Tad Talk
College-age life is expensive. That was one of my takeaways after reading emails and comments about my recent story about the increase in missionary expenses announced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A few people unfamiliar with the church emailed me in surprise that the church requires a missionary, the family and congregation to pay $400 a month, an amount that now will rise to $500 a month in July 2020. The surprise those readers expressed actually surprised me. It is very common for Christian missionaries of all stripes to pay for their mission trips, including international trips.
Some missionaries who don’t travel at all contribute to some or all of their expenses. For example, my fellow Deseret News religion reporter, Kelsey Dallas, mentioned to me the day my story was published that Campus Crusade for Christ, now known as Cru, requires each campus leader to raise his or her own salary for their term.
One of the most helpful comments on my story on DeseretNews.com was posted by JeanJ of Idaho Falls, who said she has served as a mission secretary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in different missions in the United States for the past two years.
She pointed out that the church’s cost per missionaries are more than the $400 a month the missionary and his supporters provide. The church provides missionaries with housing and utilities; vehicles, fuel and auto insurance; and medical expenses beyond the coverage provided by a family’s insurance.
“We have seen multiple missionaries total a new $30,000 vehicle, and they aren’t asked to pay a penny for the replacement,” Jean wrote. “And the church self-insures the vehicle (as no sane insurance company would agree to insure this demographic!).”
She added, “We have had multiple missionaries undergo emergency surgery, again mostly paid for by the church with only a $10 copay to the missionary.” |
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I spent Thanksgiving in England last fall when Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met British Prime Minister Teresa May and spoke at interfaith events at Oxford.
After one event on Thanksgiving evening, a sweet British Latter-day Saint couple insisted I not eat alone on an American Thanksgiving and took me out to eat at Nando’s. They told me about the health issues their son had on his mission, how their English health care provider counseled them it would be wisest to let their son stay in the States for the surgery and how grateful they were the church paid for it.
I had several parents mention to me that their child’s mission was a break from the high costs of college attendance. That dovetailed with another commenter on my story who pointed out that nobody could say a typical college-age person in the United States could live on $500 a month, less than 50 percent of the poverty threshold set by the U.S. Census Bureau.
If a missionary stayed home and attended college, the College Board says the average cost for a student’s room and board at a four-year public college alone in 2017–18 was $900 a month. Tuition and fees averaged $810 a month for a state resident, according to U.S. News and World Report. Average tuition and fees jump to $2,973 a month for students at private colleges.
Of course, any increase is a challenge, since U.S. median household income is almost the same as it was 20 years ago, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
In a future newsletter or story, I will address the situation for missionaries from Africa, Latin America or all Asian countries other than Japan, which is an interesting story of its own. I’m learning about how the church, at least in part through its General Missionary Fund, pays for the majority of all costs for missionaries from more than 160 nations and territories. |
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What I’m Reading ...
My wife and I watched “Mary Poppins Returns” for the first time over the weekend, which prompted me to read up on Dick Van Dyke, who has been a favorite actor of mine most of my life and who was 91 when he acted in this “Mary Poppins” sequel. One of my favorite parts from this question-and-answer piece: When people hear the name Dick Van Dyke, what do you hope springs to mind? “That I made ’em laugh. That I lifted their worries a little bit. I’ve always tried to do family-oriented entertainment. I lost a lot of money over the years, turning down good parts because it didn’t fit my idea of the kind of entertainment I wanted to do. I mean, I’m not Mister Rogers. But I’ve always had a standard.”
I volunteered as a girls softball coach for 25 years and regularly shared research with parents and places about how sports is good for girls and young women. So I really enjoyed this story about a French girl who may be good enough to play professional baseball and who is now playing college softball in the United States. It will be very interesting to see the future of women in sports. Now there are women serving as assistant coaches in the NFL and NBA. Will women play in those leagues or in Major League Baseball? It will be interesting to watch.
The explosive growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Africa has led to the creation of a new church administrative area there. Church leaders will split the Africa Southeast Area into two areas in August 2020. That will give the church 22 administrative areas, six in the United States. |
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