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Gay Mormon characters step out of the shadows

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:22:03 MDT

Gay Mormon characters step out of the shadows

By KELLIE KOTRABA Religion News Service

Updated May 22, 2013 01:22PM MDT

Twenty years ago, a gay Mormon character stepped onstage for the first time. His name was Joe Pitt, and he was in Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches.” Pitt lived in New York with a good reputation and a bad marriage to a woman addicted to Valium. As colleagues dealt with the devastation and uncertainty of AIDS — it was the 1980s — he grappled with openly acknowledging his sexuality. He was Mormon. And gay. And the two didn’t mix. Before Pitt, there was a gay LDS c...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Utah Pentecostals praise God in ‘language of angels’

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:20:06 MDT

Utah Pentecostals praise God in ‘language of angels’

By Peggy Fletcher Stack The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 18, 2013 06:20PM MDT

Pastor Ronald Rice is pacing and sweating, roaring and crying as he warns his west Salt Lake City Pentecostal congregation about what he calls the “dangers of drifting.” “It doesn’t take long to get off course,” Rice bellows in his broad Southern accent, and a few call out from their blue padded chairs, “Amen.” “Watch for the warning signs,” he yells. More amens and a few claps. Beware of loss of focus, loss of priorities, loss of passion for God and his Word, loss of discipline and — Rice is ...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Frances Monson, wife of Mormon church leader, dies

Wed, 22 May 2013 12:56:24 MDT

Frances Monson, wife of Mormon church leader, dies

By peggy fletcher stack The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 22, 2013 12:56PM MDT

It was love at first sight — or at least first meeting — for the tall, loquacious Thomas S. Monson and the slender beauty, Frances Beverly Johnson. Soon, he was smitten, Monson later recalled, “I knew I’d found the right one.” Now, after nearly 65 years of marriage, Monson, the LDS Church’s 16th president, has lost the woman who walked in dignity beside him, providing quiet strength, support and encouragement as he performed his church duties. Frances Monson, who had been hospitalized for sev...

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Feds offer reward in Ogden church arson

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:09:03 MDT

Feds offer reward in Ogden church arson

By Kimball Bennion The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 20, 2013 07:09PM MDT

Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever torched part of an Ogden church earlier this month. Sometime during the evening of May 5, a Sunday, someone threw a Molotov cocktail through the kitchen window of a meeting house of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 1590 13th St. A release from ATF on Monday said that “several incendiary devices” were used in the arson. Maintenance wor...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sea Wolf returns to Utah this coming weekend

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:44:02 MDT

Sea Wolf returns to Utah this coming weekend

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 20, 2013 02:44PM MDT

Alex Brown Church, better known as Sea Wolf, is returning to Utah just a few months after his second trip to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, where he performed two sets at the ASCAP Music Café. This time around, he was able to spend some time at the festival, unlike the first time, when he flew in and out in a single day. “It was really, really fun,” Church said in a phone interview. “This time I had some friends there, and was able to see a film.” Church’s friends came from the ...

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Funeral set Thursday for Frances Monson, wife of Mormon president

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:04:53 MDT

Funeral set Thursday for Frances Monson, wife of Mormon president

By Bob Mims The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 21, 2013 01:04PM MDT

Funeral services are set Thursday in downtown Salt Lake City’s Tabernacle for Frances J. Monson, wife of LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson. No public viewing was planned but the public is invited to attend the noon funeral, officials of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Monday. Further details on the funeral, including speakers and burial plans, will be released later this week. Frances Monson died Friday at age 85 after having been hospitalized for several weeks. Th...

