I sit with several of my Public Square friends to discuss their recent articles discussing accuracies, and inaccuracies, of common assumptions about Utah.
I sit with several of my Public Square friends to discuss their recent articles discussing accuracies, and inaccuracies, of common assumptions about Utah.
What made 2025’s best family movies stand out? Under-the-radar gems balance laughs, courage, and moral clarity.
Why do ward choirs matter? They build unity, model male-female harmony, bridge communities, and teach belonging.
Dallin H. Oaks pairs law with love, showing humility, outreach, and a call to hold truth with tenderness.
This weekend the Church put on a concert of their newest album “Trust in the Lord.” The album includes music both appropriate for worship and celebration (or singing out loud in the car with your kids). I’d especially recommend Yahosh Bonner’s “Dust.” You can catch his introduction at the 12:12 mark in the video below, the song starts at 13:22. The album supplements this year’s youth theme “Trust in the Lord.” The album and concert are starting to become a tradition to look forward to. Of course, they also follow the long tradition of celebratory and worship music in the Old and New Testament churches.
Lots of coverage of General Conference for you to take a look at. The Associated Press had two articles: The first highlighted many positives of the event but mentioned the reduced attendance numbers while leaving out that the Church limited attendance because of parking concerns. But perhaps more problematically it mentioned Elder Neil Andersen’s remarks about being peacemakers, and talked about a Salt Lake Tribune op-ed he mentioned as a “dart,” but failed to mention that he only mentioned this in the context of the peacemaking efforts of Amos Brown in responding to that. And while the piece links to the first critical op-ed, it doesn’t mention or link to Reverend Brown’s response. The second AP article follows the most popular pattern of conference coverage, focusing singularly on LGBT+ or other issues that can be politicized in their piece titled, “Mormon Leader Reaffirms Faith’s Stance on Same-Sex Marriage.” On the news front, you can find the list of the newly called leaders including the new Primary and Relief Society General Presidencies at the Church Newsroom. The blog LDS Church Growth has a great conversation about the list of 17 newly announced temples. If you want some great quotes to remember and share, Meridian has you covered: General Conference Memes to Share with Your Friends There are a number of great recaps to check out. Ours here at Public Square Magazine has our writers and editors identifying what themes stuck out to them. The Millennial Star talks about how President Nelson’s remarks touched them. While Junior Ganymede looks at stories of people not being where they were supposed to be and having it all work out anyway. If you’re more interested in the light side, This Week in Mormons has a fun and informative look at the ties worn during conference: April 2022 General Conference Tie Tracker On the detractor side Jana Riess questions, “It’s General Conference time. Remind me why we do this?” She largely complains that the Church hasn’t been as aggressive in making changes in line with what she’s published in the past. But to answer her question. We do this because me and millions like me believe that the Church is led by prophets, and that the words they choose to emphasize our of urgent importance and can help us better access and understand the divine.
Does the effort to craft a magical Christmas morning teach us something about the heart of a Father seeking to bring endless joy to us all?
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