[CardiacCoug]

I got this question from a Southern Baptist guy at work today. I've explained to him before that all our tithing goes to Church headquarters in Salt Lake City and our congregation here in Houston receives what it needs to operate. Also, I told him that we definitely donate much more money in tithing than it takes to operate the ward, which I think is pretty safe to say for most wards in America.

He was saying that the "guys in Salt Lake City" must be living in $10 million dollar houses and flying in private jets, etc. I assured him that was not true and that they are paid modestly.

He asked me why our leaders' exact salary isn't disclosed, like it is for the pastor at his Church here in Houston.

Other than saying that our leaders are awesome, spiritual giants who had no aspiration to their positions and have no resemblance whatsoever to the shady televangelists he has in mind, I wasn't sure exactly what to say. He has a lot of relatives who are in the clergy, so I have to be kind of tactful around him when speaking about the potential evils of a paid clergy.

Any guesses on how much full-time general authorities, like the Quorum of the 12, get paid by the Church? I'm saying about $150K plus expenses like airfare and meals when the travel, but I really have no idea.