Author Archive

In General Conference of April 2009, Elder Russell M. Nelson reminded us: 2 people like this post.Like  Read More »

“The AP reported U.S. kids are scoring in the bottom half of the pack when measured against kids from other nations.” The quote comes from this article, giving excerpts of Jack Cafferty’s book Now or Never. This information is not new. For many years, various reports have confirmed the problem. Compared to children... Read More »

No matter how much we claim to be a world Church, around the world the Church is still perceived to be American. That is normal. I have discussed here how history, geography, doctrine, ideology, and cultural behavior tie us to the United States. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

According to various news outlets the Catholic Church has ordered its dioceses to not allow Mormons access to parish registers any more. For decades, our Church has copied and preserved millions of pages of parish registers around the world, as part of the injunction to seek out ancestors and perform ordinances in their... Read More »

How do ‘we’ as Mormons learn to view ‘others’? We can try to answer this question from the angle of various approaches to the concept of “gospel culture”. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The following is part of a larger study on the concept of “gospel culture”, which I have been working on. In a previous post I presented the question “How American is the Church?”, which yielded very interesting comments. For the present post I excerpted some further parts on culture and Mormon identity, with various... Read More »

(The following is an excerpt from a larger study on the concept of “gospel culture”, which I have been working on. I hope that comments will help me correct and refine this aspect on Americanness). For the past few decades, in their efforts at internationalization, church leaders have stressed that this is “not an American... Read More »

The mission president called. Would I, as his counselor, conduct a baptismal interview? A case he wouldn’t have the zone leaders handle, a woman with a troubled past. Most likely involving a chastity issue. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Stake conference in the mission field. Still the mission field, for although we are a stake, there is no stake center, only a chapel in some of the main cities, and rented rowhouses elsewhere. The stake covers some 10,000 square miles. Therefore we gather in this huge, sparsely lit movie theatre—theatre number 14 in... Read More »

She is a little street vendor who put up shop next to the entrance of the church with the long name. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Mamadou has AIDS. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Everything changed when Tyko came to church. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I’ll start this book review with two anecdotes of my own, from a Mormon ward in Belgium. Last Sunday, in church, the bishop’s sister told us that her little boys were so excited because they were looking forward to the swimming party in the afternoon. The bishop’s own family and the families of his... Read More »

When Martha died, I had to arrange the funeral. “A joyful exit, she had asked, and have the children sing.” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The buzz pervades the chapel. The whispers assemble to an insistent setting escorting the speaker’s voice over the sound system. The multiple murmurs from all corners of the audience spawn a hum that any outsider would consider disturbing. But we are used to it – our own relentless liturgical sound. 0 people like this... Read More »

Imagine these questions in a worthiness interview: Are you honest? Yes. – Do you keep the Word of Wisdom? Yes. – Are you humble? … 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I was still single when I was sent to Central Africa as an international aid worker, to work as a teacher in a slum suburb of Kinshasa, capital of Congo. I got a room in a frail school building, part of a convent of Catholic nuns. The space had a bed, a table, a... Read More »

It was the first time in years a baby would be blessed in this tiny Belgian branch. The missionaries had explained how it worked and the handbook provided some scanty instructions. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

As soon as my friend said I was a Mormon, the two ladies wanted to know more. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

This time Nathalie wears a miniskirt. On Sunday, in Church. In spite of last week’s interview. In spite of the one the month before. And other months. For quite some time the matter had been about her bare midriff. Now the miniskirt. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Sacrament meeting in a small ward, in a large coastal city. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Maria, a seventy-five-year-old widow, member of our tiny Mormon branch, had asked me to meet her at a Notary’s office. She wanted me to be the executor of her will. I reluctantly agreed, remembering the council of a friend to avoid that kind of responsibility. But since I was the branch president… 0 people... Read More »

How prepared should a person be before being baptized? How long should this preparation take? Recently the permabloggers had a brief e-mail exchange on this topic. The participants found it interesting to submit it to our broader forum. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Today is Earth Day. A number of denominations have given their support to environmental issues, encouraging their members to be sensitive to the protection of the environment. This not only pertains to the major (and controversial) topic of climate change and global warming, but to all the small things people can do daily to... Read More »

It was a historic day for our tiny Flemish branch when we replaced the old harmonium with a new electric organ. Nothing could better symbolize our progress, lift the morale of our handful of members, and prepare the way to convert the whole city. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In Notes from all over a link was added to a news item claiming that the latest Dutch spelling reform requested that the name “Christ” be written with a lower-case “c”. That information was spread on various American news channels and blogs. Flurries of comments ensued. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

It happened in the mid-seventies, one summer afternoon, in the Swiss Temple at Zollikofen. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Provo temple. The room is full, waiting for the session to start. Soothing silence in this sea of white. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Elisabeth’s post “I can’t, she said” reminded me of Martha. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The Islamic world is reacting angrily to the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper. Demonstrations, threats, flag burning, forcible closure of Western offices — we know the scary pictures. In defense of free speech and to show support for the Danish editors, newspapers in France, Italy, Spain and Germany... Read More »