The Almighty Dollar
Are churches good money managers?
Former oil executive and new Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby addresses the media during a press conference in London on Friday
Photo by Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images.
Former oil executive Justin Welby was named Archbishop of Canterbury on Friday. Welby openly criticized banking excesses in the run-up to the 2008 financial collapse, and some hope his business experience will help him stabilize the church’s finances. Are churches good at managing their money?
Some are very good. The Church of England invests conservatively, putting most of its $760 million in assets into stocks and real estate. The church’s 5.7 percent annual return just beats the Standard & Poor’s 500 over the past decade (excluding dividends), but that revenue covers only about 15 percent of the church’s operations, with most of its cash coming from parish giving. It’s difficult to compare the Anglicans’ investment performance with that of other major religions, which are generally reluctant to release financial information. It seems relatively clear, however, that the Latter-day Saints are outpacing them, in part because the Mormon Church goes well beyond passive investment in existing businesses. In July, Business Week investigated the Mormons’ money management, noting that the church’s largest investment vehicle pulls in $1.2 billion per year. Its investments include media, hospitality, and insurance businesses. The church also owns more than $1 billion worth of land in the United States alone, used for crops, livestock, and timber.
The Roman Catholic Church is also secretive about its money, but the Vatican financial situation is clearly tumultuous. In recent years, the church swung wildly between losing $10 million in a year to earning $45 million. Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department for the first time included the Holy See on its list of “jurisdictions of concern” because it might be vulnerable to money laundering. JPMorgan Chase also closed the Vatican’s account, providing little explanation for the decision. While the Holy See is moving toward greater financial transparency, it appears that internal controversies over how far to go and a legacy of allegedmafia connections are slowing the process.
Few religious organizations can top the Church of Scientology when it comes to secrecy, making it nearly impossible to determine how the church invests its money. The organization is, however, obviously efficient at extracting revenue from its members. Last year, the St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times) reported the stories of Scientologists who were pressured into giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to the church. One couple, after giving $160,000 to help build a new church, declined to take out a loan to give an additional $90,000. They quickly received an official complaint from Scientology headquarters noting that it would take the couple only a year-and-a-half to pay off that debt. At fundraising events, members have reportedly been blocked from leaving until they donated. The Church of Scientology also makes impressive profits on merchandising, selling holy texts to its members for $3,000 each. Earlier this year, a senior church member broke ranks and complained that the organization was sitting on more than $1 billion in assets.
Large religious organizations rarely fail, but small churches have been going bankrupt at a brisk rate since the 2008 financial collapse. Maryland’s Ark of Safety Christian Church filed for bankruptcy in June, and the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church, which has been active in Boston for nearly 200 years, also declared bankruptcy this year. More than 240 other churches have been foreclosed upon since 2010. In many cases, they have been unable to refinance their mortgages, which, unlike residential loans, come due after five years.
Got a question about today’s news? Ask the Explainer.
Have You Unknowingly Donated Money To Scientology?
How many times out of the goodness of your heart, have you donated to a good cause? Did you ever wonder if the good cause you donated to was on the up and up? Have you ever checked out a charity before donating your hard earned money? Well you should.
Just because it looks like a charity is on the up an up or sponsored by celebrities, doesn't mean your money is going where you think it may be.
Glosslip is about to give you a small lesson in the many front groups of Scientology. If you are thinking that there is no way that you have have given cash to Scientology, think again. It happened to me, only I didn't realize it until YEARS later. I will get to that later.
As you may or may not know, the cult of Scientology THRIVES on deception and secrecy. It has hundreds of front groups. Some of the better known front groups you may have heard about are, CCHR, Narconon, Criminon, Applied Scholastics, WISE, ABLE, FASE, and The Way To Happiness.
While all the proceeds from these groups end up going to the same place, which is Scientology of course, the names of these groups usually are attached to a business, an inmate betterment program, a drug treatment program, a dentist or chiropractor's office (we will get to that) or a school which teaches L. Ron Hubbard tech, like Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's school, the New Village Academy.
But there are a whole slew of names that you may not be aware of that are in fact Scientology. Scientology's deception runs so deep, that your own town officials may have some of these programs implemented and your tax dollars are ending up in Scientology's pockets without you even knowing it. Yes, your tax dollars may be funding a Scientology drug rehabilitation program. Sad but true. It has happened in many states in the U.S. and just recently in New Mexico.
Ask Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez whose tax payers paid over $1.5 million dollars to run the now defunct Second Chance program which was run in their old Westside Jail. This program used Scientology's teachings and the very dangerous Purification Rundown, which is also used by all Scientologists. This of course is the same program used in Narconon AND Criminon AND the NY Fire Fighter's Detoxification program, just to name a few. ALL the same program, only with different names.
FYI...The Second Chance program left in the middle of the night and not only stole items, but left an outstanding bill. They owe more than $600,000 in tax liens, about $400,000 is due to the IRS, and more than $200,000 to the state. I would like to know why Joy Westrum, who ran that particular Second Chance, is not being brought in for questioning? Crazy, isn't it?
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