Posted by:
ThinkingOutLoud
(
)
Date: November 14, 2012 09:09AM
I am always amazed every time someone here talks about what is disclosed by the LDS church in other coutnries, but not in the US.
Other churches, even humble ones of 150,000 people nationwide, seem to do this much better than the bigger, better equipped and supposedly more inspired LDS church manages to do.
I found this for one province of a church I used to attend (my mom's childhood church); I googled "Moravian church budget information 2012" and up popped The Moravian church in America Church Budget, Southern Province 2012.
This is not the budget for the music foundation, seminary, medical facilities, homeless missions, soup kitchens, food banks, etc and does not include the other 19 global provinces, though contributions to those things from this province are found within this budget.
A congregation budget for each church in a province looks a little different, in that those are usually much more specific/detailed, and include much fewer admin costs than this one has, but more school/educational fund and homeless mission costs:
http://www.mcsp.org/resources/prov_finances/At%20a%20Glance%20-%202012.pdfAnyone can ask to see documents, receipts, POs, bills, estimates, credit card submissions, etc, and object to pretty much anything proposed. Audits are regular, so are tax returns, and you as a member have a right to see either if you ask.
I sat on a board at the province level (Northern) and also on a congregation (Ohio). NOTHING is off limits, everyone gets to introduce, comment, discuss, and vote, and local congregations can and do veto provincial requests or demands, all the time.
Heck, we once had a fairly heated discussion over a 30 dollar dinner someone submitted for reimbursement on a church credit card, in an open forum where everyone from the music director to the custodian to the children's minister weighed in and had their say. In the end, on that one, somebody paid 1/3 the bill out of their own pocket, because it turned out the visiting preacher's and his wife's dinner was covered, but not his sister's (she was traveling with them but was not church affiliated).
Why doesn't someone take this in to their ward and show it to their bishop and basically say: if these noninspired yokels in podunkville can do this, and choose to share this with their flock and include them in the decision making process, why can't we let the elect see where their time, talents and money ultimately go? Don't we believe they are wise enough to understand and handle the information?