Mormon Land

A look back at a year of change | Episode 109

This has been a remarkable year of change in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It started way back on Jan. 2, with the introduction of gender-inclusive temple ceremonies, and continued throughout the year.
The about-face on the LGBTQ policy, a widened stance on civil weddings, weekly calls home by missionaries, female witnesses at baptisms and temple sealings, a new program for children and youths — and that’s just the beginning.
Blogger Jenny Dye, co-host of the “Mormon News Report Podcast,” has been tracking and commenting on the developments. She joins this week’s show to talk about the deluge of church adjustments, announcements, rescissions and reforms.
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Zandra Vranes on Latter-day lingo | Episode 108

Latter-day Saints pride themselves on being a “peculiar people,” and they have their own peculiar parlance to reinforce that image.
Stake centers, active, inactive, investigator, Primary, callings, sealings, fast Sunday, Word of Wisdom, baptism for the dead, garments, manifesto, the block. These terms all have specific meanings for members but can be head-scratchers for outsiders.
Zandra Vranes, co-author of "Can I Get an Amen?,” was raised in the church but is comfortable in black denominations, where women wear big hats and shout out their “amens.”
She joined this week’s podcast to talk about Latter-day lingo — how it can be funny, unifying, confusing, misleading, even off-putting.
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The play focuses on a big question: What if the LDS Church brought back polygamy? | Episode 107

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expressly forbids polygamy and has done so for more than a century. But plural marriage remains a part of its theology, enshrined in its scripture and practiced, at least through so-called sealings, in its temples.
Add to that the renewed chatter about legalizing polygamy in the U.S. and the question becomes: What if the church reinstituted plural marriage?
Melissa Leilani Larson, who wrote the screenplays for the movies “Jane and Emma” and “Freetown,” explored that notion in her play “Pilot Program.” She discusses that play, her views about polygamy and its place in the Utah-based faith’s past, present and future in this week’s “Mormon Land.”

How Latter-day Saint polygamists ended up in Mexico | Episode 106

When nine U.S. citizens were killed in a brutal attack in northern Mexico last week, much of the world learned for the first time about that area’s past and prevailing ties to Mormon polygamy.
Those ties include a complex cast of characters and creeds — both mainstream Latter-day Saints and breakaway believers.
Helping to untangle and understand this web is historian Barbara Jones Brown, executive director of the Mormon History Association who has studied and written about post-1890 Mormon plural marriage.

The LDS Church is growing — but not like it used to | Episode 105

A recent Pew Research report reaffirmed a rising trend: Americans, especially younger ones, are abandoning organized religion. It’s a phenomenon that cuts across denominations and is expected to continue.
But what about in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? How is this missionary-oriented faith faring in its efforts to recruit and retain members?
Turns out, says independent researcher Matt Martinich, the Utah-based church is still growing, though the rate has been dropping for decades. He says the faith continues to boom in West Africa, for instance, but growth is stagnating in Northern Europe.
Martinich’s latest survey shows retention of new converts is improving — 50% in the U.S. and 49% outside of it — but country-by-country rates vary wildly, ranging from 80% in Congo to 33% in Uruguay.
Martinich discusses those findings and more in this week’s “Mormon Land.”
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Psychology professor discusses conversion therapy, sexual fluidity and more | Episode 104

Individuals with same-sex attractions certainly can — and do — sometimes choose lives of celibacy to adhere to religious convictions, but, without an intimate partner, says a University of Utah psychology professor, they may find those lives lacking.
Lisa Diamond, an expert on gender issues, discusses that issue — along with questions of sexual fluidity and gender identity — as Utah regulators consider rules banning conversion therapy for minors — a proposal that, in its current form, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposes.
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TV journalist Jane Clayson Johnson talks about her battle with depression | Episode 103

During the recent General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Reyna Aburto, a high-level women’s leader in the faith, gave a widely praised sermon about depression, anxiety and other forms of mental illness that has members talking more openly about those issues.
Jane Clayson Johnson has contributed to that conversation. A journalist known nationally for her work at CBS News, ABC News and NPR, she faced her own battle with clinical depression.
In her book, “Silent Souls Weeping: Depression — Sharing Stories, Finding Hope,” and in this week’s podcast, she describes her own experience as well as what she learned from more than 150 other Latter-day Saints who have dealt with depression.
Johnson emphasizes why these stories must be told and how Mormonism poses some distinctive challenges for those suffering emotional afflictions.
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The life and legacy of Jane Manning James | Episode 102

When historian Quincy Newell was researching 19th-century African American Mormons, one name kept popping up: Jane Manning James.
This African American convert, who worked in church founder Joseph Smith’s household and eventually was “sealed” to him as a “servant,” probably still ranks as the most famous black female member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this side of Gladys Knight.
So Newell wrote a full-fledged biography of this pioneering black woman. Titled “Your Sister in the Gospel,” it was released earlier this year by Oxford University Press.
Newell, associate professor of religious studies at Hamilton College in New York state, joined “Mormon Land” this week to talk about the remarkable life and legacy of Jane Manning James.
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A look back at General Conference | Episode 101

This week we revisit and discuss — what else? — the recently completed General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Besides the usual prayers, songs and sermons, the weekend’s sessions included, as church President Russell M. Nelson promised, a number of momentous changes.
There were overhauls to programs for the Young Men and Young Women (with a heavenly, gender-inclusive twist in the latter’s theme). Eight new temples, including two more in Utah, were announced. Newly tweaked temple recommend questions were unveiled. Historic and memorable talks (such as the first by an African American general authority) and another controversial speech by Nelson’s first counselor were delivered.
Examining these events and the impacts they may have on the faith are Emily Jensen, a Latter-day Saint writer, editor and blogger, and Joseph Stuart, a doctoral candidate in history at the University of Utah and co-chair of the Mormon History Association’s 2020 Program Committee.
Listen here.

The Russell Nelson Era | Episode 100

To mark the 100th episode of our “Mormon Land” podcast, an expert panel will discuss how a 95-year-old leader is reshaping The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, overhauling prominent policies and sacred ceremonies, loosening some rules while tightening others, even changing how people refer to the religion.