Latter- day Lucre

By Caroline Winter Illustration by Labour How the Mormon Church Makes Its Billions ate last March the ­leadership and now heads a church-owned Mormon theology specifically denies that Mormon Church com- holding ­company, Deseret Management Corp. there is such a distinction.” To Latter-­day pleted an ambitious proj- (DMC), an umbrella organization for many of Saints, opening megamalls, operating a ect: a megamall. Built for the church’s for-profit businesses. “We look to ­billion-dollar media and insurance conglom- roughly $2 billion, the not only the spiritual but also the temporal, erate, and running a Polynesian theme park City Creek Center stands and we believe that a person who is impover- are all part of doing God’s work. Says Quinn: directly across the street ished temporally cannot blossom spiritually.” “In the Mormon [leadership’s] worldview, from the church’s iconic McMullin explains that City Creek exists to it’s as spiritual to give alms to the poor, as neo-Gothic temple in combat urban blight, not to fill church coffers. the old phrase goes in the Biblical sense, as SaltL Lake City. The mall includes a retractable “Will there be a return?” he asks r­hetorically. it is to make a million dollars.” glass roof, 5,000 underground parking spots, “Yes, but so modest that you would never and nearly 100 stores and restaurants, ranging have made such an investment—the real return Mormons make up only 1.4 percent of the from ­Tiffany’s to Forever 21. Walkways link the comes in folks moving back downtown and the U.S. population, but the church’s holdings open-air emporium with the church’s perfect- revitalization of businesses.” Pausing briefly, he are vast. First among its for-profit enter­prises ly manicured headquarters on Temple Square. adds with deliberation, “It’s for furthering the is DMC, which reaps estimated annual rev- Macy’s is a stone’s throw from the offices of the aim of the church to make, if you will, bad men enue of $1.2 billion from six subsidiaries, ac- church’s president, Thomas S. Monson, whom good, and good men better.” cording to the business information and anal- Mormons believe to be a living prophet. It’s perhaps unsurprising that Mormonism, ysis firm Hoover’s Company Records. Those On the morning of its grand opening, thou- an indigenous American religion, would also subsidiaries run a newspaper, 11 radio sta- sands of shoppers thronged downtown Salt adopt the country’s secular faith in money. tions, a TV station, a publishing and distri- Lake, eager to elbow their way into the stores. What is remarkable is how varied the church’s bution company, a digital media company, a The national anthem played, and Henry B. business interests are and that so little is known hospitality business, and an insurance busi- Eyring, one of Monson’s top counselors, told about its financial interests. Although a former ness with assets worth $3.3 billion. the crowds, “Everything that we see around us Mormon bishop is about to receive the Repub- AgReserves, another for-profit Mormon is evidence of the long-standing commitment lican Party’s presidential nomination, and de- umbrella company, together with other of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day spite a recent public-relations campaign aimed church-run agricultural affiliates, ­reportedly Saints to Salt Lake City.” When it came time to at combating the perception that it is “secre- owns about 1 million acres in the continen- cut the mall’s flouncy pink ribbon, Monson, tive,” the LDS Church remains tight-lipped tal U.S., on which the church has farms, flanked by Utah dignitaries, cheered, “One, about its holdings. It offers little financial hunting preserves, orchards, and ­ranches. two, three—let’s go shopping!” transparency even to its members, who are re- These include the $1 billion, 290,000-acre Watching a religious leader celebrate a quired to tithe 10 percent of their income to Deseret Ranches in Florida, which, in ad- mall may seem surreal, but City Creek gain access to Mormon temples. dition to keeping 44,000 cows and 1,300 reflects the spirit of enterprise that an- The Mormon Church is hardly the only re- bulls, also has citrus, sod, and timber oper- imates modern-day Mormonism. The ligious institution to be less than forthcom- ations. Outside the U.S., AgReserves oper- 42 mall is part of a sprawling church-owned ing about its wealth; the Catholic Church has ates in Britain, Canada, Australia, Mexico, corporate empire that the Mormon been equally opaque throughout history. Argentina, and Brazil. Its Australian prop- leadership says is helping spread its On the other hand, says historian D. Michael erty, valued at $61 million in 1997, has message, increasing economic­ self-­ Quinn, who is working on a book about the ­estimated annual sales of $276 million, ac- reliance, and building the Kingdom of LDS Church’s finances andbusine ­ sses, “The cording to Dun & Bradstreet. God on earth. “The Church of Jesus Christ Mormon Church is very different than any The church also runs several for-­profit real of Latter-day Saints attends to the total needs other church. … Traditional Christianity and estate arms that own, develop, and manage of its ­members,” says Keith B. ­McMullin, Judaism make a clear distinction between malls, parking lots, office parks, residential who for 37 years served within the Mormon what is spiritual and what is temporal, while buildings, and more. Hawaii Reserve, for ex- ample, owns or manages more than 7,000 acres on Oahu, where it maintains commer- cial and residential buildings, parks, water and sewage infrastructure, and two cemeter- Holy Holdings ies. Utah Property Management Associates, a real estate arm of the church, manages por- An organizational guide to the church’s businesses tions of City Creek Center. ­According to Spen- cer P. Eccles from the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, the mall cost the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church an estimated $2 billion. It is only one part of a $5 billion church-funded revamping of downtown Salt Lake City, according to the Mormon-owned news site KSL. “They run Intellectual Polynesian Corporation of Deseret Education their businesses like businesses, no bones Reserve, overseen Cultural Center the Presiding Trust Co. division: includes about it,” says Eccles. by the Quorum Bishop of the Brigham Young In addition, the church owns several­ non- of the Twelve Church of Jesus University Apostles Christ of LDS (campuses in profit organizations, some of which appear Utah, Idaho, and to be lucrative. Take, for example, the Poly- Hawaii) nesian Cultural Center (PCC), a 42-acre trop- ical theme park on Oahu’s north shore that Ensign Peak Deseret Real estate: Agriculture: hosts luaus, canoe rides, and tours through Advisors Management Suburban Land AgReserves, seven simulated Polynesian villages. General-­ Corp. Reserve, Property Farmland Reserve, etc. Reserve, etc. admission adult tickets cost $49.95; VIP tick- ets cost up to $228.95. In 2010 the PCC had net assets worth $70 million and collected $23 million in ticket sales alone, as well as Deseret Digital Beneficial Temple Square Bonneville Deseret Deseret News Media Financial Group Hospitality International Book Co. Publishing Co. $36 million in tax-free donations. The PCC’s Corp. president, meanwhile, received a salary of The CEO The Church

