Mormon Stories Podcast

In this episode John Dehlin speaks with former LDS Church members Peter and Mary Danzig about their early years as faithful LDS church members, their mission experiences, their marriage, their joining as founding members of the Orchestra at Temple Square, and the origins of their interest in the topic of homosexuality.

 

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I’m set to do an interview next week with Shawn McCraney.

Shawn is a former LDS Church member who is now an evangelical minister in SLC.  He is the author of the book “Born Again Mormon” and is the host of the TV show “Heart of the Manner.”

Shawn and I talked before agreeing to do the interview.  His purpose (nor mine) will not be to bash the LDS church, but instead to share his journey out of Mormonism and into Evangelical Christianity in a respectful way.  If you have questions for Shawn, please post them here.

Thanks!

In this episode, John Dehlin discusses the past, present and future of the podcast.

• The Past: Why I shut down Mormon Stories podcast, what I learned along the way, and were I am now with the church.
• The Present: Why I brought Mormon Stories back
• The Future: What I promise to each of you w/ the podcast, and what I need from each of you to keep it going.

Thanks in advance for your support!

 

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This is really late notice, but I’m set to interview Peter and Mary Danzig tonight.

If any of you have questions you’d like me to ask them, please post them here.

Thanks in advance!!!

Community of Christ Apostle Susan D. Skoor and Prophet Stephen M. Veazey ordain Becky L. Savage to be a member of the First Presidency

Community of Christ temple

In part 2 of my interview with John Hamer, we discuss the transformation of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (RLDS) towards a more Christ-centered church, including the decision to build a temple in Independence, Missouri, and change its name to “The Community of Christ.”

We also discuss its transition away from prophetic succession based on blood line, and its decision to ordain women to the priesthood.

 

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In this episode, John Hamer discusses the LDS Succession Crisis after Joseph Smith’s death, and the ground that it laid for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (or Community of Christ).

(Music provided courtesy of Clayton Pixton and Skype Pixton.  If you can, please email them and thank them for the music…better yet…email them and then buy an album!!!!)

 

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In this episode (also a re-publication), the good guys at Mormon Expression podcast interview John Dehlin, Brian Johnston and Logan Beaux about James Fowler’s Stage 5, and how it might apply to Mormonism.

This episode is re-published courtesy of John Larsen.

 

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In this episode, the good guys from Mormon Expression podcast Interview John Dehlin.

This recording was published on August 11, 2009, and is re-published here courtesy of John Larsen.

 

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Each week I continue to receive at least 2-3 emails from people who are deep “in the struggle” — having lost their traditional faith in the LDS Church, and don’t know where to turn.  They feel isolated and alone: often desperate.  Here is a summary of the best advice I can offer someone in this situation:

(Note: please consider this as a very rough draft.  I am very open to suggestions to make it better.)

===========

Thank you for sharing your story with me.  If there are a few messages I can leave with you…that I hope you will repeat to yourself over and over again in the coming years….it would be these things: read more…

I recorded my first podcast in some time last night w/ professor, author and mother Joanna Brooks.  Joanna was a very important figure in the uber-controversial BYU Academic Freedom days of 1990-1993…and is now a writer on Mormon topics for Religion Dispatches (along w/ being the Dept. Chair of English at SDSU).  She was also recently featured on RadioWest to discuss the phenomenon of Glenn Beck.

Joanna has recently started an advice-column blog entitled “AskMormonGirl.com“, and cross-blogs on Mormon Matters.

This is part 1 of a 2 part interview.  Please give a hearty Mormon Stories welcome to Dr./Sister/Mommy Joanna Brooks!

 

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 Part 2 [48:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If any of you have ideas for new guests on Mormon Stories, please post them here.  If they’re aligned with the new direction, great.  If not, that’s great too.

What’s even MORE helpful is if you’re able to contact these people in advance and ask them if they’re willing to come on the podcast.  That could save me a TON of time.

Thanks for everything.  More soon.

Thanks for your willingness to give Mormon Stories a 2nd run.

My focus for 2010 (and beyond?) will be:

• Empathy and Support for Those Struggling w/ a Faith Crisis: First and foremost, I want to help to build greater understanding, empathy and support within the broader LDS culture for those struggling with an LDS-related faith crisis. I envision interviewing many who have struggled with their faith — and to put forward several examples of people who have found joy on the other side of the struggle (regardless of whether they landed in or out of the church). The goal will not be to keep people in the church…nor to nudge them out of the church…but instead to help build broad empathy, and to help the strugglers find positive role models, tips, tricks and ideas to help them in their own religious/spiritual/life journey….regardless of where it leads. I anticipate interviewing folks from all sides including: FAIR/FARMS, StayLDS, New Order Mormon, PostMormon and ExMormon.org — and wherever else it makes sense. This will be about finding joy for those who come from a Mormon paradigm…NOT about nudging people one way or the other. read more…

Lately I’ve been feeling a very strong pull to bring Mormon Stories back.  If I were to do so, I would target few areas I feel really strongly about: read more…

Outside of family, my greatest pleasure in life is helping people through tough LDS transitions.

If you are in a pinch, please do email me.  I will help in any way I can.

If I can’t help you directly, I might be able to point you in some good directions.

I remain an active, temple recommend-holding member of the LDS Church.  My wife and I currently teach in the primary and really, really enjoy it.

I love both the church and its members deeply — and sincerely hope to see the Church strengthen and prosper in the coming years.

That said I consider myself a heterodox, (largely) orthoprax, universalistic Mormon (“Open Mormon” for short). What this means to me is:

• Orthoprax: I generally take the commandments of the church pretty seriously in my own life.  I’ve still never tried alcohol or tobacco, for example.  I attend church weekly, fulfill my callings, contribute financially to the church, have family prayer and scripture study, etc.
• Heterodox: My beliefs in LDS doctrine and theology are different than the average member (I am guessing).  For example, I don’t believe it very likely that either polygamy or the black priesthood ban were  commandments from God.  I view them more likely as  mistakes.  These would be just 2 examples of many.
• Universalistic: I don’t presume to judge the status of other churches and/or belief systems, relative to my own.  I’m always thrilled to find faith, hope and charity wherever it may be found: within our church, within other churches, or outside of religion altogether.  I no longer seek to rank my church and/or beliefs relative to the churches and beliefs of others.  While I feel most comfortable with our doctrine and theology from a religious perspective, I feel like I have no clue what “the truth” is with respect to doctrine and theology.  I tend to feel like each religion does its best to figure that out….each has their share of good and bad doctrines….and I feel like it’s God’s job to sort all that out in the end. As the good book says, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

A comprehensive directory of all my interviews, presentations and writings can now be found here.

If any of you are struggling in your relationship with the church, and resonate with some or all of the bullets below…

• Your study of LDS church history is causing you to question your testimony and/or commitment to the church
• Recent current events (like the FLDS thing in Texas, the Mitt Romney thing, or the Gay Marriage ballot initiative in California) have awakened in you discomfort w/ the church
• You find yourself bored and/or frustrated in church — because you do not feel as though you are able to have honest/candid discussions, or that the conversations/lessons are meaningful/relevant to you
• You have begun to doubt your testimony in the LDS Church, but feel as though you have no one to talk to about it
• You are somewhat uncomfortable saying “I know this church is true” — but you still are comfortable saying “I know this church is good”
• AND….you retain a desire to try to maintain your membership and activity in the church….

….if these bullets describe you, please email me with your story at mormonstories@gmail.com.   I may have some resources that could prove helpful to you.

