After making an appointment, and getting dressed up again in suit and tie (and a white shirt), my wife and I drove over to the church to meet with the Bishop for Tithing Settlement. After the requisite review of membership records to ensure accuracy we waited patiently for our time with the Bishop. I kept expecting to be hit up for Friends of Scouting, but was informed by the clerk that they were no longer doing that, since FOS was an external, non church group, and the bishop did not wish to associate his sacred mantle of authority and role as a judge with an external organization.

After waiting only a few minutes, we were ushered in and warmly greeted by our bishop, who is an all around good guy. After a bit of chit chat, we got down to business.

He pulled out a fairly large stack of papers and pushed them across the desk for our review. Included was a statement of income and expenses, a balance sheet, and a statement of cashflow. These were then broken down in greater detail showing what the church had done with our hard earned, donated money. We saw a review by country, state, stake and ward, including a summary of what had been contributed by our ward and stake, and what had come back to us, including costs of running the buildings, materials, and activities. We spent a few minutes looking at the detail, at which point the bishop told us that he had decided to not spend the money making a copy for all ward families, due to the cost, and had instead, donated the money saved to the homeless shelter and food bank. He also told us that all statements, including subsidiary ledgers and supporting documentation was available on the church website.

We thanked him for his time, wished him a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and departed.

It's great to be a part of an organization that is open and honest about it's resources and especially, what it does with members' contributions.

Oops.. Damn it. I just woke up.

Crathes, that is a very cynical entry. Tithing funds are so sacred you must never know how they are used or you will not get the blessings an honest tithe brings. It's a lot like keeping your birthday wish secret so it can come true.

Truthseeker- Thank you, thank you, thank you for calling me on my attitude and helping me to see truth.

I will no go confess my sin to the appropriate authority.

Bless you for your concern for my spiritual wellbeing.

I am happy that I could help. If you tell me where you live I can look up the Bishop and send him to you to get the repentance process started.

I never went to a tithing settlement, and am glad I didnt.

Don't you miss the blessings? You would have gotten to hear the promise in Malachi or the commandment in D&C 119 depending on your tithing "status", possibly even both. I'll always fondly remember sitting at my Bishop's knee as he quoted, often from memory, the glorious promises of tithing.

I never figured out why the Lord didn't give me a new job when I lost a previous one (I actually had to go look for one on my own!). Possibly I did not pay enough tithing.

Speaking of the oft quoted verses in Malachi, I finally went back and read the chapters in context. They are addressed to the priests, the leaders of the church, who appear to be using sacred tithing funds for their own benefit. Hmmm..... Like building a mall?