New Era

New Era

Published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Monthly. Spiritual magazine.

ISSN: 0164-5285

Reading/Interest Level: Ages 12-18

Curriculum ties: Spirituality, service, morality

Booktalk Ideas: Holding fast to the iron rod: Talk about the spiritual messages available.

Challenge Issues: Religious Material

Challenge Response: First Defense File

Reader’s Annotation:

Uplifting and enlightening, youth can find spiritual and life guidance that fits their needs and upholds their values.

What the Magazine is About:

New Era is a magazine geared toward the youth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It contains uplifting messages and life guidance with common themes and messages that center on becoming more Christ like, learning more about Church ordinances, making the most out of Church meetings, understanding the scriptures, standing up for your beliefs and standards, understanding others, using gospel principles to guide everyday decisions, the importance of developing our talents, sharing the gospel, and overcoming adversity.

There are many articles and messages written by various church leaders just for the youth, but also articles written by local level church members, including teens! There are no regular contributors apart from the Church’s First Presidency (the prophet and his counselors) who will regularly cycle through writing articles each month, and also the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of which various apostles will often write messages for the youth.

Critical Evaluation:

In general, the articles that appear in the New Era are well written. Even though contributors come from all over the world and are of varying ages with varying writing experience, the articles are edited in such a way to make the magazine feel cohesive. The articles focus on youth life and experiences, but do so from the point of view of the youth themselves, and don’t feel contrived or patronizing.

In addition to the print words, short, reader submitted comics are also included. Though of different styles, these too tend to be high quality and are either generally funny, or funny to Latter-day Saint youth because of LDS culture.

Other illustrations and images in the magazine are frequent and colorful, but because this magazine is produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which is not seeking to make money off the sale of magazines, there are no ads other than those promoting church resources and events.

The lack of ads also contributes to a very “clean” feel for the magazine. Pages are not cluttered and easily navigable. There is no excessive fine print that often comes with magazine ads.

Recently the magazine has been integrating other forms of media to accommodate the technology natives. For example, QR codes and web addresses will direct readers to videos that supplement the print content.

About the Publisher:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS Church or, informally, the Mormon Church) is a Christian restorationist church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations (called wards or branches) and built temples worldwide. According to the church, it has a membership of over 15 million. It is ranked by the National Council of Churches as the fourth largest Christian denomination in the United States. It is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening.

Adherents, sometimes referred to as Latter-day Saints or, less formally, Mormons, view faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement as the central tenet of their religion. LDS theology includes the Christian doctrine of salvation only through Jesus Christ, though LDS doctrines regarding the nature of God and the potential of mankind differ significantly from mainstream Christianity. The church has an open canon which includes four scriptural texts: the Bible (both Old and New Testaments), the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Other than the Bible, the majority of the LDS canon constitutes revelation spoken by Joseph Smith and recorded by his scribes which includes commentary and exegesis about the Bible, texts described as lost parts of the Bible, and other works believed to be written by ancient prophets.

-from Wikipedia.com page-

Justification of Selection:

In my community, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the main religious organization. The Church produces magazines for children, teens, and adults, all of which are in high demand in the community.