A Project Proposal
Finding the Space Between Social Media Age LdS and Evangelicals
Swipe. I start watching a reel on lawnmower maintenance. Swipe. Swipe. Ad. Swipe. Way too much time later, the algorithm has pushed a video telling me how there is “no reason I shouldn’t be surrounding myself with Jesus Christ and his teachings.” The talking head says more: you listen to podcasts, books, watch shows and more. Why haven’t you made time for Jesus. “You can download an app that will literally read the Bible to you.” I open the captions. #mormon #christian #lds
Since 2013, Latter-day Saints have, in increasing numbers, traded bicycles for iPhones, and the coronavirus pandemic saw a transformation in the strategic efforts of LdS missionaries.1 Social media became integral to coordinating missionaries’ meetings with “investigators.” Leads would come through social media, a meeting would be scheduled, a confirmation text sent, and the missionaries would show up. For example, at Chorley’s England Missionary Training Center, trainees get a few months of training on teaching from Preach My Gospel, but they also got training on how to leverage targeted ads, reels, and messages. Missionaries are expected to send “at least 50 social media messages per day to potential converts.”2
Most evangelicals are completely unprepared for this, and they increasingly struggle to recognize the theological chasm underneath the new social media face of the Latter-day Saints. Last year, the LdS reported more convert baptisms than it has ever seen in 195 years.3 Respected, independent researchers note that the growth in the U.S. since 2020 has been driven by the Bible Belt. Of the top ten, only one state, New York, does not play in the SEC. Arkansas (4.05%), Tennessee (3.55%), and Missouri (3.43%) have seen the greatest membership growth. My own state of Alabama was 6th in the nation for growth, which explains why the LdS are building a temple in Huntsville.4 This is, in part, because the appeal of the Mormon gospel is synonymous with evangelicals’ trend towards expressive individualism—a Jesus-adjacent, eternal vision of the American Dream.
Clarity is further lost when evangelical figures such as Richard Mouw suggest that Mormonism “should be seen as occupying a legitimate place in the theologies of the broad Christian community.”5 Just a few months ago, a respected evangelical press printed a reproachful work wherein the sitting Evangelical Theological Society president, Craig Blomberg, suggested that Mormons were true followers of Jesus who have a few “theological warts.”6 This confusion is amplified in the global South where the LDS Church is growing by shocking percentage points.7
This project addresses a growing confusion in the church: why are the Mormons rebranding themselves and why is this rebrand not enough.
Currently, there exists no memoir-driven, theological serious book on the market that clarifies the edges between orthodox Christianity and rebranded Mormonism, while helping readers respond with clarity, conviction, and compassion in witness.
You might come in thinking that Mormonism is a quirky denomination made of up of good people who don’t drink coffee but say they love Jesus. Or perhaps you think of them as folks with theological oddities.
My hope is that you will leave seeing the Latter-day movement as a theological counterfeit that borrows Christian language but denies Christian truth, especially on the nature of God, Jesus, and authority.
Why?
Mormonism has changed its brand. Rather than being known by its bicycles, ties, and elder tags, Mormons have gone mainstream—Stanley cups, linen, and viral reels. What had looked like a theological oddity and cultural insularity now resembles a carefully curated social media aesthetic. Today’s LDS influencers openly talk about how Jesus changed their lives, quote from the Bible, and picture a version of traditional family life attractive to our dislocated age.8
Core doctrines, however, remain. The Father was once a man like us. Jesus is a diving personage, united to the Father in purpose but not essence. Salvation is still earned “after all you can do” (2 Nephi 25:23). In the soft light of social media, the distinctions are blurred. Evangelicals need more than a question mark next to “This isn’t Christianity, is it?”
I hope to clarify this confusion. As a seventh-generation Latter-day Saint9, trained theologian, and pastor, I want to walk readers through my own experience, the theological incompatibility of Latter-day theology with Christian theology, and close with missional and pastoral urgency. Structured in three parts—memoir, theology, and apologetics—I combine first-person narrative with doctrinal clarity to sharpen the clear distinction between "the faith once for all delivered to the saints" and the counterfeit of the Latter-day saints.
Do me a favor? If you have thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns, send them to me. Anything not clear? Feedback will only make this project more helpful to more people.
By January 2020, every LdS missionary was given access to a smartphone. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints, “A Look Back on Digital, Online Developments in Missionary Work,” Newsroom, April 2022, accessed July 11, 2025, https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/a-look-back-on-digital-online-developments-in-missionary-work.
Harvey Day, “Inside the UK’s Mormon missionary bootcamp,” BBC, February 2023, accessed July 11, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64790111.
Peggy Flethcer Stack, “LDS Church hits highest number of convert baptisms in its history. Is this the start of a ‘remarkable’ new surge?” Salt Lake Tribune, June 2025, accessed July 11, 2025, https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/06/21/lds-news-convert-baptisms-reach/. Cf., The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints, “Focusing on the missionary purpose is leading to miracles in the Lord’s work, says Elder Cook,” Church News, June 19, 2025, https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2025/06/19/quentin-l-cook-missionary-purpose-miracles-new-mission-leaders-seminar.
Matt Martinich, “Membership Growth by US State for 2022,” May 15, 2023, accessed July 10, 2025, https://ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com/2023/05/membership-growth-by-us-state-for-2022.html
Richard Mouw, endorsement to Grant Underwood, Latter-day Saint Theology among Christian Theologies (Eerdmans, 2025).
Craig Blomberg, forward to Latter-day Saint Theology among Christian Theologies (Eerdmans, 2025).
The LDS Church grew by 61.9% in Rwanda; 16.6% in the DRC. There are now twice as any Mormons in Africa as Presbyterians (PCA) in the United States of America. Cf., David Noyce, “As the LDS Church keeps growing in Africa, evangelicals issue a warning” Salt Lake Tribune, April 17, 2025.
This past week, news broke that the LDS church had employed a marketing firm to hire social media influencers who happened to be LDS. The instructions were clear: don’t use words like “Mormon” or “Latter-day Saint.” Do talk about the “Church of Jesus Christ,” hope in answered prayer, and offer a simple call to action: talk to the missionaries and see how faith can transform your life.
My great-great-great-great-grandfather died in the Battle of Crooked River (1838) as a part of the larger Mormon Wars. My great-great-great-great-granduncles are listed in Doctrine & Covenants 102:3 as members of the original high council of Joseph Smith’s Latter-day movement.
Excited to see this come together and how the Lord will use it, both among Christians and among LDS folks, to clarify true saving faith in Jesus Christ!