Mormon Land

On April 4, millions of Latter-day Saints worldwide raised their hands to show symbolic support for their new prophet-president, Dallin H. Oaks.

It was a rare ritual, called a solemn assembly, done primarily at the time of a new leader for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But this act of “sustaining” is also commonly used in congregations as a way to express goodwill and welcoming to new members and to members who have completed their volunteer assignments or are accepting new ones.

“With those raised hands and encouraging smiles, we [are] participating in common consent, where we can choose to sustain, by the raising of the right hand, those called to serve,” apostle Patrick Kearon explained right after Oaks’ solemn assembly. “Common consent is not a mere formality but a beautiful mix of our agency, unity and faith. It is a voluntary, personal commitment to support, uphold and help the Lord’s called servants in their responsibility.”

And it is almost always unanimous.

But does that act imply members are or should be in complete agreement with those who are sustained? Or that the leaders are infallible? Or that the thinking among members is done?

On this week’s show, Taylor Kerby, author of “Scrupulous: My Obsessive Compulsion for God,” and Heather Sundahl, a historian at Exponent II and a marriage and family therapist in Provo, discuss the church’s teachings about “sustaining.”

Nearly 50 years ago, Latter-day Saint prophet-president Spencer W. Kimball warned boldly and directly about the dangers of war, including the vast resources used in the destruction of America’s enemies. The Yoda-like leader cautioned that members were becoming a “warlike people.” His successors in the office, though, have rarely spoken with such passion and purpose. Their condemnations of war and proclamations of peace have been more tempered, more cautious, more general.

Now the U.S. is at war again and other religious leaders, most notably Pope Leo XIV, have condemned the military assault. In his first General Conference sermon as the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dallin H. Oaks gave a major address urging members to be peacemakers — echoing Jesus’ call in the Sermon on the Mount — but his remarks were mostly aimed at interpersonal rather than geopolitical conflicts.

What has happened in the intervening decades to cause Latter-day Saint presidents to avoid speaking up about war? Why are some members wishing their leaders were following the pope’s lead?

Discussing those questions and more related to war and peace are Patrick Mason, chair of Mormon history and culture at Utah State University who wrote a book titled: “Proclaim Peace: The Restoration’s Answer to an Age of Conflict" and Holly Burton, a Utahn who is studying conflict management and resolution at the Kroc School of Peace Studies at the Catholic-led University of San Diego.

Netflix's harrowing 4-part docuseries focuses on the crimes of Sam Batemen, but before Sam Bateman there was Warren Jeffs. As outsiders, Nicole and Rebbie can't begin to understand how either of these men were able to do what they did. Cristina helps contextualize what these religious doctrines and communities are like, how they differ from each other, where they can be mischaracterized, and what kinds of media can help vs. hurt.

Resources: 

Cherished Families: https://www.cherishfamilies.org/

Kidnapped From That Land: https://www.amazon.com/Kidnapped-That-Land-Government-Polygamist/dp/0874805287

Unfinished Short Creek podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/lu/podcast/introducing-unfinished-short-creek/id1516705248?i=1000488964911

There was plenty of good growth news — at least on its books — for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2025: a record number of convert baptisms of more than 385,000; an overall global membership climbing ever closer to 18 million; and at least 44 nations or territories with annual growth rates above 10%.

At the same time, the United States, the nation with the most Latter-day Saints, saw its net raw numbers decline for the first time, and children of record continued to lag well below 100,000.

On this week’s show, we dissect the latest data — from the exceptional expansions in parts of the Global South to the stagnant figures in other parts of the world — with independent researcher Matt Martinich, who tracks such data for the websites cumorah.com and ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com.

The three most recent presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died at ages 101, 90 and 97.

In fact (not counting founder Joseph Smith) church presidents live to an average age of 87. And the current leader, Dallin Oaks, is 93.

Decades ago, liberal apostle Hugh B. Brown, a self-proclaimed “rebel,” saw this emerging gerontocracy as a problem and proposed a remedy, which included granting emeritus status at age 70 to all apostles, even members of the governing First Presidency.

In addition, Brown wasn’t particularly fond of how tradition has enshrined the process for picking church presidents and attempted to change it.

On this week’s show, historian Matthew Harris, author of the acclaimed “Second-Class Saints: Black Mormons and the Struggle for Racial Equality” and who is writing a biography of Brown, discusses the apostle’s views on succession and aging leaders.

Brown “had strong feelings,” Harris notes, “about so-called old men running the church, as he put it.”