Jana Riess

Senior columnist Jana Riess is the author of many books, including "The Prayer Wheel" (Random House/Convergent, 2018) and "The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church" (Oxford University Press, 2019). She has a PhD in American religious history from Columbia University.

All Stories by Jana Riess

Mormon “Ordain Women” movement changes strategy

By Jana Riess — September 22, 2014
Mormon feminists think globally and act locally as they prepare for next month's LDS General Conference.

What’s wrong with BYU-Idaho’s Mormon dress code

By Jana Riess — September 19, 2014
With regard to the BYU-Idaho dress code, it might be good for Mormons to remember that Jesus’ only words about clothes in the entire New Testament were an admonition for us to stop worrying so much about them.

My Mormon family may not be forever

By Jana Riess — September 18, 2014
How do you respond when your kids don't want to be Mormon anymore? Guest blogger Mette Ivie Harrison says her daughter doesn't need to be LDS to be righteous.

When is a Mormon prophet speaking as a prophet?

By Jana Riess — September 16, 2014
How can Mormons know when prophets are speaking because they are moved by the Holy Ghost, and not simply expressing their cultural views?

The Mormon social media flood

By Jana Riess — September 12, 2014
Geoff Thatcher gets a little frustrated when Mormon teachers try to ban smart phones in church. Can't they see the potential of social media?

Mormon apostle to women: “Now, don’t talk too much in those meetings”

By Jana Riess — September 11, 2014
The “don't talk too much” injunction is not so much a random aside as a visible pattern. Elder Ballard has twice in one month told Mormon women to rein in their voices.

Will Mormon apostle Dieter Uchtdorf address us in German at General Conference?

By Jana Riess — September 9, 2014
Maybe the excellent new policy allowing Mormon leaders to address General Conference in their own languages will point us toward the need for more leaders of color and greater international diversity.

Mormon leaders find unlikely evangelical and Catholic allies in fight against gay marriage

By Jana Riess — September 8, 2014
While I'm always glad to see Mormons cooperating with other denominations, the unlikely alliance of Mormons, Catholics, and evangelicals against gay marriage is a sad example of the old adage, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Pay tithing, be happy?

By Jana Riess — September 5, 2014
I feel uncomfortable when Mormon teachers and leaders suggest that greater health and happiness will follow when we pay tithing. But a new sociological study says it's at least partly true.

Enter a Mormon blog contest

By Jana Riess — September 4, 2014
Do you have an unusual or compelling Mormon experience to share? Then we want to hear it. And possibly even pay you for it.

Mormon mission failure

By Jana Riess — September 3, 2014
Mormon missionary Craig Harline was sure he'd be able to convert 84 people on his mission to Belgium in the 1970s. The reality was more like zero.

Utah polygamy ruling has the Sister Wives rejoicing, but how will it affect Mormons?

By Jana Riess — August 30, 2014
*No one* is going to force the LDS Church to perform religious marriages in the temple for anyone it would not already approve to hold a temple recommend. That's true whether Utah allows gay marriage, polygamous marriage, or marriage between a fish and a monkey.

3 key messages from Elder Ballard on men, women, and Mormon priesthood

By Jana Riess — August 28, 2014
It’s clear from the picture Elder Ballard paints of ward councils that while many words of value might be applied to women there – assistant, helper, supporter, or deputy, for example – “equal” is not among them.

In defense of moderate Mormon feminism — even without priesthood

By Jana Riess — August 26, 2014
Moderate Mormon feminists like Neylan McBaine are taking flak from both sides -- those who think they go too far and those who criticize them for not going far enough. But small changes are never, ever nothing.

I need Mormon anger management

By Jana Riess — August 25, 2014
A Book of Mormon story reminds me to keep my anger in check even when (especially when?) I'm feeling righteous indignation, as I have this summer over women's ordination and same-sex marriage.
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