensation, direct or indirect, including the use of office space, business travel, telecommunications, et cetera, do LDS religious leaders receive? (I have read claims they are unpaid, but this is only strictly true if, for example, the current Apostle/President reimburses rhe church for the use of his office, et cetera).

7 How many paid employees do the LDS and its subsidiaries have, and what is their average salary?

8 How many square feet of office space does the LDS and its subsidiaries own, rent or control?

9 How many temples and meeting houses does the LDS own or have under construction, and what is the average cost of each temple and meeting house?

10 What is the average size of the membership of a given stake?

11 How many stakes, and members, on average, does a given temple serve?

12 How many paid employees are reauired for the upkeep and maintenance of a typical meeting house or temple?

13 Have the Mormons stopped peforming proxy baptisms on Holocaust victims and other Orthodox Jews, as per their request?

14 What safeguards have been put in place to ensure that the wishes of members of religious communities, like Judaism, that view Mormon proxy baptisms of their members as sacriligeous are being respected?

15 What is the youngest age at which someone can perform a proxy baptism?

16 How many proxy baptisms are minors allowed to perform per day?

17 Why does the LDS want to know the criminal history of prospective members?

18 What happens to a Mormon who commits a crime?

19 What are the precise criteria for granting and revoking a Temple Reccommend?

20 Can a Mormon whose application for a Temple Reccommend was denied, or whose Temple Reccommend was revoked, appeal the decision, and if so, to who?

21 What policies and safeguards exist to protect laity from abuses by stake presidents?

22 If a Mormon dies before receicing a Temple endowment or memorizing the Freemasonry-style signs, grips and passwords associated with each degree of the Mormon priesthood, what happens to their soul?

23 Do Mormons believe in the physical resurrection of the dead?

24 Is it true a proxy baptism was performed for Jesus Christ? If so, why?

25 What is the purpose and function of prayer circles?

26 What happens if a family sealed together in a celestial marriage later breaks up in a secular divorce?

27 What are the procedures in the Mormon church for church discipline and excommunication?

28 What happens to Mormons who don't pay their tithes?

29 What happens to Mormons who cannot pay their tithes?

30 How are tithes calculated and assessed?

31 Are there any offenses for which someone can be permanently expelled from the Mormon church?

32 What happens to young men and women who do not engage in missionary service for the church?

33 What happens to Mormons who choose to drink caffeine products, liquor, or use tobacco products?

34 What happens to Mormon men who grow facial hair?

35 What happens to Mormons who publically disagree with official church doctrines, or the statements of Church leaders?

36 Please enumerate all of the Temple Ordinances and their functions.

37 Please provide me with the ritual/liturgy/script for each Temple Ordinance.

38 Please explain rhe Mormon believes regarding the seer stones, and whether any objects of this sort are still in the posession of the Church.

39 What precisely does the President do in the Holy of Holies at the Temple in Salt Lake City on the Day of Atonement?

40 Why are Mormons required to wear temple garments at all times? Are they removed during sexual intercourse?

41 Why are Mormons only allowed to buy these garments, or a sewing kit for them, from a church-owned supplier?

Here, I’ll go for the easy quick answers, for the sake of brevity skipping the which have longer answers (you can ask about those later if you’d like). Note: this is my personal answers, so… I have a personality and don’t hide it. Feel free to ask for any elaborations.

1. In the preceding fiscal yearthe total revenue of the LDS church and all entities wholly owned or controlled by it? General structure: assets are split between church (non-profit) and corporation (profit). I can elaborate on structure/examples/policies if you want. As to exact numbers: I don’t know and don’t care.

2. In the same fiscal year, what was the total expenditure of the LDS and all entities owned or controlled by it? As to exact numbers: I don’t know and don’t care.

3. How specifically did the Church itself, not counting exodnditure of wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries, spend that money? As to exact numbers: I don’t know and don’t care.

4. What does the church do with its surplus? Speaking generally excess church funds go to more church funds, which may include saving for future expenses/projects. Similarly excess corporation funds go to future corporation things, such as saving for future projects. Note: all LDS projects/building are paid for in full at start of the project, the church does not take out payment plans. If you want, I could elaborate more on some of this.

5. What are the church's long and short term plans in terms of capital expenditure? See #4.

6. What compensation, direct or indirect, including the use of office space, business travel, telecommunications, et cetera, do LDS religious leaders receive? (I have read claims they are unpaid, but this is only strictly true if, for example, the current Apostle/President reimburses rhe church for the use of his office, et cetera). Depends on the leader / situation.

On the local level: no one is paid and they have day jobs as dentists/salesman/teachers/etc, and will only serve at any given positon for a few years-- example: my former bishop is now a nursery worker (not even a nursery leader). Their office space (if required) and telecommunications are provided in the church building. Typically they do not receive reimbursement for mileage/travel, but could if necessary.

On the international level: top church leaders (~100 people) are constantly zipped around 6 different continents. They do not have day jobs, but rather devote full-time service to the church. They do receive a living stipend, housing, office, and have their travel paid for.

There are also church employees (more on this in #7).

7. How many paid employees do the LDS and its subsidiaries have, and what is their average salary? I’m going to split this between church and cooperation assets.

Church – the church does try to do as much volunteer at the local level as possible. But at the larger scale, frankly there is a need for accountants, architects, etc, so the church does employee a number of these. This is a hired day job, and not your church calling—example a person may be an accountant for Church HQ, but then serve as the local Sunday School teacher (an unpaid position) as their church service.

Corporation – The church own businesses and yes the do have employees. These are entirely day jobs. Employees may or may not be LDS.

8. How many square feet of office space does the LDS and its subsidiaries own, rent or control? Depends on which assets you’re talking about (more specific question would be appreciated).

9. How many temples and meeting houses does the LDS own or have under construction, and what is the average cost of each temple and meeting house? Meeting houses: ~15,000. Temples: 149 active, 24 announced/under construction.

10. What is the average size of the membership of a given stake? Depends on the local demographics. In my area CO/WY in the US, it’s ~3000 members, correlating to about a city of geographic area.

11. How many stakes, and members, on average, does a given temple serve? Members: doing quick math it’s ~85,000 members per average. The specific vary per local area (like larger temples service more people).

12. How many paid employees are reauired for the upkeep and maintenance of a typical meeting house or temple? 0. Day to day maintenance is all done by local members. Granted, the church will hire employees for more advance/special stuff. For example, my local area (~4000 members) has 1 employee building manager to call when things go wrong (he covers 3 buildings).

13. Have the Mormons stopped peforming proxy baptisms on Holocaust victims and other Orthodox Jews, as per their request? It is a grave offense to baptized Holocaust and Orthodox Jews. Members are STRONGLY forbidden to do this, and individuals who ignore this command are disciplined.

14. What safeguards have been put in place to ensure that the wishes of members of religious communities, like Judaism, that view Mormon proxy baptisms of their members as sacriligeous are being respected? Answer too long for this.

15. What is the youngest age at which someone can perform a proxy baptism? 12.

16. How many proxy baptisms are minors allowed to perform per day? Typically a person does 5-10 per quarter, done in 1 visit.

17. Why does the LDS want to know the criminal history of prospective members? Short answer: serious sins may need repented, are more complicated, and measures may be need to protect members (such as if an individual is a child molester).

