Editing Mormons (section)

=== Modern times ===
{{Further|Mormonism as a world religion}}

During the early 20th century, Mormons began reintegrating into the American mainstream. In 1929, the [[Mormon Tabernacle Choir]] began broadcasting a weekly performance on national radio, becoming an asset for public relations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2008|p=103}}.</ref> Mormons emphasized patriotism and industry, rising in socioeconomic status from the bottom among American religious denominations to the middle class.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Mauss|1994|p=22}}. "With the consistent encouragement of church leaders, Mormons became models of patriotic, law-abiding citizenship, sometimes seeming to "out-American" all other Americans. Their participation in the full spectrum of national, social, political, economic, and cultural life has been thorough and sincere".</ref>
In the 1920s and 1930s, Mormons began migrating out of Utah, a trend hurried by the [[Great Depression]], as Mormons looked for work wherever they could find it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2008|p=105}}.</ref> As Mormons spread out, church leaders created programs to help preserve the tight-knit community feel of Mormon culture.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2008|p=106}}.</ref> In addition to weekly worship services, Mormons began participating in numerous programs such as [[Scouts BSA (Boy Scouts of America)|Boy Scouting]], a [[Young Women (organization)|Young Women organization]], church-sponsored dances, ward basketball, camping trips, plays, and [[LDS Seminaries|religious education programs]] for youth and college students.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2008|p=53}}.</ref> During the Great Depression, the church started a [[LDS Humanitarian Services|welfare program]] to meet the needs of poor members, which has since grown to include a humanitarian branch that provides relief to disaster victims.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2008|pp=40–41}}.</ref>

[[File:Mtchoirandorchestra ConferenceCenter.jpg|left|thumb|The 360-member [[Tabernacle Choir|Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square]]]]

During the later half of the 20th century, there was a retrenchment movement in Mormonism in which Mormons became more conservative, attempting to regain their status as a "peculiar people".<ref>The term ''peculiar people'' is consciously borrowed from [http://churchofjesuschrist.org/scriptures/nt/1-pet/2.9?lang=eng#8 1 Peter 2:9], and can be interpreted as "special" or "different", though Mormons have certainly been viewed as "peculiar" in the modern sense as well. {{Harvtxt|Mauss|1994|p=60}}.</ref>
Though the 1960s and 1970s brought changes such as [[Women's Liberation]] and the [[civil rights movement]], Mormon leaders were alarmed by the erosion of traditional values, the [[sexual revolution]], the widespread use of recreational drugs, [[moral relativism]], and other forces they saw as damaging to the family.<ref>"Developments mitigating traditional racial, ethnic, and gender inequality and bigotry were regarded in hindsight by most Americans (and most Mormons) as desirable &nbsp;.... On the other hand, Mormons (and many others) have watched with increasing alarm the spread throughout society of 'liberating' innovations such as the normalization of non-marital sexual behavior, the rise in abortion, illegitimacy, divorce, and child neglect or abuse, recreational drugs, crime, etc." {{Harvtxt|Mauss|1994|p=124}}.</ref>
Partly to counter this, Mormons put an even greater emphasis on family life, religious education, and missionary work, becoming more conservative in the process. As a result, Mormons today are probably less integrated with mainstream society than they were in the early 1960s.<ref>"[T]he church appears to have arrested, if not reversed, the erosion of distinctive Mormon ways that might have been anticipated in the 60s." {{Harvtxt|Mauss|1994|p=140}}. "However, in partial contradiction to their public image, Mormons stand mostly on the liberal side of the continuum on certain other social and political issues, notably on civil rights, and even on women's rights, except where these seem to conflict with child-rearing roles." {{Harvtxt|Mauss|1994|p=156}}.</ref>

Although [[black people]] have been members of Mormon congregations since Joseph Smith's time, before 1978, black membership was small. From 1852 to 1978, the LDS Church enforced [[black people and Mormonism|a policy]] restricting men of black African descent from being ordained to the church's lay [[Priesthood (LDS Church)|priesthood]].<ref>{{Cite book |title = All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage |first = Armand L. |last = Mauss |pages = 213–215 |publisher = University of Illinois Press |year = 2003 |isbn = 978-0-252-02803-8 }}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2008|pp=111–12}} ("The origins of this policy are not altogether clear. "Passages in Joseph Smith's translations indicate that a lineage associated with Ham and the Egyptian pharaohs was forbidden the priesthood. Connecting the ancient pharaohs with modern Africans and African Americans required a speculative leap, but by the time of Brigham Young, the leap was made.")</ref> The church was sharply criticized for its policy during the [[civil rights movement]], but the policy remained in force until [[1978 Revelation on Priesthood|a 1978 reversal]] that was prompted in part by questions about mixed-race converts in Brazil.<ref name="Bushman111">{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2008|pp=111–12}}.</ref> In general, Mormons greeted the change with joy and relief.<ref name=Bushman111 /> Since 1978, black membership has grown, and in 1997 there were approximately 500,000 black church members (about 5 percent of the total membership), mostly in Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean.<ref>{{Cite journal |url = http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_218.html |title = 1999–2000 Church Almanac |year = 1998 |website = Adherents.com |page = 119 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110604023854/http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_218.html |access-date = November 11, 2011 |url-status = usurped |archive-date = June 4, 2011 }} "A rough estimate would place the number of Church members with African roots at year-end 1997 at half a million, with about 100,000 each in Africa and the Caribbean, and another 300,000 in Brazil."</ref> Black membership has continued to grow substantially, especially in West Africa, where two [[Temple (LDS Church)|temples]] have been built.<ref name="LDS-Africa">{{cite web |url = http://www.ldsgenesisgroup.org/africagrowth.html |title = The Church Continues to Grow in Africa |publisher = Genesis Group |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121105130157/http://www.ldsgenesisgroup.org/africagrowth.html |archive-date = November 5, 2012 |df = mdy-all }}</ref> Some [[black Mormons]] are members of the [[Genesis Group]], an organization of black members that predates the priesthood ban and is endorsed by the church.<ref>{{Cite book |title = Black and Mormon |author = Newell G. Bringhurst, Darron T. Smith |date = December 13, 2005 |publisher = University of Illinois Press |pages = 102–104 }}</ref>

