The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Tithing and other donations=== {{main|Tithing in Mormonism|Fast offering}} Church members are expected to donate one-tenth of their income to support the operations of the church. After initially relying on a communal lifestyle known as the [[law of consecration]] throughout most of the 1830s, the church created the law of tithing in July 1838 when the membership was [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Missouri|concentrated in Missouri]].<ref name="givens">{{cite book |last=Givens |first=Terryl |author-link= |date=August 5, 2020 |title=Mormonism: What Everyone Needs to Know |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-RP0DwAAQBAJ|location= |publisher= [[Oxford University Press]]|page=170 |isbn=9780190885113}}</ref> Church members would frequently tithed by giving ten percent of their livestock and produce; nowadays donations are generally done with money.<ref name="givens"/> Annual donations were estimated to total $7 billion<ref>{{Cite news |last=Henderson |first=Peter |date=August 13, 2012 |title=Mormon church earns $7 billion a year from tithing, analysis indicates |work=[[NBC News]] |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/mormon-church-earns-7-billion-year-tithing-analysis-indicates-flna939844 |access-date=June 26, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Curtis |first=Larry D. |date=December 20, 2019 |title=LDS Church releases explanation of its use of tithes, donations after $100B fund revealed |publisher=[[KUTV]] |url=https://kutv.com/news/local/lds-church-releases-explanation-of-its-use-of-tithes-donations-after-100b-fund-revealed |access-date=June 26, 2023}}</ref> to $33 billion<ref name=Hidden/> [[United States dollar|USD]] donated in 2012 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|7|2012|r=1}} billion to ${{Inflation|US|33|2012|r=1}} billion in {{Inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}). In order to qualify for participation in temple ordinances (which Latter-day Saints believe are necessary for their salvation), paying a full tithe is a requirement, regardless of one's temporal circumstances.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fletcher Stack |first=Peggy |date=March 26, 2018 |title=Does tithing requirement for entry into LDS temples amount to Mormons buying their way into heaven? |newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/03/26/does-tithing-requirement-for-entry-into-lds-temples-amount-to-mormons-buying-their-way-into-heaven/ |access-date=June 27, 2023 |author-link=Peggy Fletcher Stack}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=West |first=Aaron L. |date=December 2012 |title=Sacred Transformations |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/ensign/2012/12/sacred-transformations |magazine=[[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]] |publisher=[[LDS Church]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shields |first=Steven L. |url=https://archive.org/details/latterdaysaintbe0000shie/page/90/mode/1up |title=Latter Day Saint Beliefs: A Comparison Between the RLDS Church and the LDS Church |publisher=[[Herald Publishing House]] |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-8309-0437-2 |page=90 |via=[[Internet Archive]] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ronquillo |first=John C. |date=May 8, 2015 |title=Op-ed: There's another option besides online LDS tithing: confidential payments |newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |url=https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2015/05/08/op-ed-theres-another-option-besides-online-lds-tithing-confidential-payments/ |access-date=June 27, 2023}}</ref> Members are also encouraged to [[fasting|fast]] (abstain from food and drink) on the [[Fast Sunday|first Sunday of each month]] for two consecutive meals. They donate at least the cost of the two skipped meals of the fast as a "fast offering", which the church uses to assist people in need and expand its [[LDS Humanitarian Services|humanitarian efforts]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 5, 2009 |title=Mormon: Fasting |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/customs/fasting.shtml |access-date=June 27, 2023 |website=[[BBC]]}}</ref> Local leadership is not paid, and is expected to tithe as well. Full-time missionaries, however, are not expected to pay tithing as they are usually paying to be a missionary.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stephenson |first=Kathy |date=June 27, 2019 |title=Serving a mission for the LDS Church will cost more in 2020 |url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/06/27/serving-mission-lds/ |access-date=June 26, 2023 |newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=March 2024}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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