We can't deny that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides millions of dollars each year in humanitarian aide, and that many members serve generously. But this aide is pennies compared to what the church spends on temples, their stock portfolio and real estate collections. Which begs the question, where does humanitarian work rank in the Church’s own mission?
For decades, Church leaders defined that mission around preaching, ordinances, and salvation. By the Church’s own messaging, caring for the poor has historically been one of the Church's lowest institutional priorities.
1936 to 1981: Welfare was meant to build character
During the Great Depression, the First Presidency tied welfare to work, independence, thrift, and self-respect. The goal was to help people provide for themselves.
In 1936, J. Reuben Clark said that the welfare system had one primary goal: building character, an idea in which he repeated again in 1981.
Relief fed families, but leaders also judged it by the independence and spiritual growth it produced.[1][3] In 1972, Romney said Jesus gave care for the poor “top priority.” while admitting that the Church had neglected it.
In April 1981, Spencer W. Kimball said the First Presidency and Twelve had “meditated upon and prayed about” the Church’s work before announcing the threefold mission.
Later that year, Marion G. Romney described care for the poor as a way to prepare members for eternal life.
Sure, the poor received help, but it was done to support the larger goals.
Thankfully, this approach changed under under President Thomas S. Monson. According to the church's publication, The Life and Ministry of Thomas S. Monson:
Caring for the poor was again emphasized In 2011, when President Dieter Uchtdorf said temporal and spiritual care should not be separated.
Today, the Handbook lists “caring for those in need” as one of four responsibilities. But it still describes the Church’s purpose in terms of eternal life, ordinances, and covenants.
The Handbook also sets limits on Church aid. Members are told to use their own resources, ask family, and seek government or community help before turning to the Church.
The Handbook gives a separate rule for nonmembers.
Yes, the Church provides aid, but local Church assistance is temporary, tied to self-reliance, and usually directed to members. Caring for the poor entered the Church’s formal responsibilities after preaching, perfecting the Saints, and redeeming the dead.
Matthew 25 presents care for people in need as service to Christ himself.
Isaiah also makes feeding and housing the poor part of true worship.
In 2025, the Church reported $1.58 billion in expenditures for welfare, self-reliance, humanitarian aid, emergency relief, and volunteer service.[13]
At the end of that year, Ensign Peak’s SEC filing listed $56.6 billion in reportable securities, almost 36 times the annual caring total.[14] That filing covers securities, not the Church’s real estate. A separate records-based investigation identified nearly 16,000 U.S. parcels worth about $15.7 billion using 2020 values, and warned that its count was incomplete.[15]
Annual spending and accumulated assets are different measures. Still, the comparison explains why members and outside observers say the Church could do much more.[12] A church with tens of billions in stocks and billions more in property has the capacity to spend more on food, housing, medical care, and shelters. Christ identifies care for people in need with service to himself.[10]
For decades, Church leaders defined that mission around preaching, ordinances, and salvation. By the Church’s own messaging, caring for the poor has historically been one of the Church's lowest institutional priorities.
During the Great Depression, the First Presidency tied welfare to work, independence, thrift, and self-respect. The goal was to help people provide for themselves.
In 1936, J. Reuben Clark said that the welfare system had one primary goal: building character, an idea in which he repeated again in 1981.
The real long-term objective of the welfare plan is the building of character in the members of the Church, givers and receivers, rescuing all that is finest down deep inside of them and bringing to flower and fruitage the latent richness of the spirit, which after all is the mission and purpose and reason for being of this church.[3]
Relief fed families, but leaders also judged it by the independence and spiritual growth it produced.[1][3] In 1972, Romney said Jesus gave care for the poor “top priority.” while admitting that the Church had neglected it.
We haven’t been giving as much attention to this particular phase of the gospel recently as we once did...In this modern world plagued with counterfeits for the Lord’s plan, we must not be misled into supposing that we can discharge our obligations to the poor and the needy by shifting the responsibility to some governmental or other public agency. [2]
1981 to 1994: The formal mission left out the poor
In April 1981, Spencer W. Kimball said the First Presidency and Twelve had “meditated upon and prayed about” the Church’s work before announcing the threefold mission.
My brothers and sisters, as the Brethren of the First Presidency and the Twelve have meditated upon and prayed about the great latter-day work the Lord has given us to do, we are impressed that the mission of the Church is threefold: To proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people; To perfect the Saints by preparing them to receive the ordinances of the gospel and by instruction and discipline to gain exaltation; To redeem the dead by performing vicarious ordinances of the gospel for those who have lived on the earth. [4]
Later that year, Marion G. Romney described care for the poor as a way to prepare members for eternal life.
No, the Lord doesn’t really need us to take care of the poor, but we need this experience; for it is only through our learning how to take care of each other that we develop within us the Christlike love and disposition necessary to qualify us to return to his presence.[3]
Sure, the poor received help, but it was done to support the larger goals.
All of our efforts in proclaiming the gospel, perfecting the Saints, and redeeming the dead lead to the holy temple. [5]
2008 to the present: Caring was added last
Thankfully, this approach changed under under President Thomas S. Monson. According to the church's publication, The Life and Ministry of Thomas S. Monson:
President Monson desired to add ‘caring for the poor and needy’ as the fourth part of the Church’s mission, and the First Presidency approved that addition in 2008 and formalized it in the release of a new Church handbook in 2010. Instead of referring to these four major efforts as the ‘mission’ of the Church, the new handbook referred to them as ‘divinely appointed responsibilities.[6]
Caring for the poor was again emphasized In 2011, when President Dieter Uchtdorf said temporal and spiritual care should not be separated.