Deseret Management’s The imposing Salt Lake Keith McMullin in his Salt Temple took Lake City office 40 years to build

$296,000. At the local level, the PCC, opened in doesn’t pay taxes on donated funds and hold- the LDS Church officially stopped reporting any 1963, began paying commercial property taxes ings. Mitt Romney and others at Bain Capital, the finances in the early 1960s. In 1997 an investi- in 1992, when the Land and Tax Appeal Court of private equity firm he co-founded in 1984, gave gation by Time used cross-religious compari- Hawaii ruled that the theme park “is not for char- the Mormon Church millions’ worth of stock sons and internal information to estimate the itable ­purposes” and is, in fact, a ­“commercial holdings obtained through Bain deals, accord- church’s total value at $30 billion. The maga- enterprise and business undertaking.” Never- ing to Reuters. Between 1997 and 2009, these zine also produced an estimate that $5 billion theless, the tourist destination remains exempt included $2 million in Burger King and $1 mil- worth of tithing flows into the church­ annually, from federal taxes because the PCC claims to be lion in Domino’s Pizza shares. Under U.S. law, and that it owned at least $6 billion in stocks and a “living museum” and an education-­oriented churches can legally turn around and sell do- bonds. The Mormon Church at the time said charity that employs students who work at the nated stock without paying capital-gains taxes, the estimates were grossly exaggerated, but a center to pay their way through church-run a clear advantage for both donor and r­eceiver. recent investigation by Reuters in collaboration Brigham Young University-­Hawaii. The church also makes money through various with sociology professor Cragun estimates that week ss “There are religious groups that own radio investment vehicles, including a trust compan­ y the LDS Church is likely worth $40 billion today e n i s stations, but they don’t also own cattle ranches. and an investment fund called Ensign Peak Advi- and collects up to $8 billion in tithing each year. u b There are religious groups that own retreats, but sors, which employs managers who specialize in Quinn, a faithful Mormon who spent 12 years rg e

b they don’t also own insurance companies,” says international equities, cash management, fixed on the faculty at the LDS Church’s Brigham m Ryan Cragun, a sociology professor at the Uni- income, quantitative investment, and emerg- Young University in Provo, Utah, before being oo l b

