The share of Americans who consider themselves Christian is falling fast, while the ranks of the "nones" — atheists, agnostics and "nothing in particulars" — continue to swell, according to a major new study.

The Pew Research Center's 2014 Religious Landscape Study, released Tuesday, found the proportion of adults who consider themselves Christian fell nearly 8 percentage points — from 78.4 percent in 2007 to 70.6 percent last year. The share of those unaffiliated with religion jumped nearly 7 percentage points, from 16.1 percent to 22.8 percent of adults during the same

It all started with a question.

The Mormon youth simply asked his white Sunday school teacher why the man's Nigerian wife and her family would join a church that had barred blacks from being ordained to its all-male priesthood until 1978. Why, the student wanted to know, was the ban instituted in the first place?

To answer the teen's inquiry, Brian Dawson turned to the Utah-based faith's own materials, including its groundbreaking 2013 essay, "Race and the Priesthood." His research prompted an engaging discussion with his class of 12- to 14-year-olds.

On May 5, The Salt Lake Tribune reported the story of Brian Dawson, a Caucasian man in an interracial marriage who answered a student's question about how his wife could be a member of the LDS Church, given its history with people of African descent.

Dawson used the www.lds.org essay entitled "Race and the Priesthood," which states that the priesthood restriction can be contextualized against the environment of "American racial culture." As Dawson reports it, he was released from his calling for refusing to stop teaching from the essay.

Two LDS sister missionaries were assaulted during a home invasion Thursday morning in Temuco, Chile.

"Early yesterday morning, the apartment of four sister missionaries in the Chile Concepcion South Mission was broken into, and at least two of the sisters were assaulted," said Eric Hawkins, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The missionaries immediately notified police, wh

Sister missionaries in Chile are recovering after their apartment was broken into and two of the women were assaulted Thursday, according to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The LDS Church has embraced modern financial tools and will now allow members in the United States — and those outside who bank with American institutions — to pay their tithing and other donations online.

The faith's expectation is that devout Mormons give 10 percent of their income — known as tithing — to the Utah-based church.

New questions arose about the health of LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson when he bypassed a meeting with a visiting President Barack Obama last month and then cut his speaking load by half at April's General Conference.

On Friday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released this statement — originally reported on KUER's RadioWest — about the Mormon leader's health.

Mormon apostle Richard G. Scott is recuperating at home after being hospitalized since Thursday for gastrointestinal bleeding.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports his illness kept the 86-year-old from speaking at the Mormon church's General Conference earlier this month.

The Church of Jesu

As Mormonism enters its third century, it faces a Goldilocks dilemma: Too much tension with the surrounding culture invites scorn; too little threatens its uniqueness.

But finding just the right balance to ensure a thriving — and distinctive — faith won't be easy.

After pressure from the U.S. government, Mormons gave up polygamy, for example. Despite the demise of Prohibition, however, the renowned teetotalers didn't start drinking. With a nod to American tolerance for diversity, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter

President Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will speak both Saturday and Sunday during the faith's 185th Annual General Conference.

President Monson, 87, presided over the Saturday morning session but chose to alter his pattern of welcoming Latter-day Saints to conference with a short talk at the beginning.

"President Monson has chosen to reduce the number of talks he will deliver this conference," church spokesman Dale Jones said in a statement. "Over the years various formats have been used in general conference programs."