18. What happens to a Mormon who commits a crime? Minor, probably nothing. Serious, quite possibly church discipline (obey the law is a basic tenant of Mormon beliefs).

19. What are the precise criteria for granting and revoking a Temple Reccommend? Short answer: essentially believing Christ’s Gospel and following His commandments. Long answer does not fit here.

20. Can a Mormon whose application for a Temple Reccommend was denied, or whose Temple Reccommend was revoked, appeal the decision, and if so, to who? Yes. Appeals are taken to the next level of church leadership.

21. What policies and safeguards exist to protect laity from abuses by stake presidents? Short answer: if something is fishy, that’s why we have multiple leaders. Speak to them as seek help if needed.

22. If a Mormon dies before receicing a Temple endowment or memorizing the Freemasonry-style signs, grips and passwords associated with each degree of the Mormon priesthood, what happens to their soul? Temple rituals are symbolic in nature, it is the principles that matter the most, not the symbols.

23. Do Mormons believe in the physical resurrection of the dead? Very much so.

24. Is it true a proxy baptism was performed for Jesus Christ? If so, why? No.

25. What is the purpose and function of prayer circles? Short answer: to pray.

26. What happens if a family sealed together in a celestial marriage later breaks up in a secular divorce? Short answer: they may also seek a cancelation of the sealing. Regardless, God will not have anyone married in the eternities whom does not want to be.

27. What are the procedures in the Mormon church for church discipline and excommunication? That’s a long answer. Here’s good resource: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-discipline

28. What happens to Mormons who don't pay their tithes? Tithing is a commandment of our Lord, which should be obeyed and all members are encouraged to do show. Individuals whom refuse this basic commitment to the Lord are temporarily kept from the making deeper commitment via attending the temple. No other action is taken and knowledge of a person’s tithing is a private matter.

29. What happens to Mormons who cannot pay their tithes? Long answer.

30. How are tithes calculated and assessed? Amount: 10% of income, as described in Malachi. Accountability: you declare to the Bishop whether or not you are a full tithe payer via the honor system (no one actually checks).

31. Are there any offenses for which someone can be permanently expelled from the Mormon church? Yes, such as child molestation.

32. What happens to young men and women who do not engage in missionary service for the church? Nothing. I myself declined to serve (it is optional).

33. What happens to Mormons who choose to drink caffeine products, liquor, or use tobacco products? Caffeine is not part of the Mormon health code. Tobacco and alcohol: same action described in #28.

34. What happens to Mormon men who grow facial hair? Nothing.

35. What happens to Mormons who publically disagree with official church doctrines, or the statements of Church leaders? Depends on the nature of the disagreement, how it is handled, etc. Definitely a long answer.

36. Please enumerate all of the Temple Ordinances and their functions. Count temple ordinances? I suspect a typo here.

37. Please provide me with the ritual/liturgy/script for each Temple Ordinance. This is an improper venue for such discussion.

38. Please explain rhe Mormon believes regarding the seer stones, and whether any objects of this sort are still in the posession of the Church. Resource: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/10/joseph-the-seer?lang=eng

39. What precisely does the President do in the Holy of Holies at the Temple in Salt Lake City on the Day of Atonement? Short answer: prayer for the world.

40. Why are Mormons required to wear temple garments at all times? Are they removed during sexual intercourse? Resource on garments: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/temple-garments. Yes, they are removed for sex.

41. Why are Mormons only allowed to buy these garments, or a sewing kit for them, from a church-owned supplier? Because they a sacred, symbolic of deep commitments many to the Lord. Non-church members has not made these commitments. This policy did also evolve as a measure against anti-Mormons using them in public shock techniques to slander the church.

 

[Commander Xenophon]

Here, I’ll go for the easy quick answers, for the sake of brevity skipping the which have longer answers (you can ask about those later if you’d like). Note: this is my personal answers, so… I have a personality and don’t hide it. Feel free to ask for any elaborations.

1. In the preceding fiscal yearthe total revenue of the LDS church and all entities wholly owned or controlled by it? General structure: assets are split between church (non-profit) and corporation (profit). I can elaborate on structure/examples/policies if you want. As to exact numbers: I don’t know and don’t care.

2. In the same fiscal year, what was the total expenditure of the LDS and all entities owned or controlled by it? As to exact numbers: I don’t know and don’t care.

3. How specifically did the Church itself, not counting exodnditure of wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries, spend that money? As to exact numbers: I don’t know and don’t care.

4. What does the church do with its surplus? Speaking generally excess church funds go to more church funds, which may include saving for future expenses/projects. Similarly excess corporation funds go to future corporation things, such as saving for future projects. Note: all LDS projects/building are paid for in full at start of the project, the church does not take out payment plans. If you want, I could elaborate more on some of this.

5. What are the church's long and short term plans in terms of capital expenditure? See #4.

6. What compensation, direct or indirect, including the use of office space, business travel, telecommunications, et cetera, do LDS religious leaders receive? (I have read claims they are unpaid, but this is only strictly true if, for example, the current Apostle/President reimburses rhe church for the use of his office, et cetera). Depends on the leader / situation.

On the local level: no one is paid and they have day jobs as dentists/salesman/teachers/etc, and will only serve at any given positon for a few years-- example: my former bishop is now a nursery worker (not even a nursery leader). Their office space (if required) and telecommunications are provided in the church building. Typically they do not receive reimbursement for mileage/travel, but could if necessary.

On the international level: top church leaders (~100 people) are constantly zipped around 6 different continents. They do not have day jobs, but rather devote full-time service to the church. They do receive a living stipend, housing, office, and have their travel paid for.

There are also church employees (more on this in #7).

7. How many paid employees do the LDS and its subsidiaries have, and what is their average salary? I’m going to split this between church and cooperation assets.

Church – the church does try to do as much volunteer at the local level as possible. But at the larger scale, frankly there is a need for accountants, architects, etc, so the church does employee a number of these. This is a hired day job, and not your church calling—example a person may be an accountant for Church HQ, but then serve as the local Sunday School teacher (an unpaid position) as their church service.

Corporation – The church own businesses and yes the do have employees. These are entirely day jobs. Employees may or may not be LDS.

8. How many square feet of office space does the LDS and its subsidiaries own, rent or control? Depends on which assets you’re talking about (more specific question would be appreciated).

9. How many temples and meeting houses does the LDS own or have under construction, and what is the average cost of each temple and meeting house? Meeting houses: ~15,000. Temples: 149 active, 24 announced/under construction.

10. What is the average size of the membership of a given stake? Depends on the local demographics. In my area CO/WY in the US, it’s ~3000 members, correlating to about a city of geographic area.

11. How many stakes, and members, on average, does a given temple serve? Members: doing quick math it’s ~85,000 members per average. The specific vary per local area (like larger temples service more people).

12. How many paid employees are reauired for the upkeep and maintenance of a typical meeting house or temple? 0. Day to day maintenance is all done by local members. Granted, the church will hire employees for more advance/special stuff. For example, my local area (~4000 members) has 1 employee building manager to call when things go wrong (he covers 3 buildings).

13. Have the Mormons stopped peforming proxy baptisms on Holocaust victims and other Orthodox Jews, as per their request? It is a grave offense to baptized Holocaust and Orthodox Jews. Members are STRONGLY forbidden to do this, and individuals who ignore this command are disciplined.

