• The main Mormon church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For most of the 20th century, that church has doubled in size every 15 years.
• Young people are strongly encouraged, but not required, to serve as missionaries. Young men serve a two-year mission between the ages of 19 and 21; women serve a year-and-a-half mission after age 21. Approximately 20 percent of eligible young people serve as missionaries; there are about 60,000 missionaries serving throughout the world.
• In the Miami Valley, there are 19 Mormon congregations known as wards or branches. They reach north to Bellefontaine, south to Middletown, east to Springfield and west to Eaton/Greenville and have approximately 7,500 members.
• Congregations are organized geographically, similar to the way school districts create boundaries. The smaller congregations meet weekly in various communities such as Centerville, Kettering and Huber Heights. There are two stakes in the Dayton area — the Dayton and Dayton East Stakes. A stake is a larger group of congregations that meets together semiannually in a formal conference and also meets for activities and service together.
• Each ward has its own local leader, called a bishop, which functions under the Stake leadership in the area. John Ward is the president of the Dayton Stake. Mike Stevens is the president of the Dayton East Stake.
• Mormon services are open to the public. Meetings are weekly on Sundays with varying schedules, but there is always a service at 9 a.m. Those interested in visiting can visit http://morman.org and put in their address to locate a nearby congregation and specific meeting time. On the site, people also can request a personal copy of “The Book of Mormon,” learn more about the faith and read profiles of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• The practice of polygamy was officially discontinued by the main church in 1890. Some 75,000 Mormon fundamentalists still practice polygamy today, the most famous are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, centered in rural southern Utah.”
• Mormon men are traditionally given an office in the priesthood, but between 1852 and 1978, African-American men were not ordained. The decision was reversed in 1978. Women are not given priesthood.
• Three hours of meetings are on Sunday mornings at a Mormon church. They include one hour of traditional worship known as a sacrament meeting, which includes communion and sermons given by members of the congregation — often one man, one woman and one teenager. For the third hour, women go to Relief Society meetings, men go to priesthood meetings for their office.
• Mormons adhere to a health code: they do not drink coffee, tea or alcohol, or smoke. There is no formal dress code; formal dress is expected at Sunday meetings and missionaries have a similar dress code.
• Mormon underwear is known as “the garment.” For men, it’s basically a T-shirt and boxer shorts, for women it is briefs and a camisole. The idea of the garment comes from Genesis 3:21: “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” The garment is a symbol of commitment and desire to regain the presence of God.
• At Mormon temples throughout the U.S. and the world, a ritual called the endowment is held before members leave on a mission. It is a sacrament much like baptism and depicts the fall of Adam and Eve. The closest temple to Dayton is in Columbus.
• According a study released June 2 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, a substantial majority of Americans (68 percent) say it would not matter to them if a presidential candidate were Mormon. A quarter (25 percent) say they would be less likely to support a Mormon, while 5 percent say they would be more likely to support a Mormon candidate.
Sources: Carroll Doherty, associate director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, author Matt Bowman, John Ward, president of the Dayton Stake, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.