Church News
Encyclopedia
The Church News is a weekly tabloid-sized supplement
to the Deseret News and the MormonTimes , a Salt Lake City, Utah
newspaper owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is the only publication by the LDS Church that is entirely devoted to news coverage of the LDS Church.
" section of the Deseret News, which is unofficial social and cultural
LDS news coverage, though both are now distributed together to Church News subscribers. As with the Ensign, the LDS Church encourages its members to subscribe to the Church News, which gives its content an air of official endorsement.
The Church News does not carry advertisements in its pages, although it did in its first three issues and during 1959–60. Despite higher prices than in other Deseret News sections, Church News ad space didn't make enough money, and it was felt that it detracted from the religious paper's dignity. Instead, the section is financially supported by the rest of the Deseret News operations, and high volume subscriptions.
, and temple president
s when they occur.
The Church News publishes semiannual issues on the LDS Church's general conference
s, but only prints brief reports of the sermons and announcements, unlike the Ensign and Conference Report, other church publications which circulate much later and print full transcripts.
," because of its dedication to promoting faith, which others see as producing soft "human interest" stories.
Since the paper and the church are both based in Salt Lake City, much Church News coverage over the years has been Utah-centric, earning it the nickname "This Week in Utah" by some Australian readers. Its global focus has expanded as the paper attempts to showcase the church's international activities.
aimed at members and missionaries in the eastern and central United States ended publication, it recommended that its subscribers began taking the Church News.
Starting in 1981, the Church News was retitled LDS Church News: News of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but it is mostly referred to as LDS Church News or Church News.
's edition from 1944-48 and by telegram from 1952-53 Today the Church News is available throughout the United States, without a subscription to the Deseret News, except for residents of Utah who are required to subscribe to the Deseret News in order to receive the Church News.
The editorials became one of the most noticeable features of the Church News. Longtime Deseret News editor and LDS Apostle Mark E. Petersen
, wrote for the Church News since its 1931 beginning, and in 1943 started his own weekly editorial. In 1948 these moved to the back page, where they remained until Petersen died in 1984 and they were replaced by staff-written "Viewpoints." Because of his church authority and the paper's religious intent, it was unclear whether these editorials constituted official church positions. Petersen wrote on a variety of topics, including secular and controversial subjects like evolution
and politics. In the 1970s, his editorials came out against the Equal Rights Amendment
(ERA), which ended up establishing the LDS Church's position and changing modest LDS support for the amendment into firm opposition.
When former chief photographer of the Deseret News J M. Heslop became Editor of the Church News in 1969, he changed its format from dense text and statistics into a strongly visual showcase of his photography with short faith-promoting stories. During Heslop's editorship, the Church News used mail distribution to greatly expand circulation to over 200,000, vastly surpassing the 70,000 readers of its parent, the Deseret News.
In the early 1970s, the Church News began carrying historical sketches written by members of the LDS Church Historical Department. Around 1977, following high profile criticisms of Historical Department work, the paper replaced these with staff-written "Vignettes of Faith" and avoided reviews of new major historical publications.
With access to records and the LDS Church Historical Department, the almanac prints some material not available in other publications. It contains history and membership statistics of geographical areas for the year ending before the previous year (e.g., the 2009 almanac includes data up to the year-end 2007). It also has brief biographies of all who have been leaders of the larger church and a summary of church news from the previous year. Each annual edition includes features on a specific historical subject or period, often related to a church current event, such as the rebuilding of the Nauvoo Temple
, the Salt Lake City Olympics, Joseph Smith
's bicentennial birthday, the Mountain Meadows massacre
sesquicentennial, or Gordon B. Hinckley
's death.
In 2009, the almanac consolidated and modified most sections to improve design and dramatically reduce size. The new format included many more visuals, as well as expanded biographies of First Presidency members. State, province, and country history was replaced with additional church area
information.
Supplement (publishing)
A supplement is a publication that has a role secondary to that of another preceding or concurrent publication.A follow-on publication complements its predecessor, either by bringing it up-to-date , or by otherwise enhancing the predecessor's coverage of a particular topic or subject matter, as in...
to the Deseret News and the MormonTimes , a Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
newspaper owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is the only publication by the LDS Church that is entirely devoted to news coverage of the LDS Church.
Content
The Church News is the official newspaper of the LDS Church, publishing the church's "Authorized News." This is not to be confused with the "Mormon TimesMormon Times
Mormon Times was a website and newspaper insert containing news and information for and about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . According to mormontimes.com, it has moved back to Deseret News....
" section of the Deseret News, which is unofficial social and cultural
Culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
A culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reflecting the cultural impact of basic beliefs and traditions of the church, distinguishes church members, practices, and activities...
