Why Does the LDS Church Have So Much Money? Tithing, Consecration, and Church Finances Explained

This article is a written summary of a Let’s Get Real conversation with Stephen Jones and Casey Griffiths of the Church History Matters podcast. The discussion explores why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has significant financial reserves, how the Church uses money, why it builds temples, whether Church leaders are paid, what tithing has to do with consecration, and how Church finances connect to the larger goal of building Zion. Rather than treating Church finances only as an accounting question, Griffiths argues that they are best understood through the restored doctrine of the law of consecration: the belief that everything ultimately belongs to God and should be used to bless His children.

TL;DR: Why Does the LDS Church Have So Much Money?

The central argument of the video is that the LDS Church’s financial reserves make more sense when viewed through the law of consecration. Casey Griffiths argues that the Church is not simply trying to accumulate wealth. It uses financial reserves, businesses, temples, schools, humanitarian programs, fast offerings, education, and local welfare systems as tools for accomplishing a larger spiritual mission. Consecration is not merely an old nineteenth-century economic experiment, and tithing did not replace it. Latter-day Saints still covenant to live consecrated lives by dedicating their time, talents, possessions, and resources to God. The goal is ultimately not to create the richest church possible, but to become a Zion people who are “of one heart and one mind” with “no poor among them.” :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

Watch the Let’s Get Real Discussion About LDS Church Finances and Consecration

Why Does the LDS Church Have Such a Large Financial Reserve?

The conversation begins with one of the most common modern criticisms of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Why does the Church have such a large financial reserve?

Griffiths acknowledges why the question arises. Modern society has relatively low trust in large institutions, and many people instinctively become suspicious when they hear that a religious organization controls substantial financial resources.

Words such as “hoarding” are sometimes used to describe the Church’s reserves. Critics ask why the Church does not simply spend the money immediately or give all of it directly to the poor.

Griffiths argues that before answering those questions with isolated statistics, it is necessary to understand the underlying principles that have guided the Church from its earliest days.

In his view, the more important question is not simply:

“How much money does the Church have?”

It is:

“What is the Church trying to accomplish with the resources it has?”

Why the LDS Church Uses Business Principles

Griffiths explains that one distinctive feature of the Church is the varied professional background of its leaders.

Senior Church leaders have included physicians, judges, professors, airline pilots, executives, scientists, educators, and other professionals.

This diversity of experience has allowed the Church to use tools associated with business, research, finance, organization, and management in carrying out its religious mission.

Griffiths argues that using business methodology is not necessarily evidence that the Church has become a business.

Rather, those tools can help the Church answer a different question:

How can limited resources be used to accomplish the greatest amount of good?

Even an enormous financial reserve is still finite. Decisions therefore have to be made about where resources can have the greatest long-term impact.

Why Does the LDS Church Spend Money Building Temples?

One of the most common questions raised in the interview is why the Church builds expensive temples when that money could theoretically be used to feed people.

Griffiths argues that this question can misunderstand what temples mean within Latter-day Saint belief.

Temples are not merely beautiful buildings.

They represent belief in eternal life and eternal families. More importantly for the financial discussion, the temple is where Latter-day Saints covenant to live the law of consecration.

Griffiths references the five principal covenants associated with temple worship:

• The law of obedience.
• The law of sacrifice.
• The law of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• The law of chastity.
• The law of consecration.

From this perspective, building a temple is not separate from helping people.

The temple is intended to create disciples who leave the building committed to giving their lives, talents, resources, and service to God and His children.

What Is the Law of Consecration?

The law of consecration becomes the doctrinal center of the entire discussion.

Griffiths points to Doctrine and Covenants 42, especially the Lord’s command to remember the poor and consecrate property for their support.

He explains that the word consecrate means to make something sacred or dedicate it to God.

That does not merely mean giving everything away thoughtlessly.

It means recognizing that what we possess ultimately belongs to God and asking how He would have us use it.

Consecration therefore begins with several principles:

• Remember the poor.
• Recognize God as the ultimate owner of what we possess.
• Use resources according to stewardship.
• Covenant to help others.
• Work together in an organized way.

Consecration Is More Than Giving Money

Griffiths strongly emphasizes that consecration is holistic.

A person may consecrate money, but they can also consecrate:

• Time.
• Professional skills.
• Physical labor.
• Teaching ability.
• Transportation.
• Child care.
• Leadership.
• Technical skills.
• Service.

If someone knows how to repair a car and uses that skill to help a struggling neighbor, Griffiths describes that as consecration.

If someone watches children for a single parent who needs to attend a job interview, that can also be consecration.

