The Mormon church's growth rate, if it continues at the rate established during the past fifty years, could make the LDS church a major world faith by the end of 2080. This first collection of sociological essays exclusively on Mormonism explores the church's rapid growth and issues as wide-ranging as "Religion and Drug Use," "The Institutional Role of Mormon Women," "Dealing with Social Change," and "Mormons and Indians.".

Featuring the work of the major scholars conducting social science research on Mormonism today, the volume has much to tell not only about Mormonism but also about the nature of successful religious movements; secularization and assimilation; boundary maintenance; identity formation; recruitment; church growth; life changes; patriarchy and gender roles; and institutional change.