versity of Tampa and co-author of the ­recently ing markets, according to profiles on LinkedIn. excommunicated for apostasy related to re- or published book Could I Vote for a Mormon for Public information on Ensign Peak is sparse. search he published on Mormons, has been f r e President? “Given their array of corporate inter- In 2006 one of the fund’s vice presidents, Lau- gathering financial information for years. Sev- rn ests, it would probably make more sense to refer rence R. Stay, told the Mormon-run Deseret eral high-­r­anking church insiders told him that el Tu el to them as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- News, “As we trade securities, all of the trading the church’s finances are so compartmentalized day Saints Holdings Inc.” happens essentially with a handshake. … There’s that no single person, not even the president, athana As a religious organization, the LDS Church lots of protections around it, but billions of dol- knows the entirety of its holdings. enjoys several tax advantages. Like other lars change hands every day just based on the ­churches, it is often exempt from paying taxes ethics of the group—that people know that they If anyone is in a position to know the ins and on the real estate properties it leases out, even can trust each other.” outs of the LDS businesses, it’s Keith ­McMullin. to commercial entities, says tax lawyer David According to U.S. law, religions have no ob- He’s spent the past 17 years serving as the ➡ PHOTOGRAPHS BY N BY PHOTOGRAPHS Miller, who is not Mormon. The church also ligation to open their books to the public, and No. 2 counselor in the church’s so-called Presiding Bishopric, a three-man team that of- which there are more than 100—consist of the ficially controls church finances and business First Presidency, the Presiding Bishopric, the endeavors and now presides over DMC. At 70, Quorum of Twelve Apostles, and two other Kingdom on Earth McMullin is mostly bald, with watery blue eyes groups, the so-called Quorums of the Seventy. behind his unrimmed specs. He stands about Although the LDS Church is largely run by a A sampling of the Mormon Church’s multibillion-dollar enterprises 5′5″ and wears fine-quality suits. A gold band on lay clergy, most General Authorities work full- his right ring finger, set with a red stone the size time and receive salaries from the Corpora- of a Chic­ ­let, was a present his parents gave him tion of the President. Until the 1960s, salaries Universities Deseret decades ago for passing the ninth grade. After were based on hierarchy, with the ­prophet re- college, McMullin worked for three years as an ceiving top dollar. This changed when then-­ Trust investment and financial analyst at Ford Motor. President David O. McKay decided that all He subsequently worked for a few smaller com- General Authorities, including the prophet, panies before being called to serve as managing should receive equal pay. director of the church’s Welfare Services Depart- The businessmen who run the church’s for- Brigham Young ment and eventually the Bishopric. profit arms, by contrast, likely hold salaries University (BYU)–Provo Last April, after completing a 17-year stint, comparable to what they’d receive in the secu- This tax-exempt McMullin presumed he was headed for retire- lar world, says Quinn. In some cases, individu- charitable organization ment. It came as a surprise when Monson, al General Authorities augment their salaries by performs “asset management and the church’s highest-ranking official, called serving as board members of the church’s for- fiduciary accountability ­McMullin into a board meeting and asked him profit companies. Several have business back- functions with to become CEO of DMC. McMullin immediately grounds. Monson, for example, has a bachelor’s BYU-Idaho respect to certain gifts” to BYU and the said yes, moving into his new office days later. degree in business and once worked as a news- LDS Church. DMC, housed in a boxy complex that also paper advertising executive.

: contains some of its subsidiaries as well as the DMC is overseen by 10 directors: the mem- a ic LDS Business College, sits two blocks west of bers of the First Presidency, the Presiding Bish- r Polynesian

Temple Square. On the ground floor, a recep- opric, three senior Apostles, and McMullin. Ame

on Cultural

i Dew i BYU-Hawaii m tionist greets visitors from behind a plexiglass “They give direction to the overall or umbrel- r e h Mor S wall—the kind that requires people on opposite la company, but they do not give direct super- ; ; Center s n

sides to talk through a telephone. (The safety vision to the corporate enterprises,” McMul- ee y ulli o M glass was added in 1999, after a mentally ill lin says. “That’s done through the respective l c p M . .

woman entered the building and shot employ- boards and their executive teams.” em B

ees, killing one.) DMC’s decision-making process is fairly stan- th ei pany K m LDS Business College ; o