Like two sides of a coin, the temporal and spiritual are inseparable...While it is important to have our thoughts inclined toward heaven, we miss the essence of our religion if our hands are not also inclined toward our fellowman.[7]
Today, the Handbook lists “caring for those in need” as one of four responsibilities. But it still describes the Church’s purpose in terms of eternal life, ordinances, and covenants.
Jesus Christ established His Church to make the blessings of eternal life available to all through sacred ordinances and covenants.[8]
The Handbook also sets limits on Church aid. Members are told to use their own resources, ask family, and seek government or community help before turning to the Church.
The goal of Church assistance is to temporarily meet basic needs while members strive to become self-reliant. [9]
The Handbook gives a separate rule for nonmembers.
Persons who are not members of the Church are usually referred to local community resources for assistance. On rare occasions, as guided by the Spirit, the bishop may assist them with fast offerings or bishops’ orders. For instance, the bishop may consider assistance for parents or caretakers who are not Church members but have one or more children who are members.[9]
Why the Church’s welfare approach draws criticism
Yes, the Church provides aid, but local Church assistance is temporary, tied to self-reliance, and usually directed to members. Caring for the poor entered the Church’s formal responsibilities after preaching, perfecting the Saints, and redeeming the dead.
Matthew 25 presents care for people in need as service to Christ himself.
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” ... “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.[10]
Isaiah also makes feeding and housing the poor part of true worship.
Is not this the fast that I have chosen?... Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?[11]
In 2025, the Church reported $1.58 billion in expenditures for welfare, self-reliance, humanitarian aid, emergency relief, and volunteer service.[13]
At the end of that year, Ensign Peak’s SEC filing listed $56.6 billion in reportable securities, almost 36 times the annual caring total.[14] That filing covers securities, not the Church’s real estate. A separate records-based investigation identified nearly 16,000 U.S. parcels worth about $15.7 billion using 2020 values, and warned that its count was incomplete.[15]
Annual spending and accumulated assets are different measures. Still, the comparison explains why members and outside observers say the Church could do much more.[12] A church with tens of billions in stocks and billions more in property has the capacity to spend more on food, housing, medical care, and shelters. Christ identifies care for people in need with service to himself.[10]
The issue here is not that the Church does nothing. It is that a church with such vast resources still treats direct care for the poor as secondary to its other institutional goals.
Sources
[1] Glenn L. Pace, “Principles and Programs,” general conference address, April 1986.
[2] Marion G. Romney, “Caring for the Poor and Needy,” general conference address, October 1972.
[3] Marion G. Romney, “Living Welfare Principles,” general conference address, October 1981.
[4] Spencer W. Kimball, “A Report of My Stewardship,” general conference address, April 1981.
[5] Howard W. Hunter, “Follow the Son of God,” general conference address, October 1994.
[6] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “The Life and Ministry of Thomas S. Monson,” 2020.
[7] Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Providing in the Lord’s Way,” general conference address, October 2011.
[8] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, General Handbook, chapter 1, 2026.
[9] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, General Handbook, chapter 22, 2026.
[10] The Holy Bible, King James Version, Matthew 25:35–40.
[11] The Holy Bible, King James Version, Isaiah 58:6–7.
[12] Benjamin Park, “Behind the Latter-day Saint Church’s Vast Wealth Are Two Centuries of Financial Hits and Misses,” Religion News Service, April 5, 2023.
[13] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Loving Our Neighbors: How the Church Provided Global Relief in 2025,” 2026.
[14] Ensign Peak Advisors, “Form 13F-HR, Year-End 2025 Filing,” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2026.
[15] Nicole Blanchard, “LDS Church Owns over $100M in Idaho Property, Data Shows, Much of It Tax-Exempt,” Idaho Statesman, 2022.
Sources
[1] Glenn L. Pace, “Principles and Programs,” general conference address, April 1986.
[2] Marion G. Romney, “Caring for the Poor and Needy,” general conference address, October 1972.
[3] Marion G. Romney, “Living Welfare Principles,” general conference address, October 1981.
[4] Spencer W. Kimball, “A Report of My Stewardship,” general conference address, April 1981.
[5] Howard W. Hunter, “Follow the Son of God,” general conference address, October 1994.
[6] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “The Life and Ministry of Thomas S. Monson,” 2020.
[7] Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Providing in the Lord’s Way,” general conference address, October 2011.
[8] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, General Handbook, chapter 1, 2026.
[9] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, General Handbook, chapter 22, 2026.
[10] The Holy Bible, King James Version, Matthew 25:35–40.
[11] The Holy Bible, King James Version, Isaiah 58:6–7.
[12] Benjamin Park, “Behind the Latter-day Saint Church’s Vast Wealth Are Two Centuries of Financial Hits and Misses,” Religion News Service, April 5, 2023.
[13] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Loving Our Neighbors: How the Church Provided Global Relief in 2025,” 2026.
[14] Ensign Peak Advisors, “Form 13F-HR, Year-End 2025 Filing,” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2026.
[15] Nicole Blanchard, “LDS Church Owns over $100M in Idaho Property, Data Shows, Much of It Tax-Exempt,” Idaho Statesman, 2022.
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