LDS news coverage, though both are now distributed together to Church News subscribers. As with the Ensign, the LDS Church encourages its members to subscribe to the Church News, which gives its content an air of official endorsement.
The Church News does not carry advertisements in its pages, although it did in its first three issues and during 1959–60. Despite higher prices than in other Deseret News sections, Church News ad space didn't make enough money, and it was felt that it detracted from the religious paper's dignity. Instead, the section is financially supported by the rest of the Deseret News operations, and high volume subscriptions.
Features
A mainstay of the Church News is its continuing features that make up most of the paper. These include "This Week in Church History," "Message of Inspiration," "Living By the Scriptures," "A Thought From the Scriptures," and "Viewpoints." It also regularly carries announcements, such as upcoming events in "Calendar of Events," 70th wedding anniversaries in "Milestones of Togetherness," birthdays over 100 in "Centenarians," and deaths of prominent church members in "Obituaries." Announcements are posted of all new stake, missionMission president
Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . A mission president presides over a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission...
, and temple president
Temple President
Temple president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A temple president's primary responsibility is to supervise the affairs of an LDS temple in both an administrative and spiritual capacity....
s when they occur.
The Church News publishes semiannual issues on the LDS Church's general conference
General Conference (LDS Church)
General Conference is a semiannual world conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held in April and October, where members gather in a series of two-hour sessions to listen to instruction from Church leaders...
s, but only prints brief reports of the sermons and announcements, unlike the Ensign and Conference Report, other church publications which circulate much later and print full transcripts.
Tone and coverage
The Church News purpose has been stated to "build testimonies and uplift its readers." In doing this it focuses on inspirational and motivational stories in a graphics-heavy format. The paper isn't intended to cover controversial issues, but emphasizes success stories and reinforces the church message. Though it experimented with some "hard news" in the early 1970s, the paper has always stayed with its successful, uplifting formula and remained reverential toward church leaders. Some have nicknamed the paper "Mormon PravdaPravda
Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
," because of its dedication to promoting faith, which others see as producing soft "human interest" stories.
Since the paper and the church are both based in Salt Lake City, much Church News coverage over the years has been Utah-centric, earning it the nickname "This Week in Utah" by some Australian readers. Its global focus has expanded as the paper attempts to showcase the church's international activities.
History
Since the Deseret News was founded in 1850, it reported news of the LDS Church in its regular issues. Minutes of ward meetings were covered and sermons were often carried on the front page. In the 1890s, efforts to emphasize secular news pushed church coverage to dedicated sections on inside pages. As early as the mid-1850s and 1860s consideration was given to creating a separate church newspaper. In 1931, a new Saturday tabloid called the Church Section was released, which primarily reported leaders' sermons, church events, and notices about new bishoprics and stake presidencies. It was retitled as the Weekly Church Edition in 1942, and Church News in 1943, though the name remained in flux for the next few years. It was also in 1943 that circulation as an independent publication from the Deseret News began. In 1945 when Liahona The Elders' Journal an LDS publication based in Independence, MissouriIndependence, Missouri
Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
aimed at members and missionaries in the eastern and central United States ended publication, it recommended that its subscribers began taking the Church News.
Starting in 1981, the Church News was retitled LDS Church News: News of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but it is mostly referred to as LDS Church News or Church News.
Distribution
In 1943, the paper became available through a special Saturday-only Deseret News subscription, which allowed the paper to eventually surpass the regular Deseret News circulation by 12,000. In 1948, the Church News was distributed as a separate publication by mail, to areas Deseret News circulation didn't cover, a practice that still continues. This allowed Church News circulation to increase to almost 250,000 in 1981, compared to the Deseret News at about 70,000. The paper was also distributed in an LDS servicemanSoldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
's edition from 1944-48 and by telegram from 1952-53 Today the Church News is available throughout the United States, without a subscription to the Deseret News, except for residents of Utah who are required to subscribe to the Deseret News in order to receive the Church News.
Features and format
Starting in 1948, large photos were used for each issue's cover. Gradually, more graphics and colors were used and regular features were added, such as editorials, "Gems of Thought," "The Missionary's Diary," "I Want to Know," and short historical or scriptural vignettes.The editorials became one of the most noticeable features of the Church News. Longtime Deseret News editor and LDS Apostle Mark E. Petersen
Mark E. Petersen
Mark Edward Petersen was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1944 until his death. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, he filled the vacancy caused by the excommunication of Richard R. Lyman...
, wrote for the Church News since its 1931 beginning, and in 1943 started his own weekly editorial. In 1948 these moved to the back page, where they remained until Petersen died in 1984 and they were replaced by staff-written "Viewpoints." Because of his church authority and the paper's religious intent, it was unclear whether these editorials constituted official church positions. Petersen wrote on a variety of topics, including secular and controversial subjects like evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
and politics. In the 1970s, his editorials came out against the Equal Rights Amendment
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
(ERA), which ended up establishing the LDS Church's position and changing modest LDS support for the amendment into firm opposition.
