A review of General Conference discourse in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reveals an interesting shift. Temples have always been mentioned more often than tithing, but the gap has widened dramatically in recent decades. References to tithing appear to be steadily declining, while references to temples have skyrocketed. The question is why.
In the nineteenth century, church leaders spoke openly about tithing because the church needed money. The institution faced repeated financial strain. The Panic of 1893 damaged the Utah economy, and federal legislation such as the Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887 resulted in the confiscation of church property. Under those conditions, leaders frequently urged members to contribute financially.
That urgency faded once the church stabilized its finances. In 1907, President Joseph F. Smith announced that the church had paid off its debts and would operate on a “pay as you go” basis. As financial survival became less pressing, conference messaging gradually shifted.
During the twentieth century, temples moved to the center of that messaging. Temple construction expanded after World War II and accelerated under presidents Spencer W. Kimball and Gordon B. Hinckley. Conference talks increasingly emphasized temple covenants, temple worship, and temple attendance. Temples also serve as visible markers of institutional expansion, projecting growth even when membership trends are more complicated.
The decline in tithing references does not mean the requirement disappeared. Temple participation still requires members to declare themselves full tithe payers during temple recommend interviews. Instead of emphasizing the payment itself, leaders focus on temple worthiness. The financial requirement remains, but it is framed indirectly through temple participation.
This approach may also be intended to shift attention away from church finances. Public scrutiny increased after the 2019 whistleblower complaint involving Ensign Peak Advisors revealed an investment portfolio reportedly exceeding $100 billion. Emphasizing temples keeps the focus on devotion rather than institutional wealth.
With such a large portfolio, could the church eventually remove the tithing requirement altogether?
Interestingly, a future without mandatory tithing has been suggested before. In 1899, President Lorenzo Snow urged members to pay a full tithe but also predicted that a day would come when the church would no longer need to ask for it because it would have sufficient resources.
More than a century later, the church controls vast financial reserves, while conference rhetoric increasingly centers on temples rather than tithing. Whether intentional or not, the trend raises an intriguing possibility. The day Lorenzo Snow envisioned may not be as distant as it once seemed.