{"id":72610,"date":"2019-04-06T17:17:03","date_gmt":"2019-04-06T23:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=72610"},"modified":"2019-04-06T19:14:09","modified_gmt":"2019-04-07T01:14:09","slug":"the-kingdom-is-rolling-forth-but-it-needs-to-regain-speed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/04\/the-kingdom-is-rolling-forth-but-it-needs-to-regain-speed.html","title":{"rendered":"The Kingdom is rolling forth, but it needs to regain speed."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Inside<\/a>
In the Conference Center in Salt Lake City \u00a0\u00a0(LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

While I\u2019m delighted at his call to serve as a General Authority Seventy, I\u2019m also a bit saddened to see Elder James R. Rasband<\/a> leaving his position of Academic Vice President at Brigham Young University. \u00a0It has been pleasant to have a fair and sympathetic person in that office.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

At my invitation, too, Elder Rasband kindly wrote the introduction to the 2017 Interpreter Foundation volume\u00a0\u201cTo Seek the Law of the Lord\u201d:\u00a0Essays in Honor of John W. Welch<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I also enjoyed the diversity among the\u00a0ten new General Authorities called today<\/a>. \u00a0Among them, I count two from Argentina, one from Chile, one from Puerto Rico, one from the Netherlands, and one from Hong Kong. \u00a0Six of them, in other words \u2014 a majority \u2014 were born outside of the fifty United States. \u00a0At least three of them speak Spanish, two speak Japanese, and three of them are speakers of Dutch, Korean, or Chinese. \u00a0(Moreover, if my experience with people from the Netherlands is any guide, the Dutch speaker may also have reasonably good German and\/or French.) \u00a0One of them is African-American. \u00a0What I\u2019m getting at here is that the notion that the leadership of the Church comes entirely or even just largely from along the Wasatch Front in Utah is, more and more, merely a lazy stereotype. \u00a0And the trend will almost certainly continue, or even pick up speed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And here, by the way, is the<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

2018 Statistical Report for 2019 April Conference<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Please note that the number of new converts is much lower than it once was, several years back. \u00a0This is a challenge that we as a Church and as individual Latter-day Saints need to engage. \u00a0What can we do about it?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019re dealing \u2014 in the United States and Europe, anyway \u2014 with an overall culture that is far less friendly to us and to religious commitment generally than it once was. \u00a0But I don\u2019t think that the problems are insuperable.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a recent article in . . . well, it\u2019s in the Salt Lake Tribune<\/em>, but it\u2019s probably still worth reading:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith church growth sputtering, does the Latter-day Saint missionary program need a tuneup or an overhaul?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One unofficial place where serious consideration is given to this issue is the Cumorah Project<\/a>., which \u2014 if you care about such matters \u2014 I commend to your attention.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Something else that\u2019s more or less on this topic is a fascinating 2008 book that I heartily endorse: \u00a0How Americans View Mormonism<\/em>, by Gary C. Lawrence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anyway, reduced convert baptisms are a subject that, I\u2019m quite confident, the Brethren are discussing. \u00a0But ours is a lay church, and, as I say, it\u2019s something that individual wards and stakes \u2014 and individual Latter-day Saints \u2014 ought to be considering, as well.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 While I\u2019m delighted at his call to serve as a General Authority Seventy, I\u2019m also a bit saddened to see Elder James R. Rasband leaving his position of Academic Vice President at Brigham Young University. \u00a0It has been pleasant to have a fair and sympathetic person in that office. \u00a0 At my invitation, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1809,1269,4459,156,2430,846],"class_list":["post-72610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-general-conference","tag-james-rasband","tag-missionary","tag-missionary-work","tag-mormon-missionaries"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Kingdom is rolling forth, but it needs to regain speed.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    While I'm delighted at his call to serve as a General Authority Seventy, I'm also a bit saddened to see Elder James R. 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