This thesis argues that in studying the missionary work of the followers of James J. Strang, one gains a better understanding of the expectations and complexities of first generation Mormons. The introduction provides a background of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) from 1844 through 1850. Chapter One discusses the reasons why former Mormons joined Strang, which included their dissatisfaction with Brigham Young and their attraction to the doctrines and positions of Strang. Chapters Two and Three analyze and discuss the successes and failures of Strang's actual missionary work. The work initially succeeded because of the converts' desire for a prophet, the use of the Latter-day Saint networks, and the effectiveness of the Strangite missionaries. The work ultimately failed, however, because of internal dissension, newly introduced and controversial doctrines, and the countering efforts of the LDS Church and other Mormon Restorationist groups. The fourth chapter provides a case study of the Strangite missionary work by discussing the church's activities in England. Chapter Five concludes the thesis by giving an account of an unsuccessful mission to the Native Americans, providing a brief history of the movement after 1850, and discussing the ultimate failure of Strangism. In essence, this thesis argues that a correlation generally existed between the Strangites' view of how Strang was following the perceived principles of Mormonism and their belief in Strang's prophetic mission. In other words, Strangites, like all early Mormons, had their individual ideals concerning Mormonism and what it represented. This thesis will use the Mormon-to-Strangite conversion to illustrate the complexities involved in finding their version of Mormonism.

A review of the development and implementation of a DVD-based kiosk for the Young Women (YW) organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Young Women desired to implement a public kiosk to display several multimedia-based presentations relating to the YW program. This paper describes the development, usability evaluation, and implementation of the kiosk. Recommendations for improvements and further enhancements are included. The project was successfully developed and implemented to the satisfaction of the Young Women General Presidency.

This thesis operates under the assumption that the earliest form of mass communication is the religious sermon as recorded in the Bible. This thesis looks to Bormann, who used a sacred to secular approach and found similarities between Puritan sermons and the rhetoric of political speeches. This research reverses that order and moves from secular to sacred by looking first at well-known American speeches and then at landmark addresses to Seminary and Institutes of Religion teachers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—and specifically at Clark's The Charted Course of the Church in Education. This single sermon, delivered in 1938, continues to shape the Seminary and Institutes program after more than seven decades. With the opening of the first LDS Seminary in 1912, the foundations of the program were laid. Yet, each generation seemed to drift away from those foundations enough that a realignment was needed. In 1938, the constitution of Church education was given in the form of the Charted Course and it has served as the realigning document ever since. Subsequent realignments occurred in 1954, and 1963. Since 1976, the Charted Course has been referenced regularly, particularly during the annual Evening with a General Authority address to Seminary and Institute teachers and, consequently, since that time, no great drift has occurred that required another major realignment. Instead, the Charted Course is now used consistently to prevent drift, not only to correct it.

Community journalists, most of whom work and live in small towns, are likely to create personal relationships with sources and local organizations because of their proximity and involvement in the community. Such relationships may raise ethical questions that explore how journalists manage personal ties in the community. Using a grounded theory approach, the researcher analyzed 15 qualitative, in-depth interviews, this research examined ways in which journalists in six Western communities weigh their personal relationships against traditional journalism norms such as objectivity and detachment. Analysis of these interviews found community journalists fear conflicts of interest, and many of the interview subjects said that if they know a source personally or are a member of an organization, they often try to rescue themselves from coverage of a story. The research also explored ways in which the community journalists take advantage of their community involvement, especially as it pertains to gathering information and developing sources. Respondents were asked how they suggested a reporter balance membership in the local dominant faith with coverage of church issues. The community journalists who were interviewed mostly did not see a conflict between membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and coverage of church issues. Analysis also showed that the editors had few policies governing community involvement, instead relying on reporters' personal judgment and counsel from leadership—while examining each case individually based on its prominence. Finally, this study attempted to explore the differences in community involvement between smaller and larger community newspapers. However, the research suggests that other causes, such as demographics, roots and ties to the community, leadership, and formal training, may play an equal role in encouraging involvement.

This study is a content analysis of news frames used in the coverage of Proposition 8 by newspapers in Utah and California, spanning the three months prior to its passage in November 2008, to the three months after its passage. A total of 401 news stories from five newspapers were analyzed to examine which of five news frames (attribution of responsibility, human interest, conflict, morality, and economic consequence) were used most predominantly and if the use of those frames varied by newspaper. Conflict was the most predominantly used frame, followed by attribution of responsibility, morality, economic consequence and human interest. The use of news frames did vary by newspaper. The newspapers in Utah used the morality frame more often in their coverage of Proposition 8 than the newspapers in California. Framing choices by the newspapers also changed over time. The use of the human interest frame decreased sharply after the November ballot vote, while the use of the responsibility frame and conflict frame showed a meaningful increase.

As part of BYU's Distance Learning Project to teach English for gospel purposes, a committee created a survey to assess the English needs of LDS non-native English speakers in native-language units in the United States. This thesis uses several sections of the survey to correlate proficiency, callings in the Church, and demographic information. In addition to survey data, this thesis uses qualitative information from focus groups, and interviews to illustrate the statistical findings. The theory underlying this research is that learning precedes involvement in a community. Although learning in the LDS Church community is multi-faceted, this study examines the learning of English tasks and involvement in the Church community, defined as callings.The results indicate that male leader (high councilors) callings correlate with church tasks, and that female vice-leader callings correlate with survival English and church tasks. Demographic information, although relevant, does not alter the correlations. The qualitative findings supports these findings, whereas the trend indicates that bilingual leaders are preferred to monolingual non-English language leaders.

This study is an examination, in terms of critical areas identified by correlation, of the 1967-68 lesson manuals prepared for high school age LDS youth by the teaching organizations of the Church responsible for implementing a correlated religious education program for this age group.Major findings center around the answers to the questions formulated to limit and analyze the problem of this study, and were obtained by examining the lesson manuals and identifying the major themes or concepts contained in them. These findings indicate: (1) that duplication or repetition of gospel concepts does exist in the lesson materials, (2) that gaps, omissions, and inequalities in the emphasis of gospel concepts within these materials do exist, and (3) that the most emphasized gospel concepts are Book of Mormon leaders, priesthood, socials, service, family unity, Old Testament leaders, activities, Book of Mormon history, New Testament leaders, and Jesus Christ, respectively.

As indicated by the title, this study presents a history of Federal Legislation against Mormon polygamy prior to 1890 and of certain United States Supreme Court decisions supporting such legislation. Of necessity, the subject had to be limited, emphasis being placed upon three legislative acts and upon a few leading court decisions.

Education and learning have ever been at the core of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Throughout its history that now extends nearly one hundred ninety years, the Church has made numerous attempts to provide educational opportunities for its members. Some attempts have failed, and others were met with some success—though limited, to be sure. In hindsight, most of these efforts were simply laying the foundation for something far greater. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, the groundwork for global Church education had been laid, and the seeds planted. Beginning with a pilot administered through BYU-Idaho, a program known as “Pathway” grew into a worldwide effort that is successfully providing educational opportunities to individuals distanced from such occasion. The Church-affiliated university also created a robust online program, that coupled with Pathway, was providing a largely affordable, yet high-quality education to Church members and even a few other individuals across the globe. Not without its barriers, Pathway and the BYU-Idaho online degree program worked to overcome legal and other limitations in order to create and expand a vigorous offering across cultures, time, and space. Recently, these programs have given root to what is now a global education initiative, collaborating a united effort from each institution affiliated with the Church Educational System.

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