14. What safeguards have been put in place to ensure that the wishes of members of religious communities, like Judaism, that view Mormon proxy baptisms of their members as sacriligeous are being respected? Answer too long for this.

15. What is the youngest age at which someone can perform a proxy baptism? 12.

16. How many proxy baptisms are minors allowed to perform per day? Typically a person does 5-10 per quarter, done in 1 visit.

17. Why does the LDS want to know the criminal history of prospective members? Short answer: serious sins may need repented, are more complicated, and measures may be need to protect members (such as if an individual is a child molester).

18. What happens to a Mormon who commits a crime? Minor, probably nothing. Serious, quite possibly church discipline (obey the law is a basic tenant of Mormon beliefs).

19. What are the precise criteria for granting and revoking a Temple Reccommend? Short answer: essentially believing Christ’s Gospel and following His commandments. Long answer does not fit here.

20. Can a Mormon whose application for a Temple Reccommend was denied, or whose Temple Reccommend was revoked, appeal the decision, and if so, to who? Yes. Appeals are taken to the next level of church leadership.

21. What policies and safeguards exist to protect laity from abuses by stake presidents? Short answer: if something is fishy, that’s why we have multiple leaders. Speak to them as seek help if needed.

22. If a Mormon dies before receicing a Temple endowment or memorizing the Freemasonry-style signs, grips and passwords associated with each degree of the Mormon priesthood, what happens to their soul? Temple rituals are symbolic in nature, it is the principles that matter the most, not the symbols.

23. Do Mormons believe in the physical resurrection of the dead? Very much so.

24. Is it true a proxy baptism was performed for Jesus Christ? If so, why? No.

25. What is the purpose and function of prayer circles? Short answer: to pray.

26. What happens if a family sealed together in a celestial marriage later breaks up in a secular divorce? Short answer: they may also seek a cancelation of the sealing. Regardless, God will not have anyone married in the eternities whom does not want to be.

27. What are the procedures in the Mormon church for church discipline and excommunication? That’s a long answer. Here’s good resource: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-discipline

28. What happens to Mormons who don't pay their tithes? Tithing is a commandment of our Lord, which should be obeyed and all members are encouraged to do show. Individuals whom refuse this basic commitment to the Lord are temporarily kept from the making deeper commitment via attending the temple. No other action is taken and knowledge of a person’s tithing is a private matter.

29. What happens to Mormons who cannot pay their tithes? Long answer.

30. How are tithes calculated and assessed? Amount: 10% of income, as described in Malachi. Accountability: you declare to the Bishop whether or not you are a full tithe payer via the honor system (no one actually checks).

31. Are there any offenses for which someone can be permanently expelled from the Mormon church? Yes, such as child molestation.

32. What happens to young men and women who do not engage in missionary service for the church? Nothing. I myself declined to serve (it is optional).

33. What happens to Mormons who choose to drink caffeine products, liquor, or use tobacco products? Caffeine is not part of the Mormon health code. Tobacco and alcohol: same action described in #28.

34. What happens to Mormon men who grow facial hair? Nothing.

35. What happens to Mormons who publically disagree with official church doctrines, or the statements of Church leaders? Depends on the nature of the disagreement, how it is handled, etc. Definitely a long answer.

36. Please enumerate all of the Temple Ordinances and their functions. Count temple ordinances? I suspect a typo here.

37. Please provide me with the ritual/liturgy/script for each Temple Ordinance. This is an improper venue for such discussion.

38. Please explain rhe Mormon believes regarding the seer stones, and whether any objects of this sort are still in the posession of the Church. Resource: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/10/joseph-the-seer?lang=eng

39. What precisely does the President do in the Holy of Holies at the Temple in Salt Lake City on the Day of Atonement? Short answer: prayer for the world.

40. Why are Mormons required to wear temple garments at all times? Are they removed during sexual intercourse? Resource on garments: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/temple-garments. Yes, they are removed for sex.

41. Why are Mormons only allowed to buy these garments, or a sewing kit for them, from a church-owned supplier? Because they a sacred, symbolic of deep commitments many to the Lord. Non-church members has not made these commitments. This policy did also evolve as a measure against anti-Mormons using them in public shock techniques to slander the church.

Tnak you for taking the time to post this detailed reply! I appreciatemit. I have meetings this afternoon and rhen hope to respond to each answer individually.

 

[Jane_Doe]

Tnak you for taking the time to post this detailed reply! I appreciatemit. I have meetings this afternoon and rhen hope to respond to each answer individually.

Thank you. They admitted took quite a while to answer. I look forward to your response!

 

[Commander Xenophon]

Dude, what happened to 1 or 2 questions? 41 simply cannot be adequately addressed in one post reply.

You did a pretty good job though!

Given that you chose to buckshot questions instead of asking them individually, we have no choice but to give short answers ourselves in order to cover them all. A few of us may even skip questions because of this. You may wish to start again with several smaller threads instead.

My objective was not to "buckshot;" this is a complete list of all my questions and concerns about Mormonism. I'm from Missouri; I figure I ought to live up to it by showing you my complete list, and it looks like you've been able to show me answers.

This is guaranteed to offend since you're asking publicly.

Again, I'm from the "show me" state. No offense is intended, but I want to know what goes on inside your religion.

I'll tell you in turn anything you want to know about Greek Orthordoxy, and everything I know about the other Orthodox too.

Shocking as it may sound, it happens.

The idea is to place a choke point in the supply process so that these people will hopefully not be able to get their hands on any more, lest those be desecrated as well.

People desecrate RC paraphanelia all the time. And I don't understand why you don't let people make rheir own from scratch. Mandating that people use a pre approved kit to make them looks like a money grab.

To prevent desecration, by the way, consecrate. That ehich is not consecrated cannot be desecrated.

I'll have more for you and Jane Doe, but I need to get into a meeting.

 

[withwonderingawe]

I'll repost this;

Commander; Ok, answer me these questions:

Some of these are rather silly I think;

The church has a team of auditors which watch the books very carefully. If ya can’t trust a prophet to care for the church’s finances then don’t join.

The statistics vary depending on how up dated they are

There are 149 temples running, 8 under construction and 3 more announced We’ll be dedicating the new Provo Temple Sunday Morning, that was yesterday it was a wonderful ceremony, They must cost millions and millions to build.

There are 29,621 congregations I don‘t know how many buildings that is because we double and triple up, across the world there are 3,188 stakes. It cost a lot to heat, cool and maintain let alone build them.

All buildings are paid for before we use them.

There are 85,147 full time missionaries and 30, 404 service or humanitarian missionaries. Plus we have four universities.

*How many square feet of office space does the LDS and its subsidiaries own, rent or control?

I bet no one actually knows, Ya would have to count the 28 story church office build and the big gray one next to it, all of the mission offices, all of the welfare offices, Bishop storehouses, all of the seminary and institute offices, Genealogy offices, Church History building, all of Bonneville offices, there’s an insurance company that provides insurances for Church employees, I mean the list could go on and on and on.

How many offices does BYU have?

*What is the average size of the membership of a given stake?

Mm 1500 to 2500 give or take.

*How many paid employees are reauired for the upkeep and maintenance of a typical meeting house or temple?

