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Rejoicing and Mourning: Context for Selling the Kirtland Temple

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By David W. Smith

On March 5, 2024, Community of Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints jointly announced that, after years of discussion, Community of Christ had sold to the Church of Jesus Christ the iconic Kirtland Temple, several historic sites in Nauvoo, and many historical documents and artifacts.

This announcement was met with joy by many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Latter-day Saints) and with sorrow by many members of Community of Christ. As Latter-day Saints celebrate receiving ownership of these important historical assets, we can also “mourn with those that mourn” (Mosiah 18:9) in Community of Christ who are devastated at having to part with these cherished pieces of history. [Read more…] about Rejoicing and Mourning: Context for Selling the Kirtland Temple

A Mortal Davidic Servant?

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Some Old Testament scriptures tell about a latter-day “Davidic King,” “Davidic Servant,” or “Marred Servant.” The consensus of mainstream scholarship and teaching from leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that this refers to Jesus Christ, when He rules the earth after His Second Coming. But some claim the “Servant” will be a mortal man who may or may not be a regularly-ordained Church leader. Because of the name “David,” some speculate Apostle David Bednar will be the Servant, and the same was said decades ago about the prophet David O. McKay.

Many who are not Apostles or Church leaders have claimed to be the “Davidic Servant.” Recently it was reported a woman and her brother kidnapped her teenage son because they believed him to be the “Davidic Servant.” The belief in a “Davidic Servant” is controversial and has been associated with criminal and tragic outcomes. To an unstable individual who feels entitled to power or special spiritual gifts, the “Davidic Servant” belief can be used to justify immoral and unscriptural actions. To an ordinary member of the Church, belief in a coming “Davidic Servant” can cause frustration with actual Church leaders, a feeling of spiritual superiority to them, and an eventual loss of faith in the restored gospel altogether.

A Mortal Davidic Servant: Refuting the Arguments

Believers in a coming mortal “Davidic Servant” use several arguments to support their claim. Most are completely wrong.

Continued Here

I Know How to Lower Church Abuse Rates by 75%

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by Jennifer Roach

Note: Jennifer Roach will be speaking on this topic at the annual FAIR Conference being held in Provo, Utah, on August 2-4. More information here.

The rate of abuse that occurs at churches of all denominations is much too high. And while it’s true that children are at much higher risk of abuse at school, churches can and should hold themselves to a higher standard. [Read more…] about I Know How to Lower Church Abuse Rates by 75%

Latter-day Saint Enigma: Their Unexpected Troop Abuse Rates

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by Jennifer Roach

Note: Jennifer Roach will be speaking on this topic at the annual FAIR Conference being held in Provo, Utah, on August 2-4. More information here.

On April 19, 2023, The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced they had cleared the final hurdle before emerging from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals approved their plan for compensating victims of sexual abuse. That plan included an agreement with their insurers, all the local councils, and some of their sponsoring organizations to create a $2.4 billion settlement trust to compensate victims. This is the largest sexual abuse compensation fund ever. [Read more…] about Latter-day Saint Enigma: Their Unexpected Troop Abuse Rates

A Prophecy Fulfilled: Church finances are a blessing from God

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In early 2012, the economy wasn’t feeling all that good. The Great Recession had technically ended in 2009, but the recovery was weak. The Center for American Progress lamented “the slowest growth during the first eight quarters of an economic recovery since World War II.” Unemployment was still high–9.1% in August 2011–and job growth had slowed. The European sovereign debt crisis was keeping markets nervous. And DJIA, which had climbed to 20,000 in 2007 before plunging to 10,000 in 2009, was only back up to around 17,000.  [Read more…] about A Prophecy Fulfilled: Church finances are a blessing from God

New Resources Available on Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell and Religious Extremism

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The Lori Vallow murder trial has begun, and the Chad Daybell murder trial will likely take place later this year. Each trial is expected to last several weeks, and to bring up many of Vallow and Daybell’s extremist religious beliefs. There has already been a great deal of public discussion of their ideas like reincarnation (which they called “multiple mortal probations”), a prophesied “Davidic Servant,” a group of 144,000 servants foreseen in the Biblical book of Revelation, end times calamities, and their interpretation of scripture to justify violence. People have also been curious about the “Preparing A People” website and conferences that hosted Daybell and Vallow as speakers and podcasters.  [Read more…] about New Resources Available on Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell and Religious Extremism

Examining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Statement on the US Congress “Respect For Marriage” Act

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On November 15, 2022, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement on the Church Newsroom regarding its official position regarding the US Congress “Respect for Marriage Act” (RFMA).

