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, podcast transcripts and exclusive access to all Tribune religion content.
Files on the rank and file
Benjamin Park’s latest book, “American Zion: A New History of Mormonism,” carries a wealth of tantalizing tidbits.
Here’s one about dossiers the church kept on suspected dissidents:
At a 1992 symposium, scholar Lavina Fielding Anderson stunned her audience when she revealed that the church had been maintaining “secret files” on Latter-day Saints.
“[Scholar] Eugene England … stood up and declared, with his finger violently stabbing the air, ‘I accuse that committee of undermining our church,’” Park writes. “An AP reporter who witnessed the spectacle soon ran the story, prompting an immediate media uproar. The church soon confirmed the existence of the Strengthening Church Members Committee, which a spokesperson said provided local leaders with ‘information designed to help them counsel with members who, however well-meaning, may hinder the progress of the church through public criticism.”
The apostles who led the panel: James Faust and eventual church President Russell Nelson.
FAIR, a Latter-day Saint apologist group, cited a 1992 statement from the governing First Presidency pointing to a scriptural mandate for such a committee and stating that its members “work through established priesthood channels, and neither impose nor direct church disciplinary action.”
Anderson, who died last year, was excommunicated in 1993 as part of the “September Six.” She continued to attend church services, even after the First Presidency denied her request for rebaptism in 2019.
A dirty soda’s best friend
(Calla Kessler | The New York Times) The Adventure Quencher Travel Tumbler, shown in 2022. The bottles have proved popular with Latter-day Saints.
The Stanley Cup is hot and, well, cold.
No, not ice hockey’s storied championship trophy but rather those thermos tumblers designed to keep cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot for hours upon hours.
And, for what it’s worth, SCREENSHOT Media’s website credits, in part, Word of Wisdom-abiding Latter-day Saints for the rising popularity of Stanley Quenchers.
The thinking goes that members, especially women, find the stainless steel bottles the perfect mug for carrying their “dirty sodas,” including Cokes, Pepsis and other caffeinated colas spiked with all sorts of sugary syrups.
The latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: A fresh take on church history
(Photo by Mike Hoogterp) Benjamin Park, author of "Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier" and “American Zion: A New History of Mormonism."
Benjamin Park, author of “American Zion: A New History of Mormonism,” discusses J. Reuben Clark’s church, Gordon Hinckley’s Olympics, Russell Nelson’s reforms, and more key players and moments in church history.
Listen to the podcast.
From The Tribune
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Relief Society General President Camille Johnson receives a warm welcome from Latter-day Saint women at a meetinghouse in Nairobi, Kenya, in February 2023. Natalie Brown notes women are vital to church operations, even if they lack ecclesiastical authority.
• So how many women does a Latter-day Saint ward need? Tribune guest columnist Natalie Brown asks. Well, technically, none. But practically, a whole lot.
• In 2021, singing sensation David Archuleta wrote a children’s book titled “My Little Prayer.” The “American Idol” alum’s next publishing effort promises to be much different. He is penning a memoir that will include his coming out and his struggles growing up as a Latter-day Saint.
• A Utah brewery is giving up its “Deseret” beer label after an attorney warned it infringed on like-named church-owned businesses such as the Deseret News, Deseret Book and Deseret Industries.
• Benjamin Park’s sweeping new history of the church, “American Zion,” tells the sweeping saga of the rise, rifts and resilience of the nation’s most successful homegrown religion.
• From the extensive cast of characters in Park’s book, we spotlight three key Latter-day Saints: a women’s reformer, a disheartened Native American and a daring (and dueling) theologian.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Former member of the First Presidency J. Reuben Clark, left, and Clark Gilbert, church commissioner of education.
• Call it the “Clark connection.” From 20th-century apostle J. Reuben Clark to the current commissioner of church education, Clark Gilbert, Park sees BYU seeking to put faith first amid the culture wars.
• Utah is home to more multilevel marketing businesses per capita than any other state. One reason: Latter-day Saints, especially conservative women, seem drawn to such work.
• Apostle Gerrit Gong is poised to dedicate Utah’s Taylorsville Temple on June 2 after an April 13-May 18 open house.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) The Taylorsville Temple.