Each area has a team of maintenance people which rotate from building to building. They do lawns and general maintenance, I have no idea how much they are paid but my friend seems to be just fine financially and he’ll have a retirement. Tomorrow morning I’ll be down at the church for my turn cleaning. The church has a team of elevator people who travel around maintaining elevators and another that fixes heating and cooling systems. Hey and there is security, lots of security.

*What safeguards have been put in place to ensure that the wishes of members of religious communities, like Judaism, that view Mormon proxy baptisms of their members as sacriligeous are being respected?

We have been given a strict rule to do only those names in our direct line. With the new computer system it’s pretty easy to tell whose doing what and someone can have their temple recommend pulled if they break the rules.

* Why does the LDS want to know the criminal history of prospective members?

So they can repent.

*What happens to a Mormon who commits a crime?

Ya mean if they want to repent?

Depending on the seriousness they have to confess to the Bishop and take their punishment dish out by a court of law.

If there is no repentance they can be excommunicated until they feel humble enough to repent.

Excommunication is looked at as away to have a new start, we repent and are re-baptized, all sin is washed away.

*If a Mormon dies before receicing a Temple endowment ….what happens to their soul?

I have never memorized the temple endowment and I’m not worried about my soul. I’m dyslexic, can’t put one word in front of another one. The Lord does not judge you by your power to memorize but by the love of Christ in your heart. Though I have faith to move mountains I am nothing without charity.

What do you think will happened to those who don’t accept your brand of Christianity? Are you heating up hell fire for them?

*Do Mormons believe in the physical resurrection of the dead?

Yes

*Is it true a proxy baptism was performed for Jesus Christ? If so, why?

No, once was enough

*What happens to Mormons who don't pay their tithes?
What happens to Mormons who cannot pay their tithes?

Those who don’t can not receive a temple recommend nor will they receive a calling like a Bishop. Generally no one knows except the Bishop, who will encourage them to try so the windows of heaven can open. They can teach classes and participate in many other ways.

'Can not' is different. It’s based on 10% of increases, if you’re out of work and there is no money coming in then no tithing is expected. The bishop will send you to the Bishops warehouse and food will be provided. They might help with your light bill or doctor bills. They may ask you to go down to the storehouse and do some work, they will help you look for a new job or get some training.

*Are there any offenses for which someone can be permanently expelled from the Mormon church?

I can’t think of anything except murder with a death or life sentence, a proxy Baptism can be done after they die. To be a son of perdition and sin against the Holy Ghost takes a lot of work.

There was that guy who moved from city to city getting baptized over and over again so he could qualify for welfare, I think they put an end to that.

*What happens to young men and women who do not engage in missionary service for the church?

I have three sons, only one went and he’s the one which is less active now.

*What happens to Mormons who choose to drink caffeine products, liquor, or use tobacco products?

Well my coke zero is almost gone now, maybe I should go to bed.

We pray for them.

*What happens to Mormon men who grow facial hair?

We burn them at the stake.

*What happens to Mormons who publically disagree with official church doctrines, or the statements of Church leaders?

Well any organization has a right to get rid of members who can’t abide by the rules and bylaws. If they are trying to change the doctrines of the Church we Ex them. Then we pray for them.

*Please explain rhe Mormon believes regarding the seer stones, and whether any objects of this sort are still in the posession of the Church.

Yes the Church has, at least they think they do, Joseph seer stone. It’s a rock, an egg shaped brown rock. Won’t do you a bit of good to have it cause you’re not a prophet and you lack faith.

* What precisely does the President do in the Holy of Holies at the Temple in Salt Lake City on the Day of Atonement?

I have know idea, what do you think they do?

 

[withwonderingawe]

I feel like your questions show a very narrow understanding of the Church, did you know there are more non English speaking Mormons than English speaking?

There are 136 Storehouses, 51 farms and ranches, 42 thrift stores with employment training, 115 employment centers, 82 family services office, 12 food production facilities/canneries, meat plants and milk producing, more that 132 emergency response projects in 60 countries, humanitarian assistance initiatives in 131 countries, 577 clean water projects with the building of water pumps and sanitation systems in 68 countries, millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of service hours to help with vaccinate children across the world, we have neonatal resuscitation training programs around the world with equipment, there’s the vision program operating in 50 countries with an estimated 500,000 people helped and lastly there is the wheel chair program operating in 128 counties with 550,000 wheelchairs given away.

The emergency responses projects includes Atmit, which is and Ethiopian porridge mixture. It’s a blend of oat flour, powdered milk, sugar, salt and then supplemental vitamins and minerals. It is an easy to digest porridge for children and the elderly who are so malnourished that they cannot digest whole grains. This is kept in the 132 emergency response centers along with other foods, water, clothing, blankets tents, personal hygiene kits etc. We work with Catholic charities, Red Cross , Muslin Charities and many others to deliver these needed items around the world.

In the Philippines when a typhoon hit and peoples homes/tin-shacks were destroyed the church set up a program. They provide wood, nails, saws and hammers. Then they taught the men the skills to use them, they were give blue prints and taught to read them, they would get help rebuilding their own home and then spend hours building others. After they passed some test they were given certificates so they could get jobs as carpenters. There are all kinds of projects like this all over the world.

My point is the Church is more than just buildings, it’s people all over the world serving others and trying to make the world a better place by following the example of Christ.

 

[fatboys]

A few years ago when Dr. Laura was on the radio she started a project for the poor in the US along with the NFL. The NFL was to provide blankets quilts etc for this project. As the date to have everything gather was about there the NFL backed out. Well she did not know what to do. She needed 2000 blankets in one week. Well one of her staff is Mormon and she told her about the humanitarian center and so a phone call was made and the blankets we on hand and shipped

 

[Commander Xenophon]

Here, I’ll go for the easy quick answers, for the sake of brevity skipping the which have longer answers (you can ask about those later if you’d like). Note: this is my personal answers, so… I have a personality and don’t hide it. Feel free to ask for any elaborations.

1. In the preceding fiscal yearthe total revenue of the LDS church and all entities wholly owned or controlled by it? General structure: assets are split between church (non-profit) and corporation (profit). I can elaborate on structure/examples/policies if you want. As to exact numbers: I don’t know and don’t care.

Can you obtain those numbers? And also explain the function of the for profit corporation?

2. In the same fiscal year, what was the total expenditure of the LDS and all entities owned or controlled by it? As to exact numbers: I don’t know and don’t care.

I do.

3. How specifically did the Church itself, not counting exodnditure of wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries, spend that money? As to exact numbers: I don’t know and don’t care.

Again, I do; I wish to compare rhese figures with the operational expenses of the Russian Orthodox Church, whichnis probably the largest single denomination with sufficiently centralized financial controls to make such a comparison possible, the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, the Church of England, and the United Methodist Church, as well as with the Jehovah's Witnesses.

4. What does the church do with its surplus? Speaking generally excess church funds go to more church funds, which may include saving for future expenses/projects. Similarly excess corporation funds go to future corporation things, such as saving for future projects. Note: all LDS projects/building are paid for in full at start of the project, the church does not take out payment plans. If you want, I could elaborate more on some of this.

