The Mormon Church lied about not using tithing funds to build a shopping mall #lds #mormon

The City Creek Mall and Tithing Funds: What the Financial Record Actually Shows

For decades, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints maintained that its $1.5 billion City Creek Center mall in downtown Salt Lake City was funded entirely through "reserve funds", not member tithing contributions. But according to documented appellate decisions and financial analysis, the distinction between these fund categories may not hold up under scrutiny. This raises a fundamental question for the 17 million members of the LDS Church: Did leadership misrepresent how sacred tithing dollars were actually deployed?

The answer matters. Tithing is presented in church doctrine as a covenant obligation, a sacred payment that members believe finances temples, missionary work, and spiritual infrastructure. When those funds are diverted to commercial real estate development, the transparency around that decision becomes an ethical and theological issue.

Background: Understanding the Tithing Promise

The LDS Church teaches members that tithing, traditionally 10 percent of income, is holy money consecrated for religious purposes. Church leaders have emphasized this spiritual framing for generations. The 2012 announcement of the City Creek Center project therefore required careful messaging. Church leaders publicly stated the mall was financed through "reserve funds" accumulated from decades of investment returns and prudent financial management, explicitly separating it from tithing receipts.

This distinction was important. It allowed the Church to present itself as a responsible steward while funding a commercial venture that would generate profit in one of America's most expensive downtown real estate markets.