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Work without pay has rewards, Mormon leaders say

The Gazette - Colorado Springs - Every few months, it seems, a controversy erupts over pastors’ paychecks. The latest occurred June 29, when the Rev. Brad Braxton of the evangelical Riverside Church in New York resigned after some congregants filed a motion to prevent him from being officially installed as senior pastor. The outcry was driven primarily by reports that Braxton’s salary was more than $600,000 a year. But even as more megachurch pastors slip into the six- and seven-figure yearly pay bracket, one Christian denomination soldiers on with its zero-compensation policy for most of its leaders: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day...

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Nauvoo Pageant a 'family mission' experience

Deseret News - It's late Saturday night in Nauvoo in the thick of pageant season. That means it's the final night of performances for a company of actors comprised mostly of family groups who come to this historical Mormon town as volunteers to help stage the Nauvoo Pageant. Read about the Nauvoo Pageant's costumes They'll turn in their costumes, which a dozen seamstresses will immediately begin altering for replacement cast members, who will begin arriving Sunday. The replacements spend a week rehearsing before it's their turn on stage, dovetailing with still another cast that has just finished its rehearsal week and will have a...

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Extensive report released on Mormons in the U.S.

The Pew Forum - In Utah, July 24 is Pioneer Day, a state holiday commemorating the day in 1847 when the first Mormon settlers, led by Brigham Young, entered the Salt Lake Valley. Today, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Mormon groups make up 58% of Utah's population and 1.7% of the total U.S. adult population, according to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life in 2007. The religious tradition, founded in the United States in 1830, has come under increased public scrutiny in recent years as a result...

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A call for leaders, not managers

Deseret News - Truly great talks are a gem, and I can usually tell that I'm listening to one when I start to feel bad about myself early on in the remarks. One of the greatest talks I've ever heard was a commencement speech by Hugh Nibley titled, "Leaders to Managers: The Fatal Shift." I first listened to a recording of it while on my mission, and by the end of the 30-minute track, I had made a mental list of about a thousand things I needed to improve. I've thought about that speech often as I apply Nibley's definition of leadership to the...

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Mormon couple preps for sextuplets

Deseret News - A big, Mormon family in one fell swoop. It wasn't what Thomas and Amanda Stansel -- fittingly from Humble, Texas -- ever expected. The quiet, unassuming couple tied the knot in January 2007 in the Houston Texas Temple. Soon thereafter, they wanted to start a family. But Amanda, 32, had health troubles that led the couple to consult medical help. Through fertility treatments, the Stansels conceived but lost twins in 2008. Refusing to give up, the Stansels again tried fertility treatments. On April 1, they found out Amanda was expecting. Not just one or two babies, but six -- four girls,...

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This Is the Place monument isn't quite at actual 'Place'

Deseret News - Where is the actual site where Brigham Young declared what is now Salt Lake Valley as "the place" in 1847? It isn't where the well-known "This Is the Place" monument sits above the north side of Sunnyside Avenue. The true spot is more likely where an obscure marker sits several hundred yards to the northeast of the famous concrete edifice. Both are in the southeast corner of This Is the Place Heritage Park. A simple, 10-foot-tall white obelisk was installed by the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association and dedicated by LDS Church President Heber J. Grant on July 25, 1921, before...

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NY Times on This is the Place Heritage Park

The New York Times - On a sunny afternoon in May living history season kicked off at This Is the Place Heritage Park on Salt Lake City’s eastern edge. In one corner of the park Joel Newton, a mountain man hobbyist who looked a little like a buckskin-robed version of Obi-Wan Kenobi, offered impromptu lessons in tomahawk throwing. He kept a watchful eye as a young boy picked up a hatchet, took aim at a nine of hearts nailed to a stump, and — clank! — sent the tomahawk bouncing off the top of the target. “He’s a flinger,” Mr. Newton growled. Then a teenage girl...

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Pioneers: Followers of Jesus Christ

Newsroom -

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Photographer recreates Life magazine photos looking at Mormon towns

Salt Lake Tribune - Standing in cool water, Mark Hedengren snaps away as his photographic subject lounges in a Washington County reservoir. The temperature is a sweltering 102 degrees and Hedengren's shorts, plus his camera bag, are wet. It's a hazard of the shoot for this Provo-based photographer as he updates a snapshot or two from Mormon history. Hedengren is reshooting a controversial Life magazine photo essay originally compiled by world-famous photographers Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange. The September 1954 article, "Three Mormon Towns," sparked complaints from Mormons to the widely read magazine over some depictions of rural Utah life. A 29-year-old professional photographer, Hedengren...

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Does BYU's football team need to watch out?

Deseret News - Is there an established upper crust in the Mountain West Conference football realm? Yes. TCU, BYU and Utah have proven they have the best, most stable programs. They have superior recruiting, metered consistency, best coaching and conditioning, and displayed a greater will to produce wins and titles. Is it that obvious? Yes. But do the other guys have a chance? Of course. Despite the media vote Tuesday that established the favorites — TCU, BYU and Utah, in that order of finish — it isn't a huge reach that another team could win the title. ...