Mormon Land

Questions persist inside and outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about the $100 billion reserve the faith has amassed in an investment account.

In this week’s “Mormon Land” podcast, historian D. Michael Quinn says the church’s reserves are actually much steeper than has been reported. But, he adds, so are its expenses, especially in supporting its global presence.

Quinn, a scholar who has done the deepest dive to date into the history of Latter-day Saint finances — his 2017 book, “Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth & Corporate Power,” remains the definitive volume on the subject — discusses the issue.

Nearly 50 years ago, France Davis arrived in Utah, where he became the pastor of the state’s most prominent black congregation.

For 46 years, he led Calvary Baptist Church. But Davis is more than a preacher. He’s an educator, who has taught communication and ethnic studies at the University of Utah; a civic activist, who has served on numerous boards and commissions; and a civil rights icon, who marched for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery.

During his decades in the Beehive State, his words have carried a resounding moral clout and clarity that belie his small stature and soft-spoken nature.

As Davis retired at year’s end from the pulpit, he joined the podcast to talk about his time leading a Baptist church in the heart of Mormondom.

Recent news reports of a $100 billion investment portfolio amassed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have focused attention once again on the subject of Mormon wealth.

Whether the Utah-based faith may have violated tax laws — as some allege and church officials deny — is just one issue. The deeper questions may be: How much is too much for a church to hold in reserve? How much should members and others know about the faith’s finances? And should all churches be required to be more open about their money?

Nathan Oman, the Rollins Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School who is writing a book on Mormon legal history, addresses those questions and more in this week’s podcast.

When Utahns recently rallied for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, there was Gayle Ruzicka vowing to oppose it.

Considered one of the most powerful people never to have held elected office, Ruzicka, the conservative activist and president of the Utah Eagle Forum, can be counted on to be in the midst of high-profile fights — from abortion to sex education, gay marriage to conversion therapy, hate crimes legislation to medical marijuana.

She talks about her activism and how her Latter-day Saint faith informs her lobbying — even when it stretches beyond the church’s positions.

From its earliest days, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has emphasized community. But the global faith of 16.3 million members may be shifting somewhat from that collective approach.

Sunday services have been trimmed from three hours to two with a new emphasis on home-centered, church-supported gospel study. Scouting is on the way out, replaced by a more individualized program for young children and teens.

By most accounts, members are excited about and eager for the new direction, but could something be lost in the process? Matthew Bowman, head of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University, discusses that question and more in this week’s podcast.

This has been a remarkable year of change in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It started way back on Jan. 2, with the introduction of gender-inclusive temple ceremonies, and continued throughout the year.

The about-face on the LGBTQ policy, a widened stance on civil weddings, weekly calls home by missionaries, female witnesses at baptisms and temple sealings, a new program for children and youths — and that’s just the beginning.

Blogger Jenny Dye, co-host of the “Mormon News Report Podcast,” has been tracking and commenting on the developments. She joins this week’s show to talk about the deluge of church adjustments, announcements, rescissions and reforms.

Listen here.

Latter-day Saints pride themselves on being a “peculiar people,” and they have their own peculiar parlance to reinforce that image.

Stake centers, active, inactive, investigator, Primary, callings, sealings, fast Sunday, Word of Wisdom, baptism for the dead, garments, manifesto, the block. These terms all have specific meanings for members but can be head-scratchers for outsiders.

Zandra Vranes, co-author of "Can I Get an Amen?,” was raised in the church but is comfortable in black denominations, where women wear big hats and shout out their “amens.”

She joined this week’s podcast to talk about Latter-day lingo — how it can be funny, unifying, confusing, misleading, even off-putting.

Listen here.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expressly forbids polygamy and has done so for more than a century. But plural marriage remains a part of its theology, enshrined in its scripture and practiced, at least through so-called sealings, in its temples.

Add to that the renewed chatter about legalizing polygamy in the U.S. and the question becomes: What if the church reinstituted plural marriage?

Melissa Leilani Larson, who wrote the screenplays for the movies “Jane and Emma” and “Freetown,” explored that notion in her play “Pilot Program.” She discusses that play, her views about polygamy and its place in the Utah-based faith’s past, present and future in this week’s “Mormon Land.”

When nine U.S. citizens were killed in a brutal attack in northern Mexico last week, much of the world learned for the first time about that area’s past and prevailing ties to Mormon polygamy.

Those ties include a complex cast of characters and creeds — both mainstream Latter-day Saints and breakaway believers.

Helping to untangle and understand this web is historian Barbara Jones Brown, executive director of the Mormon History Association who has studied and written about post-1890 Mormon plural marriage.

A recent Pew Research report reaffirmed a rising trend: Americans, especially younger ones, are abandoning organized religion. It’s a phenomenon that cuts across denominations and is expected to continue.

But what about in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? How is this missionary-oriented faith faring in its efforts to recruit and retain members?

Turns out, says independent researcher Matt Martinich, the Utah-based church is still growing, though the rate has been dropping for decades. He says the faith continues to boom in West Africa, for instance, but growth is stagnating in Northern Europe.

Martinich’s latest survey shows retention of new converts is improving — 50% in the U.S. and 49% outside of it — but country-by-country rates vary wildly, ranging from 80% in Congo to 33% in Uruguay.

Martinich discusses those findings and more in this week’s “Mormon Land.”

Listen here: