President Russell M. Nelson LDS
Mormonism, as shaped by the culture wars
By Jana Riess — February 29, 2024
(RNS) — Debates over gender, race and sexuality have been part of Mormonism since Kirtland, says historian Benjamin Park.
The top 10 Mormon news stories of 2023
By Jana Riess — December 30, 2023
(RNS) — There's a mix of good news (more missionaries!) and bad news (more sexual and financial scandals).
The Mormon prophet’s test kitchen
By Jana Riess — October 3, 2023
(RNS) — Why do mature adults practice obedience? Hint: It’s not because someone told them, again and again, to obey.
What Mormons can learn from Twitter — I mean X
By Jana Riess — August 28, 2023
(RNS) — If you’re still calling X 'Twitter,' don’t send me hate mail about saying 'Mormon.'
Spencer W. Kimball diaries shine a light behind the scenes of modern Mormonism
By Jana Riess — February 17, 2023
(RNS) — This week’s release of the former LDS president’s diaries offers a peek behind the curtain of the 1978 priesthood/temple revelation and Kimball’s relations with Mormon leaders.
More Jesus, less touching: 14 changes to the Mormon temple endowment ceremony
By Jana Riess — February 10, 2023
(RNS) — Just four years after the most recent revisions, the LDS temple ceremony has undergone more changes.
Oh, now I get it: Purging the word ‘Mormon’ is a bid for the mainstream
By Jana Riess — July 14, 2022
(RNS) — I’m still not a fan of the attempt to purge ‘Mormon’ from our vocabularies, but it makes sense as a piece of the larger assimilation puzzle.
The top 10 changes President Russell M. Nelson has made in the LDS church
By Jana Riess — January 18, 2022
(RNS) — While many Mormons — including me — expected a Nelson presidency to be staid and uneventful, it’s been full of pleasant surprises.
Why so many new Mormon temples when LDS growth is flat?
By Jana Riess — May 20, 2021
(RNS) — If yesterday’s temple was a prize bestowed on area members when they had achieved certain milestones related to growth, today’s temple is a jumper cable, a tool to re-energize the sputtering engine of the LDS Church.
Leadership by old men: In Mormonism, gerontocracy is a blessing and a curse
By Jana Riess — February 15, 2021
(RNS) — With an average age of 90, top Mormon leaders are unlikely to be named in headlines about religious sex scandals. The cost of gerontocracy, though, is that they are also resistant to needed social change.
Top Mormon leaders get Covid vaccine and urge church members to do the same. Will they?
By Jana Riess — January 20, 2021
Some members are not happy that the LDS Church is taking a very public stand in favor of Covid-19 vaccinations.
The white privilege of U.S. Mormons
By Jana Riess — June 3, 2020
Lives are at stake here. It’s time to get out of the 1980s and do the hard, hard work of listening to—and acting on—what people of color have to say.
7 top Mormon news stories from 2019
By Jana Riess — December 31, 2019
From vaping (and green tea!) restrictions to a $100 billion nest egg, 2019 was a big year in Mormon news.
On oak trees, LGBTQ issues and the exclusive Mormon heaven
By Jana Riess — October 11, 2019
(RNS) — 'Two Great Commandments' was supposed to be about love, yet it felt like a refortification of boundaries against LGBTQ people. Again.
A year later, how successful is the war on the word ‘Mormon’?
By Jana Riess — August 20, 2019
(RNS) — Based on Google Trends, some change is happening in line with President Russell M. Nelson’s directive from a year ago. The term 'Latter-days Saints' is gaining ground.
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