Establishing Zion
We know a great deal about what it takes to personally qualify for Zion — to be pure in heart, to love God and neighbor, to live the law of consecration in spirit and in practice. The scriptures and the prophets have been remarkably clear about that.
What we know much less about is how Zion will actually function as a society. Who will pick up the garbage and fix the streets? How will poverty be eliminated? How will family life differ? How will organizations change? How will Zion be governed? These are not peripheral questions. They are the questions that will determine whether a gathered people can sustain Zion across generations — or whether, like the Saints in Missouri and the Nephites after the Savior's visit, prosperity and complexity will eventually undo what righteousness began.
This site is a place to work on those questions together. The book Establishing Zion: Foundations for a Millennial Society identifies five foundation stones drawn from scripture and prophetic teaching — devotion to God and Christ, charity, agency, accountability, and unity — and explores their implications for every institution a Zion society will require. But the book is not the final word. It is an invitation to a conversation that only a community can finish.
From the Author — An Invitation
There is a dam in the stream of Zion's progress. We know the doctrine. We know the destination. What we have not yet fully worked out is how — how a gathered people actually builds the institutions, organizations, and governance structures that Zion requires. That "how" question is what this website and book attempt to address, and what this community exists to explore.