If a Relief Society president coordinates food and assistance for a family in need, that is part of the same principle.

Do Latter-day Saints Still Live the Law of Consecration Today?

One of the biggest misconceptions addressed in the video is the belief that the law of consecration was attempted in Joseph Smith’s day, failed, and was then replaced by tithing.

Griffiths argues strongly against that interpretation.

Latter-day Saints still covenant in temples to live the law of consecration.

Therefore, it cannot simply be a discarded nineteenth-century experiment.

What changed historically was how consecration was administered.

The principles remained while applications changed according to circumstances.

Tithing Did Not Replace Consecration

Griffiths describes tithing as a modern application or subset of larger principles connected with consecration and sacrifice.

Tithing concerns a specific financial commitment.

Consecration includes the entire person.

A disciple may give ten percent of income through tithing while also giving time, talents, service, leadership, compassion, labor, and other resources.

The mistake, according to Griffiths, is thinking that consecration means one specific economic structure that must look exactly as it did in 1831.

Why the Law of Consecration Changed Throughout Early Church History

The Doctrine and Covenants contains repeated adjustments to how consecration was implemented.

Griffiths sees this as evidence that consecration is built upon enduring principles that can be adapted to changing economic and social circumstances.

Early Church members experimented with different united orders and cooperative systems.

Kirtland and Missouri developed different arrangements.

Later Utah communities such as Brigham City and Orderville implemented consecrated living in different ways.

Some lasted longer than others.

The principle remained consistent: organize people and resources in ways that allow a covenant community to care for one another.

How Consecration Works in LDS Wards Today

Griffiths connects nineteenth-century consecration directly to the work of modern bishops and Relief Society presidents.

A family may lose employment.

A mother going through a divorce may need help.

A family may lack food.

Someone may need child care or transportation.

The bishop and Relief Society president can then ask how the resources of the Church community can be organized to respond.

Possible help could include:

• Food from a bishop’s storehouse.
• Fast-offering assistance.
• Employment help.
• Financial counseling.
• Child care.
• Transportation.
• Ministering support.
• Connecting someone with available public programs.

For Griffiths, all of this is part of modern consecration.

Why Church Financial Reserves Should Be Viewed Through Consecration

This framework changes the way Griffiths approaches the Church’s financial reserves.

Instead of beginning with the assumption that a reserve exists simply because Church leaders want the Church to possess large amounts of money, he asks whether those resources are being used to support the larger mission of the Church.

He also asks whether Church leaders themselves appear to be using Church wealth for personal enrichment.

His conclusion is that senior Church leaders generally live comparatively modest lives and dedicate extraordinary amounts of time to Church service.

The question, in his view, should therefore move beyond the size of the reserve toward its purposes.

Why Giving All the Church’s Money Away at Once Would Not Solve Poverty

The hosts discuss the idea that even a very large reserve becomes much smaller when divided across millions of people.

Simply distributing all available funds would provide temporary benefits, but it would not necessarily create lasting solutions to poverty.

The Church’s approach, as described in the episode, often focuses on helping people gain skills, education, community support, self-reliance, and opportunities to help others.

The larger idea resembles the familiar principle of teaching someone to fish rather than merely providing one meal.

Short-term relief matters, but long-term empowerment also matters.

Why the Church Builds Temples and Schools in Poor or Remote Places

One of Griffiths’ strongest examples comes from his experience visiting Kiribati, a remote Pacific island nation.

He describes communities with extremely limited economic resources and explains that the Church operates educational programs there despite the considerable expense involved.

The island environment makes buildings difficult and costly to maintain.

Nevertheless, the Church supports education because local opportunities are limited.

He also describes meeting a family that had saved for many years to travel with their children to the temple in Fiji.

Later, a temple was announced for Kiribati.

Financially, building and maintaining a temple in such a remote location may not appear to be a profitable business decision.

But Griffiths argues that profitability is precisely the wrong measurement.

The Church is investing in people.

Why a Temple Can Be an Investment in People

The temple gives local Latter-day Saints greater access to ordinances and covenants that they previously had to travel great distances to receive.

From Griffiths’ perspective, those covenants can then change the way people live.

Individuals become more committed to family, service, education, self-reliance, and helping others.

Thus, a temple can be understood as an investment not merely in a building, but in a community of covenant disciples.

How Does the LDS Church Help the Poor?

The video explains that Church humanitarian work operates at multiple levels.

There are large-scale institutional projects involving disaster relief, hunger, health, and humanitarian assistance.

But there are also countless local acts of service carried out by wards, stakes, Relief Societies, quorums, families, and individual members.