McMullin’s fifth-floor office over- dard. “Just as in any corporation, there are es- a li looks an empty parking lot. Sparsely tablished levels of authority,” explains McMullin. c f o

tra s 44 ­decorated, the room is entirely clutter- “I can make decisions up to a certain level, either s Beneficial A 42-acre Polynesian file free. A Bible and a Book of Mormon lie Au f “living museum” that determined by financial implications or strate- o

pro beside a photo of a smiling McMullin and gic or tactical implications, and once that limit Life features daily luaus ard

dIn (except on Sunday), o B his wife, Carolyn. Seated at a conference as defined is met, I go on to the board of direc- ke an “island buffet,” n i Insurance table in late May he told me, “I haven’t tors for further guidance.” At that point, “strate- L and seven simulated

ce; ce; Polynesian villages. Review had much time to settle in.” gic questions are posed, asked, and ­charted, so n e Company Tickets cost from $39.95 nt McMullin says the Mormon Church has the board has a clear idea what the pluses and g

me to $228.95. According t elli “two or three or four for-profit entities under minuses are. Those closest to the problems will s to a 2010 tax filing, Int ve the tourist destination t In the Presiding Bishopric,” and names DMC, make recommendations, and they will be dis-

ke has net assets worth gn

AgReserves, and Suburban Land Reserve. He cussed. Often the recommendations will be ac- ei $70 million. Mar

s For says DMC has about “2,000 to 3,000 employ- cepted. Not always.” That was the process, for k e e an ees.” He also confirms Hoover’se­ stimate that example, when DMC decided last year to sell 17 h T ; DMC has annual revenue of r­oughly $1.2 bil- of its 28 radio stations for $505 million and focus e-H Intellectual tar In 2010 this company s art e

H had $3.3 billion ; lion, but a church spokesman later writes to more on Internet ventures. d t worth of assets and net Reserve ee Gui say that McMullin retracted his estimate, claim- Besides having final say on major trans­ ;

s income of $17 million, ing that $1.2 billion is “vastly overstated.” He actions, the church owns all of DMC’s shares. according to the State New radstr did not offer a new one. And each year the holding company, like all t of Utah Insurance e r & B &

Department. e n

To understand DMC’s place in the church’s church businesses, donates 10 percent of its s Du ; De ;

financial structure, it’s important to start at the income to a church fund. In some cases money s e ng t

i A nonprofit organiza- very top: The Mormon Church is owned and run flows in the opposite direction, from the li

bs Utah

st tion that manages the

by what is called the Corporation of the Presi- church’s treasury to the businesses. “From time O .

we church’s intellec- K dent of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day to time, if there is a particular need, there would Property tual property, including pany oan copyrights and trade- m Saints. This entity is a “corporation sole,” which be some monies available, but fortunately over J marks. (Trademarks Co

Management : and is an obscure legal body owned entirely by one the years that has not been the case very often,” s include “The Church of ng ce

person. In the case of the Mormon Church, that r Jesus Christ of Latter- says McMullin. “If you have a particular reversal li Associates u st person is Monson, the prophet. in an enterprise, you need to have some addi- o day Saints,” and “Book . O . of Mormon.”) A 2010 N The Mormon presidency is not an elected tional cash flow until you work through a diffi- S (4); s Deseret News article e

position, and while the president is considered cult time. I’ll give you an example, we’re going hard says, “In what ag m I

he considered a revela- a prophet, it’s also not considered a direct ap- through one right now: It’s called a recession.” Ric

by tion from God, Joseph tty pointment from God. When one president re- McMullin declined to elaborate on whether the e, Smith was commanded s signs or dies, he is replaced by the longest- church has been bailing out subsidiaries. mi to ‘be diligent in secur- (29); Ge (29); ro serving member of the Quorum of the Twelve Asking your prophet to fund a flailing busi- y ing the copyright of my m e P e

a A for-profit property work upon all the face of th Apostles, an ecclesiastic group commonly re- ness can be stressful. Sheri Dew, chief exec- Al management : the earth of which

and enterprise, formerly ferred to as the Apostles. Each new president utive officer of the DMC subsidiaryDe­ seret is known by you. … That handpicks two counselors to help him lead. The Book, pulled the publisher and distributor r called Zion Securities, it the faithful and the we

o maintains commercial, righteous may retain the three-man team is called the First Presidency. out of the red 10 years ago. It’s now prof- P e residential, and temporal blessing, ➡ hotographs th The church’s “General Authorities”—of itable. “There’s, like, nothing worse on P parking facilities. as well as the spiritual.’ ” Kingdom on Earth

A sampling of the Mormon Church’s multibillion-dollar enterprises

Ensign Peak Bonneville International Deseret Deseret Deseret Advisors Land and News Digital Livestock Publishing Media Co.

