Mormon Land
Mormon Land explores the contours and complexities of LDS news. It’s hosted by award-winning religion writer Peggy Fletcher Stack and Salt Lake Tribune managing editor David Noyce.
Episodes
Of the major Western religious traditions in the United States, only The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints retains the service-until-death policy for its top leader.
Last week, Dallin H. Oaks, at age 93, became the 18th prophet-president of the faith, succeeding Russell M. Nelson, who died Sept. 27 at 101. Unlike a leader in any other American-based faith, Oaks will be expected to serve until the end of his life — as Nels...
It’s fitting this week to revisit our 2021 “Mormon Land” podcast with the biographer of President Dallin H. Oaks, the newly installed leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In this episode, historian Richard Turley discusses his book “In the Hands of the Lord: The Life of Dallin H. Oaks," which documents the personal journey of a church leader known for his devotion to religious liberty, his doctrinal dissection...
The 195th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints looked much like any other in recent years.
There were talks by apostles and general authority Seventies, along with three women, punctuated by music by The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and other Utah choirs.
But it might be remembered mostly for what didn’t happen.
It was presided over by the Dallin Oaks-led Quorum of the Twelve Apostle...
As accolades and adoration continue to pour in after the death of President Russell M. Nelson, it could be time to assess the historical perspective and place of the oldest prophet-president in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
What will be his legacy? How did his leadership and innovations impact the global faith?
Then there’s the question of how his presumed successor, Dallin H. Oaks, will be “chosen...
Passion. Intimacy. Eroticism. Arousal. Sex.
These terms are as much a part of God’s plan in the theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as agency, repentance and baptism. Yet they are rarely discussed or even mentioned — save for in hushed, almost apologetic, tones — among members.
Such hesitancy is not found in Latter-day Saint therapist Jennifer Finlayson-Fife’s new book, “That We Might Have Joy: Desire, Divin...
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issuing two news releases condemning violence and calling for greater kindness and love, we are reprising this 2023 “Mormon Land” podcast.
Recorded a few days after church President Russell M. Nelson delivered his widely praised General Conference address on peacemaking, it is as timely now — if not more so — than when it originally aire...
When Russell M. Nelson, already the oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, turned 100 last year, the Utah-based faith celebrated him with a televised birthday party.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared Sept. 9, 2024, as Russell M. Nelson Day. Throngs of young single adults signed a giant birthday card. And members everywhere reflected on the centenarian’s accomplishments and leadership.
A new nine-part video series about Mormonism, titled “An Inconvenient Faith,” was recently uploaded to YouTube.
It tackles the thorniest issues — LGBTQ relations, feminism, church history, race, polygamy, Book of Mormon historicity and divine revelation — currently faced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The ultimate approach seems to be to defend the church and help explain how members can wrestle honestly with t...
Is the following playing out more and more among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
• The bishop asks Brother So-and-So to give a talk next week on being kind to strangers.
“No problem,” the member thinks. “I’ll just make a couple of queries in ChatGPT and, voila, instant sacrament sermon.”
• Or the Sunday school president calls on Sister Such-and-Such to pinch-hit in Gospel Doctrine.
“Sure,” the fill-in te...
The mission statement of Brigham Young University, the flagship school of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, says nothing about pursuing spots in the College Football Playoff or the Final Four.
It does say that BYU graduates “should be capable of competing with the best in their fields.”
So, in this era of “name, image and likeness,” with athletic budgets soaring into the mega-millions, does that mean the Cougars are ...
For many early Utah pioneers, James Brown Jr. was a hero of sorts. He led a Mormon Battalion company into the Salt Lake Valley just days after Brigham Young. He and his family settled Ogden, which became known for a time as Brownsville, and he served as a Latter-day Saint bishop.
As a prominent leader, he married 13 women — all sealed to him in temple rites — and fathered 28 children.
What most church members didn’t know was that J...
Gordon B. Hinckley, then president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stepped up to the microphone in General Conference in the fall of 2000 and solemnly denounced tattoos as “graffiti on the temple of the body.”
The following year, the faith’s “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet pointedly counseled young people not to “disfigure” themselves with tattoos.
With those words, body art — no matter how innocent, innocu...
On the fourth crossover episode between ‘Mormon Land’ and ‘Mormons in Media, ’ Rebbie and Nicole dissect the latest dating show to come out of Provo — The Altar. Rebbie fills Nicole in on the history of the show and Nicole can't seem to figure out why these 21-year-olds are so worried about marriage. Turns out, it's a lot deeper than she thinks. Plus, what IS a "basic Utah girl?" Let's discuss.
To Christians everywhere, the story of refugees is a part of Scripture. It is sacred. Adam and Eve, Moses and the Israelites, the Book of Mormon’s Lehi and his family, even Mary, Joseph and the child Jesus.
The history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints includes an epic journey of migrants fleeing persecution to find a promised land.
Latter-day Saints, then, have a natural affinity for immigrants. On top of that, mo...
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a standard crossing-the-Plains narrative: Pioneers traversed the Mississippi River on the ice led by Brigham Young. Everything was well organized, and everyone was well behaved. They trekked hard by day and prayed together at night. They sang “Come, Come, Ye Saints” around the campfire and then delighted in dancing to the tunes of fiddles.
Sure, there was hardship, so ...
The latest word from the IRS is that, contrary to popular belief, churches and other houses of worship can endorse political candidates from the pulpit without threatening their tax-exempt status.
When asked to comment on the tax agency’s stance, a spokesperson for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pointed, perhaps tellingly, to the faith’s official policy of political neutrality, which states matter-of-factly that th...
This nonpartisan Latter-day Saint group has called out President Donald Trump for continuing to spread the false narrative that the 2020 election was rigged and for targeting those who have reported the truth about his electoral defeat that year.
It has denounced the present federal administration’s quest for greater power and Congress’ unwillingness to act as a constitutional check against such executive overreach.
On the third crossover episode between ‘Mormon Land’ and ‘Mormons in Media, ’ Rebbie and Nicole are joined by Meg Walter, host of the ‘Hive Mind’ podcast. After watching the ‘Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ reunion, the three talk about the heaviness of it. Nicole asks the question: If faith is so important to these women, why stay in the LDS Church where they don’t follow the rules versus choosing a different denomination? We also t...
On Sept. 28, 2017, The Salt Lake Tribune premiered a new podcast, “Mormon Land,” and its first guest was Tom Christofferson, a prominent LGBTQ+ member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a brother of apostle D. Todd Christofferson.
Deseret Book had just published Tom’s memoir, “That We May Be One: A Gay Mormon’s Perspective on Faith and Family.”
As hosts, we were definitely neophytes, but the power of Tom’s narra...
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