James Holt

Who is James Holt?

James Holt is a British scholar of Latter-day Saint religion and history and a senior lecturer in religious education at the University of Chester.

Holt has degrees from Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of Chester and the University of Birmingham. He serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Mormon Studies. In March 2010, Holt was among the presenters at the BYU Studies 50th anniversary symposium. Holt has also done a study specifically considering the LDS experience in Britain's religious education curriculum.

Holt and his wife Ruth, who married in 1995, are the parents of four children.

Holt served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Scotland Edinburgh Mission. During this time, his mission presidents were Joseph Fielding McConkie and Ian D. Swanney.

Returning from his mission, Holt completed a BA in theology and history at Chester College, then part of the University of Liverpool. On conclusion of those studies, he trained as a secondary school teacher in history and religious studies at Manchester Metropolitan University. Holt then taught religious studies in two Manchester schools for 12 years before taking up his current role at the University of Chester.