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Will Boy Scouts accept gay youth? Vote is imminent

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:45:34 MDT

Will Boy Scouts accept gay youth? Vote is imminent

By DAVID CRARY The Associated Press

Updated May 18, 2013 01:45PM MDT

With its ranks deeply divided, the Boy Scouts of America is asking its local leaders from across the country to decide whether its contentious membership policy should be overhauled so that openly gay boys can participate in Scout units. The proposal to be put before the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA’s National Council on Thursday, at a meeting in Grapevine, Texas, would retain the Scouts’ long-standing ban on gays serving in adult leadership positions. Nonetheless, some conservatives ...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

No tax exemptions

Sat, 18 May 2013 01:01:08 MDT

No tax exemptions

Updated May 18, 2013 01:01AM MDT

I have a solution for the possibly illegal and politically targeted scrutiny applied by the IRS to tax-exempt organizations. Remove tax exemption status from all organizations. If an organization operates in the United States, enjoying all the benefits of being in this country, then it should participate in funding the country. This approach would solve the current issue with the IRS, and it would allow churches like the Catholics and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to spout of...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Mormon apostle Oaks honored for his fight for religious freedom

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:04:02 MDT

Mormon apostle Oaks honored for his fight for religious freedom

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Updated May 17, 2013 06:04PM MDT

Respect for religious freedom is waning as more Americans abandon organized churches, and the only way to bring it back is through systematic education. Those were the conclusions of LDS apostle Dallin H. Oaks in his address Thursday in New York City to more than 600 people, including religious leaders of numerous faiths. The event was an annual award ceremony sponsored by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public interest organization “dedicated to protecting free expression of religious ...

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Faith in action: Concerts, global prayer and more

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:28:56 MDT

Faith in action: Concerts, global prayer and more

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Updated May 17, 2013 01:28PM MDT

Hilltop Gospel Choir with Salt Lake City Mass Choir Hilltop Gospel Choir, under the direction of Roberta Shimensky, will present its 2013 concerts, “Great Praise,” with this year’s guest choir, the Salt Lake City Mass Choir. Call 801-571-5777 for tickets. When • Sunday, May 19, 7 p.m. Where • Hilltop United Methodist Church, 985 E. 10600 South, Sandy Tickets • $5 Global Day of Prayer Global Day of Prayer will be observed. Everyone is invited for the musical gathering at 5:30 p.m. A proces...

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The BYU model

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:01:03 MDT

The BYU model

Updated May 17, 2013 01:01AM MDT

Re “As gay vote looms, church-based Scouting draws interest” (sltrib.com, May 13): When I was at Brigham Young University, then BYU President Dallin Oaks fought the federal government on student housing regulations. Because of BYU’s religious mission, he rightly insisted that university-approved housing be segregated by sex. What he didn’t do was insist that every university in the country follow BYU’s rules. That exemption is a good model for gays in America when it comes to religion. If a reli...

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As gay vote looms, church-based Scouting draws interest

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:45:23 MDT

As gay vote looms, church-based Scouting draws interest

By ADELLE M. BANKS Religion News Service

Updated May 18, 2013 01:45PM MDT

They have pledges. They have merit badges. And they may go camping. But they’re not Boy Scouts. Across the country, there are decades-old religious alternatives with names like Pathfinders (Seventh-day Adventist), Royal Ambassadors (Southern Baptist) and Royal Rangers (Assemblies of God). And as the Boy Scouts of America considers whether to change its membership policy to admit gay members (but continue its ban on gay leaders), some of these groups are fielding inquiries from people concerned a...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Robert McKay, businessman, son of Mormon prophet, dies at 92

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:59:43 MDT

Robert McKay, businessman, son of Mormon prophet, dies at 92

By dawn house The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 14, 2013 08:59PM MDT

From a tiny shop on Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City, Bob McKay was always ready with a big smile, decade after decade. In 1949, McKay and wife Frances opened their first jewelry shop. Two years later they moved McKay Diamonds one block south, to 157 S. Main St., where it became a familiar site for more than a half century. That same year, in 1951, his father, David O. McKay, became president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving nearly 20 years. The family’s notorie...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Temple Square trees cut down, will be replaced

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:06:29 MDT

Temple Square trees cut down, will be replaced

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 16, 2013 09:06AM MDT

Crews are removing about a dozen trees along the north side of South Temple between Main Street and West Temple. The trees are in declining health because their root systems have become bound by concrete and asphalt, said Salt Lake City spokesman Art Raymond. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will make a contribution to the city to improve the planting area where the trees are being removed. New trees will be replanted in their place, Raymond said. “Following enhancements, which wi...

