In his second major address during the faith’s 188th Semiannual General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson issued a stern, uncompromising lecture on his August edict — for members, media and others — to use the faith’s full name: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
His instruction is not a name change, not rebranding, not cosmetic, not a whim and not inconsequential, Nelson told 21,000 church members in the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City as well as millions more watching via satellite across the globe. “It is the command of the Lord.”
A day after hearing news of a major shift in their Sunday worship services — reducing the three-hour meeting block to two hours — Latter-day Saints gathered for a second day, eagerly anticipating any other big changes.