MSSA News

Posted on

Job Opening at The Research Information Division at LDS Church headquarters

Attached is a job posting for the Research Information Division at LDS Church headquarters.  Quoting from an accompanying letter:

“As identified in the announcement, we are seeking bright, talented, energetic people with background in the social sciences. We work in a dynamic, team-oriented, multi-disciplinary environment. As a reminder, all applicants must be members of the Church in good standing.  In addition, over the next several years we expect to be filling other similar positions. If you are familiar with individuals who might become qualified over the next two to five years, qualified please forward their contact information to me. We are setting up a database to track future potential candidates.”

Here is the job posting.

And here is the letter announcing the job.

Posted on

Q: Mormons vs. Evangelicals in Utah?

Q: (1) What percentage of the Utah population is LDS and what percentage is evangelical and, (2) how have these percentages changed over time?  (3) Which evangelical denominations are present in Utah.

 

Answer:

Rick Phillips, Andrew Miles, and Armand Mauss all wrote in to suggest that the questioner peruse the American Religion Data Archive (ARDA) for this information.  Below are some maps generated using the ARDA website that illustrate the percentages Mormon and Evangelical by counties in Utah in 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2009.

% Mormon - 1980 (click for full size)

 

% Evangelical - 1980 (click for full size)

 

Mormons - 1990 (click for full size)

 

Evangelicals - 1990 (click for full size)

 

Mormons - 2000 (click for full size)

 

Evangelicals - 2000 (click for full size)

 

Mormons - 2009 (click for full size)

 

Evangelicals - 2009 (click for full size)

 

These maps were generated here.  The maps do indicate a declining percentage Mormon in some counties and an increasing percentage Evangelical Protestant.

The ARDA also includes a table with specific information on denominations in Utah in 2000 (see here).  According to that table, there were 42,420 Evangelical Protestants in Utah in 2000 and 1,483,858 Mormons/LDS.  This table reports 1990 membership information.  In 1990 there were 38,137 Evangelical Protestants and 1,236,242 Mormons/LDS.  Finally, this table reports the 1980 membership information.  In 1980 there were 23,464 Evangelical Protestants and 985,070 Mormons/LDS.  These numbers suggest a 51% increase in members for Mormons/LDS and an 81% increase in members for Evangelical Protestants.  These percentages suggest Evangelical Protestants are growing more rapidly relative to their size, but in absolute members the Mormons/LDS Church is growing more rapidly.

Finally, the 2000 table also provides a list of Evangelical Protestant denominations with members in Utah, though they vary in size substantially:

  • American Baptist Association, The
  • Apostolic Christian Churches (Nazarene)
  • Assemblies of God
  • Calvary Chapel Fellowship Churches
  • Christian and Missionary Alliance, The
  • Christian Churches and Churches of Christ
  • Christian Reformed Church in North America
  • Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
  • Church of God of Prophecy
  • Church of the Nazarene
  • Churches of Christ
  • Community of Christ
  • Conservative Baptist Association of America
  • Evangelical Free Church of America, The
  • General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
  • Independent, Charismatic Churches
  • International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
  • International Churches of Christ
  • International Pentecostal Holiness Church
  • Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
  • Mennonite Brethren Churches, U.S. Conference of
  • Mennonite; Other Groups
  • National Association of Free Will Baptists
  • Orthodox Presbyterian Church, The
  • Pentecostal Church of God
  • Presbyterian Church in America
  • Salvation Army, The
  • Seventh-day Adventist Church
  • Southern Baptist Convention
  • Southwide Baptist Fellowship
  • Vineyard USA
  • Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Rick Phillips also suggested the following articles from the Salt Lake Tribune:
And Armand Mauss suggested the New Historical Atlas of Religion in America by Edwin Gustad and Philip Barlow.
Posted on

Annual Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture – Richard V. Francaviglia

Sponsored by:
Special Collections & Archives; Merrill-Cazier Library; The Leonard J. Arrington Lecture and Archives Foundation; College of Humanities and Social Sciences; and Utah State University

The lecture is free and open to the public. Call 435-797-2663 with questions.

