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 a restorationist, nontrinitarian Christian denomination that is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The church is headquartered in the United States in Salt Lake City, Utah and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, it has over 17 million members and over 99 thousand volunteer missionaries. As of 2012, the church was the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the U.S. As of 2023, the church reported over 6.8 million U.S. members.
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".
Mormonism is the theology and religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of the Latter Day Saint movement, although there has been a recent push from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to distance themselves from this label. A historian, Sydney E. Ahlstrom, wrote in 1982 that, depending on the context, the term Mormonism could refer to “a sect, a mystery cult, a new religion, a church, a people, a nation, or an American subculture; indeed, at different times and places it is all of these."
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.
The Joseph Smith Memorial Building, 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, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. It houses several restaurants and also functions as a venue for events. Several levels of the building also serve as administrative offices for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints departments 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 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 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 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 Missouri refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Missouri. The official church membership as a percentage of general population was 1.14% in 2014. According to the 2014 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey, roughly 1% of Missourians self-identify themselves most closely with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The LDS Church is the 8th largest denomination in Missouri.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia began with the arrival of seventeen-year-old missionary William James Barratt in 1840. The LDS Church's first baptism in Australia was in 1842 when Barratt baptised Robert Beauchamp, who would later become an Australian mission president. However, official missionary work did not begin until John Murdock, who became the first official mission president in Australia, and Charles Wandell established a mission in Sydney, Australia, on 31 October 1851. The colonies of New Zealand and Tasmania were added to the Australian Mission in 1854, creating the Australasian Mission. In 1898, however, the Australasian Mission was divided into the New Zealand Mission and the Australian Mission.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a presence in France since 1849, and the first Latter-day Saint convert in the country was Augustus Saint d'Anna, in Le Havre. The Church claims a membership of about 38,000 in the country, representing less than 0.1% of the population.
The Indianapolis Indiana Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at the southwest corner of West 116th Street and Spring Mill Road in Carmel, Indiana, north of Indianapolis. It is the first temple constructed in Indiana. The Indianapolis Indiana Temple is similar in design to The Gila Valley Arizona Temple, a single-level temple with an end spire and approximately 34,000 square feet.
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.