Welcome to "LDS 101: The Latter-Day Saint / 'Mormon' Faith"

Welcome to "LDS 101: The Latter-Day Saint / 'Mormon' Faith." In this post, I describe for whom this blog is intended, its purpose, the topics I plan to address, how this blog is different from other blogs about the faith of the Latter-day Saints, how I am qualified to write about this, and aspects of my personal background. I plan to post new material to this blog once or twice weekly, although I'll try to read and respond to readers' comments daily. I plan for each post (except this one) to run no more than 800 words (not including references and so forth); thus, posts on this blog are just a big longer than an Op-Ed piece in a typical newspaper.

The Intended Audience and Purpose of This Blog

I write this blog for the person who is interested in learning something about the Latter-day Saint (LDS) faith, or what is popularly called "Mormonism." My purpose in writing this blog is not to convert anyone. However, there is much falsehood, innuendo, and misleading material published about the beliefs and practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter "LDS Church"). My purpose is to tell the truth about LDS beliefs and practices, from the position that better and more widespread understanding about different religions is a good thing overall, in a multicultural world. At the same time, of course there will be some people who are considering becoming a Latter-day Saint, and I wish to help them obtain accurate information about the LDS faith.

Topics I Plan to Address

I plan to describe the basic beliefs, practices, values, philosophy, and history of the LDS faith. From time to time, I may comment on news reports regarding the LDS faith or prominent Latter-day Saints. In addition, I may respond to accusations that are occasionally made against the LDS Church.

How This Blog is Different

While I certainly cannot claim uniqueness for this blog, there are some characteristics of this blog that may stand out for the reader:

• Having come from a different religious background myself, and having learned something about comparative religions over the course of my life, I can write about the LDS faith with some sense of where it connects with, and diverges from, other traditions. I shall not make derogatory comparisons with other faiths, but I hope to be clear about where the LDS have common ground with other faiths, and where the LDS are distinctly different.
• This is not a bulletin board of articles. I am interested in a conversation with readers. Please feel free to comment on the posts, ask questions, raise issues.
• I shall address the controversies that come up regarding the Latter-day Saints most directly.

How I Am Qualified to Write About This

First and foremost, of course, I am an observant Latter-day Saint. Since I became a Latter-day Saint in 1975 (as a college sophomore), I have spent somewhere over ten years, here and there, teaching adult Sunday School classes based on the LDS scriptures; I also served as a full-time LDS missionary for two years, teaching LDS beliefs in Japan. In addition, I have served in other positions in my LDS congregations over the years, including some in local church administration. Thus, I am reasonably familiar with LDS doctrine and practice.

Personal Background

I understand that readers may be curious about what sorts of perspectives inform my opinions. Here are some items about my background:

• Name: Mark Edward Koltko-Rivera
• Demographic characteristics: 52 years old; married, with four grown children from a former marriage.
• LDS background: Convert. Returned full-time missionary; served honorably in the Japan Okayama Mission (1978-1980). Have served as a counselor to the bishop in two LDS congregations (a position similar to that of the associate pastor in another Christian church). Have also served on an LDS stake high council (a position similar to that of the panel of advisors to a bishop or archbishop in another Christian church). I currently serve as a 'ward missionary' in my congregation, which means that I help to teach LDS beliefs to people who have expressed an interest.
• Home town: The Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. (Currently I reside on the Upper East Side.)
• Where I've lived: New York City (Manhattan; Astoria, Queens; Brook Avenue in the Bronx). Florida (Winter Park, just north of Orlando). New Jersey (Newark). Pennsylvania (Haverford and Bryn Mawr). Connecticut (New Milford and West Hartford). Japan (Hiroshima, Okayama, Matsue, Matsuyama, Tokushima).
• Ethnicity: Polish and Puerto Rican.

Although directed at people who are not Latter-day Saints, anyone is welcome to read and comment upon these posts, as long as the rules are followed: No personal attacks. No profanity at all. No posting of anti-LDS / anti-Mormon websites or URLs, or attacks on the LDS Church.

Welcome.

Notices

This website and its content have no official connection to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I, Mark Koltko-Rivera, am the only person responsible for content on this site; any mistakes are mine and mine alone. The LDS Church does not sponsor the site, and neither suggests nor edits content, either officially or otherwise.

The photo of a Mormon family, above, was obtained from the website, "Why Mormonism?," to which I offer my thanks.