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The Present, Past, and Future of LDS Financial Transparency

March 13, 2018

Every April in the Saturday afternoon session of its semi-annual General Conference, the managing director of the Auditing Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) reads his department’s report for the prior year. The annual report invariably concludes that “in all material respects, contributions received, expenditures made, and assets of the Church . . . have been recorded and administered in accordance with appropriate accounting practices, approved budgets, and Church policies and procedures.” Presenting the Church Auditing Department’s reports at General Conference dates back at least to 1906. And today, this annual report provides the sole window into the global finances of the LDS Church.

Of Cups and Councils

March 13, 2018

My mother died recently from complications of Alzheimer’s. Because four of my siblings live near my parents and were helping my dad with arrangements, my sister Carol and I decided to fly on Sunday for the Tuesday morning service and then stay longer after the funeral. We arrived at my dad’s apartment Sunday afternoon, anticipating some quiet hours of reminiscing or just relaxing. 

Liberalism and the American Mormon: Three Takes | David E. Campbell, John C. Green, and J. Quin Monson, Seeking the Promised Land: Mormons and American Politics; Richard Davis, The Liberal Soul: Applying the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Politics; and Terryl and Fiona Givens, The Crucible of Doubt: Reflections on the Quest for Faith

March 13, 2018

The term “liberalism” with all its rhetorical permutations—self-identifying as a “liberal,” defending principles of “liberty,” showing “liberality” in one’s interactions with others, etc.—is a contested concept in America. It’s both an adjective and a noun.…

Fast Offering

March 13, 2018

Welden Shumway wasn’t so much scandalized when Brother B left his wife and took up with a young gentile woman as he was confused. Why would a priesthood holder ignore his covenants like that? Welden…

Jesus Sakura

March 13, 2018

It’s only after hanami, 
Season of cherry blossom-viewing,  
That I meet Christ in Fukuoka 
As all the petals are leaving.  
He startles me in every spent sakura— 

The Lost Chapters of Moroni

March 13, 2018

Zarahemla, the eternal city, is dust; as is everything that was.
In vision I see the world that comes: polio, lupus, Holocaust.
Disaster and diaspora are at once preamble and epitaph
to the good and careless God who makes me to wander and to fast
on unleavened hope to bury this last burden and be done.
The miracle is my evidence of thee: Urim,Thummim, Liahona

What Kind of Monster

March 13, 2018

What kind of monster spits a wad of gum in a urinal?
Blue. Brain-folded.  
Pregnant with identifying evidence. 
DNA. Marks from teeth  

Even Manna

March 13, 2018

Even manna stops tasting sweet 
after so many plates 
I said to the Christmas ham, 
endlessly succulent,