An investment fund Owns and operates Owns and operates Owns and operates which employs manag- 11 radio stations. The NBC affiliate KSL 5 Bonneville Communica- ers specializing in company last year sold Television in Salt tions, Bonneville international equities, 17 other radio stations Lake City. Distribution, and cash management, for $505 million. ­Bonneville Satellite. fixed income, quantita- Utah and Wyoming: tive investment, and The operation has at emerging markets, Farmland Deseret least 4,500 cows The Deseret News, according to profiles on and 4,000 yearlings. established in 1850, Runs KSL.com, LinkedIn. One of Ensign Ranches publishes news DeseretBook.com, and Peak’s vice presidents in and commentary. DeseretNews.com. 2006 told the Deseret Agri- News that “billions of dollars change hands Deseret every day.” northwest Book Co. California Idaho Cattle Stocks A 290,000-acre ranch keeps 44,000 cows and 1,300 bulls. Has 161 subsidiaries and estimated annual In 1997, Time reporters sales of $68 million. The company’s estimated that the Oklahoma Nebraska Mormon Church owns headquarters are in Deseret and Seagull Time Out for $6 billion in stocks Citrus Washington State. Bookstores Women and bonds. 1,700 acres of Operate 64 bookstores Sponsors women’s oranges, tangerines, throughout the conferences, as well and tangelos. AgReserves western U.S. as other events. Hawaii Reserve Wyoming Georgia

Sod Australia Land leased for The property took sod production. in an estimated $276 million in sales Shadow Mountain Deseret Book Owning or managing in 2008. Records Publishing 7,000 acres on Oahu, it Washington Utah This label produces Publishes under maintains commercial and distributes two imprints: Deseret and residential music, including Book, for LDS-focused properties, water and Lumber recordings of the books, and Shadow sewage infrastructure, Timber resources world-famous Mormon Mountain, for and two cemeteries. Canada include pine, Tabernacle Choir. values-based books. cypress, and palm. Suburban Illinois Oregon Land Britain

Reserve Seashells Contractors excavate fossilized seashells used Zion Mercantile Excel North Carolina Florida in road construction. Brazil One farm grows soy- Sells home décor Entertainment A for-profit real beans, oranges, and religious Distributes estate development and corn, and art products. and markets DVDs. business. City Creek City Creek Sooner keeps 6,000 head of cattle, according to Reserve Center Cattle Co. a former employee’s Temple LinkedIn profile. Square Hospitality Argentina LDS Living Covenant This private real estate This multibillion- Magazine Communications company, according to dollar development in This Oklahoma This print and online Deseret Book the LinkedIn profile of one downtown Salt Lake enterprise has lifestyle magazine acquired this rival A Salt Lake City employee, has a “multi­ City includes a mall, estimated annual focuses on members of publishing house hospitality business. billion dollar budget.” condos, and more. sales of $760,000. Mexico the LDS Church. in 2006. the planet than to go back to your owner and of working for your spiritual leader, church ex- The group also espoused separatist finan- say, ‘Uh, we didn’t do what we told you we’d ecutives say their enterprises aren’t so unusu- cial goals of “erecting and maintaining an im- do,’ especially because one of the interesting al. “Do we go around in frocks and pray all the proved economic system for its members,” ac- things we deal with is that the owner is also time? The answer is no, we run these like busi- cording to historian Leonard J. Arrington, who an ecclesiastical leader whom we revere,” she nesses,” says McMullin. “I have over there a set points out that 88 of Smith’s 112 revelations says. “That’s the toughest thing about an orga- of scriptures—see those black books over there? deal directly or indirectly with economic mat- nization that’s owned by the church, because Do I consult those scriptures every time I make a ters. When Mormons arrived in Utah in 1847 it you don’t want to disappoint them, and you decision? The answer is no. Do I look to them for was a barren territory, still under Mexican ju- don’t want them to have to worry about what guiding and eternal principles on which good, risdiction. To settle the land, Arrington writes, you’re doing, because they have better things sound decisions are made? The answer is yes.” over a 15-year period in the late 1800s, “Mor- to think about.” mons constructed 200 miles of territorial rail- Both McMullin and Dew say that working The Mormon belief in the spiritual value of fi- road, a $300,000 woolen mill, a large cotton for the church is more rewarding than working nancial success goes back to 1830, when the re- factory, a wholesale-retail concern with sales in the secular world. “When you move from a ligion’s founder, Joseph Smith, announced to his of $6,000,000 a year, more than 150 local gen- work environment that’s made up of salaries followers that God had told him the following: eral stores, and at least 500 local cooperative and titles and benefits to a work environment “Verily I say unto you, that all things unto me are manufacturing and service enterprises.” that’s focused on building people and strength- spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto Today, Temple Square is filled with statues ening the lives and well-being of individuals, you a law which was temporal.” In other words, glorifying the industry of those pioneers. The you have an entirely different purpose,” says historian Quinn translates, “whether it’s invest- state emblem is a beehive, in honor of diligent McMullin. Dew, who has the friendly, no- ing in a merchandising store, or tannery, or a work, and the term “deseret,” used in the titles nonsense manner of a high school basketball lumber mill, or a hotel, or a bank—all of which of many Latter-day enterprises, derived from coach, concedes that “some days just drive us occurred under Joseph Smith’s leadership—ac- the Book of Mormon, means “honeybee.” all nuts … but you come to work here saying, cording to that 1830 revelation, it’s all spiritual.” These days Mormons use their busine­ sses ‘I feel like I’m doing something I really care In its early days, the church’s entrepre- in part to spread church values. “I think the about.’ That’s the difference, and that’s huge. neurial rigor was fueled by necessity. Mor- reason to have businesses is to communi- That keeps me going days when I think, ‘You mons, who clashed with neighbors and gov- cate and try and have influence, whether know, I hate these 70-hour weeks.’ ” ernment authorities over practices such as it’s through a book, or through a blog, or a Other than the unique pressures and joys polygamy, often had to fend for themselves. website, or a TV station, or radio stations, a

