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(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) A Christus statue is on display at the new Salt Lake Temple Visitors' Center.

Jana Riess: More about Jesus, less about coffee — seven LDS Church trends

By Jana Riess | Religion News Service | July 24, 2026, 1:55 p.m.

(AP Photo | Jessie Wardarski) Roughly a dozen people attend Pastor Ryan Burge's Sunday service at First Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 2023.

Commentary: Half of Gen Z says Trump support keeps them out of church

By Ryan Burge and Rick Richardson | Religion News Service | July 24, 2026, 1:38 p.m.

Latest from Mormon Land: Those sleeveless garments came out just in time

‘Mormon Land’: His scribe’s diaries provide further evidence of Joseph Smith’s secret polygamy

Latest Stories

(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

“Indigenous peoples,” a Native scholar writes, “have been uniquely othered within the LDS Church.”

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

(Amazon; Matt Eich | The New York Times) "Yesteryear," with Caro Claire Burke, the author.

Jana Riess: ‘Yesteryear,’ a tradwife satire, understands Christianity better than most Americans

The new bestseller has been criticized for having a shallow understanding of religion. I disagree. “Yesteryear” depicts how shallow American religion has actually become.

By Jana Riess | Religion News Service | July 19, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Rose and Keith Nguyen hold a picture of their daughter, Rena, in 4th District Court in Provo on Friday, July 17, 2026. Caleb Rees, who had been dating Rena Nguyen, had just been sentenced on a manslaughter conviction that stemmed from his abuse of her before her death by suicide.

In rare prosecution, BYU student’s boyfriend sentenced for manslaughter after abuse that preceded her suicide

The case is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States.

By Courtney Tanner | July 18, 2026, 5:26 p.m.

Joseph Smith, top left, and some of his reported wives, clockwise from top middle: Emma Hale Smith; Eliza R. Snow; Martha McBride (Knight Smith Kimball); Marinda Nancy Johnson (Hyde Smith); and Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs (Smith Young).

LDS Church founder Joseph Smith’s polygamy: The truth is out there — or is it?

Historians point to the diaries of his scribe William Clayton — which the church soon will publish — as more evidence, but so-called polygamy deniers inside and outside the faith aren’t convinced.

By Peggy Fletcher Stack | July 20, 2026, 11:01 p.m.

(AP; The Salt Lake Tribune) From left: a can of Diet Coke; a Brigham Young statue at BYU; and the facade of the pipe organ at the Conference Center.

Latest from Mormon Land: What people get wrong about Latter-day Saints — from music to Coke to BYU

Also: BYU professor’s book is all the rage; helping hands in Kenya; all-time high for missionaries; more about the Christian debate.

By David Noyce | July 16, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Audience members applaud The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square during a concert in São Paulo, Brazil, in February.

‘Mormon Land’: The state of the LDS Church in the country with more members than any other outside the U.S.

Why Brazilians have embraced the American-born faith and how they view U.S. culture, traditions and politics.

By Peggy Fletcher Stack | David Noyce | July 15, 2026, 1:30 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

“I have a boyfriend,” the former missionary says, “and I still like going to church every Sunday.”

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

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) More women are serving full-time missions after the church lowered the minimum age to 18.

LDS Church sets new missionary record. Here’s why.

Lowering the missionary age for women to 18 pays off.

By Dylan Eubank | July 14, 2026, 8:12 p.m.

(Mike Koshmrl | WyoFile) Debate remains about where the Martin Company's roughly 500 Mormon emigrants took shelter during an October 1856 blizzard. Elders with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1930s christened this nook of the Granite Mountains as "Martin's Cove."

Two decades after failing, the LDS Church may soon gain ownership of a sacred site

A quarter century after the church failed to buy Martin’s Cove, a renewed plan that would trade Latter-day Saint land has emerged — and it’s garnering broad support.

By Mike Koshmrl | WyoFile | July 14, 2026, 12:49 p.m.

Local Religion

‘Pioneering in their own ways’: See the Days of ‘47 parade in Utah’s capital

By Emily Anderson Stern | Bethany Baker | July 24, 2026, 7:48 p.m.
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global religion

Commentary: Half of Gen Z says Trump support keeps them out of church

By Ryan Burge and Rick Richardson | Religion News Service
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