Tamarra Kemsley - The Salt Lake Tribune

(John Legg, University of Oklahoma Press) In "Mormon Settler Colonialism: Inventing the Lamanite," author Elise Boxer argues that anti-Indigenous racism is woven into the DNA of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Pioneer Day is just one example of the LDS Church’s anti-Indigenous racism, new book argues

By Tamarra Kemsley | July 21, 2026, 2:21 p.m.

(Nico Daniels) New York City fashion designer Pono Skousen found himself at the center of the latest debate over the place of LGBTQ+ members in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the faith's social media accounts shared his story.

About Pono, the gay LDS fashion designer whose story is dividing church members online

By Tamarra Kemsley | July 15, 2026, 7:00 p.m.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A statue of Joseph Smith's "First Vision" is seen at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. The Latte-day Saint belief about the Godhead separates them from many Christians.

What Latter-day Saints would have to change for Pastor Doug Wilson to consider them fellow Christians

By Tamarra Kemsley | July 11, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Church Administration and Office buildings in Salt Lake City. The global faith has a ways to go before its abuse response adheres to best practices.

What the LDS Church could do now to safeguard its most vulnerable members

By Tamarra Kemsley | July 7, 2026, 4:11 p.m.

(Rod Lamkey, Jr. | AP) Pastor Doug Wilson, shown in 2025, says in his "ideal" world all officeholders would be orthodox Christians. To him, that would leave out Latter-day Saints.

Pete Hegseth’s spiritual adviser longs for a day when Latter-day Saints can’t hold office or possibly even vote

By Tamarra Kemsley | July 2, 2026, 4:16 p.m.

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) The Debra Bonner Unity Gospel Choir sings at the 50th anniversary of the Genesis Group in 2021. Kimberly Applewhite Teitter, assistant director of the choir, says the addition of gospel music to the Latter-day Saint hymnbook shows "our culture belongs here."

What’s the right way for Latter-day Saints to sing African American spirituals?

By Tamarra Kemsley | David Noyce | July 1, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Kimberly Applewhite Teitter directs the Debra Bonner Unity Gospel Choir in 2021.

‘Mormon Land’: Why African American spirituals, four-piece bands and saxophones belong in LDS worship

By Tamarra Kemsley | David Noyce | June 25, 2026, 1:59 a.m.

(Annie Sorensen | Special to The Tribune) John Dehlin, shown in 2022, is fighting back against the church's lawsuit.

Podcaster John Dehlin’s answer to the LDS Church’s lawsuit: You don’t own the word ‘Mormon’

By Tamarra Kemsley | June 23, 2026, 12:18 a.m.

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) At a church meetinghouse parking lot in Hilo, Hawaii, on June 13, 2026, nonprofit representatives, members and friends of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meet to organize a food donation from the church as part of the America250 America Gives Initiative. Hawaii is the 50th state to receive a church donation.

LDS Church’s anti-hunger campaign reaches major milestone amid rising grocery costs

By Tamarra Kemsley | June 18, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Andrew Womack, from Idaho, and Brinley Meadows, from St George, participate in speed dating at a Utah Young Single Adult Conference in 2024. A new report suggests that Latter-day Saint men and women under age 40 have largely dodged the gender partisan divide growing across the world.

LDS Church’s LGBTQ stance continues to make the faith an uncomfortable fit for young liberals

By Tamarra Kemsley | June 17, 2026, 4:04 p.m.

(Sarah Blake Morgan | AP) A U.S. Army chaplain at Fort Bragg in 2020. Chaplains use the list of recognized religions to know how to minister to various service members in their units.

Why many evangelicals view the LDS Church as a ‘cult’ — and why it’s unlikely to change

By Tamarra Kemsley | David Noyce | June 15, 2026, 2:14 a.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) General authority Seventy Kyle S. McKay, the church historian, speaking in March, has apologized for brief remarks he made at a regional worship service.

‘I deeply regret saying what I said’ — A high-level LDS Church leader apologizes for offensive remarks

By Tamarra Kemsley | June 13, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Pascal Deloche | Godong Photo via Adobe Stock) A baroque painting depicting tortured souls engulfed in flames at St. Nicolas de Veroce church in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, France. Latter-day Saint Steven L. Peck offers a different take on the fate of damned souls in his horror novella, "A Short Stay in Hell."

For what appears to be the first time, a Latter-day Saint author numbered among the great English fiction writers

By Tamarra Kemsley | June 12, 2026, 3:30 p.m.

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Conferencegoers admire a statue of Jesus in the Conference Center during April's General Confeerence. Since its founding, the church has faced arguments that the religion isn't as Christian as its adherents claim.

‘Mormon Land’: Face it, says Latter-day Saint scholar, we are not like other Christians

By Tamarra Kemsley | David Noyce | June 10, 2026, 10:21 p.m.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) A Christus statue is on display at the new Temple Square Visitors' Center in Salt Lake City. Latter-day Saints certainly see themselves as Christians even though other believers may not.

Who’s Christian? After pushback, proselytizing from LDS lawmakers, Pentagon revises its list of religions.

By Tamarra Kemsley | Addy Baird | June 8, 2026, 9:57 p.m.

(Alex Brandon | AP) Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth explained changes in his department's list of recognized religions as part of a larger effort to root out "political correctness and secular humanism" from the Chaplain Corps.

Are Latter-day Saints Christian? The U.S. Defense Department doesn’t appear to think so.

By Tamarra Kemsley | June 6, 2026, 11:56 p.m.

(Church History Library) Members of the Washakie Ward at the Salt Lake Temple. The Shoshone Latter-day Saint congregation was formed in 1880 and continued to operate until 1966. A new digital database preserves the history of its roughly 1,600 members.

New database unlocks the history of an LDS congregation unlike any other

By Tamarra Kemsley | May 31, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(National Archives via AP and Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) President Dallin H. Oaks often touts the U.S. Constitution. Sunday's lesson on the nation's founding leans heavily on past sermons by the church leader on the need to "moderate and unify" on "contested issues."

LDS Church doubles down on commitment to pluralism in special lesson on nation’s founding

By Tamarra Kemsley | May 29, 2026, 3:09 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Church Administration Building, foreground, and high-rise Church Office Building in Salt Lake City. The global faith maintains a massive database on members that enables it to track those with a history of threatening behavior. But tracking abusers and preventing harm are two different things, experts say.

The LDS Church has a one-of-a-kind system for tracking abusers. Does it work?

By Tamarra Kemsley | May 27, 2026, 6:11 p.m.

(Eli McCann, University of New Mexico Press) In locating a book from his childhood, Utah influencer Eli McCann turned the volume into a bestseller.

Utah influencer turns a forgotten 1980s children’s book into a hot new bestseller

By Tamarra Kemsley | May 22, 2026, 1:30 p.m.