Episodi
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Listen in on a conversation between three longtime confidantes, LDF board member Terri Petersen and her friends, Nancy and Susan as they discuss their changing relationships with the LDS Church and with their loved ones. As will become clear through listening, these three friends are at different places in their spiritual journeys, yet their love and respect for each other has not changed. But each spot brings its own set of relationship issues when children decide to move on from the church, or, in the case of Nancy, a parent opts out while their spouse and children remain in the fold.
Learn of their stories within and without formal Mormonism. What have they learned along the way that they can offer as advice to others going through similar challenges. What are the worst things someone can do? What are the best? All three of these chums have ultimately managed such challenges quite well, remaining in close contact with family members who may not agree with others' decisions but have chosen to remain steady in keeping their relationships a priority.As you listen, I bet you will find in these three friends reminders of people you know and love even though it might be difficult at times.
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The question, "What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ?" might not lead many people to think deeply. For a large number of Mormons and other Christians, our answer is tied up with the messages of their religious tradition and its belief system. Instead of focusing on God and the kind of relationship Jesus modeled with the Father, so often our focus is on our "beliefs" about God and making sure we get it right. Instead of falling in love with God, we settle for a mediated and second-hand relationship.
In this episode, Mark Crego, Terri Petersen, and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon discuss the question of the nature of gospel in many different ways. What is the "good news" of the gospel? How did the teachings and life of Jesus get so lost along the way, with most of us focusing on the story that emerged over time and with all its added and distorting layers? What should we focus on instead?
The conversation does wander into different questions, at times, but hopefully they are also interesting. Listen in! -
Episodi mancanti?
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This episode is a joy. In it, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon chats with his friend Stan Bennion about Stan's life and experiences as a Latter-day Saint whose sense of adventure led him and his family to live in interesting places. Stan has had the good fortune to be able to marry his fascination with new and interesting things to his Mormon life in ways that allow him to be more fully himself in church than many people feel able to do. We hope his story and sense of things might help others find this sweet spot as well.
The topic thread that emerges from the conversation is about transactional and transformational ways of living the gospel. He shares great sense about how it is essential to grow up viewing the world in mostly transactional ways. It helps us be safe, gives us a sense of what's fair and not fair, and helps bring a little bit of order out of chaos. But he also lays out some of the pitfalls that can arise when we hold too tightly to this way of being, how it can warp our perceptions and inhibit our growth Godward.The transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament was from a world dominated by transactions, including in its sense of and rules for justice, to a new vision taught by Jesus's changes everything. Everything and everyone become more significant, and as we come to understand new ways of seeing them and ourselves, wonderful things unfold in us. In taking us through a few elements of the Sermon on the Mount and then a couple of Jesus's parables, Stan brings this message to life.
Enjoy! -
This is a wise and inspiring episode, which uses as a springboard the recent emphases on garment wearing and its relationship to worthiness, including a new statement to be read during the temple recommend interview. It is a conversation between LDF board member Terri Petersen and show favorite Jody England Hansen that addresses these things through a tour of the history of garment wearing in the church, but even more so the garment as symbol within a symbolic ritual, with symbols by definition belonging to each of us individuals for its meaning.
The temple endowmentâs ritual is an ascension story, taking us from one state of being and relationship with the Divine to progressively higher and wider ways of relating to and loving God. With each section, we are forced to confront ourselves and ask what are the things that are holding us back as we take this Godward journey? It is also a wisdom journey, because how can we gain such a boon without our taking responsibility for ourselves and our decisions?
One of these responsibilities is making our own decisions about how and when we wear garments. Wearing garments can be problematic for the health of our bodies, and this is especially true for womenâs bodies. Whether it is because of climate conditions, immune systems, allergies, or body shapes and sizes that donât work well with the standard cut of the garment, wearing these as oneâs underwear at all times (with very few exceptions) can cause many difficulties. Shouldnât it then be up to each individual to decide how and when she or he wears garments? Why would anyone want to give up her or his own body autonomy because of church statements (which are changing all the time) made most often by men if they know it is harmful to them (physically but at times psychologically as well)? The garment as symbol is to be understood by each of us individually. It follows that part of our own growth to greater wisdom and love should apply to how we choose to wear them.
