Personal information | |
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Nationality | Australian |
Born | Sydney, Australia | 7 May 1980
Sport | |
Sport | Alpine skiing |
Rowena Bright (born 7 May 1980) is an Australian alpine skier. She competed in two events at the 2002 Winter Olympics. [1] [2]
Bright comes from Cooma, New South Wales, is a Mormon and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [3] Her family had joined the Church some years earlier. [4] She watched the 1984 Summer Olympics with her mother, inspiring her to become an Olympian. [5] Bright started skiing at school when she was eleven years old. [5] After joining a training provider in Australia, Bright earned sponsorship, allowing her to take part in competitions outside of Australia. [4] Despite breaking her ankle in training, she achieved a high enough standard in a qualifying event for the Olympics. [5] Prior to the 2002 Winter Olympics, Bright became a member of the ski team at the University of Utah. [3]
As of 2002, Bright was one of five members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to compete at the Olympics, [6] and the first from Australia. [7] Her sister, Torah, has also represented Australia at the Winter Olympics. [8]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is the largest Latter Day Saint denomination. Founded by Joseph Smith during the Second Great Awakening, the church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, as of 2023, it has over 17.2 million members of which over 6.8 million live in the U.S. The church also reports over 99,000 volunteer missionaries and 350 temples.
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several groups following different leaders; the majority followed Brigham Young, while smaller groups followed Joseph Smith III, Sidney Rigdon, and James Strang. Most of these smaller groups eventually merged into the Community of Christ, and the term Mormon typically refers to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as today, this branch is far larger than all the others combined. People who identify as Mormons may also be independently religious, secular, and non-practicing or belong to other denominations. Since 2018, the LDS Church has emphasized a desire for its members be referred to as "members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", or more simply as "Latter-day Saints".
The word Mormon most colloquially denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism in restorationist Christianity. Mormon also commonly refers, specifically, to a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is often colloquially, but imprecisely, referred to as the Mormon Church. In addition, the term Mormon may refer to any of the relatively small sects of Mormon fundamentalism, and any branch of the Latter Day Saint movement that recognizes Brigham Young as the successor to founder Joseph Smith. The term Mormon applies to the religion of Mormonism, as well as its culture, texts, and art.
The Latter Day Saint movement is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has several unique teachings about Judaism and the House of Israel. The largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement, the LDS Church teaches the belief that the Jewish people are God's chosen people and it also teaches the belief that its members share a common and literal Israelite ancestry with the Jewish people.
Washing and anointing is a Latter-day Saint practice of ritual purification. It is a key part of the temple endowment ceremony as well as the controversial Second Anointing ceremony practiced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mormon fundamentalists. It was also part of the female-only healing rituals among Latter-day Saints until at least the 1940s.
The Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB), originally called the Hotel Utah, is a social center located on the corner of Main Street and South Temple in Salt Lake City. It is named in honor of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. It previously housed several restaurants and also functioned as a venue for events, although it was closed in 2023 for extensive renovations, expected to be completed in 2025. Several levels of the building have also been administrative offices for departments of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, such as FamilySearch. On January 3, 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Hotel Utah.
Torah Jane Bright is an Australian former professional snowboarder. She is Australia's most successful Winter Olympian, former Olympic gold and silver medalist, two time X Games gold medalist, three time US Open winner, two time Global Open Champion, three time World Superpipe Champion, former TTR World Champion and recipient of the Best Female Action Sports Athlete at the ESPY awards. In 2014 Bright became the first Olympic athlete to qualify for all three snowboarding disciplines; halfpipe, slopestyle and boarder-cross.
Australia first competed in the Winter Olympic Games in 1936 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and has participated in every games since, with the exception of the 1948 Games in St. Moritz.
The Mormon corridor are the areas of western North America that were settled between 1850 and approximately 1890 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who are commonly called "Mormons".
The Memphis Tennessee Temple is the 80th operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The temple is located in Bartlett, Tennessee.
The Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple is the 104th operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is located in Florence, a neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska, USA, and formerly an independent city.
The Asunción Paraguay Temple is the 112th operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Colorado refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Colorado. The first congregation of the Church in Colorado was organized in 1897. It has since grown to 148,708 members in 310 congregations.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nevada refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Nevada. Nevada has the 7th most church members of any U.S. state, and the fifth-highest percentage of members. The LDS Church is the 2nd largest denomination in Nevada, behind the Roman Catholic Church.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wyoming refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Wyoming. The church's first congregation in Wyoming was organized in 1877. It has since grown to 67,797 members in 172 congregations.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United Kingdom refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in the United Kingdom. In 2019, the United Kingdom had the second highest number of LDS Church members per capita among countries in Europe, behind Portugal.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wales refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Wales.
James Goldberg is an American historian, playwright, poet, and writer. He has Jewish, European, and Punjabi ancestors, and his grandfather, Gurcharan Singh Gill, was the first Sikh to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He attended Otterbein University briefly before transferring to Brigham Young University (BYU), where he completed his undergraduate work and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree. He was an adjunct professor at BYU.