This handbook explores contemporary Mormonism within a global context. The authors provide a nuanced picture of a historically American religion in the throes of the same kinds of global change that virtually every conservative faith tradition faces today. They explain where and how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has penetrated national and cultural boundaries in Latin America, Oceania, Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as in North America beyond the borders of Mormon Utah. They also address numerous concerns within a multinational, multicultural church: What does it mean to be a Latter-day Saint in different world regions? What is the faiths appeal to converts in these places? What are the peculiar problems for members who must manage Mormon identities in conjunction with their different national, cultural, and ethnic identities? How are leaders dealing with such issues as the status of women in a patriarchal church, the treatment of LGBTQ members, increasing disaffiliation of young people, and decreasing growth rates in North and Latin America while sustaining increasing growth in parts of Asia and Africa
1. Global Mormonism: An Historical Overview .-
2. The Evolving
Ecclesiastical Organization of an International Lay Church.-
3. The Gathering
of Scattered Israel: The Missionary Enterprise of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints .-
4. Geographical Dispersion and Growth Patterns of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since World War II.-
5. Pulling
toward Zion: Mormonism in its Global Dimensions .-
6. The Dynamics of LDS
Growth in the Twenty-First Century.-
7. Vestige of Zion: Mormonism in Utah.-
8. Gender, Belief Level, and Priesthood Authority in the LDS Church.-
9.
Framing Eternal Sexual Identity in a Shifting Cultural Landscape.-
10.
Changing Religious and Social Attitudes of Mormon Millennials in Contemporary
American Society.-
11. Mormons in North America, Latin America, the South
Pacific, Europe, Africa, and Asia: An Overview.-
12. The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints in Canada: Historical Milestones, Contemporary
Conversations froma Feminist Perspective.-
13. The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints in Mexico.-
14. Mormons in Peru: Building Temples with
Sacred Cornerstones and Holy Drywall .-
15. An Oak Tree Bearing Fruits
Internationally: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil.-
16. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Islands of the
Pacific.-
17. Lands of Contrast: Mormons in New Zealand/Aotearoa and
Australia.-
18. Contemporary Issues for the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints in Ireland and the United Kingdom.-
19. Persisting in a
Secular Environment: Mormonism in the Low Countries.-
20. Mormons in the
Nordic Region .-
21. The LDS Church in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central
Asia.-
22. To Recognize Ones Face in that of a Foreigner: The Latter-day
Saint Experience in West Africa.-
23. Finding Peace, Claiming Place: Black
South African Women Navigating the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.-
24. The LDS Church in Contemporary Japan: Failure or Success? .-
25.
The Community of Christ (RLDS Church): Structuring Common Differences in the
Philippines.-
26. The History and Culture of Mormon Fundamentalism in the
United States.-
27. Building Community and Identity Among Black Latter-day
Saints: Towards Completing the Flock through Conference Connections.-
28.
Lamanitas, The Spanish-speaking Hermanos: Latinos Loving their Mormonism Even
as they Remain the Other.-
29. Views from Turtle Island: Settler Colonialism
and Indigenous Mormon Entanglements.-
30. The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints Response to the 201920 Coronavirus Pandemic.-
31. Summing
Up: Problems and Prospects for a Global Church in the Twenty-first Century.
R. Gordon Shepherd is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Central Arkansas, USA
A. Gary Shepherd is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Oakland University, USA
Ryan T. Cragun is Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the Honors Program at the University of Tampa, USA.