Griffiths argues that one of the Church’s greatest humanitarian strengths is that it creates a worldwide network of people trained and covenantally motivated to respond when others need help.

Mormon Helping Hands and Hurricane Andrew

Griffiths tells the story of Latter-day Saints responding after Hurricane Andrew devastated parts of southern Florida.

Local members organized to help their neighbors recover.

They wore inexpensive yellow shirts marked “Mormon Helping Hands” so they could be identified in the disaster area.

For months, members would attend sacrament meeting, return home for their tools, and then help people clean up and rebuild.

This became an example of organized consecration in action.

Fast Offerings and the Power of Organized Sacrifice

The Church’s practice of fasting is another example discussed in the episode.

Latter-day Saints regularly go without food for a period of time and are encouraged to donate the value of the meals they would have eaten to help people in need.

Griffiths points to a Church-wide fast connected with famine relief in Ethiopia as an example of how collective sacrifice can generate significant humanitarian resources.

He asks listeners to imagine what could happen if large numbers of people throughout the world regularly gave up two meals and dedicated that value to hunger relief.

The larger lesson is that small sacrifices become powerful when people act together.

Why Organized Religion Can Accomplish More Than Individual Spirituality Alone

The discussion then moves into a larger defense of organized religion.

A person can certainly be spiritual outside a religious institution.

But Griffiths asks whether isolated individuals can accomplish the same amount of organized good as communities working together.

Church participation creates relationships.

Members discover that someone lost a job, is sick, is lonely, needs food, needs child care, or needs encouragement.

A religious community can then organize resources around those needs.

For Griffiths, this is one reason belonging to a Church matters.

The Church is intended to create a people who help one another.

Are LDS Church Leaders Paid?

The video also directly addresses the question of whether Church leaders receive financial support.

Griffiths notes that some full-time general Church officers do receive a living allowance.

He argues that this principle is not new.

Early Church leaders who dedicated all of their time to Church responsibilities also needed support.

He points to revelations given to Joseph Smith that instructed him to devote himself to his calling rather than ordinary temporal labor.

The vast majority of local Church leadership—including bishops, Relief Society presidents, quorum leaders, Primary leaders, teachers, and others—serve without pay.

Church Leadership Is Not Presented as a Path to Personal Wealth

Griffiths argues that the more important question is whether senior Church leaders appear to be becoming wealthy through Church service.

He references historical examples of leaders who could have earned considerably more money in their previous professional careers.

One example discussed is President Henry B. Eyring, who had significant opportunities in higher education before full-time Church leadership.

Griffiths’ broader point is that Church leadership appears to involve financial sacrifice rather than functioning as a path toward luxury.

Why Does the LDS Church Own Businesses?

The hosts also address another common criticism: Why would a church own businesses or invest money?

Griffiths explains that from the beginning of Church history, economic tools were sometimes used to fund or support larger religious objectives.

A business or investment is therefore not necessarily the final objective.

It can be a tool.

The key question becomes:

What is the tool being used to accomplish?

Why Does the LDS Church Own the Polynesian Cultural Center?

The Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii becomes a major example.

Someone could superficially ask why a church owns what looks like a tourist attraction.

Griffiths argues that the deeper question is what the Polynesian Cultural Center does.

Many employees are students attending BYU–Hawaii.

The surrounding community has limited employment opportunities, particularly for students arriving from Pacific nations.

The Polynesian Cultural Center provides jobs that help students finance their education.

Those students can then return to their home countries with degrees, skills, and increased capacity to serve their families and communities.

From this perspective, the Polynesian Cultural Center functions partly as a welfare and educational project.

Why Different Talents Matter in Building the Kingdom of God

A recurring theme throughout the conversation is that consecration includes every kind of useful ability.

A person does not have to be an eloquent preacher to help build the kingdom of God.

Someone may be skilled in:

• Accounting.
• Automotive repair.
• Computer programming.
• Finance.
• Education.
• History.
• Medicine.
• Engineering.
• Leadership.

Those abilities can be consecrated.

Someone who writes software may help create family-history tools or scripture applications.

Someone with financial expertise may help Church resources be managed more effectively.

Someone who knows how to repair a vehicle may help a struggling neighbor.

The underlying principle is the same: God can use every righteous talent in His work.

How the Early Saints’ Vision of Zion Shaped Church Finances

The conversation then goes back to the foundations of the Restoration.

Griffiths explains that modern readers often focus on early Restoration miracles such as angels, gold plates, and revelation—and rightly so.

But early Latter-day Saints were also deeply interested in building Zion.

Among the Book of Mormon passages most frequently quoted by early members were prophecies concerning a New Jerusalem.

