Welcome to this edition of the Religious Educator. Having personally read and pondered each article, I can confirm that there are many genuine insights, fresh approaches, and engaging conversations. This edition of the journal caused me to pause to consider a positive trend in LDS scholarship. The increased focus on historical sources by LDS historians seems to have created a wave of interest in revisiting all religious texts with renewed attention. I see this in particular in the articles on William Tyndale, the Gospel of Mark, and the injunction for early Church leaders to travel (or not). In this same light, a team of scholars led by Brad Wilcox considers the question of authorship of the Book of Mormon using a relatively new and experimental technique, and their findings are presented here for the first time in print.

In this issue is the second installment in our Discussing Difficult Topics series and the second in our Global Pioneers series. The discussion of difficult topics treats the issue of developing a woman’s narrative in teaching, and helping broaden the realization that there is a paucity of examples of women’s voices in scripture and how teachers might remedy this deficiency. Our Global Pioneers entry offers a perspective on the rise of the Church in Italy in the modern era. Using the lens of personal reflection, this article discusses the dynamics of youth conversion in a European context as well as confronting the issue of maintaining a narrow and relatively unique religious identity.

At the request of Dale LeBaron’s family, Casey Griffiths published a posthumous study drawing upon Dale’s historic and ethnographic work. That study presents some of the important work that Dale did before his passing.

I hope you enjoy reading these articles as much as I have enjoyed working with these authors and watching these excellent contributions develop into print publications. We also continue to promote the other works of RSC authors, including those whose works appear in this issue of the journal, on our website, and through our newsletter (see rsc.byu.edu).

Thomas A. Wayment

Editor