Lorenzo Snow's Vision on Tithing

In 1899 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was in serious financial distress. Confiscation proceedings begun the day after President John Taylor's funeral had seized Church property, years of costly litigation and prosecution under the Edmunds-Tucker law had driven the General Authorities into hiding and away from home, and roughly two million dollars in past-due obligations — much of it drawing ten percent interest — weighed on the people. Lorenzo Snow's son LeRoi C. Snow, of the Church Historian's Office, recalled his father describing the situation as "the bottomless pit" and "the unfathomable deep." When one prominent businessman proposed solving the crisis by soliciting large contributions through a "One Thousand Dollar Club," a "Five Hundred Dollar Club," and so on, President Snow shook his head: "No, that is not the Lord's plan."

Lorenzo Snow was in his eighty-fifth year when he became President of the Church in September 1898. He humbly admitted he did not know just what he would do, but was confident the Lord would show him: "My administration will not be known as mine, but as God's administration through me." His first step in Church finances was issuing a million dollars in six percent bonds, which reduced the interest burden and postponed the immediate demands of creditors — but it did not decrease the debt itself. How the obligation was to be paid, the Lord had not yet shown him.

Early in May 1899 President Snow announced he was going to St. George, in drought-stricken southern Utah — a long, hard trip that surprised even his family and his secretary, George F. Gibbs. He took with him as many General Authorities as could be spared, among them President Joseph F. Smith, President Franklin D. Richards, Elder Francis M. Lyman, and his son LeRoi, reporting for the Deseret News. The party reached St. George on the evening of May 16, 1899, after the fastest trip on record. The aged President stood the journey exceptionally well but was very tired, and at the home of President Daniel D. McArthur he fainted as he reached the couch. When he regained consciousness, he paced the floor with what his son called "the most painful and anxious expression" he had ever seen on his face, questioning aloud: "Why have I come to St. George, and why have I brought so many of the Church authorities, when we are so much needed at home to look after the important affairs of the Church? Haven't I made a mistake? Why have I come here?" The Lord had called His servant south, but the purpose of the journey had been withheld.

The answer came the next day, Wednesday, May 17, 1899, during a special conference in the St. George Tabernacle. LeRoi C. Snow, sitting at a table on the stand reporting the proceedings, recorded what happened: "All at once father paused in his discourse. Complete stillness filled the room. I shall never forget the thrill as long as I live. When he commenced to speak again, his voice strengthened and the inspiration of God seemed to come over him, as well as over the entire assembly. His eyes seemed to brighten and his countenance to shine. He was filled with unusual power. Then he revealed to the Latter-day Saints the vision that was before him." God manifested to him not only the purpose of the call to visit the Saints in the south, but also Lorenzo Snow's special mission — the great work for which God had prepared and preserved him. He told the people that he could see, as he had never realized before, how the law of tithing had been neglected by the Saints, and that through strict obedience to the law — the paying of a full and honest tithing — not only would the Church be relieved of its great indebtedness, but the Saints themselves would be freed from their individual obligations and become a prosperous people.

Directly on tithing, President Snow declared the word of the Lord: "The time has now come for every Latter-day Saint, who calculates to be prepared for the future, and to hold his feet strong upon a proper foundation, to do the will of the Lord and to pay his tithing in full." He told the Saints that the law of tithing was not a man-made law but a heaven-sent law, and pleaded that every man, woman, and child who had means pay one-tenth of their income as tithing.

Through the spring and summer of 1899 President Snow carried the message through the drought-parched settlements of southern Utah and then to the entire Church, and the Saints responded. As the people proved faithful to the law, the windows of heaven opened over them: year by year the heavy indebtedness lifted, and within a few years the Church's obligations were discharged entirely — the way out of bondage was not the way of men, but faithfulness to the law of tithing. The revelation of May 17, 1899, stands as the defining manifestation of Lorenzo Snow's administration, the answer of heaven to an eighty-five-year-old prophet who had set out for St. George not knowing why he was going, and who came home having seen the Lord's plan for His Church.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in The Life and Ministry of Lorenzo Snow, Chapter 12: Tithing, a Law for Our Protection and Advancement):

In the spring of 1899, the Church was in a desperate financial condition. The Church was burdened with a heavy debt, and the creditors were becoming very insistent. President Lorenzo Snow, who was then in his eighty-fifth year, felt a strong impression that he should go to St. George, Utah. He did not know why he was to go, but he felt that the Lord had a work for him to do there. He took with him several of the General Authorities. They arrived in St. George on the evening of May 16, 1899. The next day, May 17, at a meeting in the St. George Tabernacle, President Snow was speaking to the Saints. Suddenly, he stopped. A profound silence fell over the congregation. When he resumed speaking, his voice was filled with a power and inspiration that seemed to electrify the entire assembly. His countenance shone, and he spoke with a conviction that he had not previously manifested. He declared that the time had come for the Latter-day Saints to pay their tithing in full. He promised that if the people would obey this law, the Lord would open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon them, and that the Church would be delivered from its financial bondage. This message was not just for the people in St. George, but it was the word of the Lord to every settlement throughout the land of Zion. Following this, President Snow traveled throughout the Church, emphasizing the law of tithing. The response of the Saints was immediate and faithful. As they began to pay their tithing, the financial situation of the Church began to improve, and within a few years, the Church was entirely out of debt.