Mormon Miracle Pageant

Mormon Miracle Pageant
Written by	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Date premiered	1967
Subject	Book of Mormon, First Vision, Mormon pioneers
Genre	Religion
Setting	South lawn of Temple Hill, Manti Temple, Manti, Utah
Official site

The Mormon Miracle Pageant is a Latter-day Saint Pageant (an annual outdoor theatrical performance) held in Manti, Utah. It is produced by an amateur cast of over five hundred members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the LDS Church). The nightly program takes place on the south lawn of temple hill at the Manti Temple. The two-week pageant typically draws an average of 15,000 people per night over an eight-night performance.^[1]

The performance begins shortly after sunset, during the early summer (usually late June). People often start arriving several hours before the performance. In addition to restaurants in the town, there are special food stands for the event. Light security is provided at the performance site and the surrounding streets to ensure general order and to direct traffic, though it has not typically been known to be needed (never any significant disorder). The pageant is, for Mormon believers, a faith-promoting family event.

The Pageant is held on a hill adjacent to the Manti Temple.

Content

The Mormon Miracle Pageant includes three separate but related faith-promoting dramatizations from an LDS perspective:

1. The story from the Book of Mormon of the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus Christ to the native Israelite inhabitants of North America in the first century A.D., and other portions of said book.
2. Experiences of the first LDS prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. during his young-adulthood in the burned-over district of New York in the 1820s including the recovery and translation of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the "Church of Jesus Christ" in 1830 (which was renamed the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" in 1838) and its infancy, and the death of Smith in 1844.
3. The journey of the Mormon pioneers who followed the LDS prophet Brigham Young to Utah, and the group of pioneers sent to central Utah (now Sanpete Valley) where the Manti Temple stands.

History

The pageant was first produced by the Manti Utah LDS stake in 1967 under the leadership of stake president Vernon Kunz. Helen and Morgan Dyreng of Manti directed the production. Although crude in comparison to the current pageant, nevertheless the performance was accompanied by a 25-piece orchestra. The original music directors were McLoyd Erickson, Harry A. Dean, and Evan Bean. Among the orchestra members was Richard Nibley (brother of Hugh Nibley), who had trained most of the rest of the musical group.^[2]

Pageant evangelists and protesters

There are usually several evangelical Christian church groups, including some nationally-recognized evangelists^{[citation needed]}, who attempt to proselytize the largely Mormon attendees prior to the nightly event. These evangelists typically hand out anti-Mormon^[3] (or pro-Evangelicalism) literature^[3] and engage pageant-goers in religious discussion as they approach the site.^[4] Some evangelists carry picket signs and wear "overtly anti-Mormon t-shirts."^[3] In addition, some local "fundamentalist Mormon" groups have been known to carry picket signs in the approach area, criticizing the position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on polygamy and abortion. (The church has abandoned the practice of polygamy; and believes that abortion should be allowed in rare cases such as rape or incest).^[5] Once the pageant begins, these critics generally disperse.

See also

Latter-day Saints portal

• List of pageants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Temple (LDS Church)

Notes

1. ^ http://www.mormonmiracle.org/information.html. Accessed 11 April 2006.
2. ^ Mormon Miracle Pageant: Book of Mormon and LDS Church history in pageant form - Manti, Utah^{[dead link]}
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Ephraim Church of the Bible Manti Pageant Outreach 2007". www.mormoninfo.org [1]. Accessed 2 July 2007.
4. ^ Bean, Kent R. (2005). Policing the Borders of Identity at the Mormon Miracle Pageant. Doctoral Dissertation. Bowling Green State University.[2]
5. ^ Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1:Stake Presidencies and Bishoprics, 2006, p. 185.

External links

• The pageant page at the LDS Church website
• The unofficial but authoritative Mormon Miracle Pageant website
• Another pageant link
• The Manti Temple
• The Sanpete County website
• Manti’s ‘Miracle’, New Era, July 1978, page 18
• Pageant Visitor Information Page