In other words, the church does not rely on debt financing or jses mortgages even for non-Temples? Not mortgaging temples owing to their sacredness makes a lot of sense. Mot mortgaging churches in general makes sense; many churches in the US are held in irrevocable trusts owned by a sole corporation belonfing to a bishop in the case of Orthodox, Catholic. Merhodist, or Episcopal parishes, or to a non-profit corporation like a congregation or presbytery in the case of Presbyterians, Baptisrs and so on.

5. What are the church's long and short term plans in terms of capital expenditure? See #4.

No. 4 does not adequetely answer no. 5

6. What compensation, direct or indirect, including the use of office space, business travel, telecommunications, et cetera, do LDS religious leaders receive? (I have read claims they are unpaid, but this is only strictly true if, for example, the current Apostle/President reimburses rhe church for the use of his office, et cetera). Depends on the leader / situation.

On the local level: no one is paid and they have day jobs as dentists/salesman/teachers/etc, and will only serve at any given positon for a few years-- example: my former bishop is now a nursery worker (not even a nursery leader). Their office space (if required) and telecommunications are provided in the church building. Typically they do not receive reimbursement for mileage/travel, but could if necessary.

On the international level: top church leaders (~100 people) are constantly zipped around 6 different continents. They do not have day jobs, but rather devote full-time service to the church. They do receive a living stipend, housing, office, and have their travel paid for.

There are also church employees (more on this in #7).

Thank you.

7. How many paid employees do the LDS and its subsidiaries have, and what is their average salary? I’m going to split this between church and cooperation assets.

Church – the church does try to do as much volunteer at the local level as possible. But at the larger scale, frankly there is a need for accountants, architects, etc, so the church does employee a number of these. This is a hired day job, and not your church calling—example a person may be an accountant for Church HQ, but then serve as the local Sunday School teacher (an unpaid position) as their church service.

Corporation – The church own businesses and yes the do have employees. These are entirely day jobs. Employees may or may not be LDS.

Why does the LDS own for profit corporations? What are some examples? Also, does the LDS typically own a portion of Mormon-founded businessss like Marriott Hotels?

8. How many square feet of office space does the LDS and its subsidiaries own, rent or control? Depends on which assets you’re talking about (more specific question would be appreciated).

Lets start with church headquarters in Salt Lake City. We can compare it I expect with the headquaeters of the Episcopal Church, USA, on Park Avenue, and the mainline Protestant denominations in Nashville.

9. How many temples and meeting houses does the LDS own or have under construction, and what is the average cost of each temple and meeting house? Meeting houses: ~15,000. Temples: 149 active, 24 announced/under construction.

My Mormon friend complained rhat whereas older temples are often architecturally different wnd unique, increasingly newer temples are all very similiar. Is this true?

10. What is the average size of the membership of a given stake? Depends on the local demographics. In my area CO/WY in the US, it’s ~3000 members, correlating to about a city of geographic area.

Does one stake meet in one meeting house? And are stake presidents the same as bishops?

11. How many stakes, and members, on average, does a given temple serve? Members: doing quick math it’s ~85,000 members per average. The specific vary per local area (like larger temples service more people).

Very good. What are the specific officers of a temple as opposed to a stake?

12. How many paid employees are reauired for the upkeep and maintenance of a typical meeting house or temple? 0. Day to day maintenance is all done by local members. Granted, the church will hire employees for more advance/special stuff. For example, my local area (~4000 members) has 1 employee building manager to call when things go wrong (he covers 3 buildings).

Very good. No objections there. We have morempaid employees in mainline Chrisrianity; traditionally the maintainer of a church is a Sacristan or Sexton.

13. Have the Mormons stopped peforming proxy baptisms on Holocaust victims and other Orthodox Jews, as per their request? It is a grave offense to baptized Holocaust and Orthodox Jews. Members are STRONGLY forbidden to do this, and individuals who ignore this command are disciplined.

Good. Is there any way I can ask the Mormon church not to proxy baptize members of my family or denomination?

16. How many proxy baptisms are minors allowed to perform per day? Typically a person does 5-10 per quarter, done in 1 visit.

Are Mormons required to do proxy baptisms?

17. Why does the LDS want to know the criminal history of prospective members? Short answer: serious sins may need repented, are more complicated, and measures may be need to protect members (such as if an individual is a child molester).

Suppose a member maintains their innocence? The Orthodox Church does not require thecriminal history of our members because criminal law is not God's law, although the two overlap.

18. What happens to a Mormon who commits a crime? Minor, probably nothing. Serious, quite possibly church discipline (obey the law is a basic tenant of Mormon beliefs).

In the USSR Orthodox priests acauired criminal records owing to their jobs. I agree that Christians who are actually guilty ofmpetty crimes should be penanced, but actually running the criminal history of your members is extreme.

19. What are the precise criteria for granting and revoking a Temple Reccommend? Short answer: essentially believing Christ’s Gospel and following His commandments. Long answer does not fit here.

Male it fit; I care more about this than the financial questions. My understanding is it requires at least a year of church membership. I want to know what causes someone to be disqualified from or lose their temple recccommend.

20. Can a Mormon whose application for a Temple Reccommend was denied, or whose Temple Reccommend was revoked, appeal the decision, and if so, to who? Yes. Appeals are taken to the next level of church leadership.

21. What policies and safeguards exist to protect laity from abuses by stake presidents? Short answer: if something is fishy, that’s why we have multiple leaders. Speak to them as seek help if needed.

Can you explain the hierarchy of a local stake and the nest level for me? In return, I will outline in full detail the hierarchy of the Orthodox Churhc including our system of penancing members (mainly divorcees and priests who commit offenses, the Ecclesiastical Court) and our appealate system (the Ecumenical Patriarchate).

22. If a Mormon dies before receicing a Temple endowment or memorizing the Freemasonry-style signs, grips and passwords associated with each degree of the Mormon priesthood, what happens to their soul? Temple rituals are symbolic in nature, it is the principles that matter the most, not the symbols.

If a Mormon dies before having been to a temple, are they saved?

23. Do Mormons believe in the physical resurrection of the dead? Very much so.

24. Is it true a proxy baptism was performed for Jesus Christ? If so, why? No.

Good and good.

25. What is the purpose and function of prayer circles? Short answer: to pray.

Can you elaborate on the kind of things they pray for, how their membership is chosen/comes together and so on? Like, are prayer circles just scheduled meetings at the Temple? Oe are they specific groups that resolve to meet in the Temple on a give occasion?

26. What happens if a family sealed together in a celestial marriage later breaks up in a secular divorce? Short answer: they may also seek a cancelation of the sealing. Regardless, God will not have anyone married in the eternities whom does not want to be.

I really have a lot of sympathy for the sealing ritual; it is sweet and shows much love. I weep over the fact that as far as I can tell, it is unbiblical, and your church is making a promise you can't deliver on.

27. What are the procedures in the Mormon church for church discipline and excommunication? That’s a long answer. Here’s good resource: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-discipline

Thank you.

28. What happens to Mormons who don't pay their tithes? Tithing is a commandment of our Lord, which should be obeyed and all members are encouraged to do show. Individuals whom refuse this basic commitment to the Lord are temporarily kept from the making deeper commitment via attending the temple. No other action is taken and knowledge of a person’s tithing is a private matter.

Tithes were not actually 10a% in ancient Israel, theynwere closer to 2.5%, and that was a component of the Mosaic law. Nowhere in the NT is it specifically enjoined on us, however, almsgiving is.
The Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church do not require tithing but we seem to have lots of money. Which I have been both the giver and recipient of according to personal circumstance,

29. What happens to Mormons who cannot pay their tithes? Long answer.

I'm all ears.

30. How are tithes calculated and assessed? Amount: 10% of income, as described in Malachi. Accountability: you declare to the Bishop whether or not you are a full tithe payer via the honor system (no one actually checks).

Ok. Supposw on your honor you have a good reason not to pay your tithe and need an exemption? Like a family medica
emergency?

31. Are there any offenses for which someone can be permanently expelled from the Mormon church? Yes, such as child molestation.

So there is no way for a paedophile to repent and re-enter the church in controlled conditions? That seems rather too harsh. Is rhe saving work of Jesus on the cross insufficient to save paedophiles?

Also, what other offenses?

32. What happens to young men and women who do not engage in missionary service for the church? Nothing. I myself declined to serve (it is optional).

Good.

33. What happens to Mormons who choose to drink caffeine products, liquor, or use tobacco products? Caffeine is not part of the Mormon health code. Tobacco and alcohol: same action described in #28.

So someone who converts with Mormonism who struggles with tobacco and alcohol addiction can't access the Temple?

34. What happens to Mormon men who grow facial hair? Nothing.

Is it discouraged or not?

35. What happens to Mormons who publically disagree with official church doctrines, or the statements of Church leaders? Depends on the nature of the disagreement, how it is handled, etc. Definitely a long answer.

36. Please enumerate all of the Temple Ordinances and their functions. Count temple ordinances? I suspect a typo here.

I want you to provided an itemized list of all the activities that Mormons do at temples and a summary as to what they entail.

37. Please provide me with the ritual/liturgy/script for each Temple Ordinance. This is an improper venue for such discussion.

@Wgw already posted the videoes, so I guess Ill just watch those and reconstruct, if you are opposed to transparency.

38. Please explain rhe Mormon believes regarding the seer stones, and whether any objects of this sort are still in the posession of the Church. Resource: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/10/joseph-the-seer?lang=eng

Thanks?

39. What precisely does the President do in the Holy of Holies at the Temple in Salt Lake City on the Day of Atonement? Short answer: prayer for the world.

Good. Long answer?

40. Why are Mormons required to wear temple garments at all times? Are they removed during sexual intercourse? Resource on garments: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/temple-garments. Yes, they are removed for sex.

Ok, good.

41. Why are Mormons only allowed to buy these garments, or a sewing kit for them, from a church-owned supplier? Because they a sacred, symbolic of deep commitments many to the Lord. Non-church members has not made these commitments. This policy did also evolve as a measure against anti-Mormons using them in public shock techniques to slander the church.

This policy is clearly not working; also, it doesn't explain why you can't simply teach members to sew the garments without selling them overpriced sewing kits. Do poor members get their garments for free?

What you could do btw is just consecrate temple garments.

But you will always have angry ex-Mormons desecrating them.

Another option would be to make all the temple garments and then loan them to members as part of their temple reccommend, so that members would either have to pay for them (a large amount) or return them when leaving the church.

One new question, no 42. if you will: are you required or do you commonly shun excommunicates?

 

[Commander Xenophon]

I feel like your questions show a very narrow understanding of the Church, did you know there are more non English speaking Mormons than English speaking?

There are 136 Storehouses, 51 farms and ranches, 42 thrift stores with employment training, 115 employment centers, 82 family services office, 12 food production facilities/canneries, meat plants and milk producing, more that 132 emergency response projects in 60 countries, humanitarian assistance initiatives in 131 countries, 577 clean water projects with the building of water pumps and sanitation systems in 68 countries, millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of service hours to help with vaccinate children across the world, we have neonatal resuscitation training programs around the world with equipment, there’s the vision program operating in 50 countries with an estimated 500,000 people helped and lastly there is the wheel chair program operating in 128 counties with 550,000 wheelchairs given away.

The emergency responses projects includes Atmit, which is and Ethiopian porridge mixture. It’s a blend of oat flour, powdered milk, sugar, salt and then supplemental vitamins and minerals. It is an easy to digest porridge for children and the elderly who are so malnourished that they cannot digest whole grains. This is kept in the 132 emergency response centers along with other foods, water, clothing, blankets tents, personal hygiene kits etc. We work with Catholic charities, Red Cross , Muslin Charities and many others to deliver these needed items around the world.

In the Philippines when a typhoon hit and peoples homes/tin-shacks were destroyed the church set up a program. They provide wood, nails, saws and hammers. Then they taught the men the skills to use them, they were give blue prints and taught to read them, they would get help rebuilding their own home and then spend hours building others. After they passed some test they were given certificates so they could get jobs as carpenters. There are all kinds of projects like this all over the world.

My point is the Church is more than just buildings, it’s people all over the world serving others and trying to make the world a better place by following the example of Christ.

Good, I support this. It may interest you to know that you are following a tradition established by the allegedly apostate Orthodox Church: St. Basil invented the hospital in the fourth century.

Unforrunately most of our hospitals were seized by the communists or left wing regimes eg in Greece, somour current healthcare network is not as large as the Roman Catholic one, but we are rebuilding.

 

[Jane_Doe]

Can you obtain those [budget] numbers?

As a private organization, in the USA the LDS church is not required to release it’s accounting books, and chooses not to do so. Other nations, such as Canada do require the books, and you may look those up online.

I wish to compare rhese figures with the operational expenses of the Russian Orthodox Church, whichnis probably the largest single denomination with sufficiently centralized financial controls to make such a comparison possible, the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, the Church of England, and the United Methodist Church, as well as with the Jehovah's Witnesses.

A bit of forewarning: different churches will put different labels on different things, and report numbers different ways. Such as reporting “% of budget* that went to charity” where “budget*” = after excluding operating costs of buildings, materials, ministers, etc. So be sure to not just look at labels.

In other words, the church does not rely on debt financing or jses mortgages even for non-Temples? Not mortgaging temples owing to their sacredness makes a lot of sense. Mot mortgaging churches in general makes sense; many churches in the US are held in irrevocable trusts owned by a sole corporation belonfing to a bishop in the case of Orthodox, Catholic. Merhodist, or Episcopal parishes, or to a non-profit corporation like a congregation or presbytery in the case of Presbyterians, Baptisrs and so on.

The LDS church does not mortgage or take out loans on ANYTHING.

No. 4 does not adequetely answer no. 5

Ok. What other info would you like to know?

And also explain the function of the for profit corporation? … Why does the LDS own for profit corporations? What are some examples?

It varies per individual venture. Farms and ranches generate food which goes into the church welfare system to feed people. As a cooperate venture, these farms are taxed, have employees, etc. Bookstores are for selling books and materials individual members may buy. It owns a communication network for broadcasting worldwide sermons.

Also, does the LDS typically own a portion of Mormon-founded businessss like Marriott Hotels?

Marriot hotels is a regular hotel chain founded/owned by a guy whom happens to be Mormon. It is NOT owned by the LDS church. Does the LDS church have some minority stock? It might, I don’t know the specifics for that company.

Lets start with church headquarters in Salt Lake City. We can compare it I expect with the headquaeters of the Episcopal Church, USA, on Park Avenue, and the mainline Protestant denominations in Nashville.

