Faith Matters

Today we’re exploring a tender question so many parents are carrying: how do we help our kids grow in faith when we’re still figuring it out for ourselves? And underneath that—what if we get it wrong? What if we hand them something they’ll spend years trying to untangle? Today, we’re joined by pastor, author, and researcher Meredith Miller, who has spent her career thoughtfully engaging these questions. Her book, Woven: Nurturing a Faith Your Kid Doesn’t Have to Heal From, offers a grounded and practical guide for what this can look like. Meredith invites us to move away from rigid faith metaphors like walls and foundations, and instead to see faith more like a web—flexible, resilient, and uniquely woven for each person. That shift opens up a much more spacious way of thinking about what it means to guide our kids spiritually. Anchoring this conversation is her distinction between obedience-based and trust-based faith. Meredith makes a compelling case that trust must come first—that obedience, when it matters, grows naturally out of a relationship with a God we’ve come to know and trust, rather than fear. We also talk about how to approach scripture with kids, what her research revealed about the strengths of a Latter-Day Saint ward-based model, the value of family warmth, and why “I don’t know” can be a great answer. This conversation was a steadying reminder for us that while we can’t control how our kid’s faith unfolds, we can trust that God is already at work in their lives. We hope this episode gives you both some practical tools and a little more peace for the long, slow work nourishing a faith your kid doesn’t need to heal from. You can also find Meredith’s new book Wonder: 52 Conversations to Help Kids Fall in Love with Scripture on Bookshop.org and Amazon.  Did you know Faith Matters also produces a Bible Storybook podcast? Listen to Scripture Stories for Little Saints on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And for more help with family spiritual development, check out Uplift Kids. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re asking: what do you do when someone you love tells you they’re leaving the Church? What do you say? How do you stay grounded and connected when the stakes feel high or you’re caught off guard? We sat down with two longtime friends of the podcast—authors and researchers Joseph Grenny and Jeff Strong—to explore these high-stakes moments when someone is ready to talk about their shifting faith. Drawing on research from over 500 real-life conversations about faith transitions, Joseph and Jeff uncover something both surprising and sobering: statistically, it’s devout parents and church leaders who are most likely to miss the mark in these conversations. They suggest this isn’t about a lack of love or sincerity—but consequences of a very natural response to fear. Jeff and Joseph call it a TUI—talking under the influence. When the amygdala takes over, stress floods the system, and the thinking brain goes offline. What looks like a communication problem is actually a chemical one, and even the most well-intentioned among us can say things that damage relationships for years. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Today, Joseph and Jeff show us how to recognize when we’re under the influence, how to pause before we cause harm, and how to come back grounded and clear—so that we can choose connection over control, curiosity over fear. With General Conference this weekend and Easter just days away—seasons that bring families together and open the door naturally, to these conversations—we hope this episode reminds you that you’re not alone, and that these hard moments, can become the fertile ground for relationships that are deeper, more honest, and more connected than they were before. You can also read and share an essay called "Messy Conversations: When Loved Ones Leave the Faith" by Joseph Grenny at faithmatters.org.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We live in a world that prizes activity: being productive, staying in control, always doing something. So when life brings seasons of waiting—through illness, loss, or circumstances we didn’t choose—it can feel unsettling, even threatening to our sense of self. But what if those seasons are actually inviting us into a deeper understanding of God? Today, we’re joined by Terryl Givens to explore an extraordinary book called The Stature of Waiting by W.H. Vanstone. Vanstone noticed something hiding in plain sight in the gospel accounts of the last week of Jesus’s life. Up until a certain moment, Jesus is the one acting—teaching, healing, feeding, leading. And then, almost imperceptibly, the grammar of the story shifts. He is no longer the one doing, but the one to whom things are done. He is handed over. He waits. He receives. And Vanstone suggests this isn’t a tragic turn in the story—it’s its deepest revelation. Terryl and Fiona introduced many of us to the God who weeps in Moses 7. In Vanstone, we meet that same vulnerable God again—this time, waiting. And we ask what it means to follow that God in how we love, how we age, how we suffer, and how we let ourselves be carried. We hope that as you move through Holy Week this year, this conversation helps see the face of God in the most vulnerable moments of the Easter story — and in your own. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This version has the correct audio--thanks to those who let us know the last one wasn't right!  From time to time we like to share episodes from other shows in the Faith Matters network that we think you’ll really love, and today we’re highlighting one of our new favorites from Article 13, the podcast hosted by Zach Davis. If you haven’t discovered it yet, Article 13 is one of the most beautifully produced things Faith Matters does. The title comes from the thirteenth Article of Faith and that really captures the spirit of seeking that you’ll experience in these episodes. These are rich, deeply researched explorations that bring together cutting-edge scholarship and spiritual wisdom to ask big questions about how we live. In today’s episode, drawing on research from thinkers like Seth Kaplan and Pete Davis, we hear a compelling case that one of the central challenges of our time is a growing fear of commitment. Our culture tells us that the best life is the one where we keep our options open. But the irony is that the things that make life richest—friendships, tight-knit neighborhoods, shared projects, belonging—become possible when we choose to commit to one another. Real, rooted, showing-up-again-and-again community. Even though our tradition is built around covenant relationships, we’re living in the same cultural waters that pull toward busyness, mobility, and individualism. This episode is both a diagnosis and an invitation. It’s full of ideas and stories that might make you want to knock on a neighbor’s door, join something local, or start something in your own community. We hope it sends you back to your people—your neighbors, your ward, your community—with a little more fire. And with that, here’s Article 13. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

One of the real challenges of studying the Hebrew Bible is figuring out how to make sense of stories of divine violence—where a God of love seems hard to find. These passages raise real questions about the nature of God and what it means for us as we try to live faithfully. Our guest today is Riley Risto, director of Latter-day Peace Studies, who joined the Church after a powerful mystical experience while praying about the Book of Mormon, an experience that centered his faith on Jesus and shaped his lifelong effort to take Christ’s teachings seriously in a world—and a Bible—full of violence and conflict. In this episode, Riley invites us to engage scripture through what’s often called a cruciform lens—the idea that, if Jesus gives us the clearest picture of who God is, then his life and teachings should shape how we understand every Bible story. Instead of letting the most troubling passages define our image of God, we begin with Christ and the cross and allow his life—and his radical call to love our enemies—to guide the way we wrestle with the rest. Along the way we explore what René Girard’s work on scapegoating might reveal about violence in scripture, what it might really mean to “take the Lord’s name in vain,” and what a Christ-centered reading could mean about justice. Underneath it all is the conviction that we’re not meant to be casual observers of scripture, but participants—trusting that honest wrestling can refine our faith and discipleship. For us, this cruciform lens has sparked new curiosity and breathed new life into our scripture study this year, and we’re excited to share it with you. If conversations like this are resonating with you, we’d love to invite you to explore more of the work we’re doing at Faith Matters. One podcast you might especially enjoy is Proclaim Peace, a joint project from Faith Matters and Mormon Women for Ethical Government. Hosted by Jennifer Thomas and Patrick Mason, Proclaim Peace explores what it might look like to read scripture through a lens of peace—and how those teachings can shape the way we live, engage conflict, and show up in the world. If this episode sparked something for you, we invite you to subscribe to Proclaim Peace on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. We think you’ll really appreciate the thoughtful conversations happening there. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In today’s conversation, we explore creativity as a spiritual practice—not something reserved for artists, but a way of living. Our guests are Lisa Valentine Clark, a comedian, actor, and host of The Lisa Show, and James Rees—artist, educator, researcher, and passionate advocate for the arts. Both Lisa and James have spent their lives creating—in front of audiences on stages, in studios, in classrooms—and they’ve come to see that creativity does sacred work inside us. It gives form to what we’re wrestling with. It helps us clarify what we think and feel. It helps us metabolize the unexpected. It draws us into deeper presence. For Lisa, these insights became intensely practical. She shares the foundational rule of improv, “yes, and”: accept what’s given and build from it. This principle became a discipline that helped carry her through the hardest season of her life. Throughout the episode, we return again and again to the role of vulnerability—the courage to begin before you feel ready, to quiet the inner critic, and to let something take shape before you judge it. It’s this openness that makes growth possible. We hope this conversation expands the way you think about creativity and moves you to notice the ways you’re already being invited to practice it. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re grateful to share a conversation with our friend Tucker Boyle—a longtime seminary and institute teacher and the founder of Harmony Road Retreats, a nonprofit creating safe, supportive spaces for people in faith crisis. As a young missionary, Tucker fell in love with teaching the gospel and knew he wanted to become a full-time seminary teacher. He stepped into that role with his whole heart, and years later pursued a PhD, hoping to become an even better, more thoughtful teacher. But during his doctoral research into early Church history, his certainty began to fracture. And before long, the ground beneath him seemed to give way. His work, his community, his family—his entire life—was built around the faith he was now struggling to hold. And for the first time, Tucker wondered if he belonged. He describes sitting in church—once his sanctuary—and feeling his body surge into fight or flight. But in time, he learned that what felt like collapse was the beginning of a deeper, more conscious faith. Today, Tucker shares how that unraveling became an invitation into transformation. And though the questions didn’t disappear, his relationship to them changed. The groundlessness opened into something more spacious and alive, expanding his capacity for love, humility, and connection. Whether you’re in the middle of your own wrestle, loving someone through theirs, or simply trying to build a faith that can hold complexity, we think Tucker offers language and light for the journey. If you or someone you love is navigating a faith journey you can check out Tucker’s organization at harmonyroadretreats.com. Tucker created these retreats to offer the kind of support and community he needed—spaces where you can feel less alone, where you can connect with others on the road, and explore practices that cultivate inner harmony and peace. He has retreats coming up in both March and April, and you can find all the details on the website. As always, thank you so much for listening—we’re so glad you’re here. You can check out more at faithmatters.org. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’re so excited to share a conversation that our friend and Executive Director, Zach Davis, had with Teresa Morgan, Professor at Yale Divinity School and a leading scholar of early Christian history. Teresa invites us to reconsider one of the most central words in Christianity: faith. She explains that for the first generations of Christians, “faith” didn’t mean signing on to a list of beliefs. It meant something more like trust—faithfulness, trustworthiness, the act of entrusting your life to God. Faith was less about what you thought and more about the kind of relationship you were living: a daily, embodied trust in a faithful God. But over time, as outside pressures mounted, Christian leaders drew clearer boundaries around belief. Creeds became markers of belonging, and faith—once rooted primarily in trust and lived allegiance—was increasingly defined by agreement with specific doctrines. That shift has shaped the Christian imagination ever since. In this conversation, Zach and Teresa explore how that evolution happened, what may have been lost, and what it might look like to recover a richer, more relational vision of faith today.  We also want to mention that this interview is featured in the upcoming Issue 7 of Wayfare, and that this is a special edition centering women’s voices on the theme of trust—trust in God, in ourselves, and in our communities. It’s a beautiful and thoughtful collection that we are really proud of. You can read this interview, and see the beautiful artwork that accompanies it, at WayfareMagazine.org. If you’d like to receive your own copy of Wayfare in the mail, you can become a Friend of Faith Matters or a paid Wayfare subscriber by March 31. Your support is what makes conversations like this possible, and we’re so grateful. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re so excited to share our conversation with Bruce Tift, author, psychotherapist and longtime practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism. This summer, our friends at Uplift Kids introduced us to Bruce’s fascinating book Already Free, and we’ve been thinking about it ever since. In this conversation, Bruce dives into some of the ideas in the book. He explores how to make peace with being human. He looks at two seemingly opposing paths—both Western and Eastern wisdom—and shows how each offers a vital piece of the puzzle. Where psychotherapy may teach us to bring our early wounds and disowned emotions into awareness, Buddhist practices help us recognize the deeper freedom that’s available when we stop identifying with the fixed self. We loved that Bruce talked us through the ways we organize around our core fears, why so many of our childhood survival strategies still run the show in adulthood, and why real freedom often begins with simply allowing ourselves to feel uncomfortable without trying to fix or escape. Bruce’s insights feel so useful for navigating seasons of growth—emotional, spiritual, and relational. This conversation really helped us see that personal growth isn’t about achieving some ideal version of ourselves—it’s about meeting our actual experience with curiosity, compassion, and presence. We found Bruce’s wisdom to be gentle, honest, and deeply liberating, and we’re so grateful he joined us. You can find Already Free on Bookshop.org, Amazon, or wherever you buy your books, and you can find even more from Faith Matters on this topic in this week's newsletter on our website, faithmatters.org. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

As we explore the Old Testament this year, we’ve found ourselves returning to a past conversation with our friend Terryl Givens. It felt grounding and expansive and we're really excited to share it with you again. The Old Testament can be incredibly rich—full of beauty, poetry, and profound spiritual insights. But it can also sometimes feel bewildering or even faith-shaking. We get glimpses of a loving, nurturing God—and turn the page to encounter a God that seems angry, even violent. It's a text that raises big questions and invites us into deep wrestles. And maybe that’s part of its sacredness—that it pushes us into such honest, meaningful conversation. In this episode, Terryl helps us navigate those tensions. Together, we ask: What is the Bible, really, and where did it come from? What do different translations of this text have to offer, and how can we engage with this scripture in a posture of reverence and discernment that allows for mystery, and honors the sacredness of the whole landscape. We loved Terryl’s insights in this conversation, and we’re so grateful to revisit them now. Thanks so much for listening—we hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did. For more on this topic, and for weekly resources to accompany your Come Follow Me study, be sure to check out the Faith Matters newsletter at faithmatters.org. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Hey everyone, this is Aubrey Chaves from Faith Matters. Today I’m excited to share my conversation with Katie Ludlow Rich and Heather Sundahl about 50 Years of Exponent II, their new book tracing the history of a space where Latter-day Saint women have engaged the most urgent questions of their time—while also honoring the dailiness of life. The roots of this effort go back to 1872, when women began publishing the Woman’s Exponent to speak for themselves and stay connected across distance. A century later, Exponent II carried that work forward—not to create consensus, but to make room for complexity, difference, and the kind of deep listening that makes real community possible. And that’s what this conversation is about—what it takes to stay in relationship, even when ground we used to share—whether in belief, perspective, or experience—starts to shift. We’re probably all navigating this now in some spaces, in families, wards, or friendships. And so today, Katie and Heather explore the difference between discomfort and danger, how we can sit with the tension of disagreement without walking away, and what it means to listen not to persuade, but to witness—to be present with someone else’s experience, even when it’s different from our own. Katie is a writer and independent scholar of women’s history. Heather is a marriage and family therapist in Orem, Utah.  This was a deeply personal conversation, and we’re so grateful to Katie and Heather for showing up with such honesty and care. Their own lived experiences have led them down different paths, and it was a gift to sit with them in dialogue—watching the ways they do this together and make space for others to do the same. That kind of wisdom is hard won, and we’re honored to share it with you now. You can find their book, 50 Years of Exponent II, on Amazon, Bookshop.org, or wherever books are sold. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’ve all heard it called a sifting—the language that sometimes surfaces when someone is struggling or steps away from the Church. Wheat from tares, sheep from goats, a sorting in the last days that reveals truly elect. But today, our good friend and contributor Jeff Strong is back to invite us into a deeper reflection on that idea—and what he sees as the more essential question: Who is the Church for? Jeff shares how the way we answer that question has real implications—shaping how we respond to difference, and how we create (or close off) spaces for spiritual growth, belonging, and trust. In this conversation, he also brings new and fascinating findings from his large-scale survey of Latter-day Saints. Jeff introduces a framework of spiritual segments that emerged from the data—types like Seekers, Protectors, Cultivators, and more. It’s illuminating to see yourself in one of these groups—but maybe even more powerful to recognize how others might experience the same Church culture in radically different ways. He reflects on the tension people feel when their deepest values don’t seem to match what’s emphasized in their church experience. And he offers a way through that tension: wherever you fit, we each face the challenge to let go of fear—because fear, more than anything else, is what drives us apart. Ultimately, this conversation isn’t about disaffiliation or activity—it’s about relationships. It’s about how we respond to differences, how we hold tension as a community, and whether we’re building a church culture that reflects the expansive, welcoming love of Christ. And just a heads up: the story Jeff tells toward the end might sound familiar––in fact, Sister Dennis used it in conference this year, though we recorded this episode before conference, so we didn’t tie it in at the time. Also, there are some really interesting graphs and charts that Jeff mentions that are in the YouTube version of this conversation if you’d like to watch this one instead, or you can search the episode on faithmatters.org and see them there. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re joined by our friend Patrick Mason and filmmaker Robert Reynolds. Rob is the director and producer of the new docu-series An Inconvenient Faith—a project that’s already opening hearts and starting some long-overdue conversations. This series is raw and honest. It takes on some of the most difficult and tender topics in our faith tradition—things like women and authority, LGBTQ belonging, race and the priesthood, and lots more. And it brings together voices from across the spectrum of faith—people who’ve stayed who are still engaging these issues, and people who have decided to step away. But all of them have one thing in common: they’ve wrestled with these big questions with their whole hearts. For many of us, this hits close to home. These aren’t abstract issues—this is about our families, our friends, our wards. And so it can be hard to hear a perspective that challenges your own. But Rob explains that his intention here is to help us love better. To help us listen longer and more generously. He hopes it’s a glimpse into the inner wrestles of people you may know and love, to remind us that behind every decision is a real human being, and behind these questions is a heart that wants to do what’s right. This episode is for anyone who loves someone who’s landed in a different place in their faith. If you’re looking for peace, for trust, for more compassion in the middle of complexity—we think you’ll find something meaningful here. We’re so grateful to Rob and Patrick for showing us what that can look like. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we want to introduce you to another podcast in the Faith Matters Podcast Network called Sanctuary: Discovering the Temple, hosted by Larkin Swain. Larkin brings a candid, curious, and thoughtful approach to conversations about the temple, and this episode felt especially fascinating and timely as we begin a new year studying the Old Testament. In this episode, Larkin speaks with historical linguist Jared Lambert, whose work focuses on language development, temple theology, and how translation and symbolism have reshaped biblical traditions. Jared brings a linguistic lens to the Genesis creation story, uncovering rich meanings that have evolved over time and even been lost in translation. His perspectives are both mind-expanding and spiritually moving. He reexamines the portrayal of God in Genesis, unpacks the symbolism of the temple endowment, and offers what feels like a powerful missing piece in our traditional telling of Adam and Eve’s story. We hope this conversation sparks fresh insight and deep reflection as you revisit these foundational stories.  Be sure to follow Sanctuary on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Substack, or YouTube for curious, open, and honest conversations about the temple! Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re sharing a conversation with writers and filmmakers Sarah and Josh Sabey about their new project, The Bible Storybook, a two volume collection of 50 stories from the Old Testament. You might remember their Book of Mormon Storybook. Like those earlier volumes, this new project is guided by a simple and beautiful idea: “These are stories about a real God who loves real people”—people who are complicated, wounded, and doing their best to understand how God is working in their lives. For many of us, the Old Testament can feel troubling—full of contradictions, harsh laws, and stories that might not always align with the God we’ve come to know through Jesus. So if the thought of spending a whole year studying this text feels daunting, this episode is especially for you. Sarah and Josh offer a powerful way back into these familiar stories through a fresh and deeply thoughtful lens. While staying fully anchored in the text, they invite us to see the people and events in new and meaningful ways. Their storytelling will invite you to consider what the Exodus story teaches us about revenge and healing. What if Cain was actually the first perfectionist, undone by his own impossible expectations? What can Jonah reveal about our own gifts and heartbreak? Their retellings don’t avoid what’s difficult—they honor the tension. Again and again, they show how the complexity and even the discomfort of the Old Testament can become fertile ground for a deeper, more expansive faith. We hope this episode leaves you feeling so excited to dive into this text again—to rediscover the Old Testament as a living well of wisdom, beauty, with a God who still meets us in the mess. We’ve also partnered with Josh and Sarah to make half of the audiobook stories available to everyone as a podcast called Scripture Stories for Little Saints you can listen to with your kids, in the car, as part of your Old Testament study, and share with friends. The full audiobook is available as a private podcast for Friends of Faith Matters—thank you for your generosity making this collaboration possible. You can send us an email at [email protected] or check the instructions on our website if you need help downloading it. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re bringing you a conversation with Carl Richards, and we think this one might just change the way you think—and feel—about money. You might know Carl as The Sketch Guy from his decade-long New York Times column, where he offered disarmingly relatable insights about money using just cardstock and a Sharpie. For Carl, money isn’t about spreadsheets and savings accounts—it’s a mirror, reflecting to us what we value most deeply. And for this reason, he believes money sits at the center of our spiritual lives. In this conversation, Carl invites us to become what he calls “world-class spenders”—not by spending more, but by spending more intentionally, in ways that align with our deepest values. Carl is a Certified Financial Planner, the bestselling author of The Behavior Gap and Your Money, and hosts the 50 Fires podcast where he has frank, funny, and sometimes difficult conversations about money with guests from all walks of life. Carl believes that money is the last taboo—the topic we often still avoid even with those closest to us. But he has such a gift for helping us recognize the stories and wounds that are shaping our efforts to be good stewards now. So whether you’re thinking about end-of-year giving or hoping for a fresh start in the new year, we hope this conversation helps you feel more grounded in your values and more empowered to live—and give—from that place. If you want more of Carl’s insights, definitely check out his podcast 50 Fires—it’s full of honest, thought-provoking conversations about money with really fascinating guests, and his new book, Your Money: Reimagining Wealth in 101 Simple Sketches. It’s smart, accessible, and genuinely so fun to read—you can get it on Amazon or wherever books are sold. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

