As I write this note at the end of the summer, it still feels too hot to be starting a new academic year. In fact, Utah set a record for the most days over 100 degrees, and it still may not be over. Despite the heat, many religion faculty and students took advantage of the summer to learn, travel, and excavate.

Religion faculty members helped in archaeological excavations in Israel at places like Huqoq, Tell es-Safi, and Tel Shimron, and in Jordan at a site highlighted in this magazine issue: Ataruz. These experiences—though hot, dirty, and labor intensive—gave students invaluable field experiences and glimpses into the ancient world.

The BYU Jerusalem Center reopened for the spring/summer semester for the first time since COVID shut it down in March 2020. Several religion faculty members helped shepherd students through great learning experiences in the Holy Land, Jordan, and Greece. More students and a new rotation of faculty will continue at the Jerusalem Center in the fall.

Church history trips for faculty and students to significant Restoration sites from New York to Nauvoo helped strengthen their testimonies of the amazing heaven-opening experiences that occurred there.

Besides sharing some of these experiences, in this issue we also discuss the significant Latter-day Saint/Community of Christ dialogues that have been ongoing and have led to one of our recent publications, Restorations: Scholars in Dialogue from Community of Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We also review the development of the Church History Symposiums held every other year, including the latest one on religious freedom among different global communities and time periods.

Truly the world can be our campus. But even as we travel to or study about different destinations, we are reminded that this mortal life is only a small part of a grander, eternal plan. Being at religious sites help us understand a bit more about the work our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ have done to aid us here on earth. Thus, the primary work of Religious Education—to provide spiritually strengthening and intellectually enlarging experiences—occurs in classrooms, offices, and wherever students prayerfully read their scriptures seeking answers and enlightenment. We look forward to the opportunities that this academic year will bring to provide the environment for these miracles to take place.

Jared W. Ludlow

Publications Director

BYU Religious Studies Center