Mormon Land podcastit

Young Latter-day Saint couples are delaying marriage and having fewer children nowadays, according to recent statistics cited by Dallin H. Oaks, a top leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.While acknowledging that the financial climate can be difficult for this generation, Oaks, first counselor in the faith’s governing First Pre…

With the COVID-19 pandemic increasingly in the rearview mirror, worldwide membership for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints topped 17 million by the end of 2022, a 1.17% increase from the previous year.But that growth was hardly wall to wall. Some places grew much faster, some much slower, and some saw their rolls shrink.There were enc…

The infamous and inexcusable Mountain Meadows Massacre lives on as the bloodiest stain on the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.The 2008 book “Massacre at Mountain Meadows” offered modern readers the most complete look to date at the atrocity, when, on Sept. 11, 1857, Mormon settlers deceived a wagon train of emigrants on t…

In 1998, a Utah publisher released “A World of Faith,” a children’s book by The Salt Lake Tribune’s award-winning religion writer, Peggy Fletcher Stack, with illustrations by celebrated Latter-day Saint artist Kathleen Peterson.Praise for the volume was wide and deep, including from former President Jimmy Carter. A commemorative version followed in…

Note • This podcast discusses sexual assault. If you need to report or discuss a sexual assault, you can call the Utah Sexual Violence help line at 801-736-4356.Rabbi Avremi Zippel was 8 years old when his nanny began sexually abusing him in a basement bathroom in his Salt Lake City home.For Zippel, the abuse, which continued for a decade, violated…

Devout Latter-day Saints don’t, or at least think they shouldn’t, watch R-rated movies.This belief has permeated their religious culture for decades. And while top leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have warned about such films, there has never been a general proscription against viewing them.In fact, a popular Latter-day Sa…

In the wake of President Russell M. Nelson’s decree to remove the “Mormon” name from common parlance in person and in publications, the need to replace its use on the internet with the faith’s full name was no easy feat.After all, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were widely known as “Mormons.” The faith even promoted a po…

President Russell Nelson, worldwide leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has urged women to be seen and be heard, to speak up and speak out — in their communities, in their homes and in their congregations.That may be happening at the grassroots level, but it isn’t occurring in the patriarchal faith’s highest-profile forum: Ge…

When President Russell M. Nelson took to the podium at this past weekend’s General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and steadfastly called on members and all others to eliminate contention and become, like the Prince of Peace, peacemakers, Patrick Mason and David Pulsipher had to be cheering.After all, the two scholars …

Depression, attention-deficit disorder, anxiety, anorexia, insomnia, scrupulosity, obsessive-compulsive disorder and more. Like people from every walk of life, missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not immune from mental health challenges.In fact, the stresses of full-time proselytizing, with its high demands and high…

In the 1830s, Mormonism’s founder, Joseph Smith, offered Latter-day Saints an expansive view of education. In his mind, temple (a religious space) and school (a secular place) were linked in a joint spiritual and intellectual venture. Smith urged followers in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint to gather “every needful thing” to further …

It seems to be a common human trait to wonder how others see us. Who among us is most likable? Most respected? Most trusted? It is, of course, of particular value to those in the minority, perceived as outcasts or threats or newcomers to the scene. This may be especially pertinent to faith groups.A new poll from the Pew Research Center found that r…

Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints complain about the fact that there’s no expansive or universal celebration of Easter in their religion.While much of Christendom builds up to the holiest day on the calendar with preparation rituals like Lent or immersive traditions such as waving palms on Palm Sunday, washing feet on …

In 1833, a leading Latter-day Saint, William W. Phelps, published a column under the headline “Free People of Color,” making it clear that, since its founding three years earlier, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exercised no racial barriers.Black members were not only welcome in the fledgling faith but also eligible for all of its r…

First came a whistleblower’s call for the IRS to punish Ensign Peak Advisors, the investment arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, accusing it of stockpiling a reserve fund worth tens of billions of dollars intended for charity but never spent for that purpose.Then came a federal lawsuit, now on appeal, from a prominent and prospe…

It’s Valentine’s Day, the time when many American couples turn to romantic thoughts and gestures. (Think chocolates and roses.) What better occasion to think about the nature of Latter-day Saint marriages?Bethany Brady Spalding and McArthur Krishna, authors of the bestselling “Girls Who Choose God” and “Guides to Heavenly Mother” series, have spent…

In the wake of drought, climate change and, primarily, human-caused incursions, the Salt Lake Valley’s namesake ecological landmark, the Great Salt Lake, is dying, shriveling up before our very eyes.Experts warn, in fact, that this shrinking body of water could vanish within five years, leaving behind an exposed lakebed and a source of toxic dust s…

There are plenty of people counted as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who don’t necessarily make their memberships count.They’re not all-in, but they’re not all-out either.They may have issues with church’s theology, history, policies, practices, people or any number of other reasons. Some eventually leave, but many stay,…

The question of just how church founder Joseph Smith produced the faith’s signature scripture, the Book of Mormon, continues to be debated.Did Smith “translate” the Reformed Egyptian writing from gold plates or did he invent the story of a Hebrew civilization living in the ancient Americas who welcomed Jesus Christ after his crucifixion in Jerusale…

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints often assert that the organization in their global religion is the same as in the church established by Christ and his earliest followers, “namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth,” as declared in the church’s Articles of Faith.But are they really the same?I…

It’s been an unexpectedly lively five years for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — with institutional changes as well as pandemic shutdowns — and all under the leadership of President Russell M. Nelson.The former heart surgeon became the Utah-based church’s 17th president on Jan. 14, 2018, at 93, the second oldest man to step into th…

Growth is essential to the mission of a missionary-minded faith like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.In headier times, that expansion seemed to come rapidly and resoundingly, spurring optimistic predictions that the Utah-based religion could top 100 million members by 2020.That didn’t happen, of course. In recent years, the global f…

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made national and international headlines during the year — and The Salt Lake Tribune and “Mormon Land” were there for all of them — from the purported discovery of the only known photograph of founder Joseph Smith to a heinous abuse case in Arizona and the church’s stunning support of the federal Res…

From Mormonism’s beginnings in the 19th century, founder Joseph Smith felt a strong responsibility to care for his burgeoning flock of mostly poor farmers and religious seekers. Waves of immigrant converts came from parts of the East Coast and Europe to form what they hoped would be a new Zion society.More than a quarter of what Smith said were div…

Despite being taught in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to believe that marriage was the highest goal for women, Rachel Rueckert had lots of anxiety going into her wedding day.Sure, she loved Austin, her husband-to-be, but she had deep ambivalence about the “for time and all eternity” aspect of the Latter-day Saint vows.Could she co…