Mormonism: Future of Faith in America Pathoes Online Symposium

Over at Pathoes, find the Mormonism: Future of Faith in America online symposium featuring many friends of Dialogue including

• Armand Mauss, who provides “Seven Predictions” as Mormonism enters its third century. One prediction:  “The Church will continue to increase the nature and extent of female participation and leadership in important ecclesiastical roles but will stop short of actual priesthood ordination for women in the foreseeable future. Member advocacy for ordination, when it takes the form of mobilizing political or civic pressure on the leadership, will continue to be met with official resistance, including church discipline.”
• Patrick Mason looks at the “Influence Beyond the Numbers.” He explains “As we consider the future of Mormonism in America, the first fact we must take into consideration is simple demographics: Mormonism is not growing, at least not in the North Atlantic (United States and Western Europe). In the late 20th century, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did experience astounding growth, going from one million members worldwide in 1947 to three million in 1971, and up to about fifteen million today. But so far in this century, real growth of Mormonism in the United States seems to be essentially flat, perhaps even slightly negative.”
• Rosalynde Welch explores “Family in the Future Tense” for Patheos. “Five or ten decades from now, perhaps a young LDS countercultural dissident with a passion for Mormon history will rediscover the pro-family discourse that has germinated in the cultural conflict we are now witnessing. Perhaps she will revive this discourse in the service of a new moment and a new movement, recognizing a power and a truth thrown into greater relief by greater inequality. From the margins of the future, the Mormon family may provide a witness and a corrective to the injustices that mar the unfolding of modernity.
• Jim Faulconer believes that “The North American LDS Church Must Address These Problems First.” He explains “What issues does the North American* LDS Church face in the 21st century? Surely a host of them. But here are two that come to mind. What about women in the Church?…and What is the Church’s culture?”

Also includes contributions from David Mason, Dan Peterson, and Margaret Blair Young.