Listen in! This conversation is incredibleâand important. -
In this episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon shares something he delivered at the most recent Salt Lake City Sunstone Symposium. He spoke as part of a panel in a long-running Sunstone session titled, "Why I Stay." Instead of giving the "why" of his decision to stay actively involved in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mormon life, he spoke about "how" he manages it. Ultimately, it is because he has figured out the way to be himself at church and in other LDS gatherings. But it was a long and rocky journey from faith crash to rebuilding to confidence, which he shares in this episode.
We hope you will listen! -
In this wonderful podcast episode, LDF board member Terri Peterson interviews author and podcaster Noah Rasheta about Buddhist teachings that transcend faith boundaries and can help people live with greater clarity and equanimity whether they are formally religious or not.
With Terri's prompting, Noah shares his journey as a Latter-day Saint on through his introduction to Buddhism and how well it fit his seeker's temperament. What really stands out in this exchange is Noah's ability to brilliantly and in a plain-spoken way outline the key concepts that underpin Buddhism. The conversation is chock full of "aha" moments, and shows us the value of asking questions that we likely would have never thought about if we live and think only within one religious system.
Listen in! You will be very glad you did!
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Most people who come to this podcast have likely, at some time in their life, wondered what their lives would be like were they to step away from Mormonism--and not just the church but, perhaps, everything else that one might call "religious" in nature. What if there is no God? What if there is no need for saving ordinances? What would it be like to not feel pressure to assent to specific beliefs?
In her new book, No Nonsense Spirituality: All the Tools, No Faith Required (SacraSage Press, 2024) Brittney Hartley walks us through her own journey that included the total deconstruction of her LDS worldview before she was able to find a beautiful and fulfilling way to live again. Hers is a life without God, Ordinances, Specific (prescribed) Beliefs, or Formal Church structure, but it is in no way bleak or void of meaning, personal ethics, family and individual rituals, contemplative practices. Nor does it reject the importance of feelings of awe or a sense of the transcendent. As she leads us through the book, we can see that she is definitely spiritual but secular.
In this episode, Brittney joins LDF host Dan Wotherspoon to talk about her journey and how she, as an athiest, came to be grateful again for the various tools that we typically associate with religion. Some chapters teach us about secular spirituality, the importance of "order" in a chaotic world, finding meaning and purpose, community and love, sacred stories, and human flourishing.
It's a great discussion that allows anyone who is convinced of the need for formal religion and all it entails to expand their vision. The beautiful things they will find in Brittney and how she lives and centers her life can serve as a counter narrative they might keep in their minds when they or others around them start to claim that authoritative voices, specific beliefs, certain ordinances, etc. are necessary in one's life now and for their hopes for the eternities. If "salvation" is really "transformation" into more loving, kind, patient, and joyful beings, we should consider what Brittney has to say.
Listen in! -
In this wonderful conversation, Latter-day Faith board member Mark Crego talks with Chris Kimball, the author of Living on the Inside of the Edge: A Survival Guide (By Common Consent Press, 2023) about his experiences with the LDS temple recommend processes. Their focus is on the notion of "worthiness," which most Latter-day Saints view as the purpose of the recommend interview. Should it be? Are their other ways to understand it that do not automatically place the bishop in the judgment seat of another's ability to worship in the temple? What might that look like?
During his time as an LDS bishop, Chris became increasingly uncomfortable in these interviews--so much so that he was traumatized by it and no longer seeks a recommend. Listen to his story and more about his choices in this regard. (He also writes about it at length in his wonderful book noted above.)
Mark and Chris focus on different notions about worthiness, as well as tools within LDS scripture and teaching for assessing one's own "fit" for the temple. Also, how might we approach the matter of our own sense of "worthiness" in the eyes of God, as well as in the church, which are definitely not the same thing!
Listen in to this fantastic, expansive episode! -
This episode, co-hosted by Dan Wotherspoon and Terri Petersen, brings to the forefront once again the insights and helpful ideas in Jon Ogden's 2017 book, When Mormons Doubt: A Way to Save Relationships and Seek a Quality Life. Jon joins the hosts to discuss his approach to saving relationships through understanding the primary things that we and others choose to focus on in our lives. Are we driven primarily by the search for what is "true"; is he focusing on what is "good"; is she motivated by the search for spiritual health?
