The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — the Mormons — barred African-Americans from full membership until 1978. Since then, the church has increased its outreach to African-American communities, but has yet to repudiate its old teachings that blacks were cursed by God as descendents of Cain or Ham. More →

March 31, 2006

Missionary work is something of a rite of passage in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Over the course of 18 months to two years, young men and women will work 16 hours a day, six days a week. On average, each one will convert ten persons during that period. But with 60,000 missionaries in the field, that is enough to produce 300,000 new converts a year. More →

August 3, 2001

A century and a half ago, Brigham Young led 600 Mormon settlers to the Salt Lake Valley and predicted it would blossom as a rose. Today, the valley is headquarters to what may be the fastest-growing church in the U.S., blossoming so fast it is continuously redefining itself. More →

March 2, 2001