The Megamall The Publisher

The Mormon-owned Deseret Book’s City Creek Center, Sheri Dew, author of completed in five and If Life Were Easy, It a half years Wouldn’t Be So Hard newspaper, whatever it is,” says Dew, who has courted controversy in the past for her views opposing gay marriage. “We here at Deseret “The money may Book think families are important, and kids are important, marriage is important, and values are important … and if there are ways be perfectly we can communicate it, whether through non- fiction or fiction, we want to do it.” Many Mormons see their church’s econom- ic success as a sign of good stewardship, but administered, for all at least a few I spoke to say they are uneasy about the price tag of the new Mormon mall, the church’s lack of transparency, and its cen- we know,” says tralized finances. “The money may be per- fectly administered, for all we know,” says Ron Madson, 57, a lawyer and lifelong Mormon who once served as a church bishop. “But we don’t a lifelong Mormon. know. … When we see these expenses for the City Creek Mall, for the hunting preserves, these commercial enterprises, Ensign Peak, we don’t “But we don’t know” know where it’s going.” Until the 1990s, wards—the Mormon equiv- alent of parishes—kept some donated member money on a mall in three years than they did you look at what these ­companies do, they are money locally to distribute for aid and activi- in 25 on humanitarian aid,” says Nickolaisen. for the purpose of lifting and strengthening ties as they saw fit. Today all money is wired These Mormons spoke on the record despite people. If individuals want to come and enlist directly to Salt Lake City. McMullin insists that fear of repercussions from family, friends, and and participate in that endeavor and do so vol- not one penny of tithing goes to the church’s church authorities. untarily, and the paid enterprises can provide for-profit endeavors, but it’s impossible for Asked about the $1.3 billion estimate of the resources and expertise to help them, I think church members to know for sure. Although church’s humanitarian efforts over the last quar- it’s a wonderful marriage.” He also says that the Mormon Doctrine and Covenants says “all ter-century, LDS Church spokesman Michael none of the DMC’s volunteers are senior mis- things shall be done by common consent in Purdy writes in an e-mail, “Though the church’s sionaries. After my interview with ­McMullin, the church,” members are not provided with monetary donations are significant, much of the a church spokesman clarified that the any financial accounting. Daymon M. Smith, a ‘value’ of our service is not monetary, but in the majority of the 1,400 “are part-time Mormon anthropologist, points out that tith- hundreds of thousands of hours of service and ­employees, not volunteers.” ing slips read, “Though reasonable efforts will the talent and expertise given by church mem- 47 be made globally to use donations as designat- bers to help others around the world.” Back in Salt Lake City, at Deseret ed, all donations become the Church’s proper- The LDS Church’s legions of missionaries and Book’s headquarters, it’s business as ty and will be used at the Church’s sole discre- volunteers don’t merely spread the Mormon usual for Sheri Dew, the CEO. A plaque tion to further the church’s overall mission.” message around the world; they’re also vital to on one wall of the publisher’s entrance According to an official church Welfare Ser- the church’s businesses. According to M­ cMullin, foyer celebrates Joseph Smith as a best-­selling vices fact sheet, the church gave $1.3 billion in DMC alone employs 1,400 “people who are vol- author. An identical plaque celebrates Dew, humanitarian aid in more than 178 countries unteering their time and their services—some whose works include two biographies of and territories during the 25 years between are part-time