European Court Of Human Rights Rules Rules Preston LDS Temple Not Entitled To Same Tax Exemption As Chapels

In the United States, temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are customarily awarded the same tax exemptions as chapels. However, this is not necessarily the case elsewhere, and in the United Kingdom, British authorities withdrew the tax exemption awarded to the LDS Church for its temple in Preston. Instead of earning a complete statutory tax exemption, the temple would only qualify for an 80 percent exemption. The Church filed suit with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), claiming this decision violated two articles of the European Convention of Human Rights, and on March 4th, 2013, the ECHR ruled against the LDS Church. Media stories have been published by the Independent and the BBC.

Applicability: Potentially applies to any area under the jurisdiction of the ECHR. Consequently, this could apply to any other LDS temple in the area, which is probably one of the reasons why the Church decided to push it all the way to the ECHR. According to the Telegraph, Malcolm Adcock, UK spokesman for the LDS Church, said "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints respects the decision of the Strasbourg court, and is grateful that the charitable activities of churches are recognized under UK and European law."

Below is a summary of case highlights; the full details are available on the specific case page of the ECHR:

Background: Under the United Kingdom's Local Government Finance Act 1988, a valuation officer must compile and maintain a local rating list for his or her area. Premises included on the list are liable for the payment of business rates. Premises used for charitable purposes are entitled to charity business rates relief, which cuts the amount of rates payable by 80 percent. Places of public religious worship are wholly exempt from the tax.

History: The dispute first arose in 1998. Although the Preston temple was listed as a building used for charitable purpose and therefore retained a liability to pay only 20 percent rates, it was refused the statutory tax exemption reserved for places of public religious worship because the temple is only open to recommend holders rather than the general public. The valuation officer did accept that the stake center on the same site, with its chapel, associated hall and ancillary rooms, was a place of public religious worship accessible to the general public which was entitled to the exemption. Other buildings on the site, for example a building providing accommodation for missionaries and various ancillary buildings were subject to full business rates. For the financial year 1999/2000, the applicant paid a total of GBP 117,360 in respect of all the rateable buildings on its Preston site.

In March 2001, the applicant applied to have the temple removed from the rating list, claiming the benefit of the exemption for places of public religious worship. In October 2004, the Lancashire Valuation Tribunal granted the application for appeal and determined the temple to be exempt under the statutory provision. However, in December 2005, the Lands Tribunal overturned that decision. The applicant’s appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed on 24 November 2006. The applicant then appealed to the House of Lords, who in turn dismissed the appeal in July 2008 on the basis that the temple, because of the limited public access, did not qualify as a place of worship. The LDS Church then appealed to the ECHR, claiming that the decision was a violation of Articles 9 and 14 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, alternately referred to as the European Convention of Human Rights.

-- Article 9: (1). Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance. (2). Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs shall be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

-- Article 14: The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in [the] Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.

Apostate Ex-Mormons Launch "Private Prosecution" Against LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson For Fraud, British Judge Orders Him To Appear

Although the American mainstream media is just now starting to pick up this story, we have a report from several mainstream British media sources. The Telegraph and the Daily Mail report that an anti-Mormon activist, Tom Phillips, who runs the MormonThink website, has launched a private prosecution attempt in the United Kingdom on behalf of two apostate ex-Mormons, Stephen Bloor and Christopher Denis Ralph, claiming that President Monson fraudulently obtained tithing from them under Section 1 of the Elizabeth II Fraud Act 2006 on the basis of doctrinal teachings which the apostates claim are untrue. According to the Arizona Republic, Phillips alleged that the Mormon Church in the UK has received $257m (£157.5m, €190m) in member donations since 2007, and that these donations were "mandatory" for good standing in the church. As a result, District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe issued a formal summons for President Monson to appear at a hearing scheduled to take place at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on March 14th, 2014 and answer the seven allegations laid against him.

The summons was signed on January 31st, 2014 and issued under section 1 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, which specifies that upon receiving a formal statement alleging that someone has committed an offense, the court may issue a summons requiring that person to attend court, and even issue a warrant for that person's arrest if the alleged offense must or may be tried in the Crown Court, and if the alleged offense is punishable with imprisonment.

Two separate summons were issued, one on behalf of each plaintiff. They are otherwise identical, and a screenshot is posted below:

Click to enlarge

Ironically, although Tom Phillips is identified as the webmaster of MormomThink, the website currently and disingenuously states "The MormonThink website is not involved in this private legal action. We merely report the news" Yeah, surrre. LOL!.

Details of the Plaintiffs: According to IBTimes UK, Phillips, who lives in Portugal, formerly served as a stake president, area controller and financial director for the LDS Church's UK corporate entities, as well as other positions within the church between 1969 and 2002. Phillips also allegedly received the Second Anointing. Stephen Bloor was a third generation Mormon, a podiatrist who served as a bishop until he decided the LDS Church gave many "false representations". He penned a resignation as bishop and now writes a blog. Christopher Ralph was a Mormon convert since 1971, who served in bishoprics, and in 2012 helped write open letters to the European Area Presidency, the First Presidency, and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on behalf of some UK Mormons who were troubled by questions and doubts. He supposedly received no response.