As we move into Christmas week, we wanted to offer something a little different.  Today’s episode is a reading of “In the Bleak Midwinter,” written and read by Peter Conti‑Brown, and originally published in the Faith Matters magazine, Wayfare. It tells the true story of a Christmas that unfolded in unexpected ways—marked by absence, uncertainty, and pain. And yet, it’s also a story about how grace finds its way to us—through presence, through each other, and through the quiet mystery of ordinary, imperfect people becoming God’s healing hands in the moments when we need it most. We hope this opens up space for you to feel whatever this season is bringing, and to notice the quiet ways love might be showing up. From all of us at Faith Matters and Wayfare, we’re wishing you a Christmas filled with the peace of this season, and moments of deep connection and joy. We’d also love to invite you to subscribe to Wayfare Magazine. Wayfare shares thoughtful, beautifully written essays each week through its email newsletter, and publishes stunning print editions twice a year—featuring original artwork and design that make each issue a work of art in itself. A Wayfare subscription also makes a meaningful gift for the thoughtful, curious reader in your life. To learn more or to subscribe, just head to wayfaremagazine.org/subscribe. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re thrilled to share a conversation with New York Times bestselling author and happiness expert Gretchen Rubin, where we explored one of her most practical and game-changing frameworks: the Four Tendencies. Gretchen explains that we all face two types of expectations—outer expectations, like a church calling or a request from a boss or family member, and inner expectations, like a personal goal or habit. She observed that people tend to respond to these expectations in one of four consistent ways. She defines these responses as the Upholder, the Questioner, the Obliger, and the Rebel. Gretchen believes that understanding this one aspect of your personality can bring surprising clarity to your habits, relationships, and responsibilities. In faith communities, expectations often come from many directions—God, leaders, our ward family, and ourselves. This framework offers a gentle way to understand why some people feel energized, while others quietly burn out. Gretchen shares clear, practical strategies for each tendency so you can work with your nature, not against it. Whether you’re navigating a calling, serving a mission, experiencing doubt, or trying to build a consistent scripture study habit, she shows how to avoid burnout and follow through. We’ve been so excited to share this episode. Once you start seeing yourself and others through the lens of the Four Tendencies, things shift. You’ll begin to understand why your spouse loves checklists, why your teen needs to do things their own way, or why it can be so hard to say no. Gretchen explains that these patterns aren’t flaws—they’re clues, blueprints that can help us make better choices, lower stress, and show up more fully in our lives. We hope it’s as eye-opening for you as it was for us. If you want to go deeper into the Four Tendencies or explore more of Gretchen’s work, you can check out her book The Four Tendencies or her other bestsellers The Happiness Project and Better than Before. She also hosts an award-winning podcast called Happier with Gretchen Rubin where she and her sister dive into practical ways to build habits, boost happiness, and live with more intention. Thanks again for listening. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, in light of the upcoming Come Follow Me lesson which covers Official Declaration 2, we’re honored to share a conversation with W. Paul Reeve and Ramesus Stewart-Johnson about race, the priesthood and temple restriction, and what it really means to root out racism in our church community today. Since lifting the priesthood and temple ban in 1978, we have witnessed a great flourishing of the church, as multitudes have embraced the restored gospel in Africa and elsewhere. We can pause to celebrate this transformation occurring in the body of Christ, while contemplating how we can continue to follow the prophetic challenge to root out racism in our church, in our society and in our hearts today.. Part of this work is recognizing that myths and misinformation about our history on race persist to this day, subtle remnants of racism. This conversation felt bold, and at times, challenging. But both Paul and Ramesus share their personal stories, insights, and convictions to help us face our past and future with clarity and spiritual courage. Paul walks us through the history—how the restriction began, how it was solidified, and how newly available primary sources push back against the idea, expressed in our Come Follow Me manual, that we “just don’t know” why the priesthood and temple restrictions were put in place. Paul argues that, until we come face-to-face with our history, we will not learn what we should from it. Ramesus helps us grapple with the lasting spiritual and emotional impact this history has had on many Black Saints—and how genuine discipleship, rooted in grace, honesty, and reconciliation, may be the key to moving forward. Paul is the Simmons Chair of Mormon Studies at the University of Utah and author of Let’s Talk About Race and Priesthood, published by Deseret Book, as well as Religion of a Different Color, a landmark history of race and the early Church and winner of multiple book awards. Ramesus founded the North Texas Genesis Group as a support for Black Latter-day Saints, and now leads Black Lives Bless, an organization devoted to building beloved community through storytelling and truth-telling across the global Church and beyond. We’re deeply grateful to Paul and Ramesus for being willing to share their hearts and their wisdom with us. You can watch a video of how Paul would lead a Sunday School discussion on Official Declaration 2 on our YouTube channel, and you can find Paul's slides for that discussion here. You can learn more from Black Lives Bless on their website, blacklivesbless.org. And find even more from Faith Matters on this important topic in this week's newsletter on our website, faithmatters.org. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re so excited to share a conversation with our good friend and teammate at Faith Matters, Cece Proffit. If you’ve followed Faith Matters for a while, you’ve felt Cece’s influence—her energy, creativity, and care shape so much of what we do behind the scenes. And so today, we’re thrilled she’s stepping in front of the mic to talk about one of her very favorite subjects—Advent. In this conversation, Cece offers a beautiful and grounding introduction to Advent. If this tradition is new to you, you’ll come away with simple, meaningful ways to begin. But beyond that, she invites us to experience Advent as a season of sacred longing—a time to hold both the beauty and the ache of our lives, and to trust that God will meet us in all of it. Cece helps us see that Advent prepares us for the joy of Christ’s coming, not by turning away from the hard and the real, but by teaching us to stay with it. In that presence, something holy unfolds. And maybe most beautifully, she reminds us that we are part of this unfolding—that Christ comes not only to us in this season, but through us. Through our love, our creativity, we join in the work of “hasten[ing] the time” of peace on earth, goodwill toward men. For even more resources on Advent, including music, past essays, and more, be sure to check out our newsletter for this episode at faithmatters.org, and be sure to become a free subscriber to Wayfare at wayfaremagazine.org to receive beautiful, thoughtful essays to accompany your Advent observance this season. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we are so excited to share a session from this year’s Restore Gathering with Mallory Everton.  Mallory is best known for her work on the sketch comedy show Studio C, and in this session, she asks a question she says she’s been asking her whole life: do Latter-Day Saints have a problem with laughter? She explores how in the context of spirituality, humor sometimes gets sidelined—dismissed as loud, irreverent, or frivolous.  But she really pushes back on that assumption, flipping the idea on its head. Laughter, she argues, isn’t a distraction from spiritual life—it’s a spiritual practice in its own right. One that roots us in the present, binds us to each other, and softens us toward the divine. She walks us through what actually makes us laugh—and invites us to consider that when Jesus said to become like little children, he may have been pointing us toward a life that’s playful, open, and easily delighted. And yes, she tells some unforgettable stories that had the whole room in tears of laughter. This session is available to watch on YouTube, and we definitely recommend checking it out there. If you attended Restore in person, you can rewatch all the sessions for free. Otherwise, recordings are available for purchase at faithmatters.org/restore. And if you’d like to hear more from Mallory, she also co-hosts another Faith Matters podcast called The Soloists—we think you’ll love it. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’re really excited to share this week’s episode with you—a conversation with scholar and historian, Matt Bowman.  Matt is the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies and an associate professor of religion and history at Claremont Graduate University. In this conversation, he draws on ancient scripture to explore two archetypes that show up again and again: the prophet and the priest. The prophet, Matt says, is often a voice from the outside—someone who has had a powerful, personal encounter with the divine and is sent to deliver a message that calls the community to repent. They challenge, critique, and call us back to our spiritual roots. The priest, by contrast, usually nurtures from within—building and sustaining community, preserving memory, and ministering through sacred ritual. The priest creates belonging, continuity, and connection. And while these approaches may seem to contrast, they work in harmony to support and strengthen the spiritual life of a community. Matt notes that beginning around the 1950s, we began consistently referring to the president of the church as the prophet. And he wonders if, in doing so, we may have come to sometimes undervalue the essential priestly work the President of the Church also does. This conversation helped us see something familiar—and deeply cherished in our tradition—in a fresh and powerful way and we came away feeling more grateful for a structure that makes room for both priestly care and prophetic vision. We’re so thankful to Matt for this conversation, and we hope you love it as much as we did. Matt’s piece that inspired this conversation, The Prophet and the Priest, will be published in Issue 6 of Wayfare alongside poetry, stories, essays and more exploring the roles of prophets and of prophecy in our tradition. We’re putting this issue in the mail to all Wayfare paid subscribers and Friends of Faith Matters on December 1, so subscribe now if you haven’t already to be sure you get your copy!  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re bringing you a special live episode recorded at the Compass Gallery in Provo with filmmaker Matt Whitaker. Matt is the director and one of the writers and producers of the new film Truth & Treason, which tells the astonishing true story of Helmuth Hübener—a 16-year-old Latter-day Saint in Nazi Germany. After secretly tuning into forbidden BBC broadcasts on his brother’s radio, Helmuth encountered a world of information that challenged everything he’d been told. He then set off on a course of bold and dangerous resistance, writing and distributing anti-Nazi leaflets across his city with two friends—risking everything to speak the truth. It’s a story of conviction, moral courage, and the high cost of standing up.  Matt spent over 20 years bringing this story to the screen, and in this conversation he shares the incredible behind-the-scenes journey, including his experience tracking down the last surviving member of Helmuth’s resistance group, and other miracles that made the film possible. He explores the moral weight of the story, the complexity of faith during dark times, and why he believes this film matters right now more than ever. Truth & Treason is currently in theaters, and there’s still time to see it. It’s a timely and compelling film—and supporting this remarkable project and the filmmakers behind it will help ensure that more stories like this can be told. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re wrapping up our week of Unpacking Polygamy with a very honest, illuminating and challenging conversation among three faithful friends: Bethany Brady Spaulding, Patrick Mason and Bill Turnbull. Together, they tackle the profound theological problems that polygamy presents, particularly as it is laid out in what is perhaps the most challenging scripture in our canon—Section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants.  They compare and contrast Section 132 with what God has revealed elsewhere in scripture and with what the church actually teaches today. And they consider the question of whether it is possible for the church to actually move on from polygamy if section 132 continues to be taught as inspired scripture.  Along the way, they celebrate the restored gospel’s teaching of a higher and holier order of celestial union—couples sealed together for eternity as intimate, equal partners. This conversation was originally inspired by an essay written by Bill and Susan Turnbull, two of Faith Matters founders, titled “One Couple’s Wrestle with Polygamy.” It’s a fascinating and compelling piece and we encourage you to check it out. You can also find Bill’s essay on the Abrahamic Test on our website, faithmatters.org. Faithfulness in any relationship, including our relationship with God and with the Church, requires not just generosity but also a willingness to acknowledge and honestly address problems. This is a conversation full of both generosity and honesty. We hope you are challenged and inspired by it. This episode is part of a five-part series on polygamy. We invite you to listen to all five episodes for a range of perspectives and voices on this important topic. You can find even more resources on our website, faithmatters.org.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re joined by Carol Lynn Pearson—poet, playwright, and author of The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy. With extraordinary honesty, clarity, and compassion, Carol Lynn shares her deeply personal perspective on this chapter of our history and why she believes polygamy was a great mistake—one that continues to “haunt the hearts and heaven” of many Latter-day Saints today. In this episode, we learn how she holds this belief alongside a deep devotion to her faith. She shares how it’s shaped her understanding of prophetic authority, and why she feels we can honor our past without being bound by it. Carol Lynn believes it’s time we stop letting polygamy burden our spirits, our relationships, or our view of God. With both tenderness and conviction, she calls us to help the human family “cross the plains of patriarchy into the land of partnership.” Her faith, strength, and spiritual integrity continue to inspire us, and we’re so grateful for the wisdom she brings to this conversation. Quick note—during the conversation, we mention some Come, Follow Me curriculum for children originally included in this week’s lesson. Since recording, the Church has made important revisions to that material, which we would’ve highlighted had they been available at the time. You can find Carol Lynn’s book The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy on Bookshop.org or on Amazon.  This episode is part of a five-part series on polygamy. We invite you to listen to all five episodes for a range of perspectives and voices on this important topic. You can find even more resources on our website, faithmatters.org.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re welcoming back Patrick Mason for a conversation with author and historian Brittany Chapman Nash. In this episode, Patrick and Brittany explore what plural marriage looked like in the early Utah period—how it was lived, how it was taught, and why so many Latter-day Saints practiced it with such deep conviction. Brittany shares stories from women whose voices often go unheard, and helps us understand not just the spiritual and theological motivations behind polygamy, but the complexity, nuance, and sometimes heartbreak that came with it. She offers a window into the hopes, sacrifices, and faith of those who lived this principle—and reflects on what that legacy means for us today. You can learn more in Brittany’s book Let’s Talk about Polygamy, which was published by Deseret Book.  This episode is part of a five-part series on polygamy. We invite you to listen to all five episodes for a range of perspectives and voices on this important topic. You can find even more resources on our website, faithmatters.org.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re honored to welcome Nate Oman—law professor, scholar, and co-founder of the pioneering Latter-day Saint blog, Times and Seasons. Our conversation begins with a bold idea: that experiencing a stupor of thought, or being troubled, is very often a prelude to revelation. For Nate, facing discomfort head-on—naming it and wrestling with it—has become a sacred part of his discipleship and a path to deeper faith. And so in that spirit, today we’re taking a hard and honest look at the doctrine of sealing—where it came from, the ways it’s evolved, and how it became intertwined with plural marriage. Nate helps us trace its roots and earliest iterations in Latter-Day Saint theology, and he wrestles openly with what it all means for us now. While this episode doesn’t offer easy answers, it reveals how our efforts to connect the human family throughout our history have been both human and divine. And that if we’re willing to look closely—even at the messiness—we might find ourselves stretched toward greater light, deeper understanding, and a more generous, expansive faith. You can find Nate’s books Law and the Restoration: Law and Latter-day Saint History and Law and the Restoration: Law and Latter-day Saint Thought and Scripture on Bookshop.org or on Amazon. This episode is part of a five-part series on polygamy. We invite you to listen to all five episodes for a range of perspectives and voices on this important topic. You can find even more resources on our website, faithmatters.org.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today’s episode kicks off our five-part series Unpacking Polygamy—a deep dive into one of the most complex and sensitive topics in our church’s history. We hope you’ll listen to the full series, where you’ll hear from a variety of voices and perspectives that help illuminate this part of our shared story. To start us off, we’re honored to bring together two remarkable thinkers. Patrick Mason is a historian, author, and Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University and co-host of Proclaim Peace, another Faith Matters network podcast. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich is a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian, and professor emerita at Harvard University. In this episode, Patrick and Laurel explore what we actually know—and how we know what we know—about Joseph Smith’s involvement in plural marriage, how the practice evolved in early Utah, and the theological, social, and gender dynamics that shaped it. Laurel also shares reflections from teaching a comparative polygamy course at Harvard, and considers how the echoes of plural marriage still reverberate today in our doctrine, culture, and hearts. We’re so grateful to both Patrick and Laurel for their honesty, curiosity, and compassion. You can find even more resources on this important topic on our website, faithmatters.org. Find Laurel's groundbreaking book A House Full of Females on Bookshop.org or Amazon. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re sharing a conversation that feels especially urgent. In fact, we’d planned to release this episode later in the month—but this week, as a major hurricane moves through the Caribbean and the U.S. government shutdown is causing massively disruptive ripples in the daily life of countless families, we know so many are asking, What can I do?  We hope this conversation offers real practical guidance  and clarity for getting to work today. We’re joined by Sharon Eubank, author of the new book Doing Small Things with Great Love: How Everyday Humanitarians Are Changing the World. Sharon has spent decades in humanitarian work around the globe, and now works as the director of Latter-day Saint Charities. In this conversation, she shares what her experience has taught her about ethical, lasting, and impactful relief.  We were struck by this term, “the second disaster." Sharon explains how, all too often, well-meaning aid can actually become a second disaster—doing more harm, complicating and even obstructing urgent relief efforts. But she offers some surprisingly simple and practical ways to ensure that what we give and how we serve is genuinely helpful.  As our hearts turn to the Caribbean, this feels especially important—but the principles Sharon shares are just as vital at home. She explains why she believes we’re most effective where we live, how relationships and trusted networks form the foundation of lasting change, and why honoring agency and dignity is essential to any effort—whether local or global. Sharon shared so many incredible insights—things that energized us to be helpers, and that empowered us to get started. We hope that in this time of deep need, fear, and urgency, that this episode will help you to recognize where you feel called, and help you know what to do first.  