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SALT LAKE CITY – The famous Mormon choir of the tabernacle will sing the same tune, but under a new name.
The choir was renamed Friday to remove the word Mormon to end the abbreviated names of religion used for generations by church members and others.
The singers will now call the choir of the tabernacle on Temple Square, said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a statement. This is a nod to the choir house of the last 150 years, the Tabernacle, located on the grounds of the church known as Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake. City.
The group has been calling Mormon Tabernacle Choir since 1929, when it began broadcasting a weekly radio program for a broad audience.
The president of the church, Russell M. Nelson, announced guidelines in August asking people to stop using "Mormon" or "holy virgin" as a substitute for the full name of the church . He said that "Latter-day Saints" was an acceptable shortcut.
According to faith, the full name of the church was given by revelation from God to the founder of Joseph Smith in 1838.
The Mormon term comes from the church's signature, the Book of Mormon, which, according to his followers, is based on the record keeping of an ancient prophet named Mormon.
A church web page that was in place prior to Nelson's announcement described the Mormon term as an "unofficial but harmless nickname for members".
But in his August statement, Nelson urged people not to use Mormon or LDS. "The Lord has made me understand the importance of the name he has revealed for his church," he said.
Speaking later in Canada, Nelson acknowledged that it would be "a challenge to undo the tradition of over 100 years" but stated that the name of faith was "not negotiable" , according to a video posted on the website of a church. He said that church members should use the correct name if they want outsiders to use it.
"We do not change names, we correct a name," Nelson said. "Some marketers are changing names in the hope of being more successful.This is not our purpose.We are correcting an error that has crept over time."
In a different video of the trip, Nelson said: "This is not the church of Mormon, it is not the church of Moses, it is the only church in the world. Church of Jesus Christ. "
The name change will be a big effort for the Utah-based faith that has 16 million members worldwide. The name change of the choir is the first step with many changes to come. The church still uses Mormon in his Twitter account.
Presidents of the faith are regarded as prophets who lead by revelations of God. Nelson, 94, took on this position in January after the death of the previous president.
This choir was renamed a day before Nelson and other Mormon leaders were about to provide spiritual guidance and provide church news at a conference held every weekend in Salt. Lake City, which involves nearly 100,000 people and hundreds of thousands of others follow on television and online. .
The choir of about 360 men and women sings at conferences and has performed around the world as well as at the inauguration of US Presidents, including President Donald Trump.
The president of the choir, Ron Jarrett, said the name change was an exciting opportunity for the choir to start a new chapter that aligns the group with Nelson's request. He stated that the choir's website and social media pages will be updated to reflect the new name.
"It's a huge brand for the church – it's been around for a long time and people recognize it," Jarrett said.
He added, "I do not think we're going to lose people, in fact, we could even win listeners … it'll look and feel like before, but maybe even better."
Faith had previously adopted and promoted the term Mormon, including a 2014 documentary about its members called "Meet the Mormons". The church has released a series of "I'm a Mormon" commercials on television and on billboards beginning in 2010, with the aim of dispelling stereotypes by telling the stories of individual members.
The church had already tried to insist that his full name be used – in 2001, before the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The new effort says Mormon, Mormonism and LDS are not acceptable.
Paula Froke, editor of The Associated Press Stylebook, followed by many news outlets, said the organization was aware of church guidelines. She added that AP was monitoring the evolution of names in the church itself – including among members – and with the public.
For the moment, the entry of the AP Stylebook on the faith remains unchanged.
"It is clear that the term" Mormon "is deeply rooted in the church and in the minds of the general public," said Froke.
Nelson did not speak Friday and the church did not comment on the name change of the choir.
Rechristening the high-level choir goes against the long-standing nickname and announcement of other changes, said Patrick Mason, a religion professor who studies religion at Claremont Graduate University in California.
This does not mean it will be easy.
"If they want to know more about religion, they will go to Google Mormon," he said.
Many church members have very fond memories of childhood after listening to the choir, sometimes affectionately known as MoTab.
"There will not really be much of a difference – even music, even beautiful sound – the brochures will not look the same," said Deborah McMullin of Stoughton, Wisconsin, who went at Temple Square on Friday.
It will, however, be difficult to completely eliminate the use of Mormon and LDS, said Chad Guertin, 32, of Magna, Utah.
"You want, you know you should, but it's so usual in the way we have referred for so long," Guertin said. "Putting it into practice is more difficult because we have a terribly long name."
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