The "Mormon Moment": What Does It Mean?

Patheos regularly hosts roundtable discussions and online symposia on topics of interest to our readers and contributors, from the Future of Religion to the role of faith in the 2012 Elections.

The year 2012 was in many ways the Year of the Mormons. Several national magazines devoted cover stories to the minority faith, and reporters sought to re-interpret the young religion for a broad audience. The candidacies of Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman raised the faith's profile, while a new musical that had little to do with the actual Book of Mormon broke records on Broadway. We invited a panel of experts to comment on the so-called "Mormon Moment": What does it mean for the church, its adherents, for the media, and for religion in America?

Contributors include Matthew Bowman, James Faulconer, Terryl and Fiona Givens, Grant Hardy, Emily Jensen, Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Patrick Mason, Neylan McBaine, Richard Mouw, Nathan Oman, and John Turner.