Dr. Richard V. Francaviglia presents:

“’Like the Hajis of Meccah and Jerusalem’ — Orientalism and the Mormon Experience”

Throughout their history, the Latter-day Saints have been compared to peoples of the Middle East, a region that was also called the “Near East” and sometimes simply “the Orient” in the 1800s. Like many Americans in the early 1800s, the Mormons were well aware of — and fascinated by — the Orient. In the 1830s, Mormon prophet Joseph Smith purchased ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and translated them into the Book of Abraham. Because Smith became a prophet in post-Biblical times, he was often compared to Islam’s prophet Mohammed. The Mormons’ belief that they were the true Israelites further linked their new American faith to the ancient Near East. So, too, did the Mormons’ interpretation of Native Americans as “Lamanites” (or Lost Tribes of Israel). The Mormon belief that repositioned important Biblical locations onto American soil (for example, the Garden of Eden) was also a factor. Within a few years of the Mormons’ 1847 arrival in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, Utah was popularly considered the New Zion or New Jerusalem. As Mormon historian Leonard Arrington noted, Brigham Young was portrayed as the “American Moses” who had led the Mormon “Exodus” to this new Promised Land. Associating the Mormons with the Orient was controversial and lasted a long time. It provided ammunition to those who argued that Mormons were strange or even dangerous, and yet it also helped generate interest in the Mormon faith. The process was mutual, for the Mormons were not only given an Oriental identity by others, but willingly adopted it themselves. Using a wide range of sources, this presentation explores how and why the Latter-day Saints were “Orientalized” to become a distinctive and exotic people on the American frontier.

Dr. Francaviglia is a historian and geographer interested in how cultural attitudes shape the American West. Among his ten books are three — The Mormon Landscape (1979), Believing in Place (2003), and Go East, Young Man: Imagining the American West as the Orient (2011) — that address the important role played by religion. Although he is Professor Emeritus (University of Texas at Arlington), he now lives in Salem, Oregon, where he actively conducts research for his consulting company (Geo-Graphic Designs) and recently began teaching courses in Religious Studies at Willamette University. All college students are invited to participate in a writing competition in conjunction with this lecture. Cash awards will be given.

Location:

Thursday, September 15, 2011, at 7 pm

Logan LDS Institute Cultural Center
600 Darwin Avenue
Logan, Utah

Free parking tokens for the Aggie Terrace Parking Garage will be made available for those who attend.

Posted on

Q: When did the program of using youthful males as missionaries become the norm within Mormonism?

Q: I am frustrated because lots of searching through the books I have, including the Mormon Encyclopedia, is not telling me when the program of using youthful males as missionaries became the norm within Mormonism. An article in the Encyclopedia mentions that initially the missionaries were usually married men who left their families for an unknown period. I know that the earlier format for studies with people by the young missionaries was published about 1960. But when did the two-by-two youthful ones originate, and what were the patterns between the “first generation” married men and the when the study format was published? If you know the answers to this set of questions I would be most grateful to have them, please.

A: Several members of the MSSA responded to this question.

Jan Shipps wrote:

In my own general research, the first mention I saw of the shift to young men came not long before World War II. I know that at the first of the war in Europe, the First Presidency was very much concerned about making sure that the American missionaries in Germany and other parts of continent could get home safely. There were lots of questions about whether missionaries would be drafted during World War II. But that does not tell us a lot.

Jonathan Stapley wrote:

The chapters in Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia by Reeve and Parshall on “Mormonism and Transition” and “Missiology” may be helpful.  Additionally, Payne’s article on sister missionaries in New Scholarship on Latter-day Saint Women in the Twentieth Century will also be helpful.

David Heap wrote:

My mother was a missionary in the Northern States Mission around 1953, 54. She said there were a few married elders, called because of Korea. But she understood that was the last of them, and that early on the McKay Administration decided to end the calling of married brethren to serve missions. I am not sure on what basis she said that (she is now deceased)–whether it was common knowledge, or whether she learned from President McKay himself or his son, who was my mother’s uncle.