The HQ office building in Salt Lake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Office_Building
The LDS conference center, where worldwide conferences are broadcasted from every 6 months: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDS_Conference_Center

My Mormon friend complained rhat whereas older temples are often architecturally different wnd unique, increasingly newer temples are all very similiar. Is this true?

Yes for a while, but not so much recently. Before the 1960’s, 1 new temple was built every ~10 years and were hence very unique architecturally, very large, and very Utah-centric. In the 1990-2000’s the globalizing church undertook building massive amounts temples (peaking at 33 dedicated in just 2000) throughout the world, to be closer to local members. Some of these temples were very similar architecturally—why re-invent the wheel? Nowadays, temples are being built slower (~5 per year) and do have architectural/style differences.

Does one stake meet in one meeting house? And are stake presidents the same as bishops?

A local congregation (~300 people) is a ward, similar to what a Catholic would call a parish. ~3 wards share a church building. A stake is a compilation of wards (~12), similar to what a Catholic would call a diocese. A bishop leads a ward, a stake president leads a stake.

* Note: I hope you don’t mind me using Catholic vocabulary for comparison here. I would use Orthodox specifically…but honestly I’ve never had opportunity to study Orthodox faith/traditions in depth, so don’t know those well. I did however, just finish a year studying Catholicism, so have a decent handle on that vocab.

What are the specific officers of a temple as opposed to a stake?

Background: wards / church meetinghouses are different in purpose than temples. A ward / church meetinghouse is where everyone meets each Sunday, has the Lord’s Supper, sermons, Sunday School, etc. There’s also youth group, ladies meetings, and other stuff throughout the week. Everyone is welcome. Temples are different: there are no sermons, no lecture halls, and they are even closed on Sundays. Temples are for performing religious rites and making convents with the Lord.

Officers: a temple is lead by a temple president and matron. This is un-related to bishops and stake presidents. Everyone here is an un-paid volunteer who serves for a few years.

Good. Is there any way I can ask the Mormon church not to proxy baptize members of my family or denomination?

People are only supposed to do their family lines. Assuming you congregation is not directly related to you, this is kind of a null question.

Relevant fact: for anyone born within the last 110 years, express permission for baptism must be given by the nearest living relative (which is strictly defined).

Are Mormons required to do proxy baptisms?

Nope.

Suppose a member maintains their innocence? The Orthodox Church does not require thecriminal history of our members because criminal law is not God's law, although the two overlap.

In the USSR Orthodox priests acauired criminal records owing to their jobs. I agree that Christians who are actually guilty ofmpetty crimes should be penanced, but actually running the criminal history of your members is extreme.

Correcting a few things here: the LDS church does NOT run background checks on people. Nor does the church care about parking tickets and petty stuff. Action is only taken for major sins (rape, murder, etc), and then all action is to aide the person in the repentance process. Criminal activities only come up in three ways:

1) A member commits a crime and tells the Bishop to have spiritual support in their repentance/healing process.
2) An member commits a crime and somewhere along the legal process the bishop finds out.
3) If, prior to baptism, a new person confesses to a serious sin. This does not bar the individual from baptism, but the process is then handled by a higher church member (like a stake president) than standard baptisms.

In regards to a person whom is found to be guilty, but proclaims innocence, that is handled on a case by case basis.

Male it fit; I care more about this than the financial questions. My understanding is it requires at least a year of church membership. I want to know what causes someone to be disqualified from or lose their temple recccommend.

How a temple recommend is attained (for adults): a member of at least a year decides they want to go to the temple. They meet with their bishop and stake president, answer a few questions, and assuming all is in order, get their recommend and go. Recommend is good for 2 years. List of questions: http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_temples/Worthiness_to_enter

Why wait a year: when a person goes to the temple, they are there to make deep promises with the Lord. Due to the depth of these promises, newly baptized members are asked to spend a year growing with Christ before making them.

Can you explain the hierarchy of a local stake and the nest level for me?

Above stakes are “areas”. But honestly, anything between a stake and top church leadership doesn’t really matter to the average member (they pretty much are book-keeping labels).

If a Mormon dies before having been to a temple, are they saved?

Short answer: yes. Long answer is more complicated (LDS don’t view being “saved” the way like a Protestant does).

Can you elaborate on the kind of things they pray for, how their membership is chosen/comes together and so on? Like, are prayer circles just scheduled meetings at the Temple? Oe are they specific groups that resolve to meet in the Temple on a give occasion?

I think what you a referring to by “prayer circle” is what LDS refer to a “prayer roll”. The temple prayer roll is simply a list of people (LDS or not) whom need prayed for, and people pray for them at the temple. Nothing too formal about it.

Ok. Supposw on your honor you have a good reason not to pay your tithe and need an exemption? Like a family medical emergency?

A person is supposed to pay tithing, per the Bible. If a member is unable to pay tithing and/or has other financial issues that they need help with, they are still asked to pay tithing, but then the church aides them financially through food, bills, etc. In addition, the church also helps people with debt management/avoidance, budgeting, finding jobs, etc.

So there is no way for a paedophile to repent and re-enter the church in controlled conditions? That seems rather too harsh. Is rhe saving work of Jesus on the cross insufficient to save paedophiles?

You are incorrectly assuming that an ex-communicated person cannot be re-admitted to the church. Ex-communicated person can be re-admitted to the church and again take on a commitment to Christ-- indeed that’s the desired goal. An ex-communicated person may also attend services, converse with members, receive pastoral counseling, etc.

Also, what other offenses?

Murder, major finical fraud, abortion, homosexual activities, adultery, polygamy, apostasy, etc.

Note: these are things which could result in excommunication, but don’t necessarily will. Things are very much handled case by case.

Good resource on ex-communication: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1990/09/...ils-and-the-restoration-of-blessings?lang=eng

So someone who converts with Mormonism who struggles with tobacco and alcohol addiction can't access the Temple?

Someone currently struggling with tobacco and alcohol addiction should prioritize overcoming that addiction, and focus there journey with Christ is that regard.

Is it discouraged or not? [referring the facial hair]

Outside of the USA, not really. Inside the USA, there is a cultural bias against it, but nothing doctrinal (my husband has a big bushy beard and no one bothers him about it).

I want you to provided an itemized list of all the activities that Mormons do at temples and a summary as to what they entail.

As stated before, this is an improper venue for such discussion.

@Wgw already posted the videoes,

Yes, despite multiple requests from multiple people to take them down, as posting such videos in considered highly inappropriate/offensive.

Mormons believe that the most sacred things in life are to be experience and not video recorded, let alone made into YouTube fodder. For example, it is highly inappropriate to record a kid’s baptism—not because it’s secret (rather we invite everyone and their dog to it), but because it’s a special sacred event.

Good. Long answer? [Day of Atonement]

Resource: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bd/fasts?lang=eng

This policy is clearly not working; also, it doesn't explain why you can't simply teach members to sew the garments without selling them overpriced sewing kits. Do poor members get their garments for free?

We don’t sell sewing kits. You just buy the garments, they’re not expensive, and discounted for people if needed.

What you could do btw is just consecrate temple garments.

They are already sacred. Hence why it’s offensive when other people desecrate them.