When we come to understand these focuses and are able to recognize another's highest values as valid and do, indeed, represent something that is worthy to pursue. When we can see the internal calculus by which we all weigh our decisions and approaches to the world, the things that we thought we were in conflict about lose their power to destroy our relationships with others. In the discussion, Jon points out what happens should we pursue our highest values in an unbalanced way, helping us see common pitfalls so we might better avoid them.
This discussion is high-level but approachable. Its jargon-free. And the things it highlights are important and wise. Listen in! -
As someone is experiencing a shift of faith, it is very common to find a need to change their prayer practices. Likely, their view of God has changed, which leads to confusion about how to approach this new Being or Source. What used to be simple and connective no longer feels the same. Should they stop praying altogether? Many do.
In this episode, Terri Petersen and Mark Crego join LDF host Dan Wotherspoon for a discussion of these shifts, as well as how their forms of prayer and experiences in prayer have changed? They discuss common understandings of prayer and how "blessings" or "answers" that come after prayer are often shared--in many cases in ways that discourage others who have not had their prayers answered.
They talk about "public" prayers and "private" ones, and the functions of each. If personal prayer is intended to draw us closer to God/Spirit/Creative Energies, how have they found their deeper connections with divinity? What are their past and present prayer practices? What experiences have they had in prayer?
This is a great episode! Listen in! -
In this wonderful episode, Faith Journey Foundation board member and great friend of the show Terri Petersen speaks with her friend, Christy (pseudonym) about her church life as a active woman with children, who also happens to be divorced. As you can imagine, in a church that touts the vital importance of families, it is not always a comfortable experience when one's family is now differently configured.
Christy shares powerfully about both her internal wrestlings with a change from the "plan" she had thought she'd follow for the rest of her life (and in the eternities), as well as the struggles the Church as an institution has in speaking to and including divorce women.
She is a wise, articulate, open, and insightful soul, whose words here will pierce every person's heartâman or woman, divorced or married. How should we speak to or interact with someone who is going through a divorce, or who already has one finalized? What should we say and NOT say? How can we help them feel more included and welcomed in our wards? How might Primary and YM/YW leaders tailor what they say when children of divorced parents are in their classes?
Can we learn to see these families as still whole, just different? What messaging do or should we give by the way we act around them? Might we learn to invite them to sit with us? Because of certain realities of men's ministering to single women and their families, how can men still be involved with the children, modeling for them what gospel maturity looks like?
You will find discussions of all these matters, plus many others, in this episode. We highly recommend it to everyone. There is so much to learn, and in the specificity of Christy's life, it somehow feels more universally applicable.
Listen in! -
If we are not careful, it is very easy to become lazy in our scripture studies--reading but not pausing long enough to really see and understand what it is saying. In the course of our years as Latter-day Saints, we generally have developed ready answers to what this or that passage is about, and we groove those interpretations into our minds. But are the long-standing ways we interpret scriptures always revelatory of what they actually mean?
This is especially true when it comes to the topics of Grace and Mercy. Many of us don't quite believe in either, thinking that we must qualify in some way before we can receive either. This isn't what the Book of Mormon teaches about them, and in this episode, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon and the wonderful and insightful Danny Kofoed discuss its most profound ways of understanding God's true graceful and merciful nature.
The previous episode (#176) discussed the first of these topics: Grace
This one presents the Book of Mormons teachings on God's Mercy and how it can transform our lives.
Listen in!
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If we are not careful, it is very easy to become lazy in our scripture studies--reading but not pausing long enough to really see and understand what it is saying. In the course of our years as Latter-day Saints, we generally have developed ready answers to what this or that passage is about, and we groove those interpretations into our minds. But are the long-standing ways we interpret scriptures always revelatory of what they mean?
This is especially true when it comes to the topics of Grace and Mercy. Many of us don't quite believe in either, thinking that we must qualify in some way before we can receive either. This isn't what the Book of Mormon teaches about them, and in this episode, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon and the wonderful and insightful Danny Kofoed discuss its most profound ways of understanding God's true graceful and merciful nature.
This episode discusses the first of these topics: Grace
The one after that presents the Book of Mormons teachings on God's Mercy and how it can transform our lives.
Listen in!
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Latter-day Faith Podcast has just passed its 4th anniversary, and one of its early listeners who is now a great friend, Terri Petersen, suggested we need an interview show in which sheâd ask questions of LDF host Dan Wotherspoon and his great friend and partner for the whole Latter-day Faith enterprise, Mark Crego. Terri reached out to many other listeners and asks her own as well as many of their questions.
In the interview's first episode, the focus was on slightly broader themes about the show and its audience and Markâs and Danâs hopes for what Latter-day Faith is and hopes to be doing going forward, but the very skillful also Terri started drilling down to some of the more nitty gritty stuff, pulling out many stories from their lives and faith journeys within Mormonism.
This second episode goes even more to that tire-meets-the-road level, including âhowâ they engage in their wards, families, friends, and with those who have left full engagement with Mormonism. She also takes them into how someone might disagree with what certain leaders say or push while still "sustaining" them, their views about scripture and how it is engaged within today's church, and also Dan's and Mark's views of God.We hope you will listen in!
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Latter-day Faith Podcast has just passed its 4th anniversary, and one of its early listeners who is now a great friend, Terri Petersen, suggested we should do an interview show in which she'd ask questions of LDF host Dan Wotherspoon and his great friend and partner for the whole Latter-day Faith enterprise, Mark Crego. Terri reached out to many other listeners and asks her own as well as many of their questions.
In this interview first episode, the focus was on slightly broader themes about the show and its audience and Mark's and Dan's hopes for what Latter-day Faith is and hopes to be doing going forward, but the very skillful also Terri starts drilling down to some of the nitty gritty stuff, pulling out many stories from their lives and faith journeys within Mormonism.
The next episode will be more about "how" they engage in their wards, families, friends, and with those who have left full engagement with Mormonism. Terri and those who reached out have many questions in this area, so we hope you will join in for it, too! Listen in! -
LDS general conferences are often difficult for Latter-day Saints who are experience shifts in their faith, but at the same time wonderful boons to others. Certain talks can be painful reminders of ideas and ways of approaching God and life that we who are in the midst of faith journeys have come to find unhealthy; just as many are exhilarating to others and and fill them with hope. The key determiner in how certain messages will strike our hearts is "us." We come to conference in all sorts of states of mind, and we are often only primed to receive what's said with certain ears. If we expect to find close-minded pronouncements, we will find them. If we are able to sit in a greater space of peace, we will find much that sings to us, as well.
As LDS host Dan Wotherspoon was engaging with early April's conference, his mind hit upon the metaphor of "word shakers," which he had encountered in a powerful novel, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. It is contained within a short parable within the book itself and refers to those who climb trees that are made of words (and we are trees also constituted to a large degree by words), and help shake down those that are stuck or that aren't landing and being picked up by the people below in the way they deserve to be. Trees made of horrendous words ugly ideas have word shakers helping spread them to those waiting below, and likewise, wonderful, expansive, empowering words have their shakers, too.
In the context of general conference, we might imagine church leaders as perched in the branches of the Gospel Tree containing so many wonderful words that make it so beautiful. They will search the branches for words they want to shake down. Their choices of what to shake are dependent upon their own ways of interpreting the Gospel message, as well as their particular temperaments, where and when they were raised or discovered the Gospel, and what has worked "for them" as they grew and developed into who they are and what they see.
But, ultimately, it is we who hear the words being shaken who determine whether or not we will be influenced by them and make them a part of us, or if we will reject them because we find them lacking the words and ideas of the Gospel that most resonate with us.
In this episode, Dan reflects upon this metaphor as well as how general conference strikes various people in various ways, but ultimately his goal is to suggest how we can all use conference as a powerful time for self-examination and, eventually dialing down to what we value most--and why that is. Like all "inner work," our processing of conference messages must begin by examining the emotions that stir inside of us when we hear them. And it is through these reflections that we gain greater self-knowledge, a clearer sense of whether or not these reactions come from a healthy place, a place of wholeness and peace, or if there is something we may need to look at and examine more closely.
