The Mormon Land newsletter is The Salt Lake Tribune’s weekly highlight reel of developments in and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Support us on Patreon and get the full newsletter, exclusive access to Tribune subscriber-only religion content and podcast transcripts.
Ups and downs of missionary service
The number of full-time missionaries has jumped by 13.5% this year, to more than 71,000, apostle Neil Andersen reported at the recent General Conference. That’s a hefty leap.
Even so, the percentage of members going on missions is down from two decades ago.
Independent researcher Matt Martinich notes that 0.37% of Latter-day Saints were serving missions at the end of last year, significantly below the 0.55% in the early 2000s.
If that same percentage held today, the number of full-time proselytizers would top 93,500.
In his post at ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com, Martinich pins the drop on “decreased birthrates, low member activity rates in most of the countries with the largest church memberships, and potentially lower rates of full-time missionary service among young adults, particularly in countries where the church reports large numbers of members.”
Choose the right — or left
(Matt Rourke | AP) Blue Democratic donkey cookies and red elephant Republican cookies are seen at a Wisconsin bakery in 2012. College-age Latter-day Saints are the most Republican of any religious group in the nation.
You’ve heard the buzz about younger members tilting less to the right politically. That may be, but they still outpace the left-leaners.
In fact, Latter-day Saint college students are the most Republican of any religious group in the nation.
As evidence, data nerd Ryan Burge points to a survey from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which shows 45% of Latter-day Saint students ages 18 to 25 favor the GOP. That’s short of a majority but more than Protestants (42%) and Catholics (30%), and twice as high as the overall sample (22%).
The news isn’t all blue for the church’s blue brothers and sisters. They’re closing the gap, with 39% of young Latter-day Saints leaning Democratic. That’s higher than the U.S. faith as a whole.
And the spread is even closer among the most zealous partisans, with 12% identifying as strongly Republican and 10% as strongly Democratic.
The latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: Brigham’s wine mission
(Virginia Mayo | AP) This 2014 photo shows grapes growing on the vine in France. But southern Utah also was home once to a thriving wine industry, one commissioned by Brigham Young of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The church’s Word of Wisdom health code was treated differently in pioneer-era Utah than it is today. For proof, one need look no further than the “wine mission” Brigham Young established. On this week’s show, we explore its roots, its success, the problems it encountered (and engendered), and the demise it ultimately met. Listen to the podcast.
From The Tribune
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) James Huntsman, pictured in Salt Lake City in early October 2023, explains the reasons he left and later sued The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a recent Salt Lake Tribune story.
• In an exclusive interview, James Huntsman talks about why he left the church and is now suing it — and how he hopes his legal action will change the global faith.
• Here’s another look at how a church-commissioned, pioneer-era, Word of Wisdom-defying southern Utah mission produced not only wine but also problem drinking.
• Tribune guest columnist Natalie Brown poses an interesting question: Could it be that the varying degrees of faith and activity in the church have more to do with differences in members’ brains than their beliefs?
• Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, football Hall of Famer Steve Young and sex therapist Jennifer Finlayson-Fife are among the speakers scheduled at this week’s Restore gathering.
• So you’re new to Utah and its predominant faith, and you want to know why your Latter-day Saint friend or colleague or neighbor or even nemesis doesn’t down a cold one or sip a hot tea. Well, let us explain. It’s all here in our updated guide on the faith’s Word of Wisdom.
• At the same time, this member keeps yammering on and on about the Celestial Kingdom and the Liahona and Relief Society. You’re more confused than ever. Babble won’t help you here, but our updated A to Z dictionary (with more editions to come) will. Before long you’ll be fluent in Latter-day Saint lingo.
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