Consecrate Yourselves: Avarice and the Mormon Church

Consecrate Yourselves: Avarice and the Mormon Church, currently in development, is a film investigating the human toll of the tithing requirement within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church’s financial holdings are estimated at an astonishing $100 billion in liquid assets along with full ownership of shopping malls, real estate investment firms, restaurants, railway companies, mining operations, and over 1.7 million acres of land across the United States. Despite its objective wealth, the organization requires all members to pay a full ten percent tithe on all earned income, regardless of the individual member’s financial state. If a member does not pay, they are not allowed to enter the LDS temple, a place that Mormons believe is required for their eternal salvation. My film will explore the inherent stakes for members and the psychological and socioeconomic pressure that the tithing requirement imposes on individuals and families within the LDS community.