How Mormonism Can Remain Relevant in the 21st Century

40 changes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can make to retain its current members and survive for generations to come.

A Leak in the Old Ship Zion

Perhaps like no other time in its history has The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints been hemorrhaging faithful members faster than it is now. Elder Marlin K. Jensen, former Official Church Historian has recently stated, “Maybe since Kirtland, we never have had a period of, I’ll call it apostasy, like we’re having right now.”

Doubtless the leaders of the church are well aware of this hemorrhaging as it seems the current unified messages are those urging us to “Stay in the boat,” or to “Stay yet a little longer.” And perhaps their efforts are having a marked effect, convincing many lifelong members, already confident in their decision to exit the faith to indeed “stay yet a little longer,” hoping to see changes in the right direction.

Simple Solutions for a Complex Tradition

The following list of 40 changes is exactly that, a list. Further commentary on each point, while perhaps enlightening, would nevertheless distract from their potency in brevity.

Extend Priesthood to women. Remove racist statements from The Book of Mormon. Openly apologize for systemic racism. Allow openly LGBT members into church leadership. Allow local clergy to perform LGBT marriages. Place more emphasis on the direct teachings of Jesus Christ. De-canonize The Book of Abraham. De-emphasize The Book of Mormon as historical or literal narrative. De-emphasize Old Testament as literal narrative. Clarify that no one else saw the Golden Plates with their physical eyes. Admit to and educate members concerning folk magic in early church. Present or deny Book of Mormon relics, which are presumed to be The Sword of Laban, The Breastplate and Seer Stones, and the Liahona. Reconstruct the temple endowment presentation to remove Masonic similarities and hypnotic suggestion. Allow homemade or altered personal temple garments. Allow and encourage secular marriages before temple sealing. Reject polygamy as doctrine, and revoke polygamous sealings for all living members. Clarify Word of Wisdom concerning beer, meat consumption, sugar, and other health information as it aligns with modern science. Do not teach children doctrine until intellectually capable to support critical thinking. De-emphasize baptism at any certain age. De-emphasize masturbation teachings. Do not ask children concerning their sexual worthiness. De-emphasize church president as prophet. Allow for emeritus Apostle and President status. Act to eliminate systemic leader worship. Redefine the mission of the Correlation Department. Discontinue The Strengthening the Members Committee. Discontinue the practice of excommunication. Discontinue all for-profit ventures of the church. Donate majority of tithing directly to charitable organizations. Make all church finances public. Define tithing as 10% of surplus income. Remove tithing as a requirement for temple worthiness. Eliminate annual tithing settlement. Build and operate more hospitals and schools worldwide. Discontinue full-time proselyting missions and convert to service missions. Pay all costs for qualified missionaries. Openly support evolution and reject Young Earth creationism Place less emphasis on grooming and dress. Pay select full-time local clergy. Refactor Sunday meetings to under two hours combined.

Sustainable Change is Slow

It’s obvious that all these changes can’t happen overnight, nor even over the course of a few years. But they are changes that can be discussed now and indeed changes that must be made in our generation.

A Tradition of Kindness and Service

Mormons are known as a good people. A hardworking and industrious people. It’s possible that no where else will you find a people more educated, honest, and confident as the Mormon people. This, more than any other factor is why hundreds of thousands join the church each year and why many doubting parents continue to raise their children in this tradition.

The boards in the Old Ship Zion are good and true, but require immediate repairs to stem the tide of secular humanism and atheism which will doubtless dominate the late 21st century. Let Mormonism be an example to all faith traditions of tolerance and become a church truly fitting of the name of Jesus Christ — He who’s name is synonymous with tolerance.

Grant Palmer, author of An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins recently said, “Churches don’t disappear, they change. And I’d like to see it change to a more christ-centered experience.” A sentiment surely shared amongst millions of faithful Latter-day Saints.