Resources to use to find reputable organizations to support:  https://www.charitynavigator.org https://www.charitywatch.org/our-charity-rating-process https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re bringing you what we think is one of the most important conversations we could be having right now. We’re talking with our friend and scholar Medlir Mema about artificial intelligence—and what it means for people of faith. Now whether you’re already fascinated by AI, cautious, or ready to turn this episode off, this episode is for everyone. Medlir makes the case that AI is a human issue. A spiritual issue. And that it’s urgent for people of faith to be asking how we can create an AI future that reflects the best of humanity. Medlir is the Head of the AI Governance Programme at the Global Governance Institute in Brussels, a Professor of International Relations at Brigham Young University Idaho, and is leading Organized Intelligence, a new initiative supported by the Future of Life Institute and Faith Matters.  In this episode, he explains why he sees AI as an era-defining shift—less like the next tech milestone and more like the discovery of fire. It’s a moment, he believes, that could fundamentally reshape how we live. We talk today about the ways AI is already changing jobs, relationships, trust, and even our sense of identity.  And while Medlir is clear-eyed about the risks, this conversation is about clarity and opportunity. He believes that we have a real chance right now, to join the conversation with our deep values and even perhaps our theological frameworks, to ensure that AI actually helps us re-center on what truly matters and stay grounded in what it means to be human. We hope this episode is a call to pull up a seat to the table, and help shape what comes next. Learn more and follow Organized Intelligence at organizedintelligence.ai  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We sometimes reduce “faith-promoting” stories to those tidy endings—where miracles show up just in time, doubts vanish, and testimony replaces tension. But sometimes growth begins when the script falls apart. For Susan Meredith Hinckley and Cynthia Winward, these stories are nourishing a faith that looks like trust and transformation.   Susan and Cynthia are co-hosts of the At Last She Said It podcast and authors of a new book with the same title. They came to this work from different paths. For Cynthia, the Church just worked. She thrived—until her life took a turn at 40 and her certainty unraveled. For Susan, the discomfort was quieter. She says the Church always fit like an “itchy sweater”—a subtle, persistent misfit that kept her silent. But over time, what had become a “crisis of silence” became a call to speak up. For the past six years, Susan and Cynthia have been inviting women into conversations that began as honest exchanges between friends about big ideas and the real tensions of belonging to a church they both love and feel challenged by. What they’ve learned is that talking about hard things can be its own kind of faith practice—a way to bring your whole heart to your faith and your community, a way of being known.  In this episode, they share practical wisdom for navigating Sundays when belief feels messy, offer a compass for making decisions when clarity is out of reach, and explore how using our voice can help transform hard things into a source connection with each other and a more intimate relationship with a God who loves us without conditions. We hope this conversation expands your imagination for what spiritual strength can look like—and invites you into a faith that’s honest, evolving, and a true seedbed for growth. Get their book from Bookshop.org here, or from Amazon here. We’re so excited to tell you about a new Faith Matters initiative called Organized Intelligence, supported by the Future of Life Institute.  Our first gathering will take place November 4-5 in Salt Lake City, where you'll hear from scholars, creatives, technologists, and religious leaders.  This gathering is for curious minds, and we would love to see you there! Go to organizedintelligence.ai to RSVP. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re sharing a conversation with Jeff Burningham—entrepreneur, former candidate for governor, and now author of a new book called The Last Book Written by a Human. This conversation begins with an unforgettable scene Jeff witnessed in India on the banks of the Ganges—a place where death, life, and the mundane all unfolded side by side. That image becomes a frame for everything we discussed: the reality of constant transformation and the deep human need for presence in the middle of it all. Jeff describes what he calls “the old game”—a life built around achievement, hustle, and doing more to be more. And then he shares what happened when that game stopped working for him, and how it led him to something new: a life of deeper being, awareness, and love. We also talked about AI—not just as a technological shift, but as what he calls a “cosmic mirror.” Jeff believes that AI is here not to replace us, but to reveal us—to help us see what’s essential and ask who we want to become. The path forward, he says, will require us to do something radical: give up ego, lean into love, and return to the wisdom of the body, nature, and family. In the face of rapid change and uncertainty, Jeff invites us to return to what’s most human. We’re so grateful to Jeff for this book and this conversation. You can order the book from Bookshop here or from Amazon here! Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re sharing Arthur Brooks’ keynote from Restore this last weekend. This message was so powerful—it will stop you in your tracks, and feels so essential for this exact moment. We believe it needs to be heard everywhere—in our homes, our communities, and across the country—so we’re sharing it with you now. This year we gathered at Utah Valley University for Restore, where just two weeks earlier Charlie Kirk was assassinated while addressing a large crowd. So soon after such horrific violence, the campus itself carried a real weight of grief and uncertainty. Arthur walked straight into that heaviness with so much clarity and conviction—and called us toward a powerful vision of moral courage and discipleship. His message was bold. He confronted unflinchingly what’s really breaking us apart—not political division, but the deeper poison of contempt. And then he challenged us with this:  Moral courage isn’t standing up to the people you disagree with—moral courage is standing up to your own side on behalf of those you disagree with. Arthur says tolerance and civility are too low a bar. The real standard is much higher. It's the Sermon on the Mount. It’s loving our enemies—not as a feeling, but as radical, concrete, countercultural action. Arthur wove together science, story, faith, and humor into something deeply personal and urgently needed. His challenge was clear: if we want a different kind of country, we have to become a different kind of people. This felt like a spark. Now the work of discipleship begins.  We also want to mention that you can watch this presentation on our youtube channel. Arthur is a super engaging presenter and we strongly recommend that you watch this one.  If you bought a ticket for Restore this year, we will email you the recordings as soon we they're edited! If you didn't get a ticket this year, you can order the Restore 2025 recordings at faithmatters.org/restore. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re sharing a special live episode of Proclaim Peace recorded in person at the Compass Gallery on Peacemaking and Discipleship with Jennifer Thomas and Chad Ford. We’re also excited to announce the first-ever Waymakers conference, REPAIR, is taking place October 23–25 in Provo, Utah. This is such an incredible opportunity to learn from world-class peacemakers leading intensive workshops to help us navigate the most challenging situations in our lives. If you feel frustrated or hopeless about a conflict in your life, bring it to REPAIR.  This year we’re featuring a keynote from Jim Ferrell as well as a series of intimate workshops from The One America Movement, Jennifer Finlayson-Fife, Patrick Mason, Melisson Mason, Thomas McConkie, LaShawn Williams, and many more. And if you missed Restore this year, we’ve got you covered. You can purchase the full general session recordings to hear your favorite speakers anytime at faithmatters.org/restore. If you purchased a ticket to Restore (of any kind) the recordings are included—we’ll send them to you as soon as they’re edited and ready.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we're bringing you a special episode recorded live from the Restore gathering in 2024, where we were joined by Jared Halverson. This one one of my very favorite topics to hear Jared talk about. His session was on what he calls “contraries” or paradoxes that are inherent in a life of faith. His message feels especially timely this week.  He offers the powerful image of the cross as a symbol of wholeness in our discipleship. One axis, reaching vertically, represents our connection to God, while the horizontal beam represents the love and care we extend outward to embrace those around us. True discipleship, Jared explained, is this centerpoint. It requires both beams—it's a deep grounding in God that inspires us to reach out in love to others.  Jared’s session feels like an invitation to love our neighbor. He boldly reminds us that the means matter, that "being right with God, does not justify being wrong with other people." So rather than allowing our differences to create distance, he challenges us to see the ways that truth is found in the tension of the paradox. This “both-and” approach allows us to see each other more fully and generously, creating connection that transcends our differences and reflects god's love. We’re so grateful for Jared’s wisdom in this session, and we hope his message helps you feel connected and inspired this week and we hope you’ll join us at Restore this year where you’ll hear Jared live.  Learn more about Restore at faithmatters.org/restore Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Before we jump in, we wanted to acknowledge that so many in our community and across the world have been stunned and horrified by the murder of Charlie Kirk at UVU. It feels to us like a particularly difficult moment in this country, and we find ourselves grasping both for hope, and for the message to share in a moment like this. It’s in that spirit that we wanted to share this week’s episode — a conversation about belonging from the Faith Matters podcast Article 13. At their best, faith and faith communities bring us together across differences and remind us of something essential: that we are inherently and irrevocably connected. When we call each other “brother” and “sister,” we’re naming something deeply true. And choosing to stay in community — even when it’s hard — might be exactly what the world needs right now.  This episode explores what it means to belong—it invites us to think about belonging not just as something to find, but something we can offer and build in our spiritual communities. We appreciated the insight we saw shared by Senator Chris Murphy this week: that when other forms of identity become weaker, something—like political identity—will step in to fill the void.  This episode asks the question: what might society look like if we strive to intentionally create identity not just as members of religious communities, but as inherently dignified, divine beings who are all connected—in other words: as children of God? If there’s any truth that might help us find some hope for the future, it seems like we’ll find it in that direction. As always, we really appreciate you listening, and for helping us find our own belonging, especially in hard moments. * Find more peacemaking resources on our website: faithmatters.org Learn more about Restore: faithmatters.org/restore Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re re-sharing what we thought was an “instant classic” from last year’s Restore Gathering; a deeply personal and thought-provoking message about family, faith, and the complexity of life from Joseph Grenny, author of Crucial Conversations and co-founder of The Other Side Academy. Drawing from his own experience with his own “messy” family, Joseph speaks openly about moments of despair, like the heartache of watching loved ones—including his own children—struggle with addiction, estrangement, and other crises. But at the heart of his message is a radical idea: that the phrase "All is well" can be true even in the face of chaos and imperfection. He challenges the traditional "brochure" image of family success, reminding us that not even the families in our sacred texts had it all together. Through powerful stories of redemption, both from his own family and the lives transformed at The Other Side Academy, Joseph encourages us to rethink what it means to succeed as families, and to embrace waiting as part of God’s divine work. We think Joseph’s words will resonate deeply with anyone who has felt the pain of seeing a loved one struggle, and we hope it offers both comfort and inspiration. I also want to mention that Joseph’s full presentation is available on our YouTube channel. We highly recommend watching it there—his visuals are fantastic, and it’s a completely different experience seeing him bring it all to life in person. Joseph will be speaking at Restore again this year, along with a fantastic line up of speakers, musicians, and performers. We would love to have you join us! Visit faithmatters.org/restore to see the agenda and get your tickets. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

You’ve probably heard the old joke—we caught it again recently on Ezra Klein’s show. A conspiracy theorist dies and goes to heaven. At the pearly gates, God tells him he can ask one question—anything at all. The conspiracy theorist says, “Who really killed JFK?” God replies, “Lee Harvey Oswald and he acted alone.” The conspiracy theorist pauses, nods, and says, “Wow. This goes higher than I thought.” The joke captures just how impenetrable conspiracy thinking can be. That’s part of what we’re exploring today with our guest, Sharon McMahon. Sharon is a former high school government teacher turned trusted national educator, bestselling author, and host of the Sharon Says So podcast, known for bringing truth, clarity, and calm to some of the most divisive issues in American public life. Today, Sharon helps us unpack why conspiracy theories can be so compelling, how they spread, and the very human needs behind them—like safety, belonging, and making sense of uncertainty. She also shares deeply practical and compassionate guidance for staying in relationship with someone who’s caught in that mindset, while still honoring your own values and boundaries. In 2020, the Church offered timely guidance in its General Handbook, warning against misinformation that promotes anger, contention, and fear—and encouraging members to be skeptical of conspiracy theories. So we talked with Sharon about the role faith communities can play in building resilience against misinformation—not by controlling ideas, but by fostering connection, curiosity, and critical thinking. Sharon’s clarity, courage, and humor made this one of our favorite conversations and we’re also so excited she’ll be speaking at Restore this year—we hope you’ll join us to see her live. Learn more about Restore at faithmatters.org/restore Get Sharon's book from Bookshop.org Get Sharon's book from Amazon Come to our event at The Compass on 9/13 Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’re excited today to talk about the temple. It’s a topic we love—one that sits at the heart of our faith—but because of its sacred nature, it can sometimes be difficult to explore openly. Our guest today is historian Jonathan Stapley, who has spent the past two decades studying the temple and its role in Latter-day Saint life. His new book, Holiness to the Lord, is coming out this fall, and it incorporates a remarkable collection of never-before-seen archival records. The book explores the temple’s earliest origins and the ways Joseph Smith drew on the book of Revelation and biblical archetypes to transform ordinary people into priests and priestesses through covenant, community, and ritual. Jonathan also documents the generational shifts in temple practice over time and the sacred work the temple has been doing in the lives of Latter-day Saints from the beginning to today. We’re especially grateful that Jonathan was willing to engage some of the harder questions—things that don’t always fit neatly in a Sunday School setting, but that many of us carry quietly. He speaks candidly about temple recommends, garments, and evolving expectations around worthiness. We got to ask him about the temple’s connection to Masonic rituals (how similar are they, really?) and about how we sit with the very real pain that can come with conditional temple participation—especially when its means leaving family members behind for temple sealings. Jonathan brings both deep scholarship and lived faith to this conversation. He helps us see the temple as a living, evolving expression of our faith—one that reflects a divine invitation to connection, transformation, and covenant belonging, and that draws us into Joseph’s bold, sacred project: to bring heaven to earth. Preorder the book from Bookshop.org Preorder the book from Amazon Join us for an event discussing the relationship between ancient and modern temples at The Compass Gallery on Sept 21. Read what we've published about temples in our magazine, Wayfare.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’re so happy to welcome back Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife—someone whose voice and work have shaped our thinking in really lasting ways. Today we’re talking with Jennifer about her brand-new book, published by Faith Matters: That We Might Have Joy: Desire, Divinity, and Intimate Love.  The book offers an honest look at how sexual intimacy can reveal the truth of a relationship—and how, for those willing to confront that truth, it can serve as the starting point for deep joy, spiritual transcendence, and communion with another soul. It reframes sexual intimacy not as something separate from our faith, but as an integral part of it—a way of knowing ourselves and another person, and of developing fully into our divine potential. In this conversation we explore what intimacy requires, and how it’s not about just saying the right things, playing the right role, or “becoming selfless”—it’s about showing up fully, even when it’s uncomfortable. Jennifer makes the powerful case that true intimacy can’t be faked, and that our bodies and our partners always know when we’re hiding. We talk about the traps so many couples fall into—cycles of accommodation, avoidance, pressure, or silence—and how our hunger for validation often gets in the way of real connection. And, maybe most importantly, Jennifer helps us see that the tension in our relationships isn’t a sign that something’s broken. We loved this conversation and are excited to share it with you. Jennifer’s book will be released September 30, but you’ll be able to purchase advanced copies of the book at Restore in just a few weeks. Preorder the paperback Preorder the ebook Join us at Restore Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Nearly 200 years ago, Joseph Smith gave us a holistic code of health called the Word of Wisdom. But over the next century, we largely reduced that revelation to a list of don’ts—one that came to define us as a church and serve as a kind of status marker within the Church. As we look ahead to the next hundred years, we’re asking: is it time to rethink how we see this revelation?  Today, we face an overwhelming number of choices about what we put into our bodies—some deeply harmful, others profoundly nourishing—and we now understand far more about health, nutrition, and the body itself. Are there principles in section 89 that transcend the context in which it was given? What did we miss when we transformed it from a principle with promise to a set list of prohibitions that defined worthiness? Is our current approach a stumbling block as we take the gospel to people in other cultures? And what about that curious issue of hot drinks?  That’s the conversation we’re having today with Bill Turnbull, one of the founders of Faith Matters, and Ali Essig, a nutritionist and founder of PlantWhys. Ali’s journey with the Word of Wisdom began after her husband suffered a stroke at age 37—a moment that launched her into a deep study of Section 89 and a reimagining of what it really means to nourish the body.  We’ll also be studying this section in Come Follow Me in just a couple of weeks, and so we hope this conversation adds some depth and energy into your personal study and that you see not a list of rules, but a radical invitation into a path of wisdom and wholeness.  In an era in which technology and media seem determined to disconnect us from embodied experience and presence, maybe it’s time to take a fresh look at a 200 year old revelation that challenges us to do exactly the opposite. * The Word of Wisdom in Its First Decade The Word of Wisdom: From Principle to Requirement Association Between Dietary Fiber and Lower Risk of All-Cause Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies Higher-fiber diet linked to lower risk of death Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re so excited to share a powerful session from last year’s Restore gathering, given by Astrid Tuminez, president of Utah Valley University. Astrid’s story is truly extraordinary. She was born in a small village in the Philippines and raised in the slums of Iloilo City. Her journey has taken her from Catholic convent schools to Harvard and Wall Street to leading a major public university—and throughout, she’s wrestled with what it means to belong and to find joy. Drawing from the Book of Mormon, Buddhist meditation, and the lives of the people who have shaped her, Astrid invites us into the practices that help her live with joy, even in the midst of complexity and change. We also want to acknowledge that this session was recorded just a few months before Astrid’s beloved husband of 37 years, Jeff Tolk, passed away unexpectedly. Jeff was someone we admired deeply. He had a brilliant mind and a tender heart and we’re holding Astrid and her family in our hearts during this season of unimaginable grief. Listening to this message now, with the weight of that loss, we have even more reverence and gratitude for the wisdom and light Astrid shared with all of us on the Restore stage. We think it’s one you’ll want to revisit again and again. Restore 2025 will be September 25-27 at UVU in Orem, Utah -- you can get tickets to join us at faithmatters.org/restore  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re so happy to share a conversation with our friend Brian McLaren about his brand-new novel, The Last Voyage. The book is set in the future, as Earth nears collapse and a final crew is sent to Mars in a last-ditch effort to begin again. It’s a compelling story on its own, but it also opens up space for deeper questions—about what happens when we try to leave everything behind, only to discover we’ve brought all our baggage with us.  So in this conversation, we got to explore some of those ideas with Brian. We talked about conflict in close relationships, and what it looks like to stay connected even when worldviews differ in really important ways. He shared why curiosity can be such a powerful act of love in these situations especially when we’re tempted to protect ourselves through certainty. We also talked about the dark night of the soul, and the way it can become a womb for something new—a space where real transformation begins, both personally and even within our faith communities. Brian speaks candidly about the role of religion—not as a static institution, but as something alive, always holding the tension between honoring the past and nourishing our future.  This conversation felt like a companion for the messy middle—a reminder that even when the path isn’t clear, growth is still possible, and it’s holy work. We’re so grateful to Brian for this time, and we’re really excited to share it with you.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re sharing another fun session from last year’s Restore gathering—one of the most unforgettable moments from the whole weekend—featuring Mauli Bonner. Mauli has spent the past two decades in the entertainment industry, developing and writing for Grammy-winning artists and directing music for film and TV, and he also co-founded the nonprofit Lift Up Voices to empower young voices through creativity and community. In this session, Mauli shares a wild, personal story that starts with a quiet spiritual prompting and ends with an act of radical trust that left the entire room stunned. He offers a moving look at what it really means to live a faith-filled life—one that’s non-transactional, that doesn't guarantee we’ll see the fruit of our actions, but that still says yes to being God’s hands. We hope this session helps you catch a glimpse of the kind of spirit and depth you’ll experience at Restore this year, happening September 25–27 in Orem, Utah. Learn more and get your tickets at faithmatters.org! 

