The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is providing background information on its various charitable and benevolent efforts, which church members feel is a manifestation of their ongoing desire to "follow the Savior."
Tom Smart, Deseret News
For leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, discussion of charitable giving poses a scriptural quandary.
"The church is mindful of Christ's admonition to 'do not your alms before men, to be seen of them' (Matthew 6: 1)," LDS leadership said recently through a posting about LDS charitable donations and contributions on the LDS Newsroom website. "At the same time, it takes seriously the Savior's call to 'let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).'
"The church's relief efforts," the posting concludes, "strive for this balance."
Unfortunately, not all media coverage of the LDS Church's benevolent giving has similarly sought balance. Despite studies rating Latter-day Saints high for what is termed "pro-social behavior" -- that is, donations of time and finances to benevolent causes – both Reuters and Bloomberg Businessweek have published stories recently suggesting that the church's charitable giving begins and ends with its humanitarian outreach.
"While the church's humanitarian aid efforts and its significant financial donations may be known to some, few realize that they represent only a fraction of the costs and resources involved with carrying out these initiatives," the recent LDS Newsroom posting said. "Furthermore, it may not be well known that the church sponsors many other relief programs, including extensive welfare, vocational, rehabilitative, counseling and other services."
Included in this benevolent outreach by the church and its members are "millions of hours donated by Latter-day Saint doctors, nurses and other church members each year," the statement continued. "Thousands of professionals and volunteers give freely of their time and means to those in need, with no expectation of praise, publicity or reward."
The significance of those donations of time and expertise were downplayed in the recent news stories, as was the fact that "100 percent of fast offerings and humanitarian donations go directly to those in need."
"The overhead and administrative costs associated with these programs – in addition to the resources needed to build storage facilities, house and deliver humanitarian aid supplies around the world, train volunteers and so on – are privately fronted by the church," the Newsroom statement said. "Today, thanks to a robust infrastructure, the church continues to relieve hunger, thirst, suffering and poverty of millions of people around the world and to empower individuals and communities to become more self-sustaining."
