It wasn’t until 1978 (after the priesthood/temple ban on Black members ended) that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began sending full-time missionaries in earnest to sub-Saharan Africa. Since then, though, the Utah-based faith has seen dramatic growth on the continent, and now Latter-day Saint chapels and temples can be found in a multitude of African nations. So, what are the appeals of this American-born faith in lands so physically and culturally distant? Why do some Africans see this patriarchal faith as a “woman’s church”? How has the Word of Wisdom helped transform Africa ..read more

Like most Americans in the buildup to the 2024 election, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints found themselves caught up in the polarizing tug-of-war over who should be the next president of the United States. Four years ago, a number of Latter-day Saints, for decades a reliably Republican voting bloc, had bucked Donald Trump and backed Joe Biden, helping to deliver a crucial battleground state, Arizona, for the Democrat. Those forces were at play again this time around in Arizona and neighboring Nevada for Kamala Harris, with the Trump campaign courting La ..read more

Latter-day Saint Jenna Carson, who became the first member ever to serve as a chaplain in the federal prison system, was a student at Harvard Divinity School when, she said, God called her to become a military chaplain. That was 2015. And although Carson did not yet know it, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not at that time grant women the all-important endorsement required by the Defense Department. Female Latter-day Saints could obtain endorsements to serve as chaplains in hospitals, education, hospice care and prisons — but not, it turned out, the military. Nevertheless ..read more

In 2014, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published an official essay detailing Joseph Smith’s marriages to multiple women. After decades of insisting otherwise, the Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has since conceded that the faith founder did participate in polygamy. Highly regarded scholarly works have documented Smith had at least 33 wives, and most historians widely accept that the church leader preached — albeit privately — and practiced plural marriage. So why is this issue gaining increased attention in various Mo ..read more

For more than 160 years, Americans have celebrated a public holiday to express thankfulness — whether for a bountiful harvest, a successful business, a happy marriage, healthy children or a welcoming community. And, in 2020, President Russell M. Nelson, leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, urged members to flood the internet with messages of gratitude, even as a global pandemic was sewing death and disease in every nation. These days, there seems to be a national trend for keeping gratitude journals or practicing mindfulness. But what’s the benefit of it? Does it really h ..read more

Six years after the first volume in the “Saints” series hit the stands, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is out with its fourth and final installment in the faith’s latest official history. Titled “Saints: Sounded in Every Ear,” the text documents the years of 1955 to 2020 and covers a range of milestones, including the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the end of the priesthood/temple ban against Black members, the struggles over LGBTQ rights, and the church’s opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment. On this week’s show, Jed Woodworth, the managing historian of the series, a ..read more

Listener alert • Be advised that while we strived to keep spoilers to a minimum, the discussion reveals some elements from the film. So, if you plan to see “Heretic,” you may want to view the movie first, and then go to our podcast. Two female missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enter the home of “Mr. Reed,” apparently a welcoming seeker with, it turns out, his own marked-up copy of the Book of Mormon, the faith’s foundational scripture. Could this be a heaven-sent “golden contact” eager to embrace the Latter-day Saint gospel? Hardly. The young proselytizers h ..read more

The ever-expanding tally of temples under President Russell M. Nelson is truly staggering. Since taking the helm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he has announced 185 — more than half — of the faith’s global total of 367 planned or existing temples. At the recently completed General Conference, the 100-year-old religious leader explained the reason for the building blitz rather succinctly: God commanded it, he declared, because “the Savior is coming again.” Historian Benjamin Park sees other forces at play as well. In a recent piece for The Salt Lake Tribune, titled “Russell ..read more

The biggest recent news for members, especially women, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the introduction in some hot, humid regions of “sleeveless” temple garments. Faithful Latter-day Saints wear temple garments underneath their clothing as a reminder of sacred covenants. They are not meant to be seen, but the style and cut of them have been difficult to conceal under ever-evolving fashions. That is why so many women were delighted by one of the redesign options — labeled “open sleeve” — because it looks more like a tank top than the current capped sleeve ..read more

By following an unconventional parenting path, Latter-day Saints Gabrielle and Ben Blair have learned to buck conventional parenting wisdom — and, along the way, remove a lot of the stress that comes with raising kids. On this week’s show, Gabrielle Blair, founder of Design Mom and The New York Times bestselling author of “Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion,” and Ben Blair, co-founder and president of Newlane University, discuss what they have discovered on their parental journey. They spell all that out and more in their new book, “The Kids ..read more