''The Ensign of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'', commonly shortened to ''Ensign'' ( ), was an official
periodical
A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also examples ...
of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
(LDS Church) from 1971 to 2020. The magazine was first issued in January 1971, along with the
correlated
In statistics, correlation or dependence is any statistical relationship, whether causal or not, between two random variables or bivariate data. Although in the broadest sense, "correlation" may indicate any type of association, in statistic ...
''
New Era'' (for youth) and the ''
Friend
Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague.
In some cultures, the concept of ...
'' (for children). Each of these magazines replaced the older church publications ''
The Improvement Era
The ''Improvement Era'' (often shortened to ''The Era'') was an official magazine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) between 1897 and 1970.
History
The ''Improvement Era'' was first published in 1897 as a replacement t ...
'', ''
Relief Society Magazine'', ''
The Instructor
''Paedagogus'' ( el, Παιδαγωγός, "Pedagogue") is the second in the great trilogy of Clement of Alexandria.
Having laid a foundation in the knowledge of divine truth in the first book, he goes on in the ''Paedagogus'' to develop a Chr ...
'', and the ''
Millennial Star''. Unlike some of its predecessors, the ''Ensign'' contained no
advertisements
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
.
As an official church publication, the ''Ensign'' contained faith-promoting and proselytizing information, stories, sermons, and writings of church leaders.
For many years, the May and November editions of the ''Ensign'' provided reports of the proceedings of the church's annual and semi-annual
general conferences. These issues contain the full sermons and business of the conferences, as well as a current photographic list of the church's
general authorities and general officers.
The text of every issue of the magazine is available on the church's web site. Each issue since January 2001 is also available in
PDF
Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...
format.
In April 2018, the magazine discontinued its
First Presidency
Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...
message, an article traditionally found at the front of the magazine written by a member of the church's First Presidency. This message was traditionally used by
home teachers for a lesson as they visited their assigned families. This change coincided with the church's revamping of the home teaching program into
ministering
Ministering is the term for Christian service given to fellow congregants, known as "ward (LDS Church), ward members," within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Prior to April 1, 2018, a somewhat similar program within ...
.
In August 2020, the LDS Church announced that the ''Ensign'' would cease publication at the end of 2020 and would be replaced by the English-language version of ''
Liahona''.
The final issue was dated December 2020.
Editors
*
Doyle L. Green (1971–75)
*
Dean L. Larsen (1977–78)
*
James E. Faust (1979)
*
M. Russell Ballard
Melvin Russell Ballard Jr. (born October 8, 1928) is an American businessman and religious leader who is currently the Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He has ...
(1980–84)
*
Carlos E. Asay
Carlos Egan Asay (June 12, 1926 – April 10, 1999) was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1976 until his death.
Early life
Asay was born in Sutherland, Utah, and raised in Monroe, Utah. In 19 ...
(1985–86)
*
Joseph B. Wirthlin
Joseph Bitner Wirthlin (June 11, 1917 – December 1, 2008) was an American businessman, religious leader and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was sustained to the ...
(1986)
[Encyclopedia of Mormonism: Ensign]
Retrieved 2 March 2019.
*
Hugh W. Pinnock (1987–89)
*Rex D. Pinegar (1990–94)
*
Joe J. Christensen
Joe Junior Christensen (July 21, 1929 – May 18, 2021) was a president of Ricks College (1985 to 1989) and a general authority in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1989 until his death. He was also president of t ...
(1994–95)
[Rex D. Pinegar and Joe J. Christensen were co-editors in 1994.]
*
Jack H. Goaslind
Jack H. Goaslind Jr. (April 18, 1928 – April 27, 2011) was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1978 until his death. He was the seventeenth general president of the church's Young Men organiza ...
(1996–98)
*
Marlin K. Jensen
Marlin Keith Jensen (born May 18, 1942) is an American attorney who has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 1989. He served as the official Church Historian and Recorder of the church fr ...
(1999–2000)
*Dennis B. Neuenschwander (2001–04)
*
Jay E. Jensen (2005–08)
*
Spencer J. Condie
Spencer Joel Condie (born August 27, 1940) has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 1989. Condie previously worked as a professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) and also served as a mis ...
(2008–10)
*Paul B. Pieper (2010–12)
*Craig A. Cardon (2012–15)
*
Joseph W. Sitati (2015–17)
*Hugo E. Martinez (2017–18)
*Randy D. Funk (2018–20)
See also
*
List of Latter Day Saint periodicals
*
Herald (Community of Christ)
''Herald'' (formerly ''The True Latter Day Saints' Herald'' and ''The Saints' Herald'') is the official periodical of Community of Christ. It is published monthly in English in Independence, Missouri, by Herald House Publishing.
''The True Latte ...
References
External links
''Ensign'' Official site
{{LDSChurchpubs
1971 in Christianity
1971 establishments in Utah
Monthly magazines published in the United States
Religious magazines published in the United States
Christian magazines
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints periodicals
Magazines established in 1971
Magazines published in Utah
Mass media in Salt Lake City
2020 disestablishments in Utah
Magazines disestablished in 2020