Tithing decides who attends a child's wedding

Admitted

Their own church publications admit these facts. You can make this point from LDS sources alone.

How it works

A temple recommend is required for the ordinances the church teaches are needed for exaltation. That includes attending your own child's temple wedding.

The interview asks: "Are you a full-tithe payer?" And once a year members declare their status to the bishop. That meeting was called tithing settlement; since 2019 it is tithing declaration.

The language around it

D&C 64:23 is canon: "he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming." D&C 119:3-4 sets the standard. Leaders have taught paying tithing before feeding your family.

One thing critics got wrong

James Huntsman sued over how tithing was used. The full Ninth Circuit dismissed it 11 to 0 in January 2025.

Do not repeat the fraud claim. It has been answered in court.

Their answer, at full strength

There is no paid local clergy. Bishops, teachers and leaders all serve free.

Tithing pays for chapels, temples, education, operations and a large welfare and humanitarian programme. Members widely testify that paying it is a blessing rather than a burden.

Tithing long predates this church; Malachi 3:8-10 calls withholding it robbing God, so gating on it has a biblical case. And the declaration is self-reported.

Nobody audits your income.

How strong is this argument?

They admit the structure, and none of it is contested. It is all in current church publications.

The core point is simply a description: ordinances tied to salvation are conditioned on a financial contribution. Set that beside 2 Corinthians 9:7 — give "not grudgingly, or of necessity."

What to say

"What happens at the recommend interview if you say you haven't paid?"

The City Creek Center in Salt Lake City, the church-funded development at the centre of the tithing suit

The Salt Lake Temple; entry needs a recommend, which needs answering the full-tithe question

How they answer this — at its strongest

There is no paid clergy here, and Malachi 3:8-10 calls withholding it robbing God.

The church has no paid local clergy. Bishops, teachers and leaders all serve free. So tithing funds operations, chapels, temples, education, and a large welfare and humanitarian programme.

Members widely testify that tithing is a blessing rather than a burden.

Tithing also long predates this church. Malachi 3:8-10 frames not paying it as robbing God, so gating on it has a biblical case.

The Huntsman ruling vindicated the church's statements. The court found no misrepresentation. City Creek was funded from earnings on invested reserves, exactly as President Hinckley had said. And the declaration is self-reported. Nobody audits your income.

The verdict

They admit the structure, and the fraud claim was thrown out 11 to 0.

The recommend question, the yearly declaration, D&C 64:23, and the gating of exaltation ordinances are all in current church publications. None of it is contested.

The critics' strongest overreach was the fraud theory. James Huntsman's suit was dismissed 11-0 by the full Ninth Circuit in January 2025. Do not repeat it.

The core claim is simply a description of current practice. Ordinances held to be needed for salvation are conditioned on a payment. Set that beside 2 Corinthians 9:7.

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