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The Latter-day Saint blogger says faith is “on the move” as it strives to chart its future.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Teams take a closer look at the statue of Angel Moroni after it was removed from the top of the Salt Lake Temple on Monday, May 18, 2020. The temple closed in December for improvements earthquakes and suffered minor damage during the 5.7 magnitude earthquake of March 18, 2020 when the angel held trumpet fell and several small arrow stones were moved. Fewer and fewer temples in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are being built without the iconic statues of Moroni. This one, however, will be brought back to the top of the Salt Lake City Temple.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was once known almost as an ethnic group.
In the past three or more years since President Russell M. Nelson took over as the head of the 16.6 million-member global faith, elements of that identity have been removed.
Statues of the Angel Moroni, a figure of the faith’s iconic scripture, the Book of Mormon, are rarely added to the tops of new temples. The “live†temple endowment ritual, created as a kind of religious theater, has been replaced by a film. Class names for young women, including Beehive, Mia Maid, and Laurels, have been removed. Long-standing outdoor competitions are over. Nelson declared that even the use of Mormon’s name is a “major victory for Satan” and generally prohibited its use.
What Happens to the Utah-Based Faith? Does he risk losing his identity?
Liz Layton Johnson, a Latter-day Saint blogger who lives in Saudi Arabia with her family, discusses these questions and more for a church she describes as ‘on the move’ as she strives to chart a unifying future , but distinctive.
Listen now:
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