Inner work "works" when it brings things to our attention things we might have bypassed and ignored that are nevertheless affecting us in in profound ways. And when we encounter those and gain a clearer picture of what they are, we find ourselves in a state where we might begin to heal the wounds they reveal.
General Conference = Great Catalyst (for gaining more self-knowledge and healing). What have the word shakers released into our worlds during the two days of conference, and why are certain ones falling from the same Gospel Tree affecting us the way they are?
Maybe this metaphor will provide us a more neutral way to view the role given to those who share from the conference pulpit. -
At the Relief Society's Anniversary Conference held March 17, 2024, Sister J. Anette Dennis made a statement that ignited a firestorm online, including on the LDS Church's own Instagram page.
Here is the statement in question:âThere is no other religious organization in the world, that I know of, that has so broadly given power and authority to women. There are religions that ordain some women to positions such as priests and pastors, but very few relative to the number of women in their congregations receive that authority that their church gives them.
âBy contrast, all women, 18 years and older, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who choose a covenant relationship with God in the house of the Lord are endowed with priesthood power directly from God. And as we serve in whatever calling or assignment, including ministering assignments, we are given priesthood authority to carry out those responsibilities. My dear sisters, you belong to a Church which offers all its women priesthood power and authority from God!.âIn this episode, Dr. Julie de Azevedo Hanks, a prominent therapist and church commentator, joins LDF host Dan Wotherspoon to talk about the energetic and anguished conversations among Mormon women in response to Sister Dennis' remarks. In it, Dr. Hanks provides an overview of the things that have transpired in the past eight days (from when this episode is posted) and she and Dan speak about the current controversy as well as broader issues related to women's empowerment within Mormonism.
Listen in! -
The Book of Mormon has become a fraught topic for many Latter-day Saints who are in the midst of a faith shift. Those who are no longer certain what to think about this foundational scripture will often not feel comfortable studying it. And this is especially a problem this year, as the Book of Mormon is the Sunday School text for 2024.
In this brief episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon, offers some of his perspectives that acknowledge all of the text's (and its origin story's) problems yet ultimately suggests some of the ways he feels it is still worthy of more study, more questioning, more wrestling. He suggests that if we are to "kill Nephi," we should really know what we are doing--as completely dismissing the Book of Mormon is a very serious matter.
Listen in! -
In mid-December 2003, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints added two new entries to the Gospel Topics section of its website. One addresses those Latter-day Saints who have questions or doubts, or who are undergoing a difficult faith journey. The other offers advice to those who love them or are someone who has been approached by these persons as they wrestle with gospel things.
These are important additions to the LDS library as they represent the first genuine attempt to discuss such questioning and questioners in depth. Each of the two sections do very well in many areas, and at times fail in the way they speak on certain aspects, often because of certain blindspots apparent in the write-ups and that might exacerbate rather than aid those it hopes to assist.
Two great guests, Jana Spangler and James Jones, join LDF host Dan Wotherspoon in offering perspectives on these now-official documents.
This is a two-part podcast, with Episode 171 addressing the write-up on helping others with their journeys, and Episode 172 exploring the advice being given those who are actively questioning aspects of the church, gospel, and/or their place within Mormonism.
Listen in!
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In mid-December 2003, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints added two new entries to the Gospel Topics section of its website. One addresses those Latter-day Saints who have questions or doubts, or who are undergoing a difficult faith journey. The other offers advice to those who love them or are someone who has been approached by these persons as they wrestle with gospel things.
These are important additions to the LDS library as they represent the first genuine attempt to discuss such questioning and questioners in depth. Each of the two sections do very well in many areas, and at times fail in the way they speak on certain aspects, often because of certain blindspots apparent in the write-ups and that might exacerbate rather than aid those it hopes to assist.
Two great guests, Jana Spangler and James Jones, join LDS host Dan Wotherspoon in offering perspectives on these now-official documents.
This is a two-part podcast, with Episode 171 addressing the write-up on helping others with their journeys, and Episode 172 exploring the advice being given those who are actively questioning aspects of the church, gospel, and/or their place within Mormonism.
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