After years of avoiding direct mention of his religion, Mitt Romney will open up about his Mormon faith as he accepts the Republican nomination for president.
It’s unclear just how much detail he will provide on Thursday night, the pinnacle of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. The former Massachusetts governor has spoken broadly in the past about the importance of prayer and belief in God, but has not discussed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
However, the roster of speakers promises at least a glimpse into his nearly 14 years of service as a lay Mormon pastor around Boston. The invocation will be given by Ken Hutchins, a retired Northborough, Mass., police chief, who was also a Mormon leader in the state, and Grant Bennett, who served as a church counselor to Romney, is scheduled to offer remarks.
“I think this is a speech where he’s going to talk a lot about what’s informed his values, what’s informed his outlook. Of course his faith is an important part of that,” Romney aide Kevin Madden said in Tampa this week. “It’s an important part of who he is as a husband and a father. And so I think you can expect some of that.”
Starting in the 1980s, Romney was a bishop in the Boston suburb of Belmont, a job akin to the pastor of a congregation. He then served as a stake president, the top Mormon authority in his region, which meant he presided over several congregations in a district similar to a diocese.
He counseled Latter-day Saints on their most personal concerns, regarding marriage, parenting, finances and faith. He worked with immigrant converts from Haiti, Cambodia and other countries. Bennett has in the past described how Romney built relationships with other religious groups around his Belmont, Mass., hometown, after a suspicious fire in 1981 destroyed a new Mormon meeting house there.
Other convention speakers have already laid a foundation for this new faith emphasis. In his acceptance speech Wednesday night, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, a Roman Catholic, said “our different faiths come together in the same moral creed.” Ann Romney, in a speech meant to show a more personal side of her husband, describing the early challenges they faced as a couple, including religious differences. “I was Episcopalian. He was a Mormon,” she said. The reference was striking given that the Romneys almost never use the word Mormon on the campaign trail.
Republican evangelicals have been playing down conflict with Latter-day Saints. Most prominently, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, speaking from the podium Wednesday night, said, “I care far less as to where Mitt Romney takes his family to church, than I do about where he takes this country.” Huckabee, a Southern Baptist pastor before he entered politics, had publicly questioned Mormon beliefs when he was competing against Romney in the 2008 presidential primary. Most Christians don’t consider Latter-day Saints part of traditional Christianity, although Mormons do.
Romney has struggled to navigate as a religious minority seeking the nation’s highest office. He is the first Mormon to be nominated for president by a major party.
It’s unclear just how much detail he will provide on Thursday night, the pinnacle of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. The former Massachusetts governor has spoken broadly in the past about the importance of prayer and belief in God, but has not discussed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
However, the roster of speakers promises at least a glimpse into his nearly 14 years of service as a lay Mormon pastor around Boston. The invocation will be given by Ken Hutchins, a retired Northborough, Mass., police chief, who was also a Mormon leader in the state, and Grant Bennett, who served as a church counselor to Romney, is scheduled to offer remarks.
“I think this is a speech where he’s going to talk a lot about what’s informed his values, what’s informed his outlook. Of course his faith is an important part of that,” Romney aide Kevin Madden said in Tampa this week. “It’s an important part of who he is as a husband and a father. And so I think you can expect some of that.”
Starting in the 1980s, Romney was a bishop in the Boston suburb of Belmont, a job akin to the pastor of a congregation. He then served as a stake president, the top Mormon authority in his region, which meant he presided over several congregations in a district similar to a diocese.
He counseled Latter-day Saints on their most personal concerns, regarding marriage, parenting, finances and faith. He worked with immigrant converts from Haiti, Cambodia and other countries. Bennett has in the past described how Romney built relationships with other religious groups around his Belmont, Mass., hometown, after a suspicious fire in 1981 destroyed a new Mormon meeting house there.
Other convention speakers have already laid a foundation for this new faith emphasis. In his acceptance speech Wednesday night, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, a Roman Catholic, said “our different faiths come together in the same moral creed.” Ann Romney, in a speech meant to show a more personal side of her husband, describing the early challenges they faced as a couple, including religious differences. “I was Episcopalian. He was a Mormon,” she said. The reference was striking given that the Romneys almost never use the word Mormon on the campaign trail.
Republican evangelicals have been playing down conflict with Latter-day Saints. Most prominently, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, speaking from the podium Wednesday night, said, “I care far less as to where Mitt Romney takes his family to church, than I do about where he takes this country.” Huckabee, a Southern Baptist pastor before he entered politics, had publicly questioned Mormon beliefs when he was competing against Romney in the 2008 presidential primary. Most Christians don’t consider Latter-day Saints part of traditional Christianity, although Mormons do.
Romney has struggled to navigate as a religious minority seeking the nation’s highest office. He is the first Mormon to be nominated for president by a major party.