Offerings

 The sale of the Kirtland Temple reminds me of another purchase the Church made -- land to build a church in Ann Arbor in the early 1980s.

When Kevin was in grad school, we went to a party at his adviser's home. His adviser pointed out to me that the LDS Church building was just behind some woods at the edge of his backyard.

"This land used to belong to my Episcopalian Church," he said. "The money from the land sale was used to jumpstart the Breakfast at St. Andrew's program." Every day, the cafeteria at St. Andrew's provides breakfast to anyone and everyone.

A few months later, a friend and I decided to volunteer there. We woke up early and helped scoop oatmeal into people's bowls. Nearly everyone was a man, and many seemed to have cognitive difficulties. Some said a few things that made my friend and me uncomfortable, but most everyone was gracious. My friend was better than I was at waking up early, so she was a lot better about volunteering there. I think I only made it twice.

It was also interesting seeing a slightly different church economy. There was a young woman who ran the program, and it was her full-time job. I am used to anything in a church building being done as volunteer work, so this was a little different. I guess there are paid positions for jobs at DI, but I don't know of any soup kitchens that are directly operated by the LDS Church.

Anyway, it was nice to have a bit of hands-on experience with people. It's good to know that tithing money is being used indirectly by other churches, but it's also neat to get to donate time and resources directly to people.