[[File:LDS Global Distribution (2009).svg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Global distribution of LDS Church members in 2009]]

The LDS Church grew rapidly after World War II and became a worldwide organization as [[Mormon missionary|missionaries]] were sent across the globe. The church doubled in size every 15 to 20 years,<ref>{{citation |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wTBUCGwdG8MC&q=doubled+twice+since+then&pg=PA92 |title = The angel and the beehive: the Mormon struggle with assimilation |author = Armand L. Mauss |year = 1994 |page = 92 |publisher = University of Illinois Press |isbn = 9780252020711 }}; {{citation |title = Building a bigger tent: Does Mormonism have a Mitt Romney problem? |url = http://www.economist.com/node/21548247 |date = February 25, 2012 |newspaper = [[The Economist]] |access-date = February 27, 2012 |archive-date = February 27, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120227161709/http://www.economist.com/node/21548247 |url-status = live }} (In 2010 alone the church grew by 400,000 new members, including converts and newborns).</ref> and by 1996, there were more Mormons outside the United States than inside.<ref name="Todd 1996">{{cite web |last = Todd |first = Jay M. |title = More Members Now outside U.S. Than in U.S |url = http://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/ensign/1996/03/news-of-the-church/more-members-now-outside-us-than-in-us |website = [[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]] |date = March 1996 |access-date = April 29, 2018 }}</ref> In 2012, there were an estimated 14.8&nbsp;million Mormons,<ref>{{cite web |url = https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/2012-statistical-report-2013-april-general-conference |title = 2012 Statistical Report for 2013 April General Conference |date = April 6, 2013 |access-date = July 18, 2019 |archive-date = June 28, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190628143049/https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/2012-statistical-report-2013-april-general-conference |url-status = live }}</ref> with roughly 57 percent living outside the United States.<ref>In 2011, approximately 6.2&nbsp;million of the church's 14.4&nbsp;million members lived in the U.S. {{cite web |url = https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/united-states |title = Facts and Statistics: United States |date = December 2011 |publisher = LDS Newsroom |access-date = April 29, 2018 |archive-date = June 28, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190628015016/https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/united-states |url-status = live }}.</ref> It is estimated that approximately 4.5&nbsp;million Mormons – approximately 30% of the total membership – regularly attend services.<ref>{{citation |url = http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/57369318-80/church-percent-lds-growth.html.csp |title = New almanac offers look at the world of Mormon membership |first = Peggy Fletcher |last = Stack |author-link = Peggy Fletcher Stack |date = January 10, 2014 |newspaper = [[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |access-date = September 24, 2014 |archive-date = October 21, 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141021204834/http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/57369318-80/church-percent-lds-growth.html.csp |url-status = live }}.</ref> A majority of U.S. Mormons are white and non-Hispanic (84 percent).<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.pewforum.org/Christian/Mormon/mormons-in-america-methodology.aspx |title = Mormons in America |publisher = Pew Research Center |date = January 12, 2012 |access-date = May 13, 2012 |archive-date = May 19, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120519042958/http://www.pewforum.org/Christian/Mormon/mormons-in-america-methodology.aspx |url-status = dead }}.</ref> Most Mormons are distributed in North and South America, the South Pacific, and Western Europe. The global distribution of Mormons resembles a contact diffusion model, radiating out from the organization's headquarters in Utah.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://web.natur.cuni.cz/ksgrrsek/acta/2009/2009_reeves.pdf |title = The Global Distribution of Adventists and Mormons in 2007 |author = Daniel Reeves |year = 2009 |access-date = November 11, 2011 |archive-date = December 12, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111212033045/http://web.natur.cuni.cz/ksgrrsek/acta/2009/2009_reeves.pdf |url-status = live }}.</ref> The church enforces general doctrinal uniformity, congregations on all continents teach the same doctrines, and international Mormons tend to absorb a good deal of Mormon culture, possibly because of the church's top-down hierarchy and missionary presence. However, international Mormons often bring pieces of their own heritage into the church, adapting church practices to local cultures.<ref name="Thomas W. Murphy 1996">{{cite web |url = https://dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V29N01_183.pdf |title = Reinventing Mormonism: Guatemala as Harbinger of the Future? |author = Thomas W. Murphy |year = 1996 |website = [[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought]] |access-date = November 11, 2011 |archive-date = September 27, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110927044542/https://dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V29N01_183.pdf |url-status = live }}</ref>

As of December 2019, the LDS Church reported having 16,565,036 members worldwide.<ref name="Statistics 2019">[https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/2019-statistical-report "2019 Statistical Report for April 2020 Conference"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629203050/https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/2017-statistical-report-april-2018-general-conference |date=June 29, 2019 }}, ''Church Newsroom'', April 4, 2020.</ref> [[Chile]], [[Uruguay]], and several areas in the South Pacific have a higher percentage of Mormons than the United States (which is at about 2 percent).<ref>{{cite web |url = https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/ |title = LDS Statistics and Church Facts – Total Church Membership |website = www.mormonnewsroom.org |access-date = September 13, 2015 |archive-date = June 6, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190606222321/https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics |url-status = live }}</ref> South Pacific countries and dependencies that are more than 10 percent Mormon include [[American Samoa]], the [[Cook Islands]], [[Kiribati]], [[Niue]], [[Samoa]], and [[Tonga]].