Latter-day Saints community forum Sunday in Longville

   Salem Lutheran Church’s Our Neighbor Community Forum series continues in Longville this Sunday, June 12 at 3:00 p.m.  President Brad Wilson of the Minnesota Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in St. Paul will do a presentation on the church’s beginnings, pioneers, missionaries, education, humanitarian service and important distinctive teachings followed by audience discussion.  

   Brad Wilson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and raised in Minneapolis.  He earned a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and a MBA from Harvard University.  Brad settled in Minneapolis and had a career in public accounting for an international accounting firm.  He and his wife Mari-Lynn serve as leaders of the Latter-day Saints (LDS) Minnesota Temple in St. Paul.  The couple’s other service included President and Companion of the Virginia Richmond Mission and Church Communication missionaries in Europe. 

   Widely known as the Mormon Church, founder Joseph Smith, Jr. farmed with his father in the State of New York in the 1820’s.  Ultimately Smith produced the texts that were published as The Book of Mormon in 1830. Smith was succeeded by Brigham Young after the former’s death in 1844.  Adherents hold the book to be “another testament of Jesus Christ” comparable to the Bible.  

   Since the first half of the nineteenth century to the present, the story of the LDS has been a controversial one. The beliefs and practices of the church’s leaders and adherents have been the subject of extraordinary argument and debate. LDS leaders and believers moved across the continent attempting to establish their religious communities until they found a safe haven in Utah. Through struggle and turmoil, the LDS has survived, grown and continues to grow modestly while main line churches decline in membership.

   Today the LDS is internationally headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2021, the LDS reported world wide membership of over 16,800,000. In the United States, membership was almost 6,800,000. There were over 31,300 wards and branches or congregations with meetinghouses world wide.  Stakes composed of several wards or branches geographically numbered almost 3,500 world wide.  In the United States, there were nearly 15,700 wards and branches and over 1,670 stakes.

   There are 170 operating LDS temples world wide and 82 in the United States.  Temples differ significantly from the congregational meetinghouses. Anyone can attend the latter on Sundays. Temples are for sacred service and ceremonies. Entrance to temples is reserved for members who are prepared to participate in and make commitments to them.  

   Sunday’s forum provides an opportunity for our community to learn more about the LDS, its continued success, perceived place in the world, ongoing revelation, and dialog with President Wilson.  The forum is free to men and women of the Longville Lakes Area community. You don’t want to miss it. Salem Lutheran Church is located at 1340 County Road 5 in Longville.

   Opinions and content expressed during the forum are solely the presenter’s and do not reflect the views and beliefs of Salem Lutheran Church or the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).