The Saints believed God intended them to build a covenant society.

Enoch’s Zion: “There Were No Poor Among Them”

Joseph Smith’s inspired translation of the Bible expanded the story of Enoch dramatically.

Moses 7:18 describes Zion:

“And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.”

This becomes a model for the Restoration.

Zion is not simply a location.

It is a community characterized by:

• Unity.
• Righteousness.
• Care for the poor.
• Shared covenant purpose.
• Preparation to enter God’s presence.

Doctrine and Covenants 42 and the Economic Foundation of Zion

Griffiths describes a sequence in early Church history.

The Saints are commanded to gather to Ohio.

A bishop is called.

Then the Lord gives the law in Doctrine and Covenants 42, including the law of consecration.

This structure is not accidental in Griffiths’ interpretation.

If the Saints are going to build Zion, they need a way to make sure people are cared for.

Consecration becomes part of the practical architecture of Zion.

Why Missouri Became a Test of Zion

The early Saints eventually learned that the center place of Zion would be in Missouri.

Griffiths emphasizes how socially ambitious that project was.

Missouri included tensions among white settlers, Native Americans, enslaved Black people, and free Black people.

Many Latter-day Saints came from northern states and had attitudes that differed significantly from surrounding Missourians.

The Saints envisioned a covenant community that, at least ideally, could include people across racial and ethnic boundaries.

Why Early Latter-day Saint Unity Frightened Their Neighbors

Griffiths argues that the Saints’ unity itself became threatening to outsiders.

They pooled resources.

They voted similarly.

They gathered quickly.

They talked openly about building Zion.

They expressed views about Native Americans and free Black people that unsettled many local Missourians.

Their unity could therefore look suspicious to people outside the group.

Griffiths sees a modern parallel: Church unity can still appear threatening when outsiders do not understand what members are trying to unite around.

What Is supposed to Unite Latter-day Saints?

The ideal, according to the discussion, is not political power or economic domination.

The unifying belief is that every human being is a child of God.

If that doctrine is taken seriously, then suffering cannot simply be dismissed as someone else’s problem.

Members are covenantally obligated to care about one another.

Consecration therefore becomes a practical expression of the doctrine of divine identity.

Consecration Is Not Communism or Pure Capitalism

The hosts also discuss how the law of consecration differs from modern political-economic systems.

Griffiths describes two goals that economic systems often struggle to balance:

• Providing for people in need.
• Preserving individual freedom.

He argues that consecration attempts to preserve both through voluntary covenant.

Individuals remain stewards and agents.

They are not simply forced to surrender property.

At the same time, they voluntarily accept responsibility to help others.

Agency Is Essential to Consecration

Joseph Smith taught that consecration required balance between Church administrators and individual members.

A bishop could not simply dictate every person’s needs.

Individuals could not simply demand whatever resources they wanted.

Both sides were expected to seek harmony, revelation, stewardship, and the good of the community.

For the hosts, this demonstrates that consecration depends fundamentally on agency.

It must come from willing hearts.

Why Does the Church Still Ask Members to Pay Tithing if It Has Financial Reserves?

One of the most direct questions in the interview is this: If the Church already has substantial reserves, why should members continue paying tithing?

Griffiths argues that focusing only on whether the Church currently “needs” the money misses the spiritual purpose of tithing.

Tithing is an act of sacrifice and faith.

It changes the giver.

The purpose is not simply to transfer money from a member to an institution.

It teaches stewardship and helps disciples deliberately place God above material wealth.

Tithing Can Teach Financial Stewardship

Drawing on his experience as a bishop, Griffiths says he sometimes discovered that families seeking financial assistance had never carefully created a budget.

Paying tithing required them to first calculate their income and make intentional decisions about money.

That could naturally lead to questions about rent, food, debt, and other expenses.

Thus, tithing sometimes became an entry point into better financial stewardship.

Does Paying Tithing Make Latter-day Saints Rich?

Griffiths explicitly rejects a prosperity-gospel interpretation of tithing.

The promise is not that paying tithing automatically makes someone wealthy.

He describes the intended outcome more in terms of being “amply supplied”.

Blessings may be financial, but they may also be spiritual, emotional, relational, or connected with opportunities and perspective.

He believes the sacrifice of tithing can change the way people see their lives and help them notice God’s hand more clearly.

Tithing Makes Money Less Important

One of Griffiths’ most personal observations is that tithing can reorder priorities.

Giving a portion of income to God becomes a tangible way of saying:

“Money is not the most important thing in my life.”

That does not make material needs irrelevant.

It can, however, help disciples recognize the greater value of relationships, faith, family, service, and trust in God.