Kirby: Dear God, give it to me straight

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:29:16 MDT

Kirby: Dear God, give it to me straight

By Robert Kirby Tribune Columnist

Updated May 17, 2013 01:29PM MDT

I heard someone speak in tongues once. By this I mean that I was physically present when it happened. Also it was directed at me. The memory of that experience is vague because it occurred early on a Sunday morning more than 40 years ago, in another world (Georgia), and I was not yet entirely myself yet. After a night of sinful endeavor, a friend and I missed our bus back to the barracks. Perhaps feeling guilty, ’Normus insisted that we kill time until the next bus by visiting a church across t...

Ogden’s Mormon temple gets its angel back

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:32:15 MDT

Ogden’s Mormon temple gets its angel back

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Updated May 8, 2013 08:32AM MDT

An angel returned to Ogden — and he’s staying put. Crews on Tuesday hoisted the 14-foot, 800-pound angel into place atop downtown Ogden’s Mormon temple, which is undergoing a face-lift. The fiberglass Angel Moroni — covered in gold leaf and blowing a trumpet — was removed when the temple renovation began in April 2011, according to a news release from the Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The statue then was reconditioned and returned to its former home. On Monday...

Gay Christian’s book explores love, hate in U.S. churches

Fri, 10 May 2013 20:22:48 MDT

Gay Christian’s book explores love, hate in U.S. churches

By ray parker The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 10, 2013 08:22PM MDT

Journalist Jeff Chu, a gay Christian who was raised Southern Baptist, recently told a Salt Lake City audience how he came to an understanding of one of America’s most notorious evangelical churches: the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. The church’s website is Godhatesfags.com, and the phrase has become a sort of mantra for the congregation’s 40 members, who have garnered international media attention. Chu said he wanted to understand even the extreme answers to a central question confro...

No friend to families

Sat, 11 May 2013 01:01:04 MDT

No friend to families

Updated May 11, 2013 01:01AM MDT

Brian Moench’s “Spray at your own risk” (Opinion, May 5) troubled me. Pesticides harm humans and other animals, but our state government does little. I used to believe Utah was a family-friendly state; no longer. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is family-friendly; the state of Utah isn’t. We won’t pay for universal pre-school, not even for lower-income families, although research shows that makes a huge difference in a child’s entire life. That should be no surprise, since of ...

Faith in action: Garden sale, concerts galore and more

Fri, 10 May 2013 17:37:48 MDT

Faith in action: Garden sale, concerts galore and more

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Updated May 10, 2013 05:37PM MDT

Sandy Gardenfest Gardenfest is a garden sale that supports the missions of Grace Lutheran Church and School, including the Utah Food Bank, through the new school vegetable garden, Grace Gardens. When • Saturday, May 11, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Where • Grace Lutheran Church & School, 1815 E. 9800 South, Sandy Tickets • Free Sanctus Real — The Promises Tour Christian band Sanctus Real will perform with JJ Heller and Bread of Stone. Visit www.notashamedmedia.com/#!utah/cu40 for tickets. When • Saturd...

New leaders for Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable

Fri, 10 May 2013 17:37:48 MDT

New leaders for Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Updated May 10, 2013 05:37PM MDT

The Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable, which traces its roots to Utah’s preparations for and staging of the 2002 Winter Olympics, has new leadership. The Rev. Elias Koucos is now the executive board’s chairman. Koucos, rector at Holladay’s Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church, is a Salt Lake City native and an original member of the Salt Lake Winter Olympics Interfaith Roundtable, created in 1999 to oversee interfaith events during the Games. “I am truly humbled and honored to be serving in this ca...