Opening question
Think of someone, a parent, a grandparent, a mentor, whose financial habits taught you something true without them ever saying a word about money. What did you learn from watching them? Take a moment, then share if you'd like.
Relief Society · Elders Quorum · 25 minutes
Church Auditing Department Report, 2025Relief Society & Elders Quorum lesson
Jared B. Larson · Managing Director, Church Auditing Department · Saturday Afternoon Session
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A 25-minute class
Mix and match to create one 25-minute interactive lesson. Swap any activity for an option below.
This class in one line
This class is about how the Church's practice of living within a budget, avoiding debt, and saving reflects principles the Lord expects of us individually.
Skip a detailed walkthrough of how the Council on the Disposition of Tithes works; mention it briefly as context and move straight to discussion.
0–2Open2–5Hook5–20Discuss20–23Apply23–25Testify
Before Sunday
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Sunday's class: What our finances say about our faith
This Sunday we'll spend a few minutes on a short report from the Church Auditing Department, just a paragraph long, that includes a quiet, powerful line about how the Church itself handles money. Jared B. Larson noted that 'the Church follows the practices taught to its members of living within a budget, avoiding debt, and saving against a time of need.' Before Sunday, think about what it means that the Church doesn't just teach these principles, it lives them. Ponder: In what ways do my financial habits reflect what I actually believe?
Pick one opening
Opening question
Think of someone, a parent, a grandparent, a mentor, whose financial habits taught you something true without them ever saying a word about money. What did you learn from watching them? Take a moment, then share if you'd like.
Story hook
In the Saturday afternoon session of general conference, a man stood and read a short letter, really just three paragraphs. No drama, no anecdote. But near the end, almost in passing, he noted that the Church itself lives the same principles it asks members to live: a budget, no debt, savings set aside for hard times. For an institution that size, that's a statement worth sitting with.
Teach this first
We are asked to live what we believe
The Church does not simply teach financial principles, it practices them institutionally. Living within a budget, staying out of debt, and saving for future needs are not just practical tips; they are covenant-consistent habits the Lord has asked both His Church and His people to keep.
Brother Larson reported that 'the Church follows the practices taught to its members of living within a budget, avoiding debt, and saving against a time of need.'
Ask the class
- 1.What does it tell you about the Lord's priorities that He directed His Church, through revelation, to operate this way? How does that shape how you think about your own finances?
- 2.Where is the gap, if any, between what you believe about financial stewardship and how you actually live? What makes that gap hard to close?
If time remains
Accountability is an act of trust
The report describes an independent auditing body that exists specifically to give members reasonable assurance that tithes and offerings are handled faithfully. That transparency is itself an expression of the Lord's pattern: those who steward sacred things are accountable for them.
Ask the class
- 1.How does knowing the Church submits itself to independent financial oversight affect your feelings about paying tithing or making other offerings?
Counsel together
Quorum / Relief Society business
- •As a quorum or Relief Society, what could we do to better support members in our class who are struggling with financial stress, without prying or making anyone feel embarrassed?
- •The talk says these practices are 'taught to members.' Where and how are we actually teaching them, in our homes, to our kids, to new members?
Last 3–5 minutes
Close
Choose one of the three practices named in the report, budgeting, avoiding debt, or saving, and take one specific, small step toward it before next Sunday. Write it down today.
Your witness: Share, in your own words, what it means to you that the Lord cares about the practical, financial details of our lives, not just our spiritual ones.