The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not require its members to pay to attend the temple. In order to be considered worthy to enter the temple, however, one must “keep the commandments.” Once in the temple, we make covenants with financial implications.
Before Entering the Temple:
Prior to receiving a recommendation to attend the temple, members are interviewed by their ecclesiastical leaders to determine their eligibility or worthiness to attend the temple. The worthiness interview we call a “recommend interview” includes a question that confirms our status as a “full tithe payer,” one who gives to the church a full ten percent of her income each year. Tithes are used, among other things, to build the temples.
In addition to tithing, members are expected to pay a generous “fast offering,” a voluntary donation specifically designated for members of the congregation and friends of other faiths who have financial needs. As a practical matter, some tithing funds are ultimately used for this purpose as well; the needs of members’ fast offerings don’t meet the need.
As if that weren’t enough, members are also invited to donate to a variety of other Church efforts, including the support of missionaries from our local units and around the world who cannot afford their own mission expenses. Members are also invited to donate to humanitarian relief efforts conducted by the Church as well as the Perpetual Education Fund, a program that provides student loans to members of the Church in the developing world.
Our Temple Covenants:
Inside the temple, we make a variety of temple covenants, including a covenant to “accept” the “law of consecration” described in the LDS book of scripture called the Doctrine and Covenants. The law of consecration, which is not practiced by the Church today, provides a broad construct for sharing resources among the members of the Church to provide for the poor and to meet the needs of the Church.
Of course, after attending the temple, members are expected to continue paying their tithes and other offerings to the Church. In light of the law of consecration, however, it seems somewhat easier to merely give ten percent to the Church.
The law of consecration also provides that we dedicate our time and talents to the Church. The Church teaches that our primary responsibility is to our families, including providing for the needs of the family so most members are not expected to dedicate their full time to the Church.
Men are generally expected to serve missions at age 18; women are invited to serve at age 19, but are not under the same sense of obligation. Senior couples are also invited to serve missions. Other leaders are also called to serve full time, including mission presidents, temple presidents, area seventies and general authorities. Only Apostles are called to truly consecrate their lives to the Church in that only they are expected to serve full time until death.
All members of the Church, however, are expected to make reasonable sacrifices to serve in the Church. Those who serve as Bishops (ecclesiastical leaders for a congregation or ward) in the Church, often describe spending forty hours per week in their calling, most often while maintaining a full-time job and raising a family.
Blessings of the Temple:
One might, at this point, conclude that no one would be crazy enough to be a temple-going, tithe-paying member of the Church, but that is only because we have not set out the blessings that we receive in the temple.
When one enters the temple, it is immediately apparent that this is no ordinary place. The temples are all beautifully appointed and are maintained flawlessly. Beyond the appearance of the temple, however, one immediately feels the Spirit of God upon entering. The feeling of peace is almost overwhelming as the cares of the world seem to lift as one enters.
Doctrinally, Latter-day Saints believe that the instruction they receive in the temple provides the keys for entering into the presence of God in eternity. We believe this quite literally and so value our temple teachings and ordinances as the final step in our earthly preparations for entering the place in heaven where God dwells, a place we call the celestial kingdom.
Finally, in the temple members of the Church are sealed to their family members for time and all eternity. In stark contrast to the perception that Mormons view themselves as elect and alone in heaven, Members of the Church devote the vast majority of their time in the temple to doing proxy work on behalf of people who have passed away and who were not LDS. By this work we literally hope to provide the blessings of the temple, including the temple sealings to everyone who has ever lived and eventually will live on the earth, connecting the entire human family in an unbroken and unbreakable bond.
As an aside, it should be noted that the Church teaches that everyone who receives temple ordinances by proxy will have the personal agency to accept or reject it. There is no coercion intended by the process of proxy work, only an invitation.
When one considers the blessings of the temple, the preparation for celestial glory and the peaceful uniting of the world’s entire population it does make the effective price of admission seem well justified.
Devin Thorpe is the author of Building Wealth for Building the Kingdom, which addresses these and other financial topics; you can connect with Devin on his blog at BuildingWealthForBuildingTheKingdom.com, on Twitter or Facebook. Be sure to share your experiences in the comments below.
