1831–2025
From the Kirtland bank to a $100 billion fund, and what the Church will not say
20 sources, ordered by evidentiary weight — primary and contemporary first, then documentary editions, then the argument. 16 of them are held as full text in the Mormon Corpus; the other 4 are reached only as quotations inside works that are held, and are marked.
Doctrine and Covenants 119 and 120
Joseph Smith Jr.
The canonical basis of tithing — 'one-tenth of all their interest annually' — and of the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes that authorizes all expenditure.
Conference Report, October 1899
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
That leaders publicly framed tithing as a replacement law given after 'a failure in regard to this law of consecration,' at the height of Snow's tithing reformation.
Conference Report, April 1900
Joseph F. Smith
The contemporaneous telling of the Widow Smith potato story, the founding anecdote of tithing-from-poverty in Latter-day Saint preaching.
Conference Report, April 1959
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The last itemized public statement of Church expenditures — 'Expenditures of the Church in 1958' — and therefore the exact boundary of the transparency era.
Conference Report, April 1960
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
That the following April conference reported statistics — temples, missionaries, enrollments — but no itemized expenditures, showing the change was immediate.
"The State of the Church" (April 1991 general conference)
Gordon B. Hinckley
The Church's own stated doctrine of reserves: live within its means, and set aside a fixed percentage against a possible 'rainy day.'
"Tithing—a Commandment Even for the Destitute" (April 2005 general conference)
Lynn G. Robbins
That the Church has taught, from the conference pulpit, that bishops and missionaries should teach tithing to the poorest members without hesitation.
Church Auditing Department Reports, 2013–2025
Kevin R. Jergensen; Jared B. Larson
Exactly what the Church discloses today: an unqualified opinion that funds were administered per approved budgets, with no revenue, expenditure or asset figures of any kind.
"Tithing: Opening the Windows of Heaven" (October 2023 general conference)
Neil L. Andersen
The current official framing — tithing as 'principally a matter of our faith' rather than of money — delivered eight months after the SEC settlement.
SEC Press Release 2023-35: SEC Charges The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Its Investment Management Company for Disclosure Failures and Misstated Filings
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
The settled findings: no Forms 13F from 1997 to 2019, thirteen shell LLCs, a portfolio that by 2018 grew to approximately $32 billion, and penalties of $4 million and $1 million.
In the Matter of Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc., and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Order Instituting Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, Release No. 96951 (21 Feb. 2023)
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
The paragraph-level findings the Widow's Mite analysis is keyed to: the 1998 notice of the filing obligation, the 2014 and 2017 Church Auditing flags, and the 2018 resignations of two shell-LLC business managers.
Huntsman v. Corporation of the President, No. 21-56056 (9th Cir., filed 7 August 2023)
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The panel's split holding — reversing on the City Creek fraud claim, affirming on Beneficial Life — later vacated and superseded by the en banc dismissal.
"Mormon Church has misled members on $100 billion tax-exempt investment fund, whistleblower alleges," Washington Post, 17 December 2019
Jon Swaine, Douglas MacMillan and Michelle Boorstein
The public break of the Nielsen complaint, its receipt date at the IRS (21 November 2019), and the ~$100 billion figure as an allegation.
First Presidency Statement on Church Finances, 17 December 2019
First Presidency, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church's immediate answer: the vast majority of donations are spent at once, a portion is 'methodically safeguarded,' and 'The Church complies with all applicable law.'
"The Windows of Heaven Revisited: The 1899 Tithing Reformation," Journal of Mormon History 20:1
E. Jay Bell
The documented sequence of the 1899 revelation, the Church's actual debt position, and the finding that no contemporary record links the St. George rain to tithing.
Sunstone, issue 102 — feature on LDS Church finances, tithing history and general authority allowances
Nineteenth-century tithing definitions under Brigham Young and John Taylor, the 1880 Jubilee forgiveness, and Grant-era investment policy.
"LDS Financial Transparency," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 48:1
Samuel D. Brunson
The periodization of the disclosure era, the point that revenue was never disclosed, and the legal framework for why churches are exempt from filing Form 990.
The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth and Corporate Power
D. Michael Quinn
The continuous financial history — 19th-century salaries and tithing, the 1915–1959 disclosure run, the 1959–62 deficits, the corporate subsidiaries, and foreign regulatory filings reprinted verbatim.
FAIR Latter-day Saints, Church Finances topical pages (City Creek Center; Church investments and reporting of financial data; Kirtland Safety Society)
FAIR
The best-stated faithful reply: that the KSS failure was not fraud, that only earnings and not principal funded City Creek, and that no SEC allegation claimed hidden investments or illegal shell companies.
"10 Common Misconceptions About the Settlement Between the SEC and Ensign Peak/LDS Church"
The Widow's Mite Report
The close reading of the SEC order — the 'shell' versus 'clone' word counts, the count of misstated filings, and the timing of the first consolidated 13F — from a disclosure-advocating but data-forward position.
