UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 15, Page 11
December 16, 1993
Professor pens book on lives of local Mormons

     Mormon Lives: A Year in the Elkton Ward by Susan Buhler Taber,
assistant professor of educational development at the University, is a
cultural study of what it was like to be a Mormon living in the
Elkton-Newark area in 1985.
     In interviews with more than 100 members of the Elkton Ward-the
congregation serving the Newark-Elkton area-Taber presents varying views on
church practices, the role of women, missionary work and other issues
within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the interviews,
members describe the experiences and beliefs that have shaped their lives.
     The picture is not perfectly rosy-women debate the merits of working
outside the home; wives complain about the amount of time their husbands
devote to the church; men worry about their responsibility to tithe 10
percent of their income. Yet, their day to day concerns don't seem much
different from those of other faiths.
     "I have tried to present a very honest picture. If I left out the
negatives, the book wouldn't be believable," Taber says. "I would be less
than honest if I said I didn't hope to provide a correction to some of the
other things that have been published about the Mormon church; I wanted to
present a more realistic and truer picture of the way the religion acts in
people's lives.
     "In other works, the church is portrayed as a secretive financial
empire that is oppressive to women. I wanted to show that people come to
the church for a variety of reasons, that they do make changes in their
lives as they adopt Mormon beliefs and that those changes empower them in
many ways.
     "This is an attempt to describe a community of people who live and
work together. As Mormons, we have to do it all ourselves. We have no
minister, our bishop has a job outside of the church. Bishop Bushman (who
is mentioned in the book) was a University professor. Everyone has to pitch
in and do their share to keep the church going."
     The book grew out of a massive ward project to collect oral histories
from church members. Originally, the interviews were intended for the
archives of Brigham Young University, where those interviewed knew their
words would be available to scholars.
     The book is organized around activities that occur in the church
during a regular calendar year. Narratives are included as the speaker is
involved in ward activities.
     Taber has taught in the University's departments of Mathematical
Sciences and Educational Development and currently has a one-year
appointment as assistant professor of educational development. She holds a
doctorate in curriculum and instruction with a major in mathematics
education from the University and earned both her bachelor's degree in
English and her master's degree in education from Stanford University.
     Mormon Lives was published earlier this year by the University of
Illinois Press, with grants from the Lilly Endowment and Brigham Young
University. It is available in local bookstores.
                                                  -Beth Thomas