Posted on

faculty position at BYU-Idaho

There is a faculty position open in Sociology at BYU-Idaho.  Here’s the description from the website:

Full-time Faculty – Sociology
Academic Office
Faculty
Teach core sociology courses in a comprehensive sociology program. Assignments could include theory, research methods, and statistical analysis. Teach general courses in inequalities and institutions, with an open emphasis. Additional responsibilities include advising students and other department and university assignments. Throughout their careers, all BYU-Idaho faculty are expected to actively pursue professional development opportunities in teaching and learning and ongoing scholarly development within their discipline.
Doctorate in Sociology preferred; master’s degree required with the stipulation that continued employment will be based upon the completion of a doctorate degree. Applicants must have a demonstrated commitment to and evidence of excellence in teaching. Applicants must be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and eligible for a temple recommend.
To be determined by department chair.
08-16-2011
Dependent on education and experience.
11-12-2010
01-16-2011
Resume
Cover Letter
Transcript 1
Curriculum Vitae
Letter of Reference 1
Letter of Reference 2
Letter of Reference 3
Other Document
Transcript 2
Transcript 3
Original transcript of degrees earned is required and must be mailed by the university to the following address:
Mr. Kelly T Burgener
Associate Academic VP for Instruction
210 KIM
BYU-Idaho
Rexburg ID 83460-1690
Peggy P. Clements
210 KIM
Academic Office
BYU-Idaho
Rexburg ID 83460-1690
208-496-1140
clementsp@byui.edu
Posted on

SYMPOSIUM TO EXPLORE MORMON MEDIA STUDIES

SYMPOSIUM TO EXPLORE MORMON MEDIA STUDIES

Public invited at no charge to attend Nov 11-12 symposium

PROVO, Utah – Oct. 21 – A first-ever symposium, “Mormon Media Studies: Across Time, Space, and Disciplines,” will be held at the Brigham Young University campus November 11 and 12, 2010.

Featured keynote speaker will be Dr. Terryl Givens, professor of literature and religion at the University of Richmond.  Dr. Givens will speak on the subject of “Fraud, Philanderers and Football:  Negotiating the Mormon Image.”

The conference will also include over 30 academic paper presentations on Mormons and the media; panel discussions on Mormon bloggers, Church public relations, Mormon film and more; and film screenings, documentaries and discussions.  “Lunch and a Movie” and “Night at the Movies” film screenings will be held at noon and in the evenings featuring rare and unique Mormon-themed films.

For more information about the Symposium, or to pre-order lunch for the event, visit the Symposium web site at http://ce.byu.edu/cw/mmstudies/.

Lunch can also be ordered by calling 801–422–8925.

(See flyer here.)

Posted on

16th Annual Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture

Sixteenth Annual Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture

Sponsored by:

Special Collections & Archives; Merrill-Cazier Library; The Leonard J. Arrington Lecture and Archives Foundation; College of Humanities and Social Sciences; and Utah State University

The lecture is free and open to the public. Call 435-797-2663 with questions.

Susan Arrington Madsen and Carl Arrington Present

“A Paper Mountain: The Extraordinary Diary of Leonard James Arrington”

The people of the Great Basin Kingdom are not often likely to witness a scholar, father, friend, mentor and Latter-day Saint of the stature of Leonard James Arrington. Along the way, Leonard Arrington was writing about all of these experiences in a diary—a diary that would eventually occupy 26 linear feet on the shelf at USU Special Collections. The record includes some 60,000 pages – roughly two pages per day for all of his eighty-three years until his death in 1999. The diary reveals in gritty detail not just his adventures as a church historian, but the history of many Cache Valley characters. It also provides a treasure-trove of information on his personal trials, triumphs, and disappointments, along with his joys as a friend, father, and scholar. This presentation provides a sampler of stories, hidden deeds, private opinions about public controversies, and insights into a man who was hailed variously as a genius, a dangerous menace, a valiant friend, and a wise father.

Susan Arrington Madsen grew up in Logan where she graduated from Utah State University with a degree in journalism. During her years at USU, she was awarded an internship with the LDS Church Magazines, wrote for the USU student newspaper as a senior staff writer, and wrote more than 40 articles for Collier’s Encyclopedia Yearbooks. Susan currently lives in Hyde Park, Utah.

Carl Arrington, the second son (middle child) of Leonard and Grace Arrington, was born in Logan, Utah, in 1951. He grew up in Cache Valley attending Adams Elementary, Logan Junior High, Logan High, and Utah State University. Carl currently works as a freelance writer and media consultant. He lives in New York City.

All college students are invited to participate in a writing competition in conjunction with this lecture. Cash awards will be given.

Location:

Thursday, September 23, 2010, at 7 pm
Logan LDS Tabernacle
50 N. Main, Logan, Utah

(see attached flyer)