Today, we’re really grateful to share a conversation with historian John Turner about the brand new biography he’s just published: Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet. John is a professor of Religious Studies and History at George Mason University. While  not a member of the the Latter-day Saint faith, he has had a particular fascination with the early history of Mormonism, and wrote an earlier biography of Brigham Young. Some of the interpretations and conclusions John draws in his book may differ from our own, but we found this new biography on Joseph to be meticulously researched and engagingly written. In this book, John doesn’t aim to settle all debates between Joseph Smith’s supporters and his detractors, but with more primary sources available than ever before, he hoped to provide a fuller picture of a figure who continues to shape who we are today. John says that while the question of “Whether God actually spoke to [Joseph] Smith is a matter of faith… there is no question about his prophetic self-conception.” We assume most listeners are familiar with the general contours of Joseph’s life, so in this conversation we talked with John about some topics we felt needed more exploration: his family’s early hardships and how they might have shaped his resilience as a spiritual leader; what the historical record tells us about the gold plates and Joseph’s visions; and whether Joseph truly instigated and lived plural marriage. What struck us most was John’s portrayal of Joseph’s constant evolution—his willingness to revise, to explore, and to ask better questions. It made us wonder if Joseph’s boldness and openness to change could serve as inspiration to us in today’s church. We know that talking openly about Joseph—his humanity, his complexity, even his mistakes—can be challenging. But we hope this episode helps create more space for recognizing the humanity of our leaders, both past and present. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re excited to bring you a special episode—a replay of one of our favorite sessions from last year’s Restore Gathering, featuring Dave Butler. We’re also thrilled to let you know that Restore 2025 is happening this September 25–27 in Orem, Utah, and this episode is a great preview of the kind of experience you can expect—thoughtful, joyful, expansive, and rooted in a deep desire to love and understand more fully. In this session, Dave explores the idea of Holy Envy—a concept that invites us to not just tolerate other faiths, but to find deep beauty and truth in them. He shares beautiful personal stories and wrestles with how to honor the uniqueness of our own tradition while also recognizing the divine fingerprints in others.  He ultimately offers a powerful vision of restoration—not as something narrow or exclusive, but as a healing and gathering work that makes room for the whole human family.  This session made us laugh, think, and feel more committed to becoming people who love well, across all kinds of differences. We hope it does the same for you—and that it gives you a taste of what’s coming at Restore this year. You can find all the details and registration info at faithmatters.org. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re so excited to share a conversation about the new book Carry On, a rich and thoughtful history of the church’s Young Women organization. This project has been ten years in the making, created by historians Lisa Olsen Tait, James Goldberg, Amber C. Taylor, and the late Kate Holbrook. Joining us today to talk about the project are Lisa and James. In this conversation, they trace the arc of the organization’s beginnings and evolution—from a small association founded among Brigham Young’s teenage daughters in the Lion House, through decades of change that continually adapted to meet the evolving spiritual and cultural needs of young women of the church Over the years, sixteen general presidents—along with their counselors, boards, and local leaders—used their gifts to create programs that nourished the young women in their care. These programs taught not just spiritual values, but also public speaking, leadership, drama, music, recreation, and practical life skills. For many, the organization became a gateway to confidence, connection, and a sense of divine purpose. Lisa and James also address some of the more difficult parts of our past, including the ways young women have often carried the weight of the community’s fears—especially around modesty and worthiness and the way this sometimes played out in the Young Women Organization. They reflect on the effects of the Correlation movement and the changes that came as the organization was placed more directly under a priesthood line of authority. But through it all, they highlight how young women and their Young Women leaders have responded with courage, creativity, and spiritual initiative. We hope this conversation serves as an invitation to reflect on what we might want to reclaim or reimagine for this global and spiritually hungry generation today—and to ask, with real intention, how each of us, in the spirit of the legacy of this organization’s, use our own gifts, to carry on what matters most. We’re so grateful to James and Lisa for offering their insight, scholarship, and heart to this important story. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re sharing a really special session from last year’s Faith Matters gathering, Restore. This conversation has really stayed with us, and we're so grateful we get to share it with you now. It begins with a short, beautiful film—we’d highly recommend heading to our YouTube channel if you’d like to watch it. You’ll hear John Gustav-Wrathall share his journey as a gay Latter-day Saint—a path shaped by deep spiritual seeking, a loving and enduring partnership with his husband Goran, and an eventual return to his ward family. John speaks with honesty and courage about learning to trust the quiet, steady voice of the Spirit in the midst of complexity. His story holds both deep pain and profound peace. After John’s story, Allison Dayton joins him on stage for a powerful conversation. As a mother of a gay son, she brings deep empathy to this space. She is the founder of Lift+Love and helped create Gather—a Christ-centered conference for LGBTQ individuals and those who love them. You can find more details at liftandlove.org, along with John’s full story. This session was a beautiful reminder of what it can look like to wrestle with faith and walk the path of love.  We’d love to invite you to join us for conversations like this in person at Restore, this year, which will be September 25–27 at UVU in Orem, Utah. It’s going to be an unforgettable weekend with incredible speakers including Sharon McMahon and Arthur Brooks, along with outstanding music, art, and community, all centered on restoring faith, belonging, and wholeness. Early bird pricing ends soon—now’s a great time to register. You can go to faithmatters.org for tickets.  -- Use GATHERFAITH coupon code for 20% off Gather tickets: https://www.liftandlove.org/ Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re excited to share our conversation with Anna Lott, and we’re especially thinking of those who are walking—or have walked—the path of divorce. Anna is the host of the Solo Saints podcast and retreats, and she’s become a thoughtful and compassionate voice in our community—especially for those who often feel like their experiences don’t quite fit the mold. As a divorced mother of four, Anna brings honesty, heart, and hard-won wisdom to conversations about faith, family, and belonging. Today’s episode is for everyone though—whether you’ve experienced divorce yourself or love someone who has, we talk with Anna about what it feels like to show up at church when your life no longer fits the picture of how you thought things were “supposed” to look. She speaks candidly about the stigma and shame that so many experience around divorce in a family-centered church, —and about how we, as a community, can do better to create a softer place to land. Anna also invites us to rethink and let go of some of the painful narratives many of us have inherited around marriage—that it should be preserved at all costs, or that staying married is always the most right choice. She shares the both-ands of her own story—the grief and the growth, the costs and the clarity—and how reclaiming and recentering her identity as a daughter of God has led to deeper joy, belonging, and renewed faith. We’re so grateful to the many of you who shared your stories and questions ahead of this episode. Your voices shaped this conversation in meaningful ways. We’re grateful for your honesty and vulnerability and we hope you feel heard here. And with that, here’s our conversation with Anna Lott. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week—June 9th—marks the 47th anniversary of the 1978 revelation that ended the Church’s 126-year ban on Black members receiving the priesthood and entering the temple. It’s a moment we often point to with reverence and gratitude—but the story we’ve inherited about how it happened is, in many ways, incomplete. To help us understand more fully what led to that pivotal moment, we’re joined by Dr. Matthew Harris, whose new book Second-Class Saints draws on previously unavailable documents—including the complete, unredacted journals from Pres. Spencer W. Kimball and private papers from several other apostles and prophets who were part of this story. What emerges is a story of complex revelation—one that didn’t arrive all at once, but unfolded slowly through conversation, persuasion, and deep personal growth. We sometimes talk about the 1978 revelation as if it came out of nowhere—a sudden command from heaven. But Matt helps us see the reality that this was a process shaped by years of thoughtful wrestling and dialogue, by courageous individuals who quietly worked to open hearts and minds, and by the unwavering faith of Black members who carried impossible burdens with grace and conviction. In our conversation today, we explored what it means to be part of a living church—one that’s capable of change because it’s built on continuing revelation. We talked about how “doctrine” has been defined and redefined across the Church’s history, the vital role each of us plays in the process of institutional revelation, because this isn’t just about the past—it’s about how we show up today: how we answer President Nelson’s call to root out racism and build a more inclusive future within the body of Christ. We’re deeply grateful to Matt for his careful, bold work. And with that, we’ll jump right into our conversation with Matt Harris. Buy the book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/45a7Ijl Buy from Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/108982/9780197695715  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re so excited to share something brand new with you—the very first episode of a new podcast we’re launching here at Faith Matters. It’s called Article 13. This new narrative podcast brings together cutting-edge research and spiritual wisdom to explore creative paths toward a more connected and compassionate world. As our society grows increasingly divided along political and cultural lines, Article 13—hosted by Zachary Davis—offers a hopeful and constructive alternative. Through deep dives into vital social issues, extraordinary guests, and beautiful sound design, the show models the kind of thoughtful, intelligent discourse our country needs—and offers practical ways each of us can make a difference, starting right where we are. Today, we’re honored to share Episode 1 of Article 13 with you—it’s titled What We Owe Each Other. In this episode, Zach is joined by voices like Cornel West, Shaylyn Romney Garrett, and Robert Putnam to explore what rebuilding trust really looks like—and why it matters now. They propose that real renewal begins from the inside out, as we recommit to the people we serve in the institutions we’re already part of—our families, schools, churches, and communities. When we view these roles as shared responsibilities, not personal platforms, we can begin to restore the trust and connection that hold us together. It’s a thoughtful, timely conversation—and we’re so excited to share it with you. You can find Article 13 wherever you listen to podcasts. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we got to sit down with someone we’ve long admired and are so thrilled to finally have on the podcast—Steven Sharp Nelson, known to millions around the world as “The Cello Guy” from The Piano Guys. He’s a creative force and a pioneer in "cello-percussion"—where rhythm, melody, and movement come together in such creative and beautiful ways. If you’ve ever seen Steve perform, you know the energy he brings to music is unlike anything else—it’s vibrant, joyful, and instantly captivating. And we felt all of that in this conversation. But this episode isn’t just about music. Today we got to talk with Steve about ADHD—his diagnosis as a child, and the way he’s come to understand it not as a disorder, but a spiritual gift that has shaped his creativity, deepened his connection to God, and is helping him live into his divine purpose. Though ADHD began as a source of confusion and shame, he’s come to see it as one of the greatest blessings of his life. In this conversation, Steve shares what that transformation has looked like—what it means to live with “attention abundance,” how this overflow of energy, sensitivity, and ideas have become the place where God meets him—again and again. And how, when we offer our weaknesses to God, the burdens begin to lift and the blessings blossom.  Steve reminds us that God works with our particular brains, capacities, and quirks, speaking to each of us in the language we understand best. And that sometimes, what we once thought was a weakness might actually be the key to our calling. This episode is full of honesty, humor, and deep spiritual wisdom. We’re so excited to share this one with you—here’s our conversation with Steven Sharp Nelson. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re sharing a conversation with Phil Barlow about his new book, published by Faith Matters, called A Thoughtful Faith for the 21st Century. If that sounds familiar, it may be because Phil published the first volume back in 1986. That original collection included essays by Eugene England, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Francine Bennion, Richard Bushman, and others—each exploring what it means to live a spiritually and intellectually honest life within the Latter-day Saint tradition. As Phil points out, challenges to faith are not new. Thoughtful people were wrestling with difficult questions decades ago in ways that still have power today. But, as he says, “the world has turned some” since then. The 2025 edition brings in a new generation of scholars and voices—Thomas McConkie, Melissa Inouye, Fiona Givens, Ben Schilaty, among others—who speak to today’s distinctive challenges while honoring the wisdom and foundation of those who came before. At the heart of both volumes is an urgent and beautiful question: How can we hold together the integrities of our minds and our hearts and our spirits? That question—its weight, complexity, and quiet hope—sits at the center of this conversation today. Phil brings so much humility and clarity, and in this episode we get to hear a little about what’s changed in his own faith, about the wisdom of surrendering the need to know, and why he still finds the Latter-day Saint tradition compelling, human, and a spiritual home he continues to choose with both heart and mind. We’re so grateful to Phil for this conversation, and we hope you love it as much as we did. With that, here’s Phil Barlow. Links for the show notes: Purchase the book through Bookshop.org (https://bookshop.org/a/108982/9781953677242) Amazon (https://amzn.to/4mgJsCf) or anywhere you get your books.  Get a free look inside the book on our website: https://www.faithmatters.org/s/a-thoughtful-faith-vol-2 Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re excited to share a special live episode recorded at the Compass Gallery in Provo, as part of our Big Questions series with Terryl Givens. Each month, Terryl is joined by a guest for a conversation about some of our biggest theological and historical questions. In this episode, he’s joined by scholar and teacher Jared Halverson. Together, Terryl and Jared explore the question: can doubt be a spiritual gift? They consider how doubt might play a meaningful role in our spiritual development, and ask whether we can reclaim faith as something relational, built on loyalty, trust, and love —  rather than a list of things we intellectually agree to. One of the most powerful ideas that emerges is that faith and doubt aren’t opposites — in fact, they may need to coexist. It’s often in the tension between the two that deeper discipleship takes root. Terryl and Jared also explore how the Restoration, at its core, invites us into a life of ongoing seeking and expanding, not one of perfect certainty. So if you’ve ever felt some fear, guilt, or shame around your questions — or worried that doubt means you’re falling behind, out of reach, or off the path, this conversation is for you. We hope it offers a hopeful reframe: that the wrestle is sacred, that you’re in good company, and that sometimes, this is exactly what spiritual growth looks like. And with that, here’s Terryl Givens and Jared Halverson. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

With Mother’s Day coming up, we’re so honored to bring you this conversation with McArthur Krishna about her new book, Mother in Heaven: A Gospel Topics Essay Study Guide. The doctrine of Heavenly Mother is one of the most beautiful and distinctive Latter-Day Saint teachings—but for many, it’s still unfamiliar territory. McArthur and her co-authors created this study guide as an invitation to engage with this doctrine more deeply. Drawing on the church’s Gospel Topics essay, the book explores each point through art, rich personal reflections, and theological insights with contributions from many people whose names you may recognize- Patrick and Melissa Mason, Tom Christofferson, and Bethany Brady Spalding to name a few. What emerges is a beautiful tapestry of reverence, curiosity, and lived faith. In this conversation, we explore how the simple truth that we are “beloved spirit children of Heavenly Parents” carries profound implications for how we understand the nature of God. It suggests that divinity isn’t solitary or hierarchical—it’s relational, that we’re not subjects of a distant king but members of a divine family. And that shift transforms the way we see God, one another, and ourselves. McArthur highlights how essential it is for women to have a divine role model and that becoming like Her means learning to use our agency with wisdom and courage. It means aligning with God, trusting the revelation we receive, and standing by it—even when it’s hard. As McArthur puts it, “sovereignty is how we begin to practice godhood.” We hope that as you celebrate Mother’s Day this year, this conversation invites you to remember and honor our Heavenly Mother and embrace the truth that we are Her daughters and sons too, born with the divine potential to become like Her. We’re so grateful to McArthur for her courage, vision, and voice. And with that, here’s our conversation with McArthur Krishna. https://bookshop.org/a/108982/9781734228724 https://amzn.to/3RG0USG  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re so glad to be sharing a conversation with our friend Chad Ford. Chad is a conflict mediator, peace educator, and associate professor of religious studies at Utah State University. He’s spent decades working in some of the most entrenched conflict zones in the world—from the Middle East to South Africa to Northern Ireland. He’s also the author of a new book called Seventy Times Seven: Jesus’s Path to Conflict Transformation, published by Deseret Book. The book explores a question that feels more urgent than ever: how do we follow Jesus as peacemakers in a world so often shaped by fear, division, and violence? Our conversation with Chad moved from the personal to the global—from tensions in families and faith communities to the devastating conflicts we see on the world stage. And through all of it, Chad points back to Jesus as a radical model for how to live, engage, and help transform the world around us. Chad reminds us that Jesus’s path is anything but passive. It doesn’t mean disengaging or avoiding hard conversations. It means choosing to engage with both courage and compassion. It means refusing to meet harm with more harm, and instead walking a path that invites healing, reconciliation, and transformation. That kind of peace doesn’t come quickly—or easily—but it’s the kind of peace that can change lives and communities. Chad offers a vision of Christianity rooted in Jesus’ ministry of reconciliation—not in dominance or defensiveness, but in the slow, often difficult work of restoring wholeness. He helped us see that the peace Jesus offers isn’t always the peace we want—but it’s the peace we need. And when the way forward feels impossible, he reminds us that part of discipleship is learning to make a way out of no way. And with that, here’s our conversation with Chad Seventy Time Seven Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

