People, Programs, and Practices: Religious Literacies in the Lives of Latter-day Saint Young Adults

Abstract

Informed by social and cultural perspectives, this article examines the religious literacies of sixteen Latter-day Saint young adults. Religious literacy for them was a deeply embedded religiosocial experience involving family, friends, and others associated with the faith (people); activities, events, and courses they participated in (programs); and specific actions they used when reading sacred texts (practices). As a framework for examining the nature of religious literacies, people, programs, and practices represent mediating forces in the development of young adults’ meaning-making work with sacred texts. Findings have implications for theorizing and studying religious literacies as social practice across faith traditions.