SPECIAL REPORT | JANUARY 2012 Behind closed doors, church leaders worry about defections and adapt to a world where Google can undermine the gospel MORMONS BESIEGED BY THE MODERN AGE BY PETER HENDERSON AND KRISTINA COOKE SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH JANUARY 30, 2012 REUTERS/GEORGE FREY REUTERS/GEORGE religious studies class late last reflecting greater secularization of society. year at Utah State University in Many religions have been suffering similarly, Logan, Utah, was unusual for he noted, arguing that Mormonism has never two reasons. The small group of been more vibrant. Astudents, faculty and faithful there to hear “I think we are at a time of challenge, but it Mormon Elder Marlin Jensen were openly isn’t apocalyptic,” he said. troubled about the future of their church, The LDS church claims 14 million members asking hard questions. And Jensen was worldwide -- optimistically including nearly uncharacteristically frank in acknowledging every person baptized. But census data their concerns. from some foreign countries targeted by Did the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ clean-cut young missionaries show that the of Latter-Day Saints know that members are retention rate for their converts is as low as “leaving in droves?” a woman asked. 25 percent. In the U.S., only about half of “We are aware,” said Jensen, according to Mormons are active members of the church, a tape recording of his unscripted remarks. said Washington State University emeritus “And I’m speaking of the 15 men that are sociologist Armand Mauss, a leading above me in the hierarchy of the church. They researcher on Mormons. really do know and they really care.” Sociologists estimate there are as few as 5 He then added: “My own daughter, one of million active members worldwide. them, has come to me and said, ‘Dad, why In their home state of Utah, the Mormons didn’t you ever tell me that Joseph Smith was are a falling percentage of the total a polygamist?’” For the younger generation, population, as their fertility rates decline and Jensen acknowledged, “Everything’s out immigrants arrive. there for them to consume if they want to In Africa and Latin America, however, Google it.” The manuals used to teach the Jensen said that interest in the LDS was so young church doctrine, meanwhile, are strong that the church has cut back baptisms “severely outdated.” in order to better care for new members. HERSHORN REUTERS/GARY These are tumultuous times for the faith THE MORMON MOMENT: (Cover) The faithful founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, and the THE RESCUE assemble outside the Salt Lake City Tabernacle in rumbling began even before church member With defections rising, the church has October, 2011 for the church’s 181st Semiannual Mitt Romney’s presidential bid put the launched a program to stanch its losses. General Conference. Last year, the church gained Latter-Day Saints in the spotlight. The head of the church, President Thomas new prominence in part because of presidential Jensen, the church’s official historian, Monson, who is considered a living prophet, bids by Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, Jr. But would not provide any figures on the rate of has called the campaign “The Rescue” and also because “The Book of Mormon” became a defections, but he told Reuters that attrition made it his signature initiative, according to Broadway hit. (Above) Andrew Rannells performs a has accelerated in the last five or 10 years, Jensen. The effort includes a new package scene from the award-winning musical. Mormonism is a dealbreaker for many voters WILLINGNESS TO VOTE FOR PERSONS OF VARIOUS CHARACTERISTICS FOR PRESIDENT: YES, WOULD VOTE FOR NO, WOULD NOT Black 94% 5 % A Woman 93 6 Catholic 92 7 Baptist 92 7 Jewish 89 9 Hispanic 89 10 Mormon 76 22 Gay or lesbian 67 32 An Athiest 49 49 NOTE: June 2011 poll NO OPINION Source: Gallup MORMON CHURCH 2 of materials for pastors and for teaching Mormon youth that address some of the more sensitive aspects of church doctrine. “If they are not revolutionary, they are at least going to be a breath of fresh air across the church,” Jensen told the Utah class. All this comes as the public profile of America’s Mormons had been raised by two pop-culture hits: the recent TV series “Big Love” and the current Broadway hit, “The Book of Mormon.” The attention, says church spokesman Michael Purdy, is a “double- edged sword.” It has been an opportunity to educate the public about Mormonism and fight misconceptions. For example, the “I am a Mormon” ad campaign, which features stereotype-busting Mormons who are black or single parents, helped boost chat sessions on the church’s website to more than a million in the last 12 months. REUTERS/GEORGE