When former chief photographer of the Deseret News J M. Heslop became Editor of the Church News in 1969, he changed its format from dense text and statistics into a strongly visual showcase of his photography with short faith-promoting stories. During Heslop's editorship, the Church News used mail distribution to greatly expand circulation to over 200,000, vastly surpassing the 70,000 readers of its parent, the Deseret News.
In the early 1970s, the Church News began carrying historical sketches written by members of the LDS Church Historical Department. Around 1977, following high profile criticisms of Historical Department work, the paper replaced these with staff-written "Vignettes of Faith" and avoided reviews of new major historical publications.
Internet
In 1995, the Church News went online, with subscription-only access, with archives available back to 1988. In 2008 the website was redesigned and free access was then granted to non-subscribers.Editors
| No. | Name | Start | End | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James R. Kennard (acting) | 1931 | 1931 | Kennard was the Deseret News Saturday feature editor before the Church News had a full-time editor. | |
| 1 | Henry A. Smith | 1931 | 1968 | Smith was the Deseret News church editor before being appointed over the Church News in September. He served in this position for over 30 years, then was called to be the press secretary to the First Presidency First Presidency In the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency was the highest governing body in the Latter Day Saint church established by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1832, and is the highest governing body of several modern Latter Day Saint denominations... . |
| John R. Talmage, Conrad B. Harrison Conrad B. Harrison Conrad Bullen Harrison was the 29th mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, from 1974 to 1976. He was appointed as a replacement for Jake Garn, who was elected to the United States Senate in 1974.- Personal life :... (acting) |
1939 | 1940 | Talmage and Harrison were editors while Smith temporarily served as wire editor for the Deseret News. | |
| Edwin O. Haroldsen, S. Perry Lee, Merwin G. Fairbanks (acting) | 1956 | 1959 | These men filled in for Smith while he was president Mission president Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . A mission president presides over a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission... of the Central Atlantic States Mission Mission (LDS Church) A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area... . |
|
| 2 | Jack E. Jarrard | 1968 | 1969 | Jarrard served for about a year before becoming a field correspondent. |
| 3 | J Malan Heslop J Malan Heslop J Malan Heslop to Jesse and Zella Malan Heslop, was a World War II combat photographer with Arnold E. Samuelson's Combat Assignment Unit #123 of the 167th Signal Photographic Company who documented evidence of Nazi war crimes... |
1969 | 1976 | Heslop had been Deseret News chief photographer and was charged with improving Church News visual design. |
| 4 | Dell Van Orden | 1976 | 1999 | Van Orden had been Church News assistant editor, and carried on Heslop's efforts when Heslop became Deseret News managing editor. |
| 5 | Gerry Avant | 1999 | current | Avant, associate editor since 1988, became the Church News first female editor when Van Orden retired. |
Church Almanac
Continuing in the tradition of Mormon almanacs from the mid-nineteenth century, the Deseret News publishes the Deseret News Church Almanac (or just Church Almanac), composed of LDS Church facts and statistics edited and prepared by the staff of the Church News. The almanac started in 1974 as an annual publication, then became biennial in 1984, then annual again in 2002.With access to records and the LDS Church Historical Department, the almanac prints some material not available in other publications. It contains history and membership statistics of geographical areas for the year ending before the previous year (e.g., the 2009 almanac includes data up to the year-end 2007). It also has brief biographies of all who have been leaders of the larger church and a summary of church news from the previous year. Each annual edition includes features on a specific historical subject or period, often related to a church current event, such as the rebuilding of the Nauvoo Temple
Nauvoo Illinois Temple
The Nauvoo Illinois Temple is the 113th dedicated temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the third such temple that has been built in Illinois ....
, the Salt Lake City Olympics, Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was founder of what later became known as the Latter Day Saint movement or Mormons.Joseph Smith may also refer to:-Latter Day Saints:* Joseph Smith, Sr. , father of Joseph Smith...
's bicentennial birthday, the Mountain Meadows massacre
Mountain Meadows massacre
The Mountain Meadows massacre was a series of attacks on the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train, at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. The attacks culminated on September 11, 1857 in the mass slaughter of the emigrant party by the Iron County district of the Utah Territorial Militia and some local...
sesquicentennial, or Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon Bitner Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 12, 1995 until his death...
's death.
In 2009, the almanac consolidated and modified most sections to improve design and dramatically reduce size. The new format included many more visuals, as well as expanded biographies of First Presidency members. State, province, and country history was replaced with additional church area
Area (LDS Church)
An area is an administrative unit of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which typically is composed of multiple stakes and missions...
information.