With Easter just a few days away, we’re so excited to share this conversation with Amanda Suarez and Jon Ogden. Amanda and Jon are two of the co-founders of Uplift Kids, a lesson library and curriculum that helps families explore spirituality, values, and emotional health together. Amanda is a school psychologist and certified conscious parenting coach, and Jon is a writer, curriculum creator, and author of When Mormons Doubt. In this conversation, Amanda and Jon offer a beautiful vision of Easter through the lens of what Brian McLaren calls the “harmony” stage of faith—a perspective they also bring to their work with Uplift Kids. They paint a picture of Easter made more meaningful—not less—by welcoming it all: the story of Jesus’ resurrection, the chocolate bunnies, the deep questions, and the simple joy. It’s an approach that honors the unique developmental stage of each child and the evolving faith of each adult, making room for everyone to show up just as they are. And for many families gathering this time of year, that kind of spaciousness matters—especially when there are likely a variety of beliefs around the table and a wide range of needs, from toddlers to teens to adults. Rather than avoiding depth or walking on eggshells around belief, Amanda and Jon invite us to embrace the richness that comes from letting all the layers belong. That richness can become an opening—for deeper connection, for real growth, and for the kind of transformation that Easter is all about. At its heart, this conversation invites us to let go of pressure and agendas, to lean into love and presence, and to trust that what’s needed will rise naturally in its own time. Easter, after all, is a story of life, death and rebirth—and that same pattern is quietly at work in our lives and families too. We hope this conversation fills you with the peace this Easter season brings and with that, here’s our conversation with Amanda Suarez and Jon Ogden. https://upliftkids.org/ When Mormons Doubt Bookshop affiliate link: https://bookshop.org/a/108982/9781535350372  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re so excited to welcome Adam Miller and Rosalynde Welch to talk about their brand-new book, Seven Visions. This book is an exploration of seven visionary experiences in the Doctrine and Covenants—moments where heaven and earth meet in powerful and sometimes surprising ways. Through these visions, Adam and Rosalynde invite us to consider how we engage with scripture and revelation in our own lives. In this conversation, we explore what it means to truly see God’s face and hear god's voice and that so often, revelation comes by paying attention to what is closest to us—the relationships and experiences that challenge us, stretch us, and ultimately transform us.  Adam and Rosalynde suggest that rather than treating scripture as something fixed and unchanging, we can approach it as an active, unfolding conversation. As Rosalynde put it, “The meaning of scripture is not fixed inside the covers of the book, but it unfolds in the space between the reader and the text.” We love their insights about passages of scripture that feel unsettling. Could our discomfort itself be a catalyst for revelation? And could the very questions we feel most compelled to ask be what expands our capacity to recognize Christ as He truly is—and to see the world more as He sees it? This was such a rich and expansive conversation, and we hope it gives you a new lens for engaging with scripture and revelation. And with that, here’s our conversation with Adam Miller and Rosalynde Welch. Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/44mK4Qa  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re really excited to share a conversation about a brand-new Children’s book called Changemakers by McArthur Krishna and Anne Pimentel, with beautiful artwork by Jessica Sarah Beach.  The book is a powerful and much-needed affirmation, especially in a moment when many women are quietly wondering where they fit. Through stories from scripture and the global history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it highlights women whose ideas, faith, and courage have helped shape the church in meaningful and lasting ways. Accessible to children, beautiful to look at and meaningful for readers of all ages. Today, we’re joined by McArthur and Anne to explore some of these incredible stories. Both women are remarkable in their own right—McArthur is the author of several books, including A Girl’s Guide to Heavenly Mother and the Girls Who Choose God series. Anne is a founder of Meetinghouse Mosaic, an organization working to diversify Christian art and amplify voices that sometimes go unheard in our faith community. In this conversation, we explore what it means to be a changemaker in a church that values both institutional authority and ongoing revelation. We talked about the tension many women are feeling right now—and how pain can become a catalyst for meaningful, needed transformation, and what true partnership between men and women might look like in that process. McArthur and Anne remind us again and again that revelation doesn’t always start at the top—so often, it often rises from the margins, born of questions, connection, and listening with love. We hope this conversation inspires you to trust your gifts, to share your voice, and to believe, deeply, that your contributions matter. And with that, here’s our conversation with McArthur Krishna and Anne Pimentel. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re bringing you a special conversation hosted by Jared Halverson, who’s joined by three women—Bethany Brady Spalding, Kathryn Knight Sonntag, and me—who’ve been part of a larger, ongoing conversation sparked by one of Jared’s recent videos on social media. If you haven’t seen the video, here’s the context: Jared highlighted the recent trend of women leaving the Church in greater numbers than men and encouraged women to stay, he connects this to D&C 25, highlighting how much depends on them. His message, meant to be supportive and hopeful, was heard by many as hurtful and dismissive—particularly by women who feel their voices and gifts are too often sidelined or unseen. The response was overwhelming. Thousands of women responded with honesty, vulnerability, and a shared sense of grief for the ways they’ve been asked to carry the Church while too often being denied a real seat at the table. To his credit, Jared didn’t get defensive. Just a few days later, he posted a real, heartfelt apology, then did something even more rare and brave: he asked if he could sit down, ask questions, and just listen. That’s what this episode is. What unfolds is a conversation about pain, power, partnership, and the potential for something more whole. We talk about what “spiritual collaboration” might really look like—not just in our doctrine, which includes the radical and often untapped vision of Heavenly Parents—but in our lived experience. We ask what it means for women to be invited not just to support the work, but to shape it. And we explore what changes when women are actually believed—when their longing to be seen, to lead, and to offer their full selves to the body of Christ is not framed as rebellion, but as righteousness. Jared holds this space with humility and openness, and Bethany, Kathryn, and I tried to speak from our own experiences—not as representatives of all women, but as people who love this tradition and believe it can do even more to reach its highest, holiest potential. We believe, as one commenter put it, that this isn’t a crisis of belief—it’s an opportunity for renewal. This episode is tender, and we also think it’s hopeful. We hope it models the kind of listening and learning that we need more of—at home, in our wards, and across the Church. And with that, we’ll jump right into the conversation. Amy McPhie Allebest article Sexual Violence in Utah Best Practices for Collaborative Partnership Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We have a really fun episode for you today—We’re talking with James Goldberg about his delightful book Tales of the Chelm First Ward, which he co-wrote with his, wife Nicole Wilkes Goldberg, and his brother, Mattathias Singh. The book is a collection of fictional stories set in a Latter-day Saint ward in the imagined town of Chelm—a nod to Jewish folklore and the famous “village of fools.” The humor is wonderfully absurd but beneath the silliness is something powerful and profound. In this conversation, we explore what might be called a theology of humor. James reflects on how laughter opens us. It softens the edges of our seriousness and rigidity, and draws us closer in shared connection.  He reminded us that not everything about “church culture” needs to be critiqued or stripped away—sometimes it can be embraced with lightness and joy, as part of what brings us together and helps us live in community.  The idea that stayed with us most was this: maybe what makes a ward great isn’t how aligned everyone is theologically or politically, or how smoothly things run, or how polished people are in their callings. Maybe it’s just about creating a group of people who are all rooting for each other—through the everyday moments, the imperfect efforts, and the callings that stretch us. It’s about showing up with love, having each other’s backs, and learning to see one another the way God does—with patience, grace, and deep affection. We hope this episode might just help you love your ward a little more—with all its quirks and imperfections. We hope it helps you see the people around you with a little more grace, a little more humor, and a little more tenderness. And with that, here’s our conversation with James Goldberg. https://www.wayfaremagazine.org/p/tales-of-the-chelm-first-ward-introduction Affiliate link for Chelm: https://bookshop.org/a/108982/9781961471030  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re joined by Mike Petrow, who serves as the Director of Formation, Faculty Relations, and Theological Foundations at the Center for Action and Contemplation. The CAC is a nonprofit founded by Father Richard Rohr that introduces seekers to the contemplative Christian path of transformation. Mike is intimately involved with the CAC’s Living School, a core educational offering from the CAC that last year offered a course called Essentials of Engaged Contemplation that Tim and I participated in. Mike is one of the primary hosts in the conversations that make up much of the program, often conversing with people like Richard Rohr and our friend Brian McLaren. Frankly, we found the work that Mike and the rest of the CAC team did on this course to be truly life-changing, and engaging it has been one of the most uplifting and transformative spiritual experiences we’ve had in our lives. In addition to his work at the CAC, Mike holds degrees (including a PhD) in psychology, mythology, and religious studies. This conversation is a sample of just how deeply insightful Mike is. He invited us to see curiosity as something “implanted in our hearts by God”—not as a threat to faith, but as an invitation to let the divine meet us in unexpected ways. He challenged the idea that “community is formed around uniformity of belief” and instead argued that real connection happens when we learn to be with each other, even in our differences  — that everyone belongs even, or perhaps especially, when they fall somehow outside the norm. And he brought so much depth to the idea of the wounded healer —“if you deeply commit to your own healing,” Mike told us, “at a certain point you realize it’s not just for you.” In one of the most powerful moments of this conversation, Mike describes a moment of profound loss—sitting at his mother’s bedside as she passed away—and then, just hours later, holding his newborn niece for the first time. These moments of symmetry revealed a truth that is at the heart of this entire conversation: that loss, and grief, and pain carve out a space in our hearts that can eventually be filled with love, joy and connection. We hope this conversation offers the same sense of healing, hope, and clarity that it did for us. And with that, let’s jump into this beautiful conversation with Mike Petrow. Thanks so much for listening, and we want to send a huge thanks to Mike for coming on. For those of you who might have been wondering more about the Living School, the Essentials of Engaged Contemplation that Aubrey and I participated in, the course is not currently open for enrollment, but if you’re interested in learning more or getting updates, you can head to cac.org. And if Faith Matters content is resonating with you and you get a chance, we’d love for you to leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We love reading reviews and they definitely help get the word about about Faith Matters. Thanks again for listening, and as always, you can check out more at faithmatters.org. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re excited to share a conversation between Zach Davis and New York Times columnist and author David French. David French began his career as a constitutional litigator, with a special focus on religious liberty. He has since become known for his thoughtful, principled political writing, having worked previously for The National Review, The Dispatch and The Atlantic.  In their conversation today, David emphasizes the need for Christians to move from a fear-based political culture to one centered on care and compassion for our neighbors—and that instead of seeking political control or domination, Christians should embrace equality for Americans of any or no religion.  David also addresses the rise in misinformation and distrust in institutions, highlighting the importance of truth-seeking and constructive political engagement. He concludes with a prayer that Christians will reject the politics of fear and help renew the world by living a counter-culture of love.  Wherever you find yourself across the political spectrum, we hope this conversation offers an empowering way forward—one grounded compassion. And with that, let’s jump into our conversation with David French. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re welcoming back our good friend Jeff Strong. Last year, Jeff and his team sent out a survey to the Faith Matters audience as part of a larger research project on faith and church participation. Over 1,600 of you responded, and the results were fascinating! We’re excited to share them with you today. What emerged was a picture of a significant and often unheard cross-section of the Church—a community of people who are deeply devoted but also wrestling, holding both conviction and complexity, faith and struggle, all at once. In this conversation, Jeff walks us through some of the most powerful insights from the survey, with a special focus on culture and aspects of our faith experience that are shaping our sense of belonging, meaning, and connection. He explores what people love most about being part of this tradition, where they encounter real challenges. One of the clearest themes in the survey is the tension between tradition and change—a familiar story in faith traditions across the world. Jeff explores what it means to hold that complexity well, in our families, community, and our own hearts. He addresses the power of finding others who are walking a similar path, and why recognizing we’re not alone in this wrestle can be so meaningful. I want to mention that there are a few visuals in this conversation that Jeff does a great job describing but you can see the slides he talks about in the YouTube version of this episode. To everyone who participated in the survey, thank you. It has been such a gift to see that none of us is alone here. We’re so grateful to be in it with you—asking hard questions, holding onto what we love, and finding our way forward together.  And with that, here’s our conversation with Jeff Strong. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For today’s episode, we’re releasing a fascinating conversation that Aubrey had with Rich Hanks about the life and legacy of his father, Marion D. Hanks. For those who know his name, you’ll know exactly why this conversation matters so much to us—Marion D. Hanks embodied so many of the values we hold dear. He was a leader of immense integrity, a champion for those on the margins, and a disciple of Christ in the truest sense. Even today, the ripples of his influence continue to shape the Church and the lives of so many. President David O. McKay once gave him a blessing with a simple but powerful charge: “Let your voice be heard, even if it is in opposition to the stated norms.” And he did. For forty years, he consistently pushed for change—advocating for humanitarian work long before it became a priority, fighting against the priesthood and temple ban, and insisting that sustaining leaders meant honest engagement, not silent agreement. Rich shared incredible stories about his father—the ways he stood up to cultural and institutional pressures, his deep reverence for the individual, and his unwavering belief that true discipleship is rooted in love, not conformity. He also spoke movingly about his father’s final years, as dementia slowly took hold, and the lessons of grace and devotion that emerged even in that difficult season. More than anything, we were struck by how Marion D. Hanks’ entire life was centered on lifting, healing, and serving—just as Christ did. We are so grateful to Rich for sharing these stories. We think this conversation will be inspiring to anyone who has ever wrestled with how to live their faith with integrity, courage, and compassion. And with that, we’ll jump right into our conversation with Rich Hanks. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We have been waiting a long time for this episode with our friend Thomas McConkie. As many of you know, Thomas is an incredibly skilled meditation teacher and guide on the path of spiritual awakening. Faith Matters produced his very popular online course Transformations of Faith and also published his incredible book At-One-Ment, which has deeply impacted so many readers.  For the last several years, Thomas has been doing graduate work at Harvard Divinity School. All the while, we have been exploring with Thomas the  possibility of creating a podcast to help us all hit the pause button in our busy daily lives and give time to a rich meditation and prayer practice. As Thomas is coming to the end of his program at Harvard, the time seemed right to launch this series. And so we are excited to share with you today the first episode of this new podcast, named One Heart, One Mind.  Thomas is a teacher and researcher who is fascinated by consciousness, growth and  transformation. He is especially interested in Christian contemplation and what it means to re-embody Christ’s teachings in new and unique ways for these challenging times–ways that will lead to deeper connection to God and to those around us. In One Heart One Mind, we will join Thomas in searching Christianity and the world’s Wisdom traditions for gems and insights into awakening, transformation, and the soul’s journey Home. The episodes are designed to be relatively brief, 15 to 30 minutes or so, and will generally include a teaching followed by a guided meditation. So, if you’ve been intending to cultivate a more regular spiritual practice of meditation and prayer, this might be the perfect place to start. You can subscribe to One Heart, One Mind on whatever podcast platform you use. We think you’re going to love this journey with Thomas McConkie. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, Tim and I are sharing a fascinating conversation with therapist and researcher Janeen Martin about the complex and deeply personal ways that religion and mental health intersect. Janeen has spent years working with clients navigating the full spectrum of religious experience—some who find their faith to be a source of deep resilience and healing, and others for whom it has been a source of pain and struggle. That contrast led her to ask some big questions: What makes religion a protective factor for some and a source of distress for others? How do individual personality, family dynamics, and church culture shape the way we engage with faith? And most importantly, how can we cultivate a relationship with God and our faith that supports our mental and emotional well-being? One of the most interesting ideas we explored was the concept of attachment styles—how the way we relate to God often mirrors the way we’ve experienced relationships with authority figures in our lives. Janeen also introduced us to three different religious orientations—extrinsic, intrinsic, and quest—and how our approach to faith can evolve over time. We talked about how religious communities can create spaces for both conviction and curiosity, how parents can help their kids develop a healthy and secure faith, and how we can each pay attention to the signs that our relationship with God is either building us up or weighing us down. This conversation was rich with insight and practical tools for anyone wanting to engage with their faith in a way that is both deeply meaningful and emotionally healthy. We hope you find it as valuable as we did. And with that, we’ll jump right into our conversation with Janeen Martin. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we are thrilled to welcome back Terryl Givens—one of our all-time favorite guests and collaborators and someone we always have a running list of topics for. This time, we’re finally diving deep into the topic of agency and free will: it’s something that has come up in many of our past conversations but never had its own dedicated discussion.  Terryl’s new book, Agency, is part of the Maxwell Institute’s Doctrine & Covenants theological series, and it explores some of the most profound and challenging questions about what it truly means to have agency. For centuries, theologians and philosophers have debated whether free will truly exists or if what we call agency is merely an illusion— our choices predetermined by the unfolding of the universe, or so shaped by our biology and past that we don't have real choice. Terryl’s work in this book finds that Mormonism has some compelling and unique insights on that central question, and explores some others: what role does community and authority play in expanding—or limiting—our agency? And how do we navigate the tension between obedience and authentic personal choice? In this conversation, we explore the dangers of turning scripture or prophets into idols, how our perception of God can sometimes become so skewed that it’s actually a “false God,” and why Terryl doesn’t believe that we’ll ever be judged based on our beliefs alone. We also get into some fascinating intersections between agency, neuropsychology, philosophy, and even Darwinian evolution. This discussion left us with so much to think about, and we hope it does the same for you. So with that, let’s dive in! Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re thrilled to talk with Carl Youngblood— longtime technologist, software engineer, and president of the Mormon Transhumanist Association. Artificial Intelligence is no longer a distant, futuristic idea—it’s already shaping the way we learn, work, and even practice our faith. And just this past week, AI made big headlines again in the tech world with the release of vastly improved models and increasing belief among technology leaders that artificial general intelligence (AGI) is just around the corner. Whether or not that's the case, the exponential progress of AI is undeniable, and it’s sparking some of the biggest questions of our time. If God can speak through the written word, could God speak through AI? How do we discern when it's a tool for growth versus a shortcut that stunts it? And if AI frees us from certain types of work, could it deepen our relationships and spirituality—or will it leave us searching for new sources of meaning? It’s worth noting that many of the people most deeply concerned about AI’s effects on humanity and society are those who were involved in creating it.  In this episode, we’ll talk about some of those concerns, but we’ll mostly explore ways we can use it constructively.  Carl brings a sharp and thought-provoking perspective to these questions. He challenges us to approach AI with both curiosity and caution—seeing how it can deepen connection or drive isolation, spark creativity or dull our own discernment. Rather than dismissing it as just a tool or blindly embracing it, Carl pushes us to wrestle with its real impact on our thinking, relationships, and spiritual growth. This is a conversation full of nuance, curiosity, and a lot of open-ended questions, and we hope it sparks new reflections for you. We’ll have links in the show notes to tools we mention throughout the episode, so be sure to check those out. And with that, here’s our conversation with Carl Youngblood. Chat GPT Google NotebookLM Readwise Church Newsroom: Guiding Principles for Use of AI Elder Bednar on AI Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, Zach Davis is joined by New York Times columnist and author Ross Douthat to talk about his new book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious. Ross has spent his career bridging worlds—explaining faith and conservatism to a largely secular audience while also translating secular ideas back to religious readers. In this conversation, he makes a compelling case for why belief isn’t just a leap into the unknown, but a rational and maybe even necessary response to the world as we actually experience it. Zach and Ross also explore some of the major barriers that keep modern, intellectually serious people from embracing faith—things like the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions, which many see as having displaced humanity from the center of the universe. But Ross challenges these assumptions, showing how science, rather than disproving faith, could actually deepen the mystery of our existence in a way that makes belief more compelling than ever. And he points out something undeniable–– that even as religious affiliation in the West declines, people across all backgrounds continue to report profound, life-altering encounters with the divine. Ross suggests that these experiences, far from being irrational, may be one of the strongest indicators that something real is at work in the universe. This conversation was a fascinating mix of theology, philosophy, and cultural analysis, and we think Ross offers an important and thought-provoking perspective—one that invites both skeptics and believers to take faith seriously. And with that, let’s jump into our conversation with Ross Douthat. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re joined by Shima Baradaran Baughman, a nationally renowned expert on criminal justice reform and a law professor at BYU. After years focusing on shaping public policy and reforming systems, Shima began to recognize that the deepest and most lasting change wasn’t coming from legislation alone, but from the quiet, compassionate efforts of faith communities and individuals who were directly transforming lives one by one. In this conversation, Shima shares her astonishing life story—how her family fled Iran after her mother’s imprisonment for political activism, their conversion to Christianity after arriving in the United States, and how those experiences have fueled a passion for justice and mercy.  Shima also shares insights from her current research, which examines the profound impact faith communities are having on those often forgotten by society. Whether it’s through prison ministries, sitting beside strangers during bail hearings to bear witness and offer solidarity, or ward families welcoming and supporting formerly incarcerated individuals, she highlights how these simple, Christlike acts of radical mercy are breaking down barriers, healing hearts, and bringing light to some of the darkest corners of our world. Shima reminds us that living like Jesus will often take us to the margins—to uncomfortable, messy spaces where true transformation begins. And that it’s in those spaces where both hearts and lives can be changed, including our own. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re so grateful to share a conversation with Justin Dyer, a professor of religion at BYU and a researcher who has spent years exploring the intersection of faith and mental health. Justin’s most recent work focuses on perfectionism, especially within the church. He recently edited a special issue of BYU Studies Quarterly dedicated entirely to this subject, and you can find a link to it in our show notes. In this conversation, Justin shares some compelling research, including the striking finding that high levels of toxic perfectionism can triple the likelihood of leaving one’s religion. He offers some profound insights into why this is the case and he talks about gospel principles that could help us replace unhealthy perfectionistic beliefs. One of Justin’s most powerful insights is that our perceptions become a physiological reality. Stress responses not only shape how we think but also affect our ability to connect with others and feel the Spirit. This underscores the vital importance of creating church communities that are unconditionally loving, judgment-free spaces where people feel truly accepted. Justin highlights the critical difference between guilt and shame: guilt can guide us toward growth and change, while shame erodes our sense of worth and connection to God. Most importantly, Justin offers practical, hopeful steps for healing from perfectionism, embracing a view of self-worth firmly rooted in God’s infinite love. He also shares a vision for how we can help our wards to become a place of healing and welcoming where everyone can feel like they belong. Justin’s thoughtful research is a gift for anyone navigating these challenges or striving to build stronger, healthier relationships in faith communities. We’re so excited to share this meaningful and hopeful conversation with you. And with that, let’s dive in with Justin Dyer. Link to BYU Studies issue on perfectionism: https://byustudies.byu.edu/issue/63-4 Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re joined by Jana Spangler for a powerful and practical conversation about emotions—especially the ones we’ll do just about anything to avoid feeling. Jana explains that emotions aren’t our enemies; they’re signals—messages from deep within us, rooted in ancient systems designed to guide and protect us. While emotions can feel overwhelming or even painful, learning to pay attention to them—rather than suppress or ignore them—helps us understand what’s really going on and respond with greater clarity, wisdom, and connection. She breaks down what emotions actually are, how they begin in our bodies, and why listening to them is key to living a healthier, more wholehearted life. Jana shares practical tools for processing even the most uncomfortable emotions and teaches us how to build emotional resilience by sitting with discomfort instead of running from it. This practice, she explains, not only strengthens our ability to face life’s challenges but also nourishes our relationships, our physical and mental well-being, and our communities, creating space for greater connection and healing. This episode is full of tools to help you navigate the hardest days and we hope it inspires you like it did us. With that, here’s our conversation with Jana Spangler. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

As we wrap up the year, we’ve got something a little different  in store for you today. We’ve invited Zach Davis, Bill Turnbull, and McKay Coppins on for a conversation about two Hollywood Films that are making waves.  Zach is the executive director of Faith Matters, Bill is one of the founders, and you may remember Mckay from his previous episodes. He’s a New York Times bestselling author and staff writer at the Atlantic.  They’re joining us today for a deep dive into two films-- Heretic, the dark thriller about two sister missionaries lured into a man’s home by his feigned interest in their faith and become trapped in his sinister and malevolent plot -- and Conclave, which takes us into the heart of the Vatican during the election of a new pope. It’s a gripping drama filled with politics, power, and ultimately, divine mystery. Both films explore profound questions about belief, choice, and the human longing for transcendence. In an era often skeptical of organized religion, these movies take faith seriously and, in their own ways, seem to reaffirm the relevance—and beauty—of spiritual truth. This was a rich and thought-provoking conversation, so whether you’ve seen these movies or not, the questions explored in this episode and the insights are going to spark deep, and valuable reflection. With that, let’s jump into the discussion! Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, as Christmas Eve settles around us, we invite you into a quiet meditation written by Tyler Johnson and published as the culmination of the advent series in the FM magazine, Wayfare, with music from the King's College Choir singing O Magnum Mysterium.  This reflection draws us into the sacred reality of the Nativity—the laboring Mary, exhausted and tearful, the beauty born through pain. It reminds us that the Christ child did not come to erase suffering but to teach us how to live and love within it.  So, in this moment of stillness before tomorrow’s joy, we invite you to pause, breathe, and reflect on this Christmas truth: love enters our world through labor and struggle, bringing with it a deeper peace and lasting meaning. I also want to mention that you can go to the FM YouTube channel to see this meditation with beautiful nativity art by Brandon Gonzales From all of us at Faith Matters and Wayfare Magazine, we wish you a peaceful Christmas Eve.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In the spirit of this Christmas season, we’re so excited to share a beautiful reflection with you, written and read by Lori Forsyth, Managing Editor of the Faith Matters magazine, Wayfare. This piece is part of Wayfare’s Advent series. If you've missed any parts of this series, you can still find them at  wayfaremagazine.org. You can also subscribe to the digital or print versions of Wayfare for access to the incredible essays, interviews, poetry, art and more. Advent is a time of reflection and anticipation, and Lori’s words offer a powerful reminder that joy isn’t about avoiding the hard things—it’s about embracing the light that shines through them. We hope this brings you a moment of peace and stillness during this busy season, and we’d love to invite you back here on Christmas Eve for the culmination of the Advent series—a short and powerful meditation with music to close this sacred time. And now, here’s Lori Forsyth reading Shining in Darkness. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re so excited to share our conversation with Dr. Janette H. Ok. She’s an Associate Professor of New Testament at Fuller Seminary and an ordained pastor at Ekko Church in Anaheim, CA. She earned her MDiv and PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary and is passionate about empowering women—as leaders and preachers in their religious communities. This conversation is a rich exploration about why women’s voices are essential in religious settings and how we can step into those opportunities with intention and authenticity. Janette shares her conviction that when women preach, they bring perspectives, depth, and strengths that can mature an entire congregation. And she explains that this work requires discernment. Stepping into leadership—whether you hold an official title or not—means listening for your unique calling, assessing the power you do have, and showing up faithfully, even, and maybe especially, when it feels uncomfortable. Our favorite part of this interview is that Janette offers some really practical steps for developing your voice and pulling up a seat to the table. This conversation lit us up—not just for the way it can help individuals find their voices but for the powerful reminder that communities grow when men and women lead together.  We hope Janette’s insights challenge, encourage, and empower you as much as they did for us. With that, here’s our conversation with Dr. Janette Ok. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we are so thrilled to bring you a conversation with Joseph Grenny. If you’ve ever read Crucial Conversations, Influencer, or Change Anything, then you already know the immense impact of Joseph’s work. His books have sold millions of copies and become essential texts for building trust, improving relationships, and transforming the way we communicate in every area of life—from families to Fortune 500 companies. Joseph is more than an author. He’s a social scientist, a business leader, and a force for good. He’s co-founded organizations like VitalSmarts and The Other Side Academy, the latter of which has redefined what it means to help people rebuild lives after addiction and incarceration. Joseph’s work is deeply practical and profoundly humane—it’s about understanding the moments that shape us, the conversations that define us, and the courage it takes to truly connect with each other. In this episode, we explore how to navigate the most emotionally charged and high-stakes conversations—what Joseph calls "moments of disproportionate influence." He shares insights on why avoiding hard conversations only compounds harm, how to speak honestly without losing relationships, and the unexpected ways crucial conversations can lead to healing and deeper connection. Joseph even offers tools for the moments we dread most: when values clash, when trust has eroded, or when we’re afraid our words will only make things worse. This conversation is full of wisdom, heart, and, yes, practical strategies you can use right away. Whether you’re looking to strengthen a marriage, or navigate a family faith transition, or just get better at work relationships, this one’s for you. We are so grateful Joseph joined us to share his hard-won insights, and we can’t wait for you to hear this. And with that, here’s our conversation with Joseph Grenny. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re excited to share our conversation with Dr. Rebecca Glazier, a Professor at the School of Public Affairs at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and author of the new book, Faith and Community: How Engagement Strengthens Members, Places of Worship, and Society. For over a decade, Rebecca has been researching how religious communities engage in their broader communities, and the findings are incredibly compelling. Rebecca’s work offers a powerful perspective on how congregations can heal divisions—not just within their walls but across society. Her research shows that when faith communities serve together and engage in meaningful outreach, they create what she calls “congregational warmth,” fostering deeper connections, stronger faith, and even healthier, more united communities generally. In this conversation, we discuss why service with our congregations, outside of the four walls of our church can be transformative, why young people today are more eager than ever to engage in meaningful service, and how worship spaces can be vital places for bridging political divides. Rebecca also shared insights on how interfaith partnerships and sustained community engagement can do the deep work of depolarization and create lasting impact. Her insights feel particularly relevant and important right now, and they’re also deeply hopeful. They show that small, consistent acts of service—especially when done together—can strengthen both our faith and our communities in profound ways. We absolutely loved this conversation and hope you come away from it as energized and inspired as we did. And with that, here’s our conversation with Rebecca Glazier. https://tupress.temple.edu/study-guides/faith-and-community.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re thrilled to share a conversation with Hannah Packard Crowther about her new book, Gracing, the latest release from Faith Matters Publishing. We love Hannah's profound wisdom, lyrical writing, and her invitation to reflect on grace in entirely new ways, the book also features stunning, original, artwork by J. Kirk Richards.  Hannah asks—what if grace is not a gift we passively receive, but a dynamic process we actively engage in and co-create with God? Drawing from life’s ordinary moments and its most difficult experiences, she demonstrates how grace can infuse our actions, relationships, and even our struggles with meaning and beauty. The title, Gracing, reflects this vibrant view of grace as a verb—alive, present, and always moving through our lives. In this conversation, Hannah shares profound insights into creativity, community, and resilience, especially through the lens of her experience living with chronic illness and a body that sometimes resists her plans. She opens up about how those experiences have deepened her understanding of grace and shaped a more compassionate way of being. We also explore her heartfelt call to rethink how we care for those on the margins of our faith communities, including gender and sexual minorities, and to discover creative, courageous ways to embody grace in all our relationships. This conversation is warm, vulnerable, and full of wisdom and we hope you enjoy it! Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re thrilled to share a conversation with Lisa Olsen Tait and Scott Hales, two of the historians and general editors behind Saints, the Church’s official history series. With the release of Volume 4 which covers the years of 1955 to 2020, this monumental task of recounting the Church’s story from its founding to the present day is now complete. And in this candid discussion, Lisa and Scott reflect on the Church’s evolving approach to its own history through the years. They both share a deep commitment to transparency and accuracy and discuss how this volume takes deliberate steps to address challenging topics—including the priesthood and temple ban, the Church’s rapid global growth and subsequent correlation efforts of the 1960s, and how those changes shaped women’s roles and autonomy within the community. They share powerful stories of ordinary members navigating these pivotal moments. From Black Latter-day Saints who held onto hope during the painful years before 1978 to those who quietly and actively worked for change, these stories offer a vision of discipleship that embraced courage, resilience, creativity, and deep faith—a model that feels especially relevant today. This conversation was a beautiful reminder that each of us is part of a rich, unfolding history—a history that connects us to generations of Saints who faced their own challenges and whose courage and faithfulness have blessed us today. We hope it inspires you to see your own place in this story. And with that, here’s our conversation with Lisa and Scott. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we're bringing you a special episode recorded live from the Restore gathering, where we were joined by Jared Halverson. Jared, who’s become a familiar voice to many of us here, spoke on what he calls “contraries” or paradoxes that are inherent in a life of faith. His message felt like a breath of fresh air and especially timely. He offers the powerful image of the cross as a symbol of wholeness in our discipleship. One axis, reaching vertically, represents our connection to God, while the horizontal beam represents the love and care we extend outward to embrace those around us. True discipleship, Jared explained, is this centerpoint. It requires both beams—it's a deep grounding in God that inspires us to reach out in love to others.   And so, in this election week, Jared’s session feels like an invitation to love our neighbor. He boldly reminds us that the means matter, that "being right with God, does not justify being wrong with other people." So rather than allowing our differences to create distance, he challenges us to see the ways that truth is found in the tension of the paradox. This “both-and” approach allows us to see each other more fully and generously, creating connection that transcends our differences and reflects god's love. We’re so grateful for Jared’s wisdom in this session, and we hope his message helps you feel connected and inspired this week.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Tyler Johnson is intimately familiar with suffering. He’s an oncologist who has sat with countless people in some of the most difficult moments of their lives, and in the final moments before their deaths. He’s been there as people have received life-changing news, and as they’ve grappled with their deepest questions: “What has my life meant? What should I prioritize if my time is limited? Have I given enough attention to what truly matters?” It’s that perspective that Tyler brings to the project we brought him on to talk about: a new book, published by Deseret Book, called When Church is Hard. In addition to his work as an oncologist, Tyler has been a bishop who has worked with many who have found their experience at church, for any of a number of reasons, deeply hard. And in a way that we feel like he is uniquely qualified to do, Tyler has approached both of these situations with the type of response they both call for: listening, validation, empathy, and humbly-offered insight. In our conversation with him, we explored how doubt and uncertainty, rather than being a flaw or something to "fix," can be a natural part of faith that leads to deeper growth and integrity. We also explored the parallels between the existential questions his patients face and those that arise during faith crises —and how both might invite us to re-evaluate priorities in a way we couldn’t otherwise. And finally, we looked at what belonging looks like, on both sides, when someone is sitting in pain and perplexity. For anyone who is feeling like this part of their faith journey is just hard, or has a loved one feeling this way, we really think this conversation is for you. Tyler’s a deeply thoughtful and empathetic person, and we loved talking with him.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’re excited to share something special with you. Today we're featuring an episode from the Proclaim Peace Podcast because we were so touched by this powerful conversation that feels especially meaningful right now—with an election right around the corner. In this episode, Patrick Mason, Jennifer Thomas, and their guest Thomas McConkie, explore how meaningful action doesn't come from this energy of frantic box-checking or a striving for perfection, but from a heart transformed by grace. Instead of trying to engineer a life of perfection to earn grace, grace comes first- it changes us from the inside—and the goodness that follows, flows naturally. As Thomas puts it, “It’s a sequencing problem.” Reflecting on the story of Alma, they explore how prioritizing this spiritual inner work can help us align with love and find deep peace that can become both the fuel and the foundation of the meaningful work we do in the world. This conversation is full of insight and encouragement, and we're so excited for you to hear it. And with that, here’s Proclaimed Peace with Jennifer Thomas, Patrick Mason, and Thomas McConkie. Join Thomas McConkie for a 3-Day retreat—Becoming One—on December 5-7th, 2024 in Salt Lake City. Learn more and register here. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re honored to welcome Arthur Brooks to the podcast. Arthur is a renowned social scientist, Harvard professor, and bestselling author, and we’re excited to talk with him about his latest book, Build the Life You Want, which he co-authored with Oprah Winfrey. In our conversation, Arthur offers some profound insights on happiness, emphasizing that though genetics and circumstances influence our baseline, we have significant agency over our happiness. It's a skill we can practice and improve. He says that happiness isn’t about avoiding suffering and he shares how negative emotions can actually serve as signals that help us grow. This episode is full of advice for creating a life of enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning. and lots of practical tips for exactly what to do when you are feeling overwhelmed by negative feelings. We’re so grateful to Arthur for joining us. We think you’ll find his insights on happiness and purpose inspiring and practical. So with that, let’s jump into our conversation with Arthur Brooks. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In today’s episode, we’re talking with Dr. Jennifer Thomas, co-authored with Gary Chapman of The 5 Apology Languages: The Secret to Healthy Relationships. Dr. Thomas's work builds on the framework of the 5 Love Languages and offers a profound new lens for how we give and receive apologies. If you’ve ever felt like you’ve said “I’m sorry” but it didn’t quite land, or if you’ve been on the receiving end of an apology that didn’t feel satisfying, this conversation is going to hit home. In this discussion Dr. Thomas talks about how often an apology can go unheard or feel insincere—not because you don’t mean it, but because you’re not speaking the other person’s “apology language.”Just like love, apologies aren’t one-size-fits-all. Her work work explores the psychology behind why some apologies fail to resonate, even when they seem heartfelt. Through extensive research, she and her co-author, Dr. Gary Chapman, identified five distinct “apology languages,” Each reflecting different emotional and cognitive needs that may need to be addressed for an apology to be effective.  This episode is full of practical advice on how to express a heartfelt apology that truly communicates "I'm sorry" in a way that others can receive and feel. It will help you recognize what you need. These tools and insights will provide a powerful path restoring connection and healing relationships. We’re so excited to share this conversation with you, and we hope it sparks some of the same deep insights it did for us. And with that, let’s jump into our conversation with Dr. Jennifer Thomas. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re sharing a beautiful and timely conversation between Faith Matters’ executive director Zach Davis and Andrew Hanauer, the founder and CEO of the One America Movement, an organization that helps faith leaders fight toxic polarization.  In this conversation, Andrew and Zach discuss the causes behind the rise in polarization, the way political tribalism can become a false idol, and the imperative of truly following Jesus’ call to “love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Andrew encourages us to see that our calling as disciples of Jesus is to follow his example and transform conflict through love. We hope you enjoy this episode and with that, we’ll hand it over to Zach.