07/01/2021
WHAT CHURCH MEMBERS BELIEVE.
Jesus Christ is central to the beliefs and lives of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church members can be found at every level of society throughout the world—in business and charity, education and the sciences, political parties and government, the entertainment industry and news media.
Describing the character of Latter-day Saints, Newsweek magazine wrote: “No matter where [Latter-day Saints] live, they find themselves part of a network of mutual concern; in [Latter-day Saint] theology everyone is a minister of a kind, everyone is empowered in some way to do good to others, and to have good done unto them: it is a 21st-century covenant of caring” (Elise Soukup, “The Mormon Odyssey,” Newsweek, Oct. 16, 2005). This caring is not limited to Church members alone but extends far beyond.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fourth largest Christian church in America, with 6.7 million adherents in this country. More than half of its members, approximately 9.6 million people, live outside the United States. Yet despite the faith’s growth and presence, survey results continue to show that relatively few people are familiar with Latter-day Saint beliefs.
As an institution, the Church has the responsibility to publicly and clearly articulate its official teachings. In turn, reporters can help inform the public by accurately reporting on these doctrines. But in doing so, journalists should be aware of some common pitfalls. For instance, some reporters pressed for time tend to take peripheral aspects of the faith and place them front and center as if they were vital tenets of belief. Additionally, sincere commentators often overemphasize what others see as “different” about Latter-day Saints at the expense of highlighting the Church’s most fundamental doctrines in their reporting. Unfortunately, as many members attest, this kind of journalism paints a distorted picture of the Church and continues to confuse the public.
Despite these complications, the Church welcomes honest inquiry from all media outlets. The Church expects journalists to be accurate, fair and objective and to cover the faith as it is lived and believed by its members. The Church discourages sensationalized and misleading journalism that accentuates abstract ideas that do not reflect the beliefs, teachings and practices of the Church’s global membership.