When it comes to religious affiliation, the 117th U.S. Congress looks similar to the previous Congress but quite different from Americans overall, a new Pew Research Center analysis finds.
While about a quarter (26%) of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated – describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” – just one member of the new Congress (Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.) identifies as religiously unaffiliated (0.2%).
Nearly nine-in-ten members of Congress identify as Christian (88%), compared with two-thirds of the general public (65%). Congress is both more heavily Protestant (55% vs. 43%) and more heavily Catholic (30% vs. 20%) than the U.S. adult population overall.
Members of Congress also are older, on average, than U.S. adults overall. At the start of the 116th Congress, the average representative was 57.6 years old, and the average senator was 62.9 years old. Pew Research Center surveys have found that adults in that …
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Contributed by Tori Black
“How can you convince somebody that has never met you and the only thing they’ve ever seen of you is that three-second clip?” Mimi Groves was a freshman in high school when she posted a video celebrating her new driver’s permit, in which she used a racial slur: “I can drive.” Followed by the “n-word.” She posted it and promptly forgot about it. But one of her classmates, Jimmy Galligan, saw it and thought it could be useful in the future, so he saved it. Jimmy had suffered from classmates’ racist behavior, and wanted Mimi to understand the severity of the language she had used. Earlier this past year, in the midst of the George Floyd protests, he shared the …
The following is excerpted from the Church News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
In 2021’s first temples-reopening announcement, seven South American temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will return to performing all living ordinances beginning Jan. 11, nearly 10 months after the Church closed all of its temples due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also, operations at four temples in England and South Africa are being paused due to local COVID-19 conditions.
The seven temples in the South America Northwest Area moving to Phase 2 — allowing for all living ordinances — in the Church’s four-phase reopening plan include:
The following is excerpted from the Church Newsroom. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Resources for the 2021 youth theme, including the music album “A Great Work,” are now available on youth.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The music album and other resources all support the 2021 youth theme: “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:33-34; emphasis added).
The album of songs written and composed by Nik Day and performed by Latter-day Saint youth and young adults reached #8 in the Christian Music chart on iTunes during the first weekend of its release. It may be streamed on the Sacred Music app, Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube under the artist “Strive to Be.” It’s also available on Gospel Library under Music.
Cover image: Prospect of the City of New York. Image via the JCB Library.
“For it shall come to pass in that day that the churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord, when one shall say unto the other: Behold, I, I am the Lord’s; and the others shall say: I, I am the Lord’s; and . . . they shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another; and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance” 2 Nephi 28:3–4
The Know
For a young Joseph Smith living on the frontier of western New York in the early 1800s, amidst a cacophony of religious fervor from various denominations established in the vicinity, the burning question of the day was, which church should he join? Which one was …
In every dispensation of the world a witness is called to testify to the people of that day and age that he has seen God and has talked with Him and has received instructions and guidance from Him. Faith comes and is increased by listening to and heeding the testimony of that witness. In our day, in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times, that witness is Joseph Smith.
The following is excerpted from the Deseret News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Kylee Keele-Blackburn felt her grandfather’s spirit throughout the party, but in retrospect, she now believes he was there, watching over them, because without their grandpa “guardian angel,” she may not be alive to tell the story of Christmas 2020.
A month before the Christmas party, Keele-Blackburn and her husband Slate Blackburn were the live-in caretakers for her grandparents. Hall, 81, and his wife of 61 years, Alberta, relied on Keele-Blackburn for nearly everything, especially as her grandpa became less and less mobile. Shortly after Thanksgiving, Keele-Blackburn said she started feeling sick and immediately went to the free testing offered to her as a Utah Valley University employee.
“I tested negative,” she said. “Then my sister started feeling sick, and she got tested a couple of days after me. She tested positive. So I went …
When Joseph Smith returned from his glorious vision in the Sacred Grove, he told his mother, “I have learned for myself…”. That is an important goal for each of us to have as we embark on a study of the Doctrine and Covenants. Here are three tips to help.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has come under significant scrutiny in the past year. In a highly polarized Washington, it seems like one of the few things both sides of the aisle can agree on, although their reasons for wanting to repeal Section 230 are diametrically opposed. President Trump recently threatened to veto a defense spending bill if language was not included which would repeal Section 230, arguing that this law has allowed social media companies to unfairly censor conservative viewpoints. President-Elect Joe Biden on the other hand has called for the repeal of Section 230 because he argues these companies have not been aggressive enough in preventing users from “propagating falsehoods.”
In light of this bipartisan hostility to Section 230, I want to take a look at the impact that Section 230 has had on The Church of …
A missionary serving for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has passed away. Church spokesman Sam Penrod released the following statement Friday, January 1, 2021.
We are saddened to share news that a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints passed away Friday morning, January 1, 2021, while serving in the Nigeria Lagos Mission. Elder Samuel Joseph Iseh, Jr., age 20, experienced a sudden health episode (unrelated to COVID-19) and was taken to the hospital where he passed away. Elder Iseh is from Port Harcourt, Nigeria and had been serving since May 2019. We express our deepest sympathies to his family and friends and pray they will be comforted during this difficult time.
