Blaine: I am not sure what this refers to, unless it is one of the
titles conferred upon the present prophet and president of the Church,
Gordon B. Hinckley, or one of his counselors. But within the church,
there are many who are called "president," mostly those who are called to lead
stakes, and of course there are temple presidencies. But
besides these, there are lesser offices, such as Sunday School President, and
Elder's Quorum President. The title may confer honor on one who is
worthy to be honored, but may have the opposite effect if one does not live up
to the expectations and challenges of the title and the office. Former
President Clinton may be in the latter category. (:>)
But since you mentioned compensation, I encourage you to read TIME
Magazine's evaluation of how money is earned and spent within the LDS Church,
taken from TIME Magazine, 4 August, 1997 Vol 150, #
5. "Kingdom Come":
The top beef ranch in the world is not the King Ranch
in Texas. It is the Deseret Cattle & Citrus Ranch outside Orlando, Fla. It
covers 312,000 acres; its value as real estate alone is estimated at $858
million. It is owned entirely by the Mormons. The largest producer of nuts in
America, AgReserves, Inc., in Salt Lake City, is Mormon-owned. So are the
Bonneville International Corp., the country's 14th largest radio chain, and
the Beneficial Life Insurance Co., with assets of $1.6 billion. There are
richer churches than the one based in Salt Lake City: Roman Catholic holdings
dwarf Mormon wealth. But the Catholic Church has 45 times as many members.
There is no major church in the U.S. as active as the Latter-day Saints in
economic life, nor, per capita, as successful at it.
The first divergence between Mormon economics and that
of other denominations is the tithe. Most churches take in the greater part of
their income through donations. Very few, however, impose a compulsory 10%
income tax on their members. Tithes are collected locally, with much of the
money passed on informally to local lay leaders at Sunday services. "By
Monday," says Elbert Peck, editor of Sunstone, an independent Mormon magazine,
the church authorities in Salt Lake City "know every cent that's been
collected and have made sure the money is deposited in banks." There is a lot
to deposit. Last year $5.2 billion in tithes flowed into Salt Lake City, $4.9
billion of which came from American Mormons. By contrast, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, with a comparable U.S. membership, receives $1.7
billion a year in contributions. So great is the tithe flow that scholars have
suggested it constitutes practically the intermountain states' only local
counterbalance in an economy otherwise dominated by capital from the East and
West coasts.
The true Mormon difference, however,
lies in what the LDS church does with that money. Most denominations spend on
staff, charity and the building and maintenance of churches; leaders will
invest a certain amount--in the case of the Evangelical Lutherans, $152
million--as a pension fund, usually through mutual funds or a conservative
stock portfolio. The philosophy is minimalist, as Lutheran pastor Mark
Moller-Gunderson explains: "Our stewardship is not such that we grow the
church through business ventures."
The Mormons are stewards of a different
stripe. Their charitable spending and temple building are prodigious. But
where other churches spend most of what they receive in a given year, the
Latter-day Saints employ vast amounts of money in investments that TIME
estimates to be at least $6 billion strong. Even more unusual, most of this
money is not in bonds or stock in other peoples' companies but is invested
directly in church-owned, for-profit concerns, the largest of which are in
agribusiness, media, insurance, travel and real estate. Deseret Management
Corp., the company through which the church holds almost all its commercial
assets, is one of the largest owners of farm- and ranchland in the country,
including 49 for-profit parcels in addition to the Deseret Ranch. Besides the
Bonneville International chain and Beneficial Life, the church owns a 52%
holding in ZCMI, Utah's largest department-store chain. (For a more complete
list, see chart.) All told, TIME estimates that the Latter-day Saints farmland
and financial investments total some $11 billion, and that the church's
nontithe income from its investments exceeds $600 million.
Blaine: Since I don't seem to recall what church you
do belong, to Terry, I can't comment. However, most churches do have
some kind of system determining who is in a position to make
decisions. That is about all I was referring to when I used the word
"elite." As Jesus said, "whosoever is greatest among you, let
him be your servant." Jesus and the apostles--all twelve of them--were
the servants of all, and therefore the greatest in the church--and also the
decision-makers. The sealers in the temples are almost all men who
have made service to their fellows and to the church a first priority
in their lives. Being a Sealer is a time consuming job, and none ever
get any monetary or other kind of tangible compensation for it-.
They are, basically, volunteers. And their records of previous
service were built on the same premise--service without compensation.
TERRY: Our church does not
have a class system. How does one become elite?
The whole LDS system is Elitist
The temple is really just Spanky's Club House where some APPROVED
people get together to perform Club secrets that just the elite know.
So they can feel special and aloof from the crowd, sorta like Spanky's
He man woman hater club. In this LDS club everyone can be a president
of something, for that ego boost.
I passed that stage when I was about 9 years old, probably
earlier, but that was a long time ago.
The club where everyone can be A SOMEbody: The Seventies, who are Area Presidents, Prophets,
Seers,Twelve Apostles, stake presidents, bishops, branch presidents, mission
presidents, Bishopric (includes Bishop, two
Counselor, and a secretary) Elder's Quorum
Presidency, Relief Society Presidency,
Sunday School Presidency, Single Adult Representative, Young Men's
Presidency, Young Women's Presidency, Primary Presidency and
secretary, High Priest Group Leader, Teacher Development, Music
Chairperson, Ward Clerk, Executive
Secretary, Membership Clerk, Finance Clerk, War! d Mission Leader,
Ward Missionaries, Ward Librarian, Ward Bulletin
Editor
Is there a LOW Priest
Group leader?
First Presidency:
President and
Prophet , 1st
Counselor , 2nd Counselor
Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles
"Chain of Command"
of the corporation
First Presidency Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Area Presidencies Stake Presidency Bishop / Branch President Family (LDS Church Members)
Terry Clifton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
Blaine
writes: . Most > Sealers are former bishops or stake
leaders, among the elite of
the Church. ============================================================ Our
church does not have a class system. How does one become
elite? Terry .
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