John Dehlin

This explains what a podcast (like Mormon Stories) is:

Welcome to Mormon Stories Podcast — the most popular LDS/Mormon-themed podcast on the Internet (between 4,000 and 6,000 listeners per episode)
For those of you looking for some interesting, Mormon-related content to try out your new Christmas iPods — allow me to explain what Mormon Stories podcast is, and how to listen:

• Why do you do this? Hopefully these essays will help explain it.
• About the podcast:
  • What is a podcast? A podcast is like a combination radio/TV show, but better because you can download it to your iPod (or MP3 player) and listen to/watch it whenever and wherever you want — pausing, rewinding, or fast-forwarding (as the need arises). You can enjoy a podcast while driving in your car, doing household chores, or exercising. Mormon Stories has released podcast episodes in both audio and video, as well as via Youtube — to accommodate your situation.
  • How do I listen? The best way to listen to a podcast (by far) is to download iTunes to your machine (if you don’t already have it), and then subscribe to the podcast by clicking here, and then (while in the iTunes store) clicking on the “Subscribe” button for Mormon Stories Podcast.
  • The full list of Mormon Stories Episodes can be found here:
    • Online Video: Mormon Stories Youtube site
    • Audio and Video Podcast: Mormon Stories RSS Podcast Feed
  • Some of the highlights: On Mormon Stories Podcast we have interviewed all sorts of fascinating Mormons about important Mormon issues, including:
    • Richard Bushman, Grant Palmer and Morris Thurston about the life of Joseph Smith
    • Gregory Prince about the life of President David O. McKay
    • Claudia Bushman on women in the LDS church
    • Jim Parkinson on the story of an LDS man’s survival of the Bataan Death March (World War II)
    • The story of a couple who left the church, and then came back again
    • Todd Compton and Anne Wilde about the history of Mormon Polygamy
    • Darius Gray & Margaret Young and Darron Smith about the history of Blacks in the LDS Church
    • Greg Kearney about the connections between Mormonism and Masonry
    • Buckley Jeppson about Homosexuality and Mormonism
    • And many, many more (over 100 episodes in all)

• Essays: We also have created a few other documents and multimedia presentations for your enjoyment, which you can find here.

We hope you enjoy Mormon Stories podcast, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!!!!

As an act of obedience to Elder Ballard, I’m looking into the option of turning Mormon Matters into a group blog (like T&S, BCC, the Cultural Hall and FMH).

Our slant would be: read more…

Stephen M and his comments about the recent PR film put out by the church entitled “Mormon Myths and Reality” inspired this post.

Today’s LDS Doctrine and Covenants Section 132:61 reads:

“And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood—if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse ^aanother, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.”

This is not defunct scripture, nor has this verse been removed from our canon. Yes we stopped practicing polygamy because of legal/political/governmental adversity, but I’m not sure that we ever renounced the belief. Doesn’t polygamy remain fundamental Mormon doctrine in 2008? read more…

So…what do ya’ll think? Honest? Candid? Refreshing? Duplicitous? Reactions, please.

My reactions: read more…

I wanted to share with you the testimonies of 2 heroes of mine….one new, and one old.

William D. Russell: For over 40 years, William D. Russell has been a progressive voice among the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (now the Community of Christ). This is his story — from a 1993 Sunstone Symposium presentation called, “Pillars of my faith”.

Richard D. Poll: In early 1994 the distinguished career of Richard D. Poll, historian, professor, writer, husband and friend, came full circle. His Liahona/Iron-rod dichotomy, borrowed from the Book of Mormon, had entered the lexicon of Mormon thought almost 30 years earlier in his landmark essay “What the Church Means to People Like Me” (Dialogue 2:4, Winter 1967). His “Pillars of My Faith” sermon in Sunstone called for committed LDS worshipers and writers to join a mighty Christian chorus “in which almost all the singers hear the dissonant sounds of the alternate voices as polyphonic enrichment of the message of the gospel music.” For people like him, “neither dogmatic fundamentalism nor dogmatic humanism provides convincing answers to life’s most basic questions.” He defined history as “human strivings to discover divine realities.” Like Paul, Richard Poll lived his life as part of the leaven that “leaveneth the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9), offering his Liahona questioning in the spirit of “charity, humility, persistence.” In a time when men and women are being called sinners for a word (or many words); when the terms “alternate” and “dissident” are being redefined as sinister; when some seek apostasy, while others have apostasy thrust upon them, Richard Poll’s calm, reasoned, compassionate voice rings with a clarity that will live on in our hearts and minds.

 William D. Russell: Download
 Richard D. Poll: Download

(Hat tip to Travis)

I’m becoming a big fan of William Vanwagenen (of Mormon Worker fame) — and he’s at it again.

As mentioned in today’s SLTrib, if your brand of Mormonism compels you to be inclined against (instead of towards) war, please consider signing this petition.

Go William go!!!!

Holy smokes this guy nails it: a must read for thinking/seeking Mormons. The most interesting parts to me — that are most relevant to our current political and cultural situation as Mormons with the Mitt Romney campaign — are:

• “This period of resisting persecution by living outside the law taught Mormons that secrecy can be a necessary tool for survival. As one apostle … later put it in a speech … “I am not dishonest and not a liar . . . [but] we have always been taught that when the brethren were in a tight place that it would not be amiss to lie to help them out.”” (this is coincidentally validated by my recently released podcast w/ Michael Quinn)
• “What is more, what began as a strategy of secrecy to avoid persecution has become over the course of the 20th century a strategy of minimizing discussion of the content of theology in order to avoid being treated as religious pariahs.”
• “The general pattern of Mormon history is one of growth leading to external pressure being brought to bear on the church. Internal resistance eventually gives way to change sanctioned by new revelation, followed in turn by new growth and success. “
• “This is a perfect example of esoteric public speaking: the attempt to convey multiple messages to different audiences through the careful use of words.”

What’s most interesting of all (to me), is that Mitt Romney and some Mormons both seem to be following the same pattern — to their potentially mutual detriment. May it not be so…..

Full article included below…. read more…

No I was not able to get an interview with D. Michael Quinn — but my buddy Clay turned me on to this 1994 Sunstone “Pillars of My Faith” presentation by Michael Quinn — and it does a wonderful job telling Michael Quinn’s story, in his own words.

Love him, hate him, or indifferent — D. Michael Quinn will go down as one of the most important Mormons of the 20th century.

This is his story, in his own words.

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The Three Reasons I Think Romney Didn’t Win Iowa:

• He’s managed his campaign in a way to make him appear like a flip-flopper, and as lacking meaningful convictions. To many, he appears to be a blatant opportunist. I’m not saying these things are true — only that they appear to many to be true.  To me, Romney does not come across as an authentic Mormon OR Conservative.
• He managed his Iowa campaign in a way to make him appear as if he “went negative”. What’s worse, his negative ads appeared to many to be distortions.
• He doesn’t communicate in an inspirational, Reagan-like way.

For me, his Mormonism doesn’t crack the top 3. If anything, the Mormon thing has helped him get much more media attention than he likely otherwise would have.

My 2 cents.

This presentation, recorded in 2006, covers some of the reasons why people leave the LDS Church, and what family and friends can do to help.

 

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This is a presentation given at the 2000 Salt Lake Sunstone Symposium entitled: “The Decade of the Sixties: The Early Struggles in the RLDS Shift from Sect to Denomination”. It is a discussion of how, during the 1960s the RLDS Church made very decisive steps toward shedding its sectarian past. It began the decade clearly rooted in the sectarian world view. But by the end of the decade, many of the church’s leaders and a reasonable number of its members had adopted liberal views, down-playing traditional unique Latter Day Saint doctrines.

Today, the RLDS Church (or Community of Christ as they are now known) has lost not experienced the same growth as the LDS Church — particularly since the 1970s. What lessons can the LDS Church learn from the Community of Christ? What did they do right, and wrong?

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