and some are volunteer.” Many Mormon Church presidents, one of a Mormon 1985 and 2010. A fact sheet from the previous of these members being asked to serve full- or Miss America, and one book titled If Life Were year indicates that less than one-third of the part-time are retirees. “They’re making use Easy, It Wouldn’t Be So Hard. sum was monetary assistance, while the rest of the Baby Boom generation, getting them to A lunch meeting in Dew’s office begins with was in the form of “material assistance.” All in serve ‘missions’ doing data entry and all sorts bowed heads. “We ask you to bless our business all, if one were to evenly distribute that $1.3 bil- of things,” says Mormon anthropologist Smith. discussions and our food,” prays one attendee. lion over a quarter century, it would mean that Wildlife biologist Clair Huff, for example, After saying grace, the small group launches the church gave $52 million annually. A study took on a two-and-a-half-year unpaid “senior into a conversation about potential new titles co-written by Cragun and recently published mission” at the age of 68 to transform 11,000 for Deseret Book’s general audience imprint, in Free Inquiry estimates that the Mormon acres of church-owned desert into a revenue-­ Shadow Mountain, which is sold through Church donates only about 0.7 percent of its generating hunting preserve. At the time, Huff Mormon outlets as well as Wal-Mart Stores. annual income to charity; the United Method- admitted to Deseret News that he was “reluc- For each proposal, Dew asks, “How does week ss tant to take on such a monumental task at first.” e ist Church gives about 29 percent. this fit us?” at which point a pitch is made about n i s “Members of our faith are very generous He told the paper, “It’s been tough … but we’re the book’s treatment of faith, family, marriage— u b and very sacrificing, very charitable—they making it work. We don’t see many people out or at the very least themes as general as the rg e

b pay tithes and fast offerings, and when they here, except during hunting season.” Today, battle between good and evil. m see needs, they address those needs,” says Huff and his wife remember the unpaid mis- Dew is proudly working to bring both honor oo l b Madson, the former bishop. “When we see the sion as a wonderful experience. He says plenty and profit to the church. The more time you or church not doing the same things it asks the of volunteers came to help, and that they en- f spend with Mormons like her, the less there r e members to do, we recoil. We wonder, is this joyed collaborating with six other senior mis- seems to be a distinction between the two. rn looking more and more like a corporation and sionary couples who were working on a nearby Munching on salads and turkey club sandwich- el Tu el less and less like a church?” church property, farming and building houses. es from the new City Creek Cheesecake ­Factory, Micah Nickolaisen, a 29-year-old photogra- By the time he and his wife were relieved by an- Dew and her colleagues consider aggressive athana pher and devout Mormon, says City Creek cata- other couple, the private hunting preserve was marketing strategies for an author who has con- lyzed his growing concern about the church’s generating $100,000 annually. tracts with both Deseret and Simon & Schus- corporate empire. He worries that the church Asked whether there’s any conflict of inter- ter. “Who wouldn’t want to show up Simon & gives too little money to humanitarian causes, est in having devout Mormons volunteer their Schuster?” asks Dew. “I mean, this is capitalist even though its leaders like to boast about services to for-profit enterprises, McMullin says, America, isn’t it?” ­­­­——With Katherine Burton,

PHOTOGRAPHS BY N BY PHOTOGRAPHS Mormon welfare programs. “They spent more “Oh, I surely don’t—no, not in the least. … When Nick Tamasi, and Anita Kumar