Everything We Have Belongs to God

Near the end of the conversation, Griffiths summarizes the fundamental principle of consecration with a teaching attributed to J. Reuben Clark:

Everything we have belongs to the Lord.

That includes money and property, but it reaches much further.

Our talents belong to God.

Our time belongs to God.

Our opportunities belong to God.

In a deeper sense, we belong to God.

Consecration therefore asks:

How can I use what God has given me to bless His children?

Why the Church’s Financial Success Is Not Really About Money

The video eventually questions the phrase “financial success.”

What does financial success actually mean for a church?

If it simply means having large reserves, that definition is incomplete.

The Church understands its ultimate mission in terms of God’s declaration in Moses 1:39: bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of His children.

Money is therefore a means.

It is not the ultimate objective.

Financial resources can help build temples, educate people, respond to disasters, care for the poor, support missionary work, preserve institutional stability, and create infrastructure for worldwide ministry.

But the money only matters insofar as it helps accomplish God’s purposes.

Why Physical and Spiritual Needs Cannot Be Completely Separated

Griffiths also challenges the habit of dividing life neatly into spiritual and temporal categories.

If someone does not know where the next meal is coming from, it may be extremely difficult for that person to sit peacefully in sacrament meeting and focus on spiritual things.

Physical suffering affects spiritual life.

This is one reason the Church’s temporal work and spiritual work are connected.

Helping someone become physically stable can make it easier for that person to worship, grow, serve, and develop spiritually.

Zion Is Ultimately a People, Not a Place

The discussion closes by returning to Zion.

Latter-day Saints sometimes become fascinated with the physical location of Zion in Missouri.

But Doctrine and Covenants 97 gives an essential definition:

Zion is “the pure in heart.”

Griffiths emphasizes that the most important project is therefore not purchasing land or constructing buildings.

It is becoming a Zion people.

A temple has value because of what it helps people become.

A city has value because of the people who live there.

A financial reserve has value because of what it can help accomplish.

The real building project is human.

What Would the World Look Like if Everyone Lived the Law of Consecration?

Near the conclusion, the hosts ask a larger question: What would happen if more people lived according to the principles of consecration?

Imagine people voluntarily seeing their resources as stewardship rather than entitlement.

Imagine people asking not only:

“What do I want?”

but:

“Who around me needs help?”

Imagine individuals using education, income, talent, time, and influence to raise others.

The hosts believe such a society would look radically different.

Consecration turns faith outward.

“God Usually Meets Our Needs Through Another Person”

The episode quotes President Spencer W. Kimball:

“God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.”

This captures one of the deepest themes of the conversation.

God could theoretically provide every blessing directly.

But when He blesses one person through another person, both can grow.

The receiver is helped.

The giver learns charity.

Consecration therefore transforms both sides.

“I Have No Hands but Yours”

Griffiths recounts a story involving the Christus statue at Temple Square after its arms were damaged.

A sign was reportedly placed near the statue with a message:

“I have no hands but yours.”

The symbolism summarizes the purpose of consecrated discipleship.

Christ’s followers become His hands.

They feed.

They teach.

They visit.

They donate.

They build.

They organize.

They minister.

They help accomplish the Savior’s work in the lives of His children.

Final Takeaway: Why LDS Church Finances Are Really About Building Zion

The central message of this Let’s Get Real conversation is that questions about LDS Church finances cannot be fully understood by looking only at the size of investment reserves or annual expenditures.

Casey Griffiths argues that the deeper framework is the law of consecration.

From the earliest days of the Restoration, the Lord taught His people to remember the poor, see themselves as stewards, organize their resources, build communities, and willingly dedicate what they had to His work.

The methods have changed.

The economic world has changed.

Church institutions have grown enormously.

But the underlying principle remains.

Tithing is part of consecration.

Fast offerings are part of consecration.

Ministering can be consecration.

Temples can create consecrated disciples.

Education can empower people to lift themselves and others.

Humanitarian work can relieve suffering.

Financial reserves can provide stability and capacity for future needs.

Businesses and investments can become tools that support larger religious and humanitarian objectives.

Ultimately, however, money is not the heart of the doctrine.

People are.

The goal is not simply to make The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints financially successful. The goal is to help create a people who are willing to become like Jesus Christ—people who recognize that what they have comes from God and who willingly use their lives to bless others.

That is the vision of Zion described in Moses 7:18: a people of “one heart and one mind” among whom “there was no poor.”

Seen through that lens, the financial story of the Church becomes part of a much larger spiritual story: God is trying to teach His children how to become a consecrated people who care for one another, build Zion, and prepare to live in His presence.