In Memoriam - President Gordon B. Hinckley

Gordon Bitner Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passed away Sunday evening, aged 97. He was the 15th president of the church, having served for almost 13 years. He served nearly 30 years (26, I believe) as a member of the first presidency, meaning he has been a central figure in the church's leadership for much of my lifetime.

A sweet, gregarious, and outgoing man, he led the church during a significant period of growth in terms of its membership, temples, and increased accessibility and outreach throughout the world.

I had various opportunities to meet President Hinckley throughout my life, and was always impressed at what a kind, tolerant, generous, humorous, and good-hearted man he is. He and my grandfather were close friends from boyhood, and I have always had a great deal of affection for him personally and as a church leader. He will be missed tremendously. Our thoughts are prayers are with his family.

Additional information:

LDS Newsroom

New York Times

The LDS Newsroom has additional information, including a biography, recent comments from President Hinckley, a timeline of significant events, and an overview of Succession in the First Presidency.

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Also of note: American Public Media's Speaking of Faith series this weekend aired an episode entitled "Inside Mormon Faith." I have not yet listened to it, so cannot speak to it personally, but I've been told that it was well done. You can download an mp3, listen to streaming audio, or grab the podcast on their site, linked here.

Mormonism and Democratic Politics: Are They Compatible?

Great piece from the Pew Forum on Mormonism and democratic politics. Richard Bushman was the speaker, and the link provides a transcript of the discussion amongst Mr. Bushman and the journalists on the church and some of its political history and context. I haven't read the entire thing yet (30 pages), but have just printed it out and wanted to post it here.

Thank you Steve for the pointer!

Link here as well: http://pewforum.org/events/?EventID=148

NPR on PBS on Mormons

Howard Berkes discusses the PBS documentary this morning on NPR's Morning Edition. Link here.

The New Yorker also had a full page ad for the documentary.

PBS/Frontline's documentary on the Mormons

If you didn't catch part I this evening, it's worth watching. Part II airs tomorrow, and I'll try to post some thoughts. The first part was very well done. Well researched, fair, and insightful.

Apparently you can watch the entire broadcast online (if you're willing to spend 4 hours at your computer.

Link here. Or see PBS.org.