FREY REUTERS/GEORGE The curious find a family-focused church VOICES RAISED: The Salt Lake City Tabernacle is the crown jewel of the Mormon church, and its choir with socially conservative values that enjoys international reknown. Yet the church’s twelve “apostles” worry that the faithful are falling away. teaches Christian principles and believes Christ appeared to founder Joseph Smith in America, where Smith established the new Brigham Young, who led the Mormons to religion. Utah. Church members are satisfied with their The church denied the higher priesthood New Blood lives, content with their communities, to blacks until 1978 and still bars sexually A quarter of U.S. members are strongly see themselves as Christian and active homosexuals from its temples. The converts, a testament to the believe acceptance of Mormons is increasing, church’s active role in promoting California’s church’s aggressive proselytizing a recent Pew Research poll of people who Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriage, drove away some its more liberal members. describe themselves as Mormon found. Converted to Moreover, church leaders have taught that But on Broadway, the church’s gospel and Mormonism missionary zeal are mocked. And the Web the Book of Mormon is a historical document 26% has intensified debate over the truth of the -- not a parable -- so the faithful are startled history the church teaches. to find articles on the internet using science Not since a famous troublespot in Mormon to contradict it. history, the 1837 failure of a church bank in For example, the book describes Israelites Kirtland, Ohio, have so many left the church, moving in 600 BC to the Americas, where Jensen said. they had horses and other domesticated “Maybe since Kirtland, we’ve never had animals. But Spaniards introduced horses Raised as a a period of – I’ll call it apostasy, like we’re to the New World many centuries later, and Mormon NOTE: 2008 data having now,” he told the group in Logan. extensive DNA studies have failed to find any 74% Source: Pew Foundation Then he outlined how the church was using genetic link between Israelites and Native the technologies that had loosened its grip Americans, suggesting instead that North America’s indigenous population came on the flock to reverse this trend. That’s a common story to PhD student John across the Bering Strait from Asia many “The church has a very progressive research Dehlin, who conducts conferences nationally thousands of years ago. and information division, with tremendous for “unorthodox Mormons” wrestling with “I think you can find scientific studies public opinion surveyors,” he said. Among doubts and has a podcast, mormonstories. coming down on both sides, but the Book other steps, it has hired an expert in search- org. of Mormon doesn’t live or die on scientific engine optimization to raise the profile of the “I think this is an epidemic for the church,” evidence,” Jensen said. church’s own views in a web search. said Dehlin. “Most of the people we cater to But Christian Anderson, 41, a non- Researchers note a rising tide of questions have been life-long members.” practicing Mormon in Columbia, South from church members about the gospel The church is particularly concerned, Carolina, for years filed away on a mental according to Joseph Smith’s The Book of however, about its younger members -- the “shelf” concerns about the historical veracity Mormon, the best known of the Latter-day ones who are asked to dedicate two years of of the religion’s central text and its socially Saints’ scriptures. Over the years, church their life to spreading the Mormon gospel. conservative views. “It came to a point where literature has largely glossed over some of “It’s a different generation,” Elder Jensen the shelf was too heavy,” he said. He quit the more controversial aspects of its history, told the group in Logan. “There’s no sense attending service, telling himself, “Ok, I’m such as the polygamy practiced by Smith and kidding ourselves, we just need to be very done.” MORMON CHURCH 3 upfront with them and tell them what we What was supposed to be a half hour position on that will be significant. know and give answers to what we have and or hour meeting stretched to two hours. I have never ever been associated call on their faith like we all do for things we Participants took turns describing their with an organization that changes as don’t understand.” background. Balken talked about her love of fast as the Mormon church,” said former gardening -- and the pain infusing the family church researcher Ray Briscoe, 79, whose REACHING OUT TO GAYS of her wife, who was the only gay child in a investigations helped spur movement on Certainly the church can change, as it did a big LDS family.