My concern is this. Why, after my husband had already spoken to the Bishop regarding this matter, were we called in a second time? I thought once tithing settlement was over it was over.

There have been other times (not that I am proud of this) that we have not been full tithe payers and have never been called back to be chastised a second time.

No, I did not have hard feelings towards the Bishop previously although I do feel that he is an arrogant man in general.

However, I can tell you that paying a full tithe is a requirement to hold an active temple recommend and attend the temple. Having qualified in the past is not a guarantee of the right to attend for the “normal duration” (now 2 years) of a recommend. From a strictly technical standpoint, the Bishop was well within his rights to ask for your recommends until you could honestly declare to be paying a full tithe.

Fwiw, I would take a hard look at why you are feeling this way and try hard not to direct your disappointment at the Bishop – assuming you did not have prior bad feelings. If you already ahd hard feelings, this situation is not the root – and you need to get to the heart of that root.

I was horrified at our transgression. I felt heartbroken for many days and resolved to be a full tithe payer in the new year.

This week we were called back into to speak with the Bishop again. He asked for both of us to come in, which we did (this is now in January). He asked what our plan was for tithing this year. We told him our intention was to repent and to be full tithe payers. He was pleased with our answer and then asked for our Temple Recommends. He said he wanted to \”hold onto them for awhile\”

Mine had expired but my husbands was current. When he told the Bishop he did not have it with him the Bishop said he would come to the house to pick it up.

Is this normal? I am in tears and was not even able to speak after the Bishop asked for the recommends. He never offered a word of prayer before or after the meeting. I simply felt like a loan was being called in.

If someone, preferably a Bishop or someone who has served as a Bishop could shed some light I would be grateful. I am having very bad feelings about our Bishop right now and I want to be able to understand if this is normal.

I was in our ward counsel a couple of weeks ago when one of the counselors handed our Bishop a $100 bill from a donor that wished to remain anonymous. Our Bishop commented (after we had made some good hearted jokes about his “slush fund”) that these kind of donations were welcome at this time of year because they could be distributed at the Bishopric’s discretion without having to go through the red tape involved if it had to come out of the fast offering fund. For instance, if he knew of a family with children that couldn’t buy presents he could simply give them the money, either directly, or pass it on anonymously for a second time.

I don’t know how that is processed and recorded in MLS, but it would definitely help me to stay on top of paying tithing. I generally try to pay at the beginning of the month, together with a fast offering, but often find myself sitting in church smacking my head because I forgot the checkbook again. Doh!

2. End-of-year tax implications aside, December is a terrible month to do tithing settlement. It’s the most calendar- and budget-straining time of the year. I hate having to squeeze in Yet Another Meeting (and making the bishop/clerks do the same) while trying to pinch pennies to make sure we are up to the full ten percent. (This year is especially difficult, since we just moved, causing all sorts of havoc in our tithing tracking and payment.)

Much better would be February and March. Nothing big going on then, and I’d have had time to pay off bills and credit cards from the annual Santaday splurge-a-thon and possibly receive my tax refund. (I’m not really out of control — I can actually tell you at the end of each month, down to the penny, what our family’s net worth is. It just happens to be a very large negative number right now.)

Jon