Another option would be to make all the temple garments and then loan them to members as part of their temple reccommend, so that members would either have to pay for them (a large amount) or return them when leaving the church.

What the?? How is the preferable than just a simple inexpensive purchase?

One new question, no 42. if you will: are you required or do you commonly shun excommunicates?

Not at all, rather excommunicates are encouraged to come to church and members hang out with them. Note: for majority of cases people don’t even know if you’ve been excommunicated or any form of church discipline unless you’re the one to tell them.

I personally don’t know any excommunicates, but my favorite aunt left the church years ago and is very much against it. She’s still my favorite aunt, and we chat on a regular basis, including me asking her advice on things.

 

[withwonderingawe]

commander

You seem rather fascinated with our underwear, do you ask the same questions of Jews who wear their shawls or priest who wear their many robes? They are symbols of our faith;
Isaiah 61:10
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Revelation 3:4
4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

On the lighter side, my little Filipino daughter inlaw works at the Beehive clothing factory where garments are made, one day they had to stop everything to make a special order for a group of Tongan missionaries. She was just amazed at how big they were, she's barely 5'2" and these guys were well over 6" and weigh in over 300 lbs.

 

[withwonderingawe]

Doe; I personally don’t know any excommunicates, but my favorite aunt left the church years ago and is very much against it. She’s still my favorite aunt, and we chat on a regular basis, including me asking her advice on things.

I knew a Young Men's president and Young Women's leader who were Exd, it happens. It was back when they announced things like that (a really long time ago) and my mom had to teach the Gospel Doctrine class that morning. She said it was the best lesson she ever gave on forgiveness, everyone had something to say about how to forgive. The Young Men's president was re-baptized in the Bishop's pool with all the Young men there, made a big impression on them all. The sister was later made compassionate leader in the Stake Relief Society, if anyone knew about the need for compassion she did.

 

[Ironhold]

Why does the LDS own for profit corporations? What are some examples?

The church is pretty demand-side about things. If it senses that there's a need for X to exist among the church and/or local community in some way, shape, or form then it will open up a new venture accordingly. These ventures are organized as wholly-owned subsidiaries, meaning that while the church legally owns them as far as the bureaucrats are concerned, the ventures in practice are responsible for making their own decisions and paying their own bills. The church may call on them to provide one or more services for the church and/or the community, but otherwise these organizations are left to their own devices.

For example, the church uses Deseret Book in order to print some of its materials, such as the hymnals. Aside from this, Deseret Book is a conglomerate that handles everything from producing media (books, CDs, et cetra) to running the physical stores and websites that sell this product along with select family-friendly non-Mormon material (such as Disney movies). Because Deseret plays up the "family-friendly" aspect, even non-Mormons can usually find something if they feel tempted to look around; this is in contrast to chains like Family Christian, which pretty well exclude anyone who doesn't fit within a specific band of Protestantism.

Likewise, media company Bonneville Communications was established for the purpose of broadcasting various church media to the world (such as the long-running "Music and the Spoken Word" television show). By day, however, it owns the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City (formerly a DuMont affiliate) and several radio stations scattered throughout the Rocky Mountain region; they used to own radio stations nationwide, but divested about half of them a few years ago so that they could focus on specific markets. Bonneville is more than willing to broadcast non-Mormon material, such that their radio stations included an urban gospel station in Washington DC and a station in Arizona (IIRC) that rebroadcast Spanish-language Catholic material from outside providers.

Some other companies:

*The Brigham Young University system was established so that people could have affordable educations. Because they're organized as "private" institutions, the church can use tithing money to subsidize the cost of tuition. Before Businessweek got bought out by Bloomberg, BYU's Marriott School of Business used to have a permanent spot in their top 40 business schools in America.

*The Polynesian Culture Center in Hawaii was established so that students at BYU Hawaii could have summer jobs. It's now one of the top tourist draws in the state.

*ZCMI was established so that the members could have a common mercantile in which to do business. ZCMI is often credited as the first department store chain in the world, and was a significant obstacle to national chains for well over a century. However, the church ultimately sold ZCMI to Macy's circa 2002, at which point Macy's re-branded all ZCMI stores they didn't close for redundancy.

 

[ToBeLoved]

*The Brigham Young University system was established so that people could have affordable educations. Because they're organized as "private" institutions, the church can use tithing money to subsidize the cost of tuition. Before Businessweek got bought out by Bloomberg, BYU's Marriott School of Business used to have a permanent spot in their top 40 business schools in America.

Aren't only Mormons allowed to work as faculty at BYU? If that is true, which I am pretty sure it is, than it shows that BYU is as much about Mormonism as education, per se, IMHO

 

[ToBeLoved]

The church is pretty demand-side about things. If it senses that there's a need for X to exist among the church and/or local community in some way, shape, or form then it will open up a new venture accordingly. These ventures are organized as wholly-owned subsidiaries, meaning that while the church legally owns them as far as the bureaucrats are concerned, the ventures in practice are responsible for making their own decisions and paying their own bills. The church may call on them to provide one or more services for the church and/or the community, but otherwise these organizations are left to their own devices.

For example, the church uses Deseret Book in order to print some of its materials, such as the hymnals. Aside from this, Deseret Book is a conglomerate that handles everything from producing media (books, CDs, et cetra) to running the physical stores and websites that sell this product along with select family-friendly non-Mormon material (such as Disney movies). Because Deseret plays up the "family-friendly" aspect, even non-Mormons can usually find something if they feel tempted to look around; this is in contrast to chains like Family Christian, which pretty well exclude anyone who doesn't fit within a specific band of Protestantism.

Likewise, media company Bonneville Communications was established for the purpose of broadcasting various church media to the world (such as the long-running "Music and the Spoken Word" television show). By day, however, it owns the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City (formerly a DuMont affiliate) and several radio stations scattered throughout the Rocky Mountain region; they used to own radio stations nationwide, but divested about half of them a few years ago so that they could focus on specific markets. Bonneville is more than willing to broadcast non-Mormon material, such that their radio stations included an urban gospel station in Washington DC and a station in Arizona (IIRC) that rebroadcast Spanish-language Catholic material from outside providers.

Some other companies:

*The Brigham Young University system was established so that people could have affordable educations. Because they're organized as "private" institutions, the church can use tithing money to subsidize the cost of tuition. Before Businessweek got bought out by Bloomberg, BYU's Marriott School of Business used to have a permanent spot in their top 40 business schools in America.

*The Polynesian Culture Center in Hawaii was established so that students at BYU Hawaii could have summer jobs. It's now one of the top tourist draws in the state.

*ZCMI was established so that the members could have a common mercantile in which to do business. ZCMI is often credited as the first department store chain in the world, and was a significant obstacle to national chains for well over a century. However, the church ultimately sold ZCMI to Macy's circa 2002, at which point Macy's re-branded all ZCMI stores they didn't close for redundancy.

Just saw this about Marriott Hotels http://www.deseretnews.com/top/1700/6/Marriot-Hotel-20-companies-with-religious-roots.html

 

[Jane_Doe]

Aren't only Mormons allowed to work as faculty at BYU? \

There are non-Mormon staff at BYU, as well as non-Mormon students.

 

[ToBeLoved]

There are non-Mormon staff at BYU, as well as non-Mormon students.

Hmmm....