To provide some context for this statement: [Read more…] about Examining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Statement on the US Congress “Respect For Marriage” Act

Defamation Down Under: Responding to the Aussie Allegations

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by Paul W. Hess

In late October 2022, a writer named Ben Schneiders published an article in The Sydney Morning Herald, followed by a 60 Minutes Australia broadcast he produced one day later in a coordinated media campaign that paints a dark and accusing picture of finances in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia. Jana Riess of the Salt Lake Tribune and RNS Religious News Service then references the Australian articles in her own piece dated October 31, 2022.  For much of the article, she appears to sound objective and open to waiting for the truth to come out, but in her heading and in the last paragraph, she seems to be fully onboard with the baseless Aussie allegations. Others, like KUER, Axios, and Fox-13, are now passing along the same claims as objective “findings,” along with similar claims relating to church donations in Canada. Questions are raised about the Church’s “morality” since even the Canadian reporter interviewed on KUER acknowledged there is no evidence that any tax laws have been violated. [Read more…] about Defamation Down Under: Responding to the Aussie Allegations

What You Didn’t Hear About the LGBT Pamphlet at BYU

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BYU unquestionably made the right choice to remove an LGBT “resource pamphlet” from freshman welcome bags, but the public doesn’t understand why. Reporting has sympathetically portrayed student activists and their purported good motives, but failed to detail their disturbing and harmful recommendations. 

The latest tempest in the social media teapot features yet another clash between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the antagonism of the growing activist class. BYU administration prevented several groups from giving an LGBT “resource pamphlet” to all incoming Brigham Young University freshmen, and the groups are condemning it for censorship, breach of contract, and hard-heartedness toward the needs of its vulnerable students. 

But are you aware of what’s actually in the pamphlet – and why the school administration was unquestionably correct to intervene?  [Read more…] about What You Didn’t Hear About the LGBT Pamphlet at BYU

Reflections on Abuse, Reporting, and the Church

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by Jennifer Roach, MDiv, LMHC

08/09/2022 Update:

Late last night the AP released video of Bishop Herrod, in his own voice, saying that the helpline told him he was not allowed to call, his hands were tied. He then goes on to say that he passed this information along to the next bishop. This is a helpful piece of information to have as previously it was unclear what he was told. It helps explain why the bishops did what they did. But I also think it’s fair to point out that this 9 min video is intended to give an emotional punch. Every visual image, piece of music, and word spoken is carefully chosen to drive home the same emotional point.  It’s actually rather well done if that is the goal. But they certainly are not going to include any information that takes away from their point, including things the bishop may have said that show a wider view of what happened. We get one short quote from him and nothing else. It is also fair to mention that an Arizona Grand Jury took up this question last year in case GJ21-0072.  They asked, “Did the bishops do anything legally wrong?” and while their conclusions are secret, we can observe that as of today the bishops have not been charged with any crime.

Also, by way of further correction it should be noted that no states have a law that makes reporting illegal, even by clergy.

Original Post:

Earlier this week, the Associated Press (AP) released an article telling the story of abuse that two young girls suffered, and the role that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints played in that story.  I’m a licensed mental health therapist and an abuse survivor. I spend hours every week working with traumatized clients who have also been through abuse. This story is not like my story, nor is it like most of my clients’ stories. It is the most horrific story of abuse I’ve ever heard. In addition to reading the AP article, I spent hours reading the court documents online. I figured that if I’m going to be reacting to this story, I needed to hear the whole thing. I won’t lay out the details here, and I do not recommend that most people go read the court documents, not if you value your sleep anyway.

For members of the church, part of what makes this story so awful is that the conclusions the reporter came to don’t show the whole picture. You know this intuitively, even if you can’t articulate what all of those nuances and differences are. But despite the problems with this article (and there are problems) it is worth reading. My own personal opinion is that every leader in our church could benefit from reading that story – not because he gets it 100% right, but because he is offering us an outsider’s view on a very tricky area. There are two extreme responses to this article that can easily be found online.  One is “circle the wagons” to protect the Church’s reputation. The other is to concede without critique the conclusion that the Church helps abusers continue abuse. Both are unhelpful. Instead, I am suggesting a humble reading of this article from an outsider’s perspective to see what can be learned or viewed in a new way. This reporter (Rezendes) has a long history of solid reporting on sexual abuse issues.  He is portrayed in the movie Spotlight about how he helped break the story of abuse in the Catholic Church while he was working for the Boston Globe. He’s not a random, unknown person sitting behind a keyboard somewhere making things up. We would be wise to listen and learn. So, what can be learned? [Read more…] about Reflections on Abuse, Reporting, and the Church