Posts Tagged ‘ Missionary Practices ’

April 2007 LDS General Conference Statistics: No Unhallowed Hand Shall Stop the Work from Progressing

March 31, 2007

LDS Church stats for 2006 are out, and the story to me is: growth is strong. 44 new stakes 3 new missions 388 new wards and branches 307,737 more members An increase in 29,737 more convert baptisms than in the previous year 1,104 more missionaries than we had last year 5.1 baptisms per full time missionary — an increase over 4.7 from the previous 2 years. A few other stats listed below. Raw stats can be found here. Finally, I do wish that they would publish activity rates. I also wish that the church would allow external auditors to publish…

Robert Millet on How to Deal with Anti-Mormons

September 7, 2006

By John Dehlin

Robert Millet on How to Deal with Anti-Mormons

I stumbled upon this video presentation today. It is Robert Millet of BYU speaking to future missionaries regarding how to deal with anti-Mormons. For those who have the time to watch/listen, I’m curious how you feel about his approach, and his logic. One quote caught me a bit off guard: “As Latter-Day Saints, you already know more about God, and Christ, and the Plan of Salvation than anyone who would attack you. You already know more than your attackers will ever know.”

027-029: My ( John Dehlin’s ) Story

May 7, 2006

By John Dehlin

At least once each week a listener will ask me (John Dehlin) about my testimony of the LDS Church. Liberals or ex-Mormons sometimes call me an apologist. A few conservatives have accused me of being a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” So, to dispel the speculation–and in response to lots and lots of requests–I recorded a 3 part episode sharing a bit of my own story within the Mormon context. For more details on the episodes, see below: Part 1–Mormon to the Bone: In this episode, I discuss my childhood, youth, and missionary experiences within the Mormon church, through the end…

Why people leave the LDS Church, and what we can do about it

November 24, 2005

By John Dehlin

Recently a stake high councilman came to me very concerned about a family that had just decided to leave the church, and have their names removed from the records. He and his wife were desperate to know how to counsel this family–one of the best and brightest in their stake. To help, I came up with this screencast (for Internet Explorer users) and this one for everyone else. The basic premises are–1) you can’t help them if you don’t know what they’re going through, and 2) you can’t help them by making them a “project”. For those of you with loved…

Multimedia Representation of LDS Stake Growth

November 16, 2005

By John Dehlin

From Guy’s Blog, there is a really interesting multimedia representation of LDS Stake growth from 1830 to 2004. This is the type of stuff I’d love to help organize in the bloggernacle, to enhance today’s conversation and cummunity with additional content to inform and inspire the masses.

Please help us promote God’s Army 2 (al la Blair Witch Project)–A historical bloggernacle opportunity

November 9, 2005

By John Dehlin

As some of you may have gathered, I feel like ‘God’s Army 2 – States of Grace‘ is a critical movie for the Mormon culture/community. It explores race, forgiveness, redemption, religion, and just plain humanity in a way I haven’t experienced in a long, long time. The bloggernacle buzz has begun, including: My podcast interview w/ Dutcher yesterday, over on SunstoneBlog.com M* has released a very interesting interview w/ Richard today But we (in the bloggernacle) can do more. Nay….we must do more. Wouldn’t it be amazing to see if we could join together in the bloggernacle to collectively promote…

“God’s Army 2: States of Grace”–Simply Stunning

November 7, 2005

By John Dehlin

I know, I know. You think I’m overdoing it. But I’m not. At the risk of building it up too much and spoiling it for the rest of you, "God’s Army 2 – States of Grace" is nothing short of amazing. This movie hits hard and deep. It pulls no punches, and it touches on several of the most poignant issues in Mormon history, doctrine, and, most importantly, culture. I plan/hope to interview Richard Dutcher tomorrow (if we can pull it off), so stay tuned, but please consider going out to the movie theatre over the next few days, and…

Mormon Studies Wiki Now Released!

November 5, 2005

By John Dehlin

OK….the Mormon Studies Wiki is now released. You can access it at this URL: http://www.mormonstudieswiki.org This project is not to "compete" with the FAIR wiki, but to be complimentary to it. To me, the 2 major differences are: Audience: In terms of writing style, we are targeting the average 18 year old LDS person. We are not seeking to write technical, academic prose, but instead accessible prose, in very plain language….telling the stories on each of these issues at a high level, assuming minimal prior knowledge. Neutral Position: While I’m sure the majority of those who participate in this project…

008: Inside the Mind of a Mormon Apologist Pt. 2

October 25, 2005

By John Dehlin

In part 2 of this 3 part series, we interview John Lynch, Chairman of the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), a volunteer group dedicated to Mormon Apologetics. In this episode, John Lynch discusses the top issues bubbling up to FAIR these days, the realities of LDS leadership, the distinction between “good” and “bad” apologetics, the growing problem of “Internet Mormonism”, and answers the question as to whether or not Mormon apologetics is a gateway to apostacy. To listen, click here.

002: Gregory Prince and David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism

September 4, 2005

By John Dehlin

David O. McKay presented a dramatic contrast to his predecessors: an athletic, movie-star-handsome, clean-shaven figure who often wore a white double-breasted suit; contrasted to the dark-suited, bearded polygamists (or, in the case of George Albert Smith, son of a polygamist) who preceded him as Church President ever since Joseph Smith. In an age prior to professional image-makers, he instinctively grasped the importance of appearance, and coupled it to the substance of a professional educator to become an icon of Mormonism whose persona did much to change the negative image of the Church in much of the world. Link to podcast

001: Kiddie Baptisms? My Mission Experience in Guatemala

September 4, 2005

By John Dehlin

I served an LDS mission in Guatemala in the late 1980s. As my mission progressed, we began to average over 700 baptisms per month, with some companionships baptizing over 40 in one month. When I confronted my mission president about the issue–the response wasn’t what I hoped it would be. After returning home, I wrote a letter to Elder Dallin H. Oaks. Today we claim 12+ million in the Church, but truth be told, less than 1/2 of them actually consider themselves Mormon….and thus perhaps the reason why activity rates are so closely guarded. Link to podcast

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Posts Tagged ‘ Missionary Practices ’

April 2007 LDS General Conference Statistics: No Unhallowed Hand Shall Stop the Work from Progressing

Robert Millet on How to Deal with Anti-Mormons

027-029: My ( John Dehlin’s ) Story

Why people leave the LDS Church, and what we can do about it

Multimedia Representation of LDS Stake Growth

Please help us promote God’s Army 2 (al la Blair Witch Project)–A historical bloggernacle opportunity

“God’s Army 2: States of Grace”–Simply Stunning

Mormon Studies Wiki Now Released!

008: Inside the Mind of a Mormon Apologist Pt. 2

002: Gregory Prince and David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism

001: Kiddie Baptisms? My Mission Experience in Guatemala

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