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For today’s episode, we’re bringing you another powerful moment from our Restore gathering. Eboo Patel joined us to explore a compelling and deeply hopeful vision for what it means to build a loving, spiritually rich community where different faiths come together to form the foundation of a stronger, more united whole. Eboo challenges us to live our faiths in ways that not only elevate ourselves but lift others, creating bonds that bridge divides and bring healing to our world. Eboo, an Ismaili Muslim, is the founder and president of Interfaith America, an organization dedicated to fostering cooperation across religious traditions. Drawing on decades of experience and inspired by President Russell M. Nelson’s call for peacemaking, Eboo invites us to see how our diverse spiritual practices can serve as bridges, connecting us in powerful and meaningful ways. He shares that peacemaking is both a choice and a skill, requiring us to engage deeply and intentionally with one another. Using the beautiful metaphor of a potluck dinner, he reminds us: "Do not hide your light. Do not stop bringing your distinctive dish to the table. A potluck is a place where everyone’s contributions matter." This episode is about how we can actively build relationships, cooperate across differences, and create something richer together than any of us could alone. Faith Matters intends to be more and more at the center of these kinds of interfaith collaborations. We hope this conversation inspires you to reflect on your own role in creating a compassionate, connected community. And with that, we’ll pass it over to Eboo Patel at Restore. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We have decided to share with you  2-3 sessions from our recent Restore gathering to give you a taste of what took place during this amazing weekend. Last week we shared Joseph Grenny’s incredible message. It was an instant classic. . Today, we’re honored to bring you another really special moment from Restore. In a powerful, unflinching, and faithful presentation, our friend and community leader Neylan McBaine addressed an “elephant in the room” that so often goes unnamed: our experience with patriarchy in our faith communities. We think it’s important to note that many members don’t necessarily experience patriarchy as a big problem, but many do, so our hope is that what Neylan shares here can offer new understanding and illustrate the frustration and pain that many women, perhaps especially younger women, experience in our patriarchal church organization.  In 2014, Neylan published her book Women at Church. In this address, she looks back at the decade since the book’s release and explores the tension between the way many women experience Church and a deep commitment to our faith and community. It’s an invitation to wrestle with complexity, to hold space for discomfort, and explore how we can do better in bringing womens gifts more fully into the body of Christ. We also want to mention that there is a part 2 of this conversation where Neylan is joined by therapist and podcaster Valerie Hamaker. Valerie offered insights into the empowering inner work of differentiation—how women can hold on to our spiritual authority while also staying engaged in the community we love. It's the practical application part of this session. That part two will be available as part of the digital access to Restore which you still can get digital tickets to at faithmatters.org/restore. As always, we encourage you to watch these episodes on the Faith Matters Youtube channel to get the full experience. Make sure to go to youtube and subscribe.  We truly hope you find as much wisdom and inspiration in this conversation as we did. And with that, we’ll hand it over to Neylan McBaine at Restore. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re going to share what we think was an “instant classic” from last week’s Restore Gathering; a deeply personal and thought-provoking message about family, faith, and the complexity of life from Joseph Grenny, author of Crucial Conversations and co-founder of many organizations, including The Other Side Academy,  Drawing from his own experience with his own “messy” family, Joseph speaks openly about moments of despair, including the heartache of watching loved ones, including his own children, struggle with addiction, estrangement, and other crises. But at the heart of his message is a radical idea: that the phrase "All is well" can be true even in the face of chaos and imperfection. He challenges the traditional "brochure" image of family success, reminding us that not even the families in our sacred texts had it all together. Through powerful stories of redemption, both from his own family and the lives transformed at The Other Side Academy, Joseph encourages us to rethink what it means to succeed as families, and to embrace waiting as part of God’s divine work. We think this conversation will resonate deeply with anyone who has felt the pain of seeing a loved one struggle, and we hope it offers both comfort and inspiration. We loved seeing many of you at Restore and wanted to give a little taste of it to those that weren’t able to attend. So with that, we’ll pass it over to Joseph Grenny. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today is the start of this year’s Restore! We look forward to seeing those of you who are attending! This week we’re departing from our normal format and sharing a recent conversation of the MormonLand podcast, between the Salt Lake Tribune’s Peggy Fletcher Stack and David Noyce and our executive director, Zach Davis. The conversation focused on the origin and vision of Faith Matters, the questions we are wrestling with, and what to expect at this year’s Restore. We think you’re really going to enjoy this conversation and with that we’ll hand things over to Peggy, David and Zach. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re sitting down with our good friend Patrick Mason for a conversation that is as deeply challenging. Patrick recently returned from a transformative trip to Rwanda, where he was confronted with the enduring impact of the 1994 genocide. In our discussion, Patrick shares his reflections on witnessing both the unimaginable horrors of the past and the remarkable steps toward reconciliation and peace that are happening today. We also dive into the hard questions: Where is God in the midst of such suffering? How can communities possibly recover from such deep wounds? And how do we respond to scripture that seems to contradict our understanding of a loving God? Patrick draws on his experience as a peacebuilder, scholar, and a person of faith to address these issues, and we explore how the lessons from Rwanda resonate with us here and now in conflicts within our own communities. This conversation is a compelling reminder that each of us has the power to create real change in our own communities, and it urges us to confront the urgent need for peacebuilding in a world increasingly divided. Lastly, we’re thrilled to share that Patrick will be speaking at the upcoming Restore conference along with his co-host for the Proclaim Peace Podcast, Jennifer Walker Thomas. You can get your tickets at faithmatters.org/restore to join us on September 5-7th. And with that, we'll jump right in. I also wanted to mention that Patrick wrote about his experience in Rwanda for the Faith Matters magazine, Wayfare. You can go to wayfaremagazine.org to subscribe. And with that we'll jump right in. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re thrilled to be joined by our friend, David Butler. You may know David from his incredible podcast, Don’t Miss This, where he and Grace Freeman dive deeply into the scriptures with an infectious joy and thoughtful insights. We’re so excited to have David here in the studio, and even more excited that he’ll be joining us at Restore in just a few weeks. In this conversation, David helps us explore one of the biggest faith questions: what is the nature of God? So many of us have experienced moments of discomfort or confusion when encountering challenging or unsettling stories in scripture. David introduces us to what he calls "cross vision"—a way of reading scripture that filters everything through the lens of Jesus on the cross, which David sees as the ultimate expression of God's love and character. He uses this as a guiding principle, his "measuring stick," to interpret difficult or troubling passages. When a story seems to contradict the image of a loving, self-sacrificing God, David explains, with heartfelt vulnerability, how and why he feels empowered to question and wrestle with those narratives. He also opens up about the experiences that have shaped his faith and the ways that engaging with other religious traditions has opened his eyes to new dimensions of God’s love and presence in the world. (By the way, David has a super fascinating course available on don'tmissthisstudy.com called Holy Envy that I highly recommend if this topic interests you!) Whether you're wrestling with tough questions about faith or looking for new ways to see God in our holy books, we think this episode will give you some powerful insights. If you want to see David Butler live this year at Restore, go to faithmatters.org/Restore for tickets. And with that, we'll jump right in.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re thrilled to welcome Mallory Everton–a comedian, actor, and writer–and Diana Brown–the new Associate Director for Faith Matters, to the podcast. We’re diving into a conversation that’s often overlooked but so important—being single in the church. Diana and Mallory are launching a new podcast on the Faith Matters Podcast Network called The Soloists, where they’ll be talking about singleness and relationships, and what it's like trying to form families in today’s cultural and technological environment and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate it with them. In this episode, we explore why they’ve dedicated so much energy to this project. As they discuss, being single can be an isolating experience, especially in a culture that often views marriage as the ultimate milestone. Diana and Mallory share deeply personal stories about what it’s like to navigate a church community where singleness sometimes feels like a problem to be solved rather than a valid and whole way of being, and season or situation of life that all of us, no matter our marital status, can authentically relate to in some way. They also challenge us to rethink our assumptions about singleness. They point out that being single isn’t just a transitory state—it’s a real and meaningful part of life for so many people; more than half of the adult members of the church, in fact, according to Elder Gong in '21. We discuss how important it is to move beyond the idea that marriage is the only path to fulfillment and how embracing singleness can lead to profound spiritual growth. Diana and Mallory bring a wealth of wisdom to this conversation, and their insights will resonate with anyone who’s felt the pressure to fit into a specific life narrative. This episode is a powerful reminder that each of us is on a unique journey, and that there’s deep value in every stage of life, whether single, married, or somewhere in between. Also, we are excited to be hosting Mallory and Diana at Restore this year! They’ll be speaking about the unique spiritual gifts that singles bring to the body of Christ. Restore will be held September 5-7 at the Mt. America Expo Center in Sandy, Utah and this year for the first time, we'll also be offering a streaming option if you won’t be able to attend in person and would like to purchase a ticket to attend virtually. You can buy your tickets at faithmatters.org/restore.  We hope this conversation encourages you to see singleness—and all life paths—with fresh eyes. And with that, we’ll jump right into our discussion with Diana and Mallory. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we're thrilled to welcome back Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife, a renowned therapist specializing in relationship and sexuality counseling within the Latter-day Saint community. We’re super excited that Jennifer has a new book coming out this year that Faith Matters is publishing, and she’ll also be joining us in person soon for Restore. In our conversation, we explore some of the early themes from Jennifer’s book, including the shift many couples experience from passion to duty in marriage. Jennifer shares some powerful stories and experiences based on what she’s seen in her work with couples, including how common cultural narratives among religious people can diminish what Jennifer calls the "magnetic energy of Eros" in relationships. We dive into the concept of Eros as a divine longing for deeper connection, not just sexual, but spiritual and personal. This Eros energy, for Jennifer is the the energy of adventure, attraction, agency, and feeling fully alive. To rekindle that Eros energy in lives and relationships, Jennifer emphasizes the importance of honest communication, vulnerability, and personal integrity. She offers profound insights on how to face our fears and embrace the uncertainties of life and love. This conversation is packed with practical advice and fresh perspectives that can help anyone deepen their relationships and personal growth. We’re incredibly grateful for Jennifer's wisdom and are really looking forward to her book's release. Now, let's jump into our conversation with Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we are re-releasing a conversation with Pete Davis. In 2018, Pete Davis was graduating from Harvard Law School and was chosen to give a commencement address that ended up going unexpectedly viral, having now been viewed over 30 million times. The thesis of Pete’s speech was that our culture has entered what he calls “infinite browsing mode”—with so many options to choose from, and devices that present those options to us literally endlessly—we can become paralyzed by choice and inadvertently live out our lives without ever dedicating ourselves to something. And this lack of choosing and committing over the long haul has real consequences, Pete argues — it prevents us from finding the meaning and impact that we’re longing for. Pete’s ideas eventually crystallized into a really incredible book—Dedicated—which explores these ideas in depth. We loved this book and found it to be so relevant to conversations we seem to always be having. In this conversation, we were able to talk with Pete about many of the reasons we might fear committing to something, including the fear of missing out, the fear of regret, and the fear of association with something with which our values aren’t totally aligned. But, Pete argues, commitment in the face of those fears is what leads us to long-term purpose and impact, real community, and connection with something truly transcendent. We can’t emphasize enough how important and relevant we found this book, and how infectious we found Pete’s enthusiasm for these deeply resonant ideas. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we did. And, we have exciting news to share– Pete Davis will be coming to Utah as one of our featured speakers at Restore! So go to faithmatters/org/restore for tickets and we’ll see you on September 5-7 at Mountain America Expo in Sandy, Utah.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re sharing a beautiful conversation between writer and thinker Elizabeth Oldfield and Zachary Davis. Elizabeth is the author of Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times and host of the podcast, “Sacred”.  Elizabeth grew up in a faintly Christian home that rarely if ever spoke of God; But as a young teen she had a powerful and unmistakable answer to prayer that made her a believer. She then turned to the Bible to learn more about her newfound christian faith and was blindsided by ideas in the text that she found troubling.  So in this conversation, Elizabeth talks about her complex faith-  how she learned to lean into the messy paradoxes of life since then. She explores the concept of sin and the 7 deadly sins. She asks, what can envy teach us about having a stable sense of self especially in this age of social media? And isn't acedia or sloth, the 8th deadly sin, really about attention? How can we continually recall our attention to the things we hope will shape our souls? She points out that at the end of the day, the 7 deadly sins aren't a legalistic list of ways to be in debt to go, but a loving guide for how to be in right relationship with the people around us, and should always be inseparably connected to ideas like compassion, forgiveness, and restoration. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we did. And, we have exciting news to share– Elizabeth Oldfied will be coming to Utah as one of our featured speakers at Restore! So go to faithmatters/org/restore for tickets and we’ll see you on September 5-7 at Mountain America Expo in Sandy, Utah. And with that, we’ll jump right in.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we're bringing you a special episode with Brian Mclaren on his new book, Life after Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart. Though we recorded this conversation weeks ago, it feels especially timely now in light of the horrific violence we witnessed this last weekend in the attempt on former President Trump's life, the deadly heat waves and hurricanes happening across the world, and so much else.   This book is an empowering call to action and an invitation to do the kind of inner work that makes us brave in the face of real fear and uncertainty. Brian asks, "What if it doesn't turn out? How will we face the future if things get worse instead of better?" He offers gentle encouragement to reach deeper into ourselves and find a stronger, more resilient type of hope: the kind that, as Václav Havel said, “is not the certainty that things will turn out as we wish, [but] is the conviction that some things are worth doing, no matter how they turn out.” Brian's insights challenged us to rethink our understanding of end-times, to explore what is worth doing no matter what, and to see the concept of chosenness not as a privilege for a select few, but as a call to loving service for all.  For those of you who have heard Brian before, you already know you're in for a treat. For those who haven't, Brian is a former pastor turned author and public theologian. He's a truly special teacher and someone who's affected the way we live in lasting ways. He seems to see the world and everything in it through the eyes of a "mystic"—in its real interconnectedness and deep spiritual beauty. We're incredibly grateful he came back on the show, and you can find out more about Brian on his website at brianmclaren.net. We think this episode offers real wisdom and a fresh perspective on how we can navigate these challenging times with faith, hope, and love. And with that, we'll jump right into our conversation with Brian McLaren. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we're resharing an interview we loved with Astrid Tuminez, who we're excited to be hosting as a speaker at Restore this year. Astrid is the President of Utah Valley University and an absolute delight to talk with and listen to. She’s full of stories, humor, and deep insights that made our time with her pass way too quickly. This interview actually came about because Astrid wrote an essay in Melissa Inouye and Kate Holbrook’s new book Every Needful Thing. We loved Astrid’s essay and knew we wanted to get to know her better. Astrid has an absolutely fascinating and unique story. She grew up in the slums of the Philippines, but along with her siblings, was discovered to have an exceedingly bright intellect and was offered a free place at one of the most prestigious and expensive Catholic schools in the area. As a child, she was, religiously, a Catholic, but felt that she was always brimming with questions that were being hushed. When she eventually met the Latter-day Saint missionaries, it was a different experience — they gave her a new framework to think about the world, and weren’t afraid to at least try to answer her questions. Astrid’s pursuit of education eventually took her to the United States, where she graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in international relations and Russian literature from Brigham Young University. She later earned a master's degree from Harvard University in Soviet Studies and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in political science. Before becoming President of UVU, Astrid spent many years in leadership in the corporate, non-profit, and academic worlds. What we maybe loved most about Astrid was that her unique perspectives make the world of faith and intellect seem expansive, exciting, and adventurous — even full of mystery. She’s found spiritual insight and even practice well outside of Mormonism while simultaneously keeping that “fixed foot,” in the Restored Gospel. In a real way, she’s living Joseph Smith’s injunction to “receive truth, let it come from whence it may.” We want to send Astrid a huge thanks for coming on the show, and we really think you’re going to love this one. And with that, we’ll jump right in. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re thrilled to welcome therapist and podcaster Valerie Hamaker. In his book Falling Upward, Franciscan priest Richard Rohr uses the metaphor of a container to elaborate on what he calls “the two halves of life.” The first half of life, he says, is for building the structure of the container; the second is for filling it and sharing from it. This concept has been foundational for us in our faith journey over the last 10 years, and today with Valerie, we delved into how everyone’s faith evolves over time, the necessity of structure and identity in early faith development, and the importance of embracing complexity, depth, and paradox as we grow. One of the tricky parts about faith evolution is that not everyone’s faith evolves in the same way; and because so many of us have built our lives on or around our faith, it can be hard when we see loved ones’ and family members’ beliefs diverge significantly from our own, in any direction. This is a real area of expertise for Valerie in her own practice, and we found her insights on managing complex relationships and spiritual growth super helpful—she helped us see that genuine curiosity can be crucial in navigating complex conversations around beliefs, and explained why we can, and should, let go of any belief that engenders fear.  Valerie is a licensed therapist specializing in marriage and couples work. She owns a private counseling practice in Kansas City, Missouri, and is the host of the Latter Day Struggles Podcast, where she helps Latter-Day Saints understand and navigate their spiritual growth. This conversation is packed with practical advice for anyone experiencing or supporting others through faith transitions. We hope you find Valerie's insights as enlightening and encouraging as we did. And with that, we’ll jump right into this conversation with Valerie Hamaker. Note: the research Valerie refers to in this interview was done by Liz Macdonald. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This is part two of our conversation with Michael Wilcox, and if you haven’t heard part one yet, it helps set up some important context for this episode. This is really not an interview so much as a story Michael tells: the story of his father, who navigated life in the mid-20th century as a gay man and a Latter-day Saint. This story delves into the messy and painful predicaments his family faced, when reality failed to fit the predictable ideal. It also offers a glimpse into the experience of an LGBTQ member of the church several decades ago, before we became accustomed to talking about it as a community. And we want to emphasize that we’re not sharing this story because of its outcome, and in fact, quite the opposite: we found in this story the beautiful insight that we can release ourselves completely from judging others and love without an agenda—and it’s the relationships free of judgment and agendas that become celestial in and of themselves. We want to thank Michael for being incredibly honest and vulnerable here, and for coming on to share so generously with us again. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we're thrilled to welcome back Dr. Michael Wilcox to the podcast. Michael is an esteemed author and longtime Institute teacher, and his previous episodes, which we released in two parts as "God's Many Voices" in episodes 85 and 86, have been some of the most listened to in Faith Matters' history. It's been three years since we last had him on, and we're excited to dive into another meaningful conversation. In this episode, Michael shares his profound insights on the topic of the marginalized, particularly focusing on the experience of the LGBTQ community. Michael's wisdom draws from his own life experiences, wisdom traditions he deeply loves, and great literature.  Michael also addresses the challenge of navigating differing beliefs and values, urging us to avoid calling down "fire from heaven" on those who worship on different mountaintops. He speaks about the importance of forgiveness, and what he calls the "Lazarus Law," reminding us that every individual has a name and a story, deserving of respect and compassion. Throughout the conversation, Michael's anecdotes and reflections encouraged us to approach the marginalized with love, humility, and a genuine desire for understanding. We found Michael, as always, to be filled with transformative insights that we thought could really help us build more inclusive and compassionate communities. We’re also releasing an additional conversation as a companion to this episode. In it, Brother Wilcox shares a really personal story that highlights some of these principles, and if you’d like to hear more from Brother Wilcox, it’s on the feed right now.  Thanks so much as always for listening, and with that, we’ll jump right in. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we are honored to share with you a conversation with Rabbi Sharon Brous, author of the The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Mend Our Broken Hearts and World. From the moment we started reading Sharon’s book, we knew that she had a special message, and that she would be an incredible guest. Sharon’s book is a beautiful blend of ancient Jewish wisdom, contemporary science, and deep personal experience that shows how humans throughout history have taken up the responsibility to sit with each other as sacred witnesses to life’s most vulnerable and most joyous moments. Sharon makes the case that when we sit with each other in “celebration, sorrow, and solidarity,” we are connecting in ways that not only forge deep and lasting relationships, but contribute to a larger healing in our communities and in the world. One of the things we loved about Sharon’s book and the conversation with her was that she shared experience from her own life in which she’s succeeded here as well as where she’s failed. None of us do this perfectly, and so often we feel like we don’t even know how to—Sharon was wise and generous in giving herself and all of us grace for now always showing up for people the way we could have, but also practical advice that help us see how we can do this better. Sharon’s speaking from the perspective of a Jewish Rabbi, but her work reminds us of our own sacred texts and our promises to be willing to “mourn with those that mourn.”  We loved that Sharon explained that these principles of connection and solidarity really are universal, and we all get at them in our own languages and through our own rituals and traditions. This episode cuts straight to the heart of what it feels like to be human; it was impossible for it not to get personal, since we all know grief, joy, and connection intimately. We absolutely loved talking with Sharon and consider this a special episode. We hope that you enjoy it as much as we did! Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re sharing an episode from Proclaim Peace, a podcast we proudly co-sponsor in collaboration with Mormon Women for Ethical Government. Proclaim Peace is hosted by Jennifer Thomas, Co-Executive Director of MWEG, and Patrick Mason, Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, and longtime friend and advisor of Faith Matters. In this episode, Patrick and Jennifer chat with Eboo Patel, the founder and president of Interfaith America and a powerful bridge-builder in the United States. Eboo has spent a lifetime trying to harness the passion and loyalty people feel towards their religions and use it for good by encouraging interfaith collaboration and civic engagement. He shares with us some of his insights from several decades of speaking with religious and civic leaders across many different faiths, and some of the special opportunities he sees for our Latter-day Saint community. We encourage you to subscribe to Proclaim Peace to hear fascinating conversations with Latter-day Saint bridge builders and peacemakers working all over the world in creative, gospel-inspired ways. We’d also love for you to register for Restore, which will be held on September 5-7 at the Mountain American Expo Center, where Eboo will be, in-person, along with Patrick, Jennifer, and many other incredible speakers for a weekend of spiritual rejuvenation. You can register at faithmaters.org/restore We hope you’ll join us! In the mean time, please enjoy this episode of Proclaim Peace with Eboo Patel. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week we’re bringing you a conversation on a subject that we’re always thinking about, but that has taken on a special urgency over the last two months—the role of women in the Church.  A large survey recently released showed a societal shift with regard to women and religion. In a reversal of trends from prior generations, young women are now leaving religion at significantly higher rates than men. Social issues and patriarchal structures are oft-cited reasons. Are there signs of trouble within our own faith?  To explore this question, we invited two brilliant women; Neylan McBaine and Bethany Brady Spalding. Neylan is the author of Women at Church, which turns ten years old this summer. Bethany is the co-author of the Girls who Chose God series, which highlights the powerful stories of women in scripture and Church history.  First, a little background on things we reference in this conversation. In  March, the Church’s Instagram account posted a quote from a talk by Anette Dennis, of the Relief Society general presidency.  The post claimed, “There is no other religious organization in the world, that I know of, that has so broadly given power and authority to women.” This one post generated 18 thousand comments, mostly from Latter-day Saint women pushing back against this claim and expressing how their own experience feels quite different.   We also reference something that happened a few months prior when a church area authority in the San Francisco area instructed stakes and wards to discontinue their long-standing practice of having some women leaders sit on the stand during sacrament meetings. Over 3,000 women and men signed an open letter to the general women’s leaders of the church in protest.  We make brief reference in the conversation to a book by BYU Religion Professor Barbara Morgan Gardner, The Priesthood Power of Women published by Deseret Book. Gardner distinguishes between the temporal ecclesiastical priesthood to which now only men are ordained and the eternal familial priesthood, to which both men and women are ordained, and in which they act as full partners. We tried to get honest about the tension, while approaching some potential paths forward. Is this just about the Priesthood, or is there something deeper going on? What  practical things can both women and men can do to allow women and their spiritual gifts to shine? Does it require “change from the top” or is there an inner work that anyone could choose to do to change the experience just as profoundly? What might it look like for women to truly act as priestesses in their homes, whether as a single person or side-by-side with a spouse? This is all tricky territory. Some will worry that we can’t consider how to improve women’s experience in the Church while sustaining Church leaders, while others believe that pushing until there is change is the only way forward. We hope this conversation honors all of those voices. We have deep love and empathy for our community and our leaders.  We’re grateful if you choose to spend your time with us on this topic. With that, we’ll jump right in. Why Heavenly Mother is Essential for Women Understanding their Eternal Destiny by McArthur Krishna and Bethany Brady Spalding “This Is a Woman’s Church” Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we're excited to have Bob Rees on the podcast. Bob is a true "long-haul hero" (to use Pete Davis's term) -- a Latter-day Saint who has been studying and writing on Latter-day Saint topics for more than fifty years. To us, Bob exhibits the best of what we have to offer theologically, and practically, to the world.  Bob believes that the deepest power of the Book of Mormon, even more than its remarkable origin story, is its ultimate message of love. After a lifetime of serious study and contemplation, he says, the goodness of the Book has simply changed his life. In addition to the profound effect it's had on him, he's also endlessly fascinated by it. We could feel Bob's enthusiasm as he shared ideas for making our reading of the Book of Mormon come alive–for example, by doing midrash—imagining elaborations and spin-offs that help us flesh out the stories we find in the text. In many ways, Bob models how to have fun with scriptures, even as we learn from or wrestle with them—and allow that work to transform us. Bob has taught in humanities and Mormon Studies at UCLA, UC Berkeley, Graduate Theological Union, and other institutions. He's also the co-founder and Vice President of Bountiful Children, which fights child malnutrition worldwide. If you'd like to hear more from Bob on the topic of The Book of Mormon, we'd really encourage you to check out his book of essays A New Witness to the World, which was published in 2020, or The Reader’s Book of Mormon, which Bob co-edited with Eugene England.  Thanks as always for listening, and we're excited to share this conversation with Bob Rees. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re sharing a fascinating conversation we had with Josh Coates, a computer scientist, entrepreneur, and founder of the BH Roberts Foundation. The BH Roberts Foundation is the non-profit behind Mormonr, a producer of Latter-day Saint media that tackles hard questions about the faith, as well as "LDSBot," an AI-driven chatbot that is able to handle just about any question about Latter-day Saint culture and theology shockingly well.  In February of this year, Josh and his colleague, Steven Cranney, published the results of yet another project: a survey of a representative sample of active and former Latter-day Saints that the BH Roberts Foundation conducted. The survey found that among active Latter-day Saints, two "clusters" emerged: 80% of the sample had fairly orthodox beliefs around God, the Church, and the historicity of the Book of Mormon, while 20% expressed more uncertainty and held less traditional views. The survey also integrated questions from Jonathan Haidt's Moral Foundations theory, which attempts to suss out how different kinds of people build their ethical perspectives. This part of the survey found some really fascinating differences here between active Latter-day Saints and former Latter-day Saints that we think could help us understand each other better. We spent some time with Josh talking about the different values and gifts these two clusters of practicing members can bring to the Church. In Josh's view, neither group alone can bring to bear the full gifts of the community on its own: cluster one could help our community grow deep, strong roots, while cluster two could help us branch out, expand, and explore.  We're super grateful to Josh, Steven, and the rest of their team for their work on this survey, and to Josh for sharing more about it with us. There's a lot to dig into here, and as always, we hope that discussing differences can actually help see each other with more empathy and love. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We're so excited to have Sarah and Josh Sabey on the podcast this week. Sarah and Josh are writers, filmmakers, and spouses. Their films cover important issues in non-polarizing ways. Their first film, American Tragedy, reached the top ten most watched films on Amazon Prime.  Their latest project is called The Book of Mormon Storybook for Little Saints. It's a beautiful 2-volume collection of 50 Book of Mormon stories, adapted for children and their parents.  They write that the primary goal of this book is not to teach children a summary of events but is rather, the artful retelling of the stories themselves. We love that each chapter is driven by and anchored to their testimonies, which they have condensed into this single sentence: “these are stories about a real God who loves real people.” --People who are complicated, wounded, and trying, who make mistakes again and again but who are never abandoned. This focus on the characters' humanity and core doctrinal principles in the Book of Mormon reveal the book's fundamental message of hope, or as Elder Kearon put it, the reality that "God is in relentless pursuit of you."  In this conversation Josh and Sarah talk about the ways they imagine shame, fear, and even trauma are at play in the lives of Book of Mormon characters we know so well and they point out the broader story arcs and lessons we can learn about vilification, polarization, and tribalism. We learn a little bit about their experience writing the book and how the kind of intuitive reaching we experience in creativity can be a form of worship.  You can find The Book of Mormon Storybook for Little Saints at forlittlesaints.com and on audible and we highly recommend them both. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week we’re joined by our good friend and contributor to Faith Matters, Thomas McConkie, along with his longtime mentor and friend, John Kesler. In many ways, Thomas and John's paths were mirror images of each other until they eventually collided. John Kesler developed an awareness and life practice called IPP or Integral Polarity Practice that has had a profound impact on Thomas's life. You're going hear a little about polarities or fundamental tensions of human development and how in finding the "still points" in these seeming opposites, we can experience a real relief of that tension and a transcendent peace. Both Thomas and John believe that one of the gifts of our tradition is that it has the structure and scaffolding that creates rich, fertile ground for genuine development.  And at the same time, they see that at different seasons of our lives we experience struggle, even struggle around belief. And yet, as John says, in those experiences, we learn that "there's something down deep that's there that can hold us and nurture us." And that these depths can bring us not beyond belief but to the source of belief. This conversation felt so abundant. It felt like a starting place. Thomas and John will be hosting a handful of retreats and events this summer so if you are interested in learning more, you can check out all of those opportunities in the links below. Transformations of Faith Course At One Ment: Embodying the Fullness of Human-Divinity,  by Thomas McConkie 7-Day Silent Retreat (August 5-12th, 2024): https://lowerlightswisdom.org/classes/7-day-august-silent-retreat-scholls-2024 10% Discount Code for 7-Day: FM7DAY 3-Day IPP Facilitation Retreat (Aug 1-3, 2024): https://lowerlightswisdom.org/classes/3-day-ipp-retreat-2024 20% Discount Code for 3-Day IPP: FMIPP20 Nobody will be turned away for lack of sufficient funds, financial aid available.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

 **Disclaimer that this episode mentions suicide in connection to LGBTQ youth. If you are not in a place to listen right now, you might want to skip this one. If you are, though, we really encourage you to listen on this tough but important topic that impacts so many in our community.** In this conversation, Dr. Jordon and Liz Sharp from St. George, Utah, shared their remarkable and inspiring story of moving from trauma, confusion, and loss to miracles, enlightenment, and strength as an LDS/LGBTQ family. Several years ago—even before they had thought much about this themselves—a tragic event with some family friends resulted in Liz and Jordon receiving strong promptings that God has a deep and abiding love for LGBTQ individuals  and wants them to thrive. Jordon (Vice President of Marketing & Communication at Utah Tech University) and Liz (a registered nurse) eloquently described the mistakes made, lessons learned, opportunities found, and how their family bonds expanded far beyond their expectations after their son Sam came out at the age of 14. Due to what he saw as a lack of resources and support in this space, Jordon eventually helped found the Gather Conference, the largest-ever Christ-centered conference for Latter-day Saint LGBTQ individuals and those who love them. To learn more about the Gather Conference and to find resources for LGBTQ/LDS families, visit liftandlove.org. Liz and Jordon’s family story is near and dear to our hearts at Faith Matters. So often, we don’t have answers to know how we all belong in the family of God; we only have our conviction that we do belong and a willingness to figure it out along the way. Our conversation with Liz and Jordon gets deep into their personal story, including their ongoing spiritual learning and efforts to build conversations about the LGBTQ experience in the Church. We found them to be incredible examples  of how to plow into uncharted territory with humility and a simple trust in one fact — that we are all beloved children of God.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’re really excited to share this episode with you. It was with someone we’ve wanted to talk to for a very long time — Deseret Book president Laurel Christensen Day. We knew from afar that she was a trailblazing leader and a thoughtful publisher — and we were not surprised to find that as we got to know her a little bit that she’s a woman of deep faith as well. Uniformly, everyone we have ever spoken with who has had a chance to work with Laurel absolutely loves her. We’ve always been fascinated by Deseret Book — by the unique place it holds in Latter-day Saint culture and the responsibility it has in creating and distributing content that informs, inspires, and even shapes belief. Walking into a Deseret Book and seeing the art and the books and the scripture sets always seems to make us nostalgic for our own upbringings and tradition, even while we’re living it! And Deseret Book is, of course, much more than just a retailer  — they’re a major content producer with business lines in books, music, art, and events. And of course, it does all of this as a part of the larger organization of the Church. We thought Laurel’s insights were incredibly perceptive and thoughtful. She shared with us thoughts on what to do when you make a mistake, even as a leader, or perhaps especially as a leader—with openness rather than defensiveness, and with introspection and searching for the truth in criticism. She also shared a little bit about her story, including her journey as a woman navigating her business career—along with some other insights for women and how advocating for yourself could look. And finally, Laurel was kind enough to share some advice for us at Faith Matters. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re bringing you an interview with Kurt Francom, author of a new book titled, Is God Disappointed in Me? Removing Shame from a Gospel of Grace. It seems to us that culturally, Latter-day Saints don’t usually imagine an angry vengeful God but we may very well imagine a god who is perpetually disappointed with us when we inevitably fail again to live up to our highest ideals. Kurt’s book unpacks what hurts about the idea of a disappointed God and why this belief can be a real stumbling block to our growth. He explores the ways sin is very often a response to woundedness and how understanding these core vulnerabilities can help us to heal from shame instead of hiding or numbing.  We've linked to a sweet video Kurt posted of his daughter learning to walk; though she is fumbling and struggling to learn, the video reminds us that as parents, we're not disappointed by this process of growth. Instead, like Kurt's voice in this little video, he was bursting with pride at her growth, joy when she got back up, and excitement that he got to be with her in the journey of learning to walk. Is this what we imagine God -a loving heavenly father and mother feels, when we make mistakes?  We think these ideas are so transformative. You can find Kurt’s book on Amazon or Benchmark Books. We also invite you to check out Kurt’s “Learning to walk” video with his daughter, which we’ll link to in the show notes. We hope you enjoy this episode. Is God Disappointed In Me? (on Amazon): https://a.co/d/2soZzs5 Learning to walk video: https://youtu.be/nC9CIIXRJS0 Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’re excited to bring you an episode with a genuine ‘lift-where-you-stand story’ of a family in the UK. Sam and Jen Norton have served young people in the church for more than twenty years and most recently as FSY Session Directors in London. FSY stands for “For the Strength of Youth”, and refers to the week-long summer events held for youth around the world. As FSY leaders, Jen and Sam began facing difficult questions about how to include and support youth with a range of perspectives and lifestyles. They wanted to affirm the wisdom of the standards set by the Church for youth; they also noticed that many youth were driven away  the fear of exclusion they would experience if they fell short. As a result, many youth would drop out of Church activity before giving a chance to learn what it’s really about. Through prayer, open conversations, deep listening, and creativity, Jen and Sam were taken on a truly transformative journey; they found their way to loving the younger generation more than they thought possible, and learning how to really champion them and their unique spiritual gifts. In short, they believe in believing in the next generation and giving them a more gentle on-ramp to following Jesus and reminds them that perhaps the most important word in the sacrament prayer and baptismal covenant is ‘willing’. Their story will be valuable to anyone working with youth, or who is interested in blending top-down and bottom-up approaches to Church callings. If you want more of what you hear in this conversation, Sam wrote a book about it called Come as You Are: Creating Space for the Rising Generation to come to Jesus Christ. The book aims to be an accessible guide to parents, leaders and teachers and invites us all to rethink about how we support our young people’s faith discovery. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

It’s General Conference weekend! Time to dig up the BINGO cards and park yourself in front of the TV with some cinnamon rolls and a Diet Coke or two, to soak in some inspiration and maybe even encounter some discomfort. We thought we’d release a re-edited episode with Patrick Mason that feels really timely. In this conversation with Patrick, we talked about creating what Brian McLaren has called a “four-stage community.”. The “stages” we’re referencing here come from Brian’s book Faith After Doubt, and refer to different stages in which people might find themselves in their journeys of faith. McLaren defines these stages as  simplicity, where faith is straightforward; complexity, where faith becomes somewhat more complicated; perplexity, the stage where questions become more important than answers and previous faith paradigms often undergo massive shifts; and finally, harmony, where the gifts of each stage are finally realized and integrated. It seems to us that the diverse reactions and feelings engendered by General Conference are often the result of being members of a community in which all four of these stages are manifest. Messages that seem to be tailored to members at a particular stage of faith may not resonate with listeners at a different stage. This can feel like misalignment, and it can sometