FAQ's

1967	Discovered chiasmus in the Book of Mormon while on his mission in Regensburg, Germany.
1969	While still a student, published the blockbuster “Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon” in BYU Studies, followed in 1972 by “The Book of Mormon Does It Again” in The New Era.
1970	BYU BA (History, Mathematics), MA (Latin and Greek), Valedictorian.
1970—72	Woodrow Wilson Fellow, studied Greek Philosophy at Oxford University.
1972—75	Duke University, JD. Articles editor for the Duke Law Journal. Studied the Pseudepigrapha with James H. Charlesworth.
1975—1980	Practiced non-profit & tax law with O’Melveny & Myers, Los Angeles.
1979	Founded FARMS.
1980—2020	BYU Law School, Professor of Law.
1981	Editor of and author in Chiasmus in Antiquity.
1986—2010	Editor, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, 19 volumes, FARMS & Deseret Book.
1988—1992	Volume Editor, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, MacMillan.
1991—2018	Editor-in-Chief, BYU Studies Quarterly.
1999—2004	Director of Publications, Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History.
2005	Co-Director, Joseph Smith Bicentennial Conference, Library of Congress.
2005—2011	Chair, Latter-day Saints and the Bible Section, Society for Biblical Literature
2007—present	Co-editor, Joseph Smith Legal Papers
2007	The Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon (BYU Press).
2009	The Sermon on the Mount in the Light of the Temple (Ashgate Press).
2016—present	Distinguished Scholar in Residence, University of Southern California.
2016	Co-Founder and Chair, Book of Mormon Central.

Authored or edited over 200 scholarly publications and books. Jack was the featured speaker at Hugh Nibley’s funeral. He is widely considered the leading Book of Mormon scholar of this generation.

Dr. Lynne Hilton Wilson earned her Ph.D. in Theology and American Religious History from Marquette University. She specializes in the study of the Holy Spirit or Pneumatology. Her dissertation compared Joseph Smith’s understanding of the Spirit with his contemporaries. Her master’s degree focused on New Testament studies and her undergraduate major was Nursing. An accomplished cellist, Lynne played with the BYU Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestra. She returned to BYU and taught religion as an adjunct professor. Dr. Wilson has also served in the Church Educational System for the past thirty years in France, Belgium, Wisconsin, and, most recently, California.

Dr. Wilson is a popular presenter at BYU Education Week, the Society of Biblical Literature, Mormon History Association, F.A.I.R, Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology, BYU Sperry Symposium, Silicon Valley Educational Conference, and Stanford Friday Forums.

Dr. Wilson and her husband, Dow R. Wilson, live in Palo Alto, California. They have seven children, all with red hair, and three grandchildren, with blond, ginger and brown hair.

Some of her publications include

Relationship of Book of Mormon Central to BYU

Book of Mormon Central (BMC) in an independent non-profit organization with an office in Springville, Utah. Some of its executives are on the BYU faculty, and BMC occasionally makes use of BYU infrastructure. For example, BMC sometimes holds meetings and events on campus. An introduction to BMC was a popular class at 2016 BYU Education Week. BYU faculty members sometimes consult on BMC projects. BMC has an arms-length affiliate relationship with two BYU entities:

• • BYU Studies. Jack Welch chairs BMC. He was editor-in-chief of BYU Studies for 27 years.
  • Religious Studies Center (RSC).

Other affiliated organizations also have BYU connections, including:

• Book of Mormon Onomasticon, on the Harold B. Lee Library web site.
• Chiasmus Archive, housed in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections.
• Scripture Citation Index, created by BYU faculty Stephen Liddle and Richard Galbraith.

Affiliation means there is some project coordination to avoid duplication of effort and leverage resources. For example, RSC sponsors a student research paper contest each year, and BMC awards a modest cash prize to the student who authored the best Book of Mormon paper.

BMC benefits from a certain proximity to BYU, but the university does not limit or control BMC in any way. Nor does BMC limit or control BYU in any way, as each are free to vigorously pursue their missions.

Relationship of Book of Mormon Central to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

All BMC executives, board members, and employees are active, faithful, believing members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some of our volunteers are members of Community of Christ or Restoration Branch congregations. BMC receives no funds directly from the Church, only via the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Foundation, and is not controlled in any way by the Church. The semi-official Church News ran an article about BMC in January, 2016. Most of our readership are Latter-day Saints. Church departments have met with us to understand precisely what we are doing. ChurchofJesusChrist.org links to bookofmormoncentral.org and we anticipate more links in the future. Some full-time CES employees volunteer with us. The Church has begun licensing the LDS 2013 edition of the scriptures to outside entities, and BMC received the first such license. We re-publish these sacred texts with engaging enrichment material such as art, music, explanatory notes, etc. in our ScripturePlus mobile app. We held our 2016 Moroni Day celebration in the Joseph Smith Building on Temple Square. The Church has sent some of their experts to consult with us and help us improve certain technical skills.

BMC is not officially endorsed by the Church, although we are a trusted independent organization. Members of the Twelve and the Seventy have keynoted BMC events. Church leaders and employees work with us both as private individuals and occasionally in official capacities. We hope our efforts help all of the religious organizations within the Restoration Movement who cherish the Book of Mormon. We hope our materials prove useful to missionaries working with investigators. We hope our approach helps many people stay in the boat as Elder Ballard taught in his October, 2014 & October, 2016 General Conference addresses. Our publications ultimately depend on research. Research is inherently exploratory and uncertain. Being completely independent empowers BMC to take calculated risks which the official Church would not be comfortable undertaking. If we are successful, the Church benefits. If we are not successful, the Church is not embarrassed. We support the Church’s mission to help more of God’s children feast upon the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon.

December 31, 2015	The Deseret News published an article describing Book of Mormon Central’s launch the following day.
August 23, 2016	The Book of Mormon Central KnoWhy App debuted to a large crowd at BYU Education Week.
December 22, 2016	The Deseret News Mormon Times lead article chronicled Book of Mormon Central’s many accomplishments during 2016.
July 25, 2017	ChurchofJesusChrist.org published a link to bookofmormoncentral.org, directing web traffic to our independent external site. ChurchofJesusChrist.org also posted a video of Chad Webb, Administrator of Seminaries and Institutes, recommending that Seminary and Institute teachers use Book of Mormon Central materials.
August 16, 2017	Elder Jeffrey R. Holland praised Book of Mormon Central in his keynote speech at the Chiasmus Jubilee celebration in the Joseph Smith Building on BYU campus.
August 17, 2017	Coverage of the Chiasmus Jubilee appeared on the LDS Mormon Newsroom and in the Deseret News Mormon Times.
August 27, 2017	The LDS Church News ran a full-page article about Elder Holland, the Chiasmus Jubilee, and Book of Mormon Central
October, 2017	The LDS New Era magazine advised young people with questions about the Book of Mormon to consult Book of Mormon Central.
March 14, 2018	Elder Jeffrey R. Holland praised Book of Mormon Central, FAIRMormon, and Interpreter Foundation in his keynote address at a donor appreciation event held at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in downtown Salt Lake City.
March 31, 2018	Feedspot.com ranked Book of Mormon Central the #6 most influential blog & website in the Latter-day Saint community, just behind the Tabernacle Choir and just ahead of FAIR Mormon.
April 9, 2018	The Deseret News ran an article with many photos of the BMC 2018 Book of Mormon Conference held on April 7, 2018 in the Utah Valley Convention Center.
May 17, 2018	The Deseret News mentioned sponsor BMC in an article about the “Mormon Speaks” stage pageant performed by Burmese refugees at Murray High School June 7 – 9, 2018.
August 3, 2018	Elder Kevin W. Pearson, General Authority Seventy, speaking at the FAIRMormon 2018 Conference, singled out Book of Mormon Central as one of the most important independent organizations helping the Church accomplish its mission and asked members to support it.
August 23, 2018	The church’s official website, ChurchofJesusChrist.org, began linking not only to Book of Mormon Central in general, but to individual KnoWhy articles within Book of Mormon Central that address specific questions Church members encounter.
October 1, 2018	Rick Turley, Director of the Church Public Affairs Department, and Elder Kevin W. Pearson, General Authority Seventy, speaking at a Book of Mormon Central event in Salt Lake City, said Book of Mormon Central does many things the Church cannot do, is viewed very favorably by Church leadership, is necessary and critical, and deserves support.
February 24, 2019	Church News ran an article quoting Brent L. Top and Gaye Strathearn about in-depth personal scripture study. Top mentions that Lds.org now links to the BYU Religious Study Center, Maxwell Institute, and Book of Mormon Central.
March 4, 2019	Book of Mormon Central and several staff members are mentioned more than 30 times in Elder Tad R. Callister’s splendid new book A Case for the Book of Mormon.

Yes. Book of Mormon Central (BMC) is a dba of Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum, Inc., a Utah non-profit corporation organized in 2004. Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum, Inc. (BMAF) is a 501 (c)(3) public charity whose final determination letter from the IRS was received in 2007. Copy available upon request. BMAF files an annual Form 990 with the IRS. Both BMAF and BMC maintain current registrations with the Utah Division of Corporations. BMAF also has a current charitable solicitations permit issued by the Utah Department of Commerce. Copy available upon request. 

Book of Mormon Central (BMC), as of December 5, 2020, has 18 full-time employees, 12 part-time employees, 4 part-time freelancers, and dozens of part-time volunteers working in various aspects of its operations. It maintains an office in Springville, Utah. The organization is managed by four volunteer executives:

• Jack Welch, retired after 40 years on the BYU Law faculty.
• Kirk Magleby, owner of Nuvek, LLC.
• Taylor Halverson, BYU Marriott School faculty.
• Ruth Schmidt, retired attorney.

None of these individuals receives any compensation for their work with BMC.

The executives are advised by volunteer board members:

• Scott Petersen, executive with RevRoad.
• Bob Babcock, practicing attorney with Babcock Scott & Babcock.
• Tyler Perry, executive with Perry Homes & Perry Commercial.
• Lynne Wilson, instructor, Stanford Institute of Religion
• Harris Leck, retired executive/attorney with Chevron Corp.
• Dan  Galorath, founder of Galorath Inc.
• Dave Jenkins, founder of Conservice, LLC.
• Scott Gordon, Shasta College faculty.

None of these individuals receives any compensation for their work with BMC. 

To streamline operations and reduce overhead, BMC outsources financial services such as payroll and accounts payable to Nuvek, LLC.

This low-overhead, lean management style means BMC donor dollars fund Book of Mormon project deliverables rather than management salaries. It is only possible because the executives and board members have an extraordinary level of commitment to BMC’s mission. 

We track user interactions. We publish in a dozen social media channels and measure reads, views, listens, opens, downloads, comments, likes, shares, visits, pins, posts, tweets, etc. Affiliates such as Meridian Magazine, LDS Living, Másfe, etc. share our content and we count those co-published user interactions as well. In 2016 we had just over 5 million user interactions. In 2017 that number rose to 15 million. In 2018 we reached 25 million. In 2019 we rose to 40 million. As we achieve our "Flood the Earth with the Book of Mormon" campaign goal, user interactions will increase to 100 and 200 million per year. Inception to date costs have decreased by a factor of 9 from $.36 per user interaction in 2016 to $.04 per user interaction today. 

We measure unique visitors to our websites and translate that number into a market penetration rate among Latter-day Saints. Currently we have over 3.3 million unique visitors which equates to about 19% of Church members. As we reach our campaign goal, that market penetration rate will increase to 40%.

We gather anecdotal evidence of impact via user feedback. Several new converts have joined the Church and many lapsed members become more active after engaging our material. We expect many more.

BMC's current monthly expenditure averages $125,000 per month. No executive salaries or fundraising expenses are included in that amount. All BMC executives (Jack Welch, Kirk Magleby, Taylor Halverson, Ruth Schmidt, Bob Babcock, Scott Petersen, Tyler Perry, Lynne Wilson, Harris Leck, Dan Galorath, Dave Jenkins, Scott Gordon) serve as volunteers. BMC's Director of Development, Nathan Bryant, has his salary and expenses completely paid as an in-kind private donation by Kirk Magleby's company, Nuvek, LLC. BMC occupies 5 suites in the office building at 330 East 400 South in Springville, Utah, but only pays rent on 2 1/2 of those suites. The other 2 1/2 are in-kind private donations from the owners. Much of BMC's furniture and fixtures come from second hand sources such as the monthly BYU surplus sale. We take full advantage of non-profit discounts offered by technology suppliers such as Microsoft, Adobe, and Salesforce. These strategies keep BMC's overhead remarkably low. Nearly 90% of our budget goes to pay 18 full-time employees, 12 part-time employees, and 4 part-time freelancers whose work is leveraged by dozens of dedicated volunteers. 

For any other question, you are welcome to contact: amy@scripturecentral.org