Thriving Church in Mormon Country Emphasizes Community
By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
Friday, April 13, 2007

OREM, UTAH (ANS) -- In a valley considered the spiritual heart of LDS culture, a 600-member evangelical church is remarkably healthy, with at least half the seats filled with ex-Mormons. All this has come without Mormon-bashing, or any special training or messages to Mormons at their worship services.

“When you come to church on Sunday morning, you’re not going to hear about Mormonism,” says Scott McKinney, pastor of Christ Evangelical Church. The core message and philosophy of Christ Evangelical isn’t about winning arguments with Mormons. “If a Mormon comes to our church and hears a negative message about Mormonism they will get up and walk out,” he says.

First settled by Mormon missionaries in 1847, the Utah Valley is home to 450,000 living primarily in Orem and Provo. The valley is also home to thousands of mission-minded students at BYU, Utah Valley State College, and the church’s Missionary Training Center, which trains and sends out 53,000 missionaries to various parts of the world each year. the rest