Women ALIVE Ministries

This article is part of a series in which HuffPost is taking a close look at the charitable giving of Republican presidential candidates. How much and to whom did they give? How does their giving compare with their fellow Americans? And what impact did their contributions ultimately have?

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney can afford to be charitable.

The richest remaining candidate in the Republican presidential field has a net worth somewhere north of $200 million. With a fortune amassed as a venture capitalist at his firm, Bain Capital, he has been generous to many community, civic and political advocacy organizations.

But the vast majority of his philanthropic contributions have gone to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in the form of the tithes required of all Mormons in good standing. The former Massachusetts lay bishop has spoken candidly about his religious faith, but his prodigious contributions to the LDS Church will do little to mollify evangelical primary voters whom polls show have a deep prejudice against electing a Mormon president.

According to IRS documents reviewed by The Huffington Post, Mitt and Ann Romneys charitable foundation gave $4,325,000 to the Mormon Church in three hefty installments in 2003, 2008 and 2009. That was 74 percent of their foundations donations from 2002 to 2009, during which time the couple gave a total of $5,854,916 to charity.

Including another $300,000 that the couple gave to Brigham Young University, the church-run college in Provo, Utah, where Romney earned his undergraduate degree, the proportion of their giving that went to support Mormon missionary work, the upkeep of church buildings and other religious activities rises to 79 percent.

That doesnt include earlier gifts to the church or its subsidiaries.

By JEFF MARTIN

The Associated Press

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. A pipe organ that had been housed inside a New York church ruined by dust from the Sept. 11 terror attacks may soon have a new home in Georgia.

Countryside Christian parishioners from left, Bailey Bennett, Ashley Willis, Matthew McMaster, Jim McMaster, associate minister Vance Russell and Doug Nance were one of the groups from the church who volunteered by cleaning up debris at homes that had a connection to the church that were destroyed by the tornado last Sunday.

Bishop Eddie Long is seen delivering his first Sunday Service message since the settlement in the sexual allegations case was reached. Four young men who were former members of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church had accused Long of sexual misconduct.

The Rev. Louis Wimbley and several parishioners gathered today next to the charred, 84-year-old New Life Temple Church of God in Christ building and held hands as they prayed over their beloved holy sanctuary.

The Rev. Samuel Brown, pastor of City of Refuge Outreach Ministries, also mourned the building, damaged by a fire early Saturday. Both pastors and their flocks are displaced from their house of worship, a former synagogue in the North Lawndale neighborhood. Fire officials still have not determined the cause of the blaze, which gutted the building.

Were destroyed, said Wimbley, assistant pastor of New Life Temple Church of God in Christ, the main church housed in the building. He and others sheltered themselves from the rain after they prayed outside the burned structure. Were really heartbroken.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as Mormons are formally known, teaches that all people have an afterlife, but one must be married, or sealed, to reach its highest parts.

While Mormons believe it’s possible to be sealed in one’s afterlife, unmarried people are barred from key leadership positions in the church and often worship in separate singles congregations.

At a biannual churchwide meeting last month, a senior Mormon official urged young people not to delay marriage or waste time in idle pursuits.

Once someone from a singles congregation gets married, they move to a traditional, or married, congregation, which normally occupies the same building but worships at a different time.

Crystal City is just south of Washington DC and the 23rd Street congregation includes a large number of professionals who work in the nations capital.

Kristina Southam, 23, moved to Northern Virginia to look for a job in development after graduating from Brigham Young University.

In Utah, she said, a woman her age would start to feel uncomfortable if unmarried.

2 days ago

JOPLIN, Missouri — Members of a Lutheran church demolished by the powerful tornado that tore through this US town one week ago gathered in the church parking lot for somber services on Sunday.

The tornado that slammed Joplin on May 22 reduced the Peace Lutheran Church to stacks of splintered wood piled over a concrete foundation. Only a few brick columns and the base of some walls remain standing.

At least 142 people were killed when the tornado, which roared in with winds of over 200 miles (320 kilometers) per hour, tore through this town of 50,000. At least 43 people are still missing.

Cliff and Betsy Eighmy, who have attended Peace Lutheran Church for 20 years, assessed the damage to their place of worship.

“You know, this north wall was a big concrete wall, and we haven’t found it,” Cliff Eighmy said.

“It was covered in crosses that people had brought in. It was a big collage of crosses and we haven’t seen a single one,” he said.

Kathrin Elmborg, who barely survived the destruction of her home, arrived clutching a dog and hugged friends and fellow church members. She lost one of her two dogs to the tornado.

Elmborg survived because the wind knocked her to the floor between her washer and dryer as she went to close a back door. The tornado flung the refrigerator onto the two machines and formed a triangle that protected her when the rest of the house caved in.

The church pastor, William Pape, had planned to work on a sermon at Peace Lutheran around the time the tornado struck, but had a last-minute change of plans.

“Destruction came like nothing any of us have ever experienced before,” Pape told the faithful in his sermon.

“It will never be the same for any of us. I will live for the rest of my life wondering why I decided not to come back here to work. And I will wonder why I was spared and others were not.”

Pape said that he was confident the parishioners will persevere and rebuild the church.

“We have a task before us,” Pape said. “That task is to help, and to be with, and to cry with, and share comfort with, and provide help to all who have and are suffering so much in Joplin.”

The tornado damaged or destroyed more than 8,000 structures in Joplin, including a major commercial area. A total of 318 people are living in temporary shelters in Joplin, according to state officials.

President Barack Obama paid tribute to Joplin tornado victims Sunday at a memorial service at Missouri Southern State University, which was not damaged by the tornado.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.
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Faithful from around the world jammed the streets of Rome on Sunday as the Catholic Church declares Pope John Paul II blessed, a step below sainthood.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) Visitation began Monday for a local church leader who founded the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo.

Visitation will continue until 8:00 pm Monday for the Most Reverend Paul Donovan. Visitation will also run from 1:00 to 8:00 on Tuesday and again from 9:30 am until 11:00 am Wednesday. Funeral services for Donovan will begin at 11:00 Wednesday morning.

Visitation and funeral services will all take place at St. Augustine Cathedral in Kalamazoo.

Bishop Donovan died recently after a crash outside Gun Lake Casino in Wayland Township.

Investigators believe health issues may have played a factor in Donovans death.

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