Worst Case Scenario: The summons declares that failure to attend could result in a warrant being issued for President Monson's arrest, although extradition would be required, and the offense must also be an offense in the United States for extradition to be approved. Once President Monson is processed by Westminster, the court could refer the case to Southwark Crown Court for further proceedings. According to Section 3 of the Fraud Act 2006, the maximum penalty for the allegations contained in the summons is ten years imprisonment and a fine for each offense.

LDS Church Reaction: The Church dismissed the summons as based upon bizarre allegations, and signalled that President Monson has no plans to attend. Malcolm Adcock, the church’s public affairs director for Europe, said, “The Church occasionally receives documents like this that seek to draw attention to an individual’s personal grievance or embarrass church leaders. These bizarre allegations fit into that category.” Unofficial LDS reaction is documented on LDS Freedom Forum.

Former LDS Missionary Matthias Heinrichs Imprisoned For Two Years For "Grooming" Three Underage Girls For Sex In The United Kingdom

A former missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been sentenced to two years in prison for activities related to the sexual grooming of three underage girls in the United Kingdom. Judge John Potter pronounced the sentence in Bradford Crown Court on November 8th, 2012 after Matthias Heinrichs, a Dutch national now 23 years of age, pleaded guilty to one count of meeting a child following sexual grooming and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. The LDS Church actively cooperated in the investigation. The media story, which is incomplete, was published by The Telegraph & Argus; one fault in the story is that the Argus did not make it clear that Heinrichs is a FORMER missionary.

Although the media story does not detail when the incidents took place, Heinrichs has a blog left over from his mission which shows that he was assigned to the England Leeds Mission from July 2009 through July 2011, so the incidents took place during that time period. The charge of meeting a child following sexual grooming stemmed from an encounter he had with a girl eight years younger than him. Matthias got to know the girl and her family during the course of proselyting in Keighley. After he returned to the Netherlands at the end of his mission, Heinrichs communicated with the girl by text, email and Facebook. He then returned to Keighley and the girl sneaked out to meet him. They drank milkshakes and he preached to her and chastised her, pointing out scripture from the Book of Mormon. After returning again to the Netherlands, Heinrichs incited her to take indecent photos of herself and send them to him. No sexual contact ever took place between the two.

The two charges of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity stemmed from contact Heinrichs made with two girls, aged 12 and 13. At first they thought him good fun, but then found his messages inappropriate and “creepy”. No sexual contact took place in this case either.

In mitigation, Sophie Drake, Heinrichs’ barrister, said he was of previous good character and committed to serving his church, noting that he never touched the girls sexually. Heinrichs' blog, Matthi's Mission, seems to validate that conclusion; a brief scan of the blog indicates Heinrichs was an enthusiastic and dedicated missionary fully committed to sharing the Gospel to the best of his ability. The first three pages of posts I scanned did not reveal any untowards preoccupation with or physical attraction towards any underage girls. Consequently, if Heinrichs retains his penitent attitude and cultivates a strong relationship with the Lord during his imprisonment, his potential for successful rehabilitation seems quite high. Heinrichs' current Church membership status is not disclosed, but since no physical contact between him and his victims took place, I would think the strongest penalty he might have incurred from a disciplinary council would be disfellowshipment rather than outright excommunication. The LDS Church does not customarily publicize the results of disciplinary council hearings.

After the hearing, Detective Constable Sonia Hutchinson of the Child and Public Protection Unit, said “We welcome the custodial sentence given to Heinrichs today and hope it will send a message to others who try to groom young people in this fashion. I would like to praise the victim in this case for her conduct and courage during the court process and the Church of Jesus Christ [of] Latter Day Saints for their co-operation in assisting the investigation.”

Did You Know That Gordon Hinckley's Daughter Helps Run The Missionary Training Center In Preston, United Kingdom?

It's true, according to a lengthy and detailed article entitled "When the saints go marching in: How a tiny town in Lancashire saved Mormonism from extinction" published July 29th, 2012 in the Independent.

Richard and Kathleen Walker were called to relocate from Utah to Chorley, which is just outside Preston in the United Kingdom, and run the LDS Missionary Training Centre located within the Preston Temple's 15-acre estate. They were well-prepared, since they had previously run the Salt Lake Temple. However, Kathleen Walker also happens to be one of the children of the late President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley. President Hinckley himself served as a missionary in Britain from 1933 to 1934. The Walkers were reportedly ecstatic when they received the call. Regarding her famous father, the 73-year-old Sister Walker shared the following:

"[My father] used to stand at the pulpit, and I could almost see when that Spirit kicked in and he began to speak with power. That is a form of revelation; there is no question in my mind the prophet is inspired. But we all have a sense of that in life, when we get thoughts we need to respond to: that is a Spirit whispering to us."

The Preston MTC, one of 15 worldwide, is primarily for British members of the Church who are called to serve missions. The young men and women travel to Chorley to study for three intense weeks on how to invite people to their faith. During the first week, they are taken to Manchester and turned loose to proselytize. There are a reported 900 missionaries assigned to the U.K. at any given time, but they face a few restrictions which don't exist in the U.S.; namely, they're asked not to proselyte while riding aboard public transport. The 75-year-old Richard Walker had this to say about the missionaries:

"The missionaries here are pure, clean, worthy, loving young people. We love them dearly. We believe that every one of us are spirit children of our heavenly father, that He created the world for the purpose of giving us a place where we can receive a physical body and learn how to walk in His paths. We believe that a person can become a god – but we will never be equal with God."

The latter statement shows that even if we're ordained to Godhood in the far distant future, we will always honor our Father as our God. He will never cease to be our Heavenly Father, so we won't try to supersede Him.

British Bus Company Stagecoach Asks LDS Missionaries Not To Proselyte While Riding Aboard Their Coaches In Lancaster

American missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sometimes get a rude awakening when they assume America's constitutional liberties are equally treasured or applicable in foreign countries. A British bus company has asked the LDS Church to instruct local missionaries not to proselyte while riding aboard their buses.

The Lancaster Guardian reports that in response to complaints from passengers and drivers, the Stagecoach Bus Company has asked LDS missionaries to stop trying to convert passengers while riding aboard their coaches. The issue is that a bus is considered somewhat of a captive environment, and complainants believe the missionaries are exploiting it. One complainant, Rick Seymour, said “I firmly believe that the Mormon Church is using your service as a place where the public cannot escape the attempt to indoctrinate them.” While Seymour says he believes everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, he says that telling others that their beliefs are misguided or erroneous is wrong in itself. Brits place a greater attachment to not being offended than we do.

Stephie Barber, the operations manager for Stagecoach in Lancaster, said that they do not permit any commercial or other organizations to promote their products, services or views through direct engagement with passengers on their buses, and if someone representing an organization does so, they will take it up with the organization involved. This means they'll be contacting the local LDS leadership.

Robert Preston, England Manchester Mission President for the LDS Church, defended the missionaries' conduct, praising his 140 missionaries in the North West of England as being persistent and courageous. Specifically, he explained "They will sit next to someone, and they will introduce themselves and try and have a good conversation to explain a point of view that someone might never have heard before. We do encourage this, but we would not want people to feel intimidated. If it becomes clear that someone does not want to hear that message they should move away.”

Of course, if the bus is full, it makes it difficult for someone to move away. So even though it might seem to be a petty complaint to us, the United Kingdom is a foreign country with its own laws and customs, and we should be respectful of those customs as the Twelfth Article of Faith counsels. Furthermore, since much of Britain is more crowded than America, the British have been willing to give up more personal rights and accept additional regulation we find intrusive in order to better sustain the social order.

Continuing to proselyte aboard local buses could generate hostility and backlash against Latter-day Saints where none otherwise exists. This would drive people away from the Church. Consequently, I don't think it's asking too much for missionaries to comply with Stagecoach's request, so long as they're applying it equally to missionaries of other religions. The United Kingdom has been one of the staunchest allies the U.S. has had amongst the nations for the past 150 years, and we continue to value that friendship. At the same time, if someone asks the missionaries a question while aboard a bus, they should be permitted to answer.

Two points of view including that of Rick Seymour, are represented in the comments section of the Guardian:

corporates Friday, September 9, 2011 at 03:58 PM:
Whilst i appreciate what Mr Seymour says, he must realise that we live in a country that allows freedom to preach and speak. This includes Jehovahs witnesses, Catholics, Protestants, Mehtodists and everyone else, surely Mr Seymour does not want freedom of speech taken away? If so then how would he be able to comment here?hmm And as for writing to the Mormon church in Chorley i should say it would be better to write to the Mormon Church ( Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints) in his own area, Lancaster, just next to Asda on ovangle road. Mr Seymour, you could have just kindly said that you were not prepared to listen and would you mind if you just had peace and quiet, i am sure the person would have done.

RickSeymour Friday, September 9, 2011 at 04:30 PM:
Thank you for your comments. I totally agree that freedom of speech is one we ALL must hold dear, and I respect your belief (but not agreeing with) that you think it is acceptable that one individual can tell another that they will be condemned for not believing. There is, however, no "freedom to preach [to an individual]", nor as Stagecoach states "freedom to promote" a product or service on their bus service. If a Mormon pays Stagecoach for travel then they agree to abide by their "Conditions of Carriage", i.e. "sit down and shut up" It would be better to write to the Mormon HQ (in Chorley) as the commenter clearly states, this is what "the church" encourages them to do, and so is not confined solely to Lancaster.