Joseph Smith Rings

[MikeWaters]

I think it was Joseph F. Smith who was so thrifty that he wore awful threadbare cheap suits and had to be asked to buy new ones.

It's a tricky thing, because we like to brag that we have a lay clergy, and then ascribe ill-intentions to non-lay-clergy (in not so many words), but then we have to reconcile our own professional clergy (GAs and CES).

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

I will say this much- having known several general authorities and even spending time at their homes, I can assure anyone interested that they do get paid, but not well. There is no chance anyone in their right mind would agree to the amounts they receive if they were negotiating an employment contract.

I will also say that even as an employee of the church, or a person who performs work for the church in their regular profession, you shouldn't ever expect much money from the transaction. You should also expect to work more hours than you would ever want to work. In short, the church is an awful employer. If they pay their employees that poorly, you know they aren't "paying" their volunteers any better.

Your reward for church service and church employment certainly isn't going to be financial. Given that fact, I don't understand why people then feel the need to pretend that no church leader receives any money at all. They do get money. They have to get money. They probably deserve more money.

Those are my sentiments encapsulated. There were several times I applied for certain positions and thankfully, just narrowly missed out on them. My family is glad not to have been impoverished. The money didn't matter as the opportunity to work overseas appeared appealing at the time.

[FMCoug]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

They have to be able to pay their own way for 3 years. That pretty much requires you have some measure of wealth, especially if you are planning on keeping your home while you are gone.

My mission president was a lifelon CES employee. And in his 40's. So hardly wealthy and definitely not retired. And he had 3 kids at home and 2 on missions. So I'm sure there was some sort of allowance involved there. While a lot of mission presidents are wealthy and/or retired, not all are.

[Detroitdad]

Originally Posted by FMCoug

My mission president was a lifelon CES employee. And in his 40's. So hardly wealthy and definitely not retired. And he had 3 kids at home and 2 on missions. So I'm sure there was some sort of allowance involved there. While a lot of mission presidents are wealthy and/or retired, not all are.

My dad was a non-wealthy mission president. Of course, he worked at BYU and they gave him credit for the years he would have been present at BYU for retirement. If you are the child of a mission president you get free tuition at BYU, for employees it is 50 percent. As if it were not cheap enough already.