2021
What Happens When You Read Church Magazines
January 2021


“What Happens When You Read Church Magazines,” Liahona, January 2021, U9–U11

What Happens When You Read Church Magazines

What really goes on when you read Church magazines? You might be surprised.

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man marking text in Church magazine

Our third child, Charlie Ben, was born with one of the varieties of cerebral palsy. He was never able to sit up or stand; while he said words from time to time, sustained speech was beyond him. As his age of baptism approached, we carefully considered whether he was accountable.

We knew from many behavioral clues that he did understand how to be kind, how to give and receive love, and how to make his wishes known. We also worked out how to baptize him—my wife’s brother would hold him in the font as I said the baptismal prayer, and then together we would put him under the water.

We were blessed with an inspired bishop who interviewed Charlie Ben and emerged with a firm belief in his faith and accountability. The baptism went forward as planned.

Charlie Ben’s Baptism

We were surprised when the baptismal service was packed with people, many of whom we didn’t know all that well. But Charlie Ben knew them all; they were his friends.

When I read the June 2020 issue of the Ensign, with several excellent articles about dealing with disabilities, those events of 1992 came to mind, especially as I read an essay titled, “Is My Child with a Disability Ready to Be Baptized?

My wife and I realized it would have been a great help and comfort to us during Charlie Ben’s lifetime to have the advice and encouragement provided by these Church magazine articles, and that they could be a resource for the many Church members who face similar quandaries.

This Age of Screens

In this age of screens, most Church members can, if they try, watch general conference and other Church broadcasts. The Church offers them in many languages. But is watching and listening enough? Many of us have had the experience of listening intently to conference talks, then, upon reading the printed text in the Church magazines, realizing aspects of the talk that sailed right past us when we listened to the original broadcast.

The words were all there in the broadcast, of course, but what was not there was sufficient time to ponder, to apply to our lives ideas that were not immediately obvious.

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man reading magazine intently

Photograph from Getty Images

A Different Process

When we read the teachings of the prophets, or the writings of other contributors to Church magazines, we go through a very different mental process from listening to audio. Readers can stop whenever they want in order to think about things. They can reread passages immediately, or go back at the end to make sure what was said somewhere in the middle.

Because readers are participants in the communication process, they have more control over the pace and clarity of their “listening.” I use “listening” because scientists have discovered that written language is received by our brain through the auditory process. Our brain passes the information on as spoken words.

Before screens, before radio, before microphones and loudspeakers, Church leaders reached out to the entire membership by printing speeches, essays, histories, and books of doctrine. The advent of electronically assisted communication may enhance the availability of such communication, but it does not make the printed word obsolete.

All the More Important

On the contrary, reading Church magazines—in print or digital formats—is all the more important. Besides conference reports and articles by Church leaders, they include stories about members living the gospel, practical ideas from experts, and essays that teach gospel truths and apply them to our lives. When we see other people finding their way through difficulties that also assail us, it helps us realize that despite our imperfections, frustrations, questions, and griefs, we belong in the Church of Jesus Christ.

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woman reading magazine

In addition to the messages given at general conference, the Church magazines include the personal experiences and gospel insights of many faithful members. The July 2020 Ensign, for instance, has a splendid series of short articles on Church history, including a sensitive treatment of plural marriage. Since I descend from several plural marriages myself, I was grateful to see a Church magazine help put that period of Church history into perspective.

And the essays about members who let questions drive them away from their faith in the gospel were insightful and wise. The counsel to let love for our family members overrule our sorrow and disappointment in their departure from Church norms echoed what our family had already learned and practiced—but we still appreciated the affirmation of the written word.

An idea that sticks in your mind after hearing conference might exist there as a vague summary you can only attribute to “I think a General Authority once said something like …” We need it in writing, so we can go right back to the passage we marked, to the page we folded down, so we can keep rereading—and rehearing—words of wisdom.

It’s Up to Us

The magazines are the broadest conversation available to the entire membership of the Church. Now the Liahona will be translated—on page or on screen—into as many languages as possible, and children and youth will also have their individual magazines, the Friend and For the Strength of Youth.

It is our own responsibility to make sure, by enjoying that conversation, that we’re not left out.