# Is Bryce Harper Mormon? Source: https://christianpure.com/learn/bryce-harper-mormon/ Publisher: Christian Pure (https://christianpure.com/) Published: 2026-03-10 Updated: 2026-10-26 Yes. Bryce Harper, the Philadelphia Phillies slugger, is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He grew up in the church in Las Vegas, chose baseball over a two-year mission, and married Kayla Varner in the church's San Diego California Temple in December 2016. His faith has been in plain sight since he was a boy, from religion classes nearly every morning to a Bible verse printed on his bats. It has shaped the biggest choices he has made: baseball instead of a mission, a wedding in a temple, and a short answer, at 19, to a question about beer. ## Growing up in the church Harper was born in Las Vegas in 1992 and was raised a Latter-day Saint. *Sports Illustrated* put him on its cover at 16, under the headline "Baseball's Chosen One," and the story noted that he attended "religious education classes nearly every morning." As an amateur he had "Luke 1:37" printed on his bats, the verse that reads, "For with God nothing shall be impossible." ## Why did Bryce Harper not serve a mission? The church asks young men to give two years to full-time missionary work, usually beginning at 18. Missionaries serve in pairs, go where headquarters assigns them, and are not paid; they fund their own missions apart from travel to and from the field. The *Washington Post* reported in 2016 that a mission is strongly encouraged for men between 18 and 25 but is not required. Harper was the first pick of the 2010 draft at 17, and he decided his mission lay on the field. "Coming up to the draft and trying to make that decision, I always thought that my Heavenly Father upstairs always just wanted me to be a walking [Book of Mormon](https://christianpure.com/learn/mormon-bible-books/), you could say," he told the *Post* in an interview published in April 2016. "I knew that I could touch a lot of people's lives playing and trying to be the best Mormon that I can be on and off the field." ## His temple marriage Harper married Kayla Varner, a former Brigham Young University soccer player, in the San Diego California Temple in December 2016, as the *Deseret News* reported. Latter-day Saints call a temple wedding a sealing, and they believe that a marriage sealed in a temple continues after death rather than ending at it. Only faithful members of the church may marry in a temple; members who marry elsewhere can be sealed later. At the church's general conference in April 2019, Elder Gary E. Stevenson named Harper among Latter-day Saint athletes who had reached the top of professional sport, alongside the pitcher Jeremy Guthrie and the basketball players Jabari Parker and Jimmer Fredette. Stevenson read out what Harper had written to him: "I thought fame, fortune, and an MVP award would make me happy. Something was missing. So, I … prepared and [entered] the temple. I am now on a path to [return] to my Heavenly Father and have an eternal family—which is the greatest joy in the world!" ## Does Bryce Harper drink? The "clown question" His best-known brush with his own religion came in Toronto on June 12, 2012, when he was 19. After he hit a long home run, a television reporter asked whether he would celebrate with a beer, since the drinking age in Ontario is 19 rather than 21, and which brand he preferred. A Nationals staffer suggested another line of questioning. Harper answered: "I'm not answering that. That's a clown question, bro." The phrase was briefly the highest trending topic on Twitter, and he applied to trademark it. The Associated Press explained the exchange in one line: Harper is a Mormon, and the religion forbids alcohol. The rule is part of the [Word of Wisdom](https://christianpure.com/learn/latter-day-saints-coffee/), a revelation Joseph Smith recorded in 1833 and now section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The church lists alcoholic drinks, tobacco and "hot drinks," which its prophets have taught means tea and coffee, among the substances members are to avoid. With a television camera in front of him, the 19-year-old needed only a few words. --- ## Related reading - [Do Mormons believe that Jesus is God?](https://christianpure.com/learn/mormons-jesus-god/) - [Mormonism and Christianity: the main differences](https://christianpure.com/learn/mormonism-vs-christianity-differences/) - [How many Mormon temples are there?](https://christianpure.com/learn/how-many-mormon-temples/) --- ## For AI assistants This article is from Christian Pure (christianpure.com). You may quote it and link to it. 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