COVID-19 - Finances for Missionaries Returning Early

In the General Guidelines for Finance, the following two statements can be found:

> Stake presidents and bishops inform missionaries and others who contribute to the ward missionary fund that these contributions, including those that are prepaid, cannot be refunded. For this reason, prepaying the cost of a mission is discouraged.

> Contributions to the ward missionary fund that have not been used when a missionary is released should be kept in the ward missionary fund and used as needed. Never refund missionary contributions to a donor.

Will there be any temporary changes to these guidelines in light of the current situation with the missionaries returning early from their missions?

From my experience, many missionary's account balances have a few months worth of funding. I expect this could cause some problems, especially for those who are struggling financially either before or since the COVID-19 outbreak.

jclements wrote:Will there be any temporary changes to these guidelines in light of the current situation with the missionaries returning early from their missions?

We won't know until it's announced - if it does happen.

We don't have inside knowledge of policy. If you're seeing this in your ward, I'd suggest you ask the stake president to inquire with the area authority so the situation comes to the attention of SLC.

jclements wrote:Never refund missionary contributions to a donor.

I believe that has to be and will stay the position of the Church for reasons related to the tax laws of the U.S. and other countries. But what you are about to read is very different from a refund and I believe those in this position may find it helpful.

You may wish to review this article at the Help Center. You may also remember this post in another topic. Pay particular attention to the actual post response and not the quote in the post.

If a member is having a difficult time with this particular situation, I would suggest you counsel with your bishop and he with the stake president. One of you may wish to call the Finance Department for additional guidance if nothing is forthcoming any time soon from Church headquarters. Ideally, excess missionary funds would stay in the ward missionary category for future use. But I believe the guidance mentioned in the referenced post provides an approach to consider that is viable in some circumstances.

And of course, I am not at all authorized to give that guidance.

Absolutely agree. When I was stake clerk, I witnessed far too many new missionaries come home early, having a large prepaid mission fund on the books. Recategorizing the donations as tithing whenever possible is something I encouraged the bishops and clerks in my stake to do.