Most religions exhort their members to take care of their eternal souls; the unusual thing about Mormonism is that it also urges its members to profit in more earthly ways, too. A lengthy article in Bloomberg Businessweek unpicks the business dealings of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, showing how the faith’s emphasis on profitable enterprise has spawned a sprawling, multi billion-dollar business empire.
‘We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually,’ Keith B McMullin, CEO of the Mormon church’s holding company, tells Businessweek’s Caroline Winter.
And when members flourish in the temporal realm, this helps the church to prosper, too: congregations are expected to pay 10% of their income in tithes into the central coffers – adding up to an estimated $8bn (£5.1bn) a year. The church as a whole is worth an estimated $40bn. But a recent report estimated that the church gives just 0.7% of its income to charitable causes; what becomes of the rest is not entirely clear, even to members.
Enterprise is in Mormonism’s DNA, Winter says: the church’s original prophet, Joseph Smith, had 112 revelations, 88 of which relate directly to financial matters. This makes him perhaps the world’s first genuine business guru. Next month, former Mormon bishop – and multi-millionaire businessman – Mitt Romney will receive the Republican presidential nomination, which will place the church’s dealings under scrutiny as never before. Full story...
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‘We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually,’ Keith B McMullin, CEO of the Mormon church’s holding company, tells Businessweek’s Caroline Winter.
And when members flourish in the temporal realm, this helps the church to prosper, too: congregations are expected to pay 10% of their income in tithes into the central coffers – adding up to an estimated $8bn (£5.1bn) a year. The church as a whole is worth an estimated $40bn. But a recent report estimated that the church gives just 0.7% of its income to charitable causes; what becomes of the rest is not entirely clear, even to members.
Enterprise is in Mormonism’s DNA, Winter says: the church’s original prophet, Joseph Smith, had 112 revelations, 88 of which relate directly to financial matters. This makes him perhaps the world’s first genuine business guru. Next month, former Mormon bishop – and multi-millionaire businessman – Mitt Romney will receive the Republican presidential nomination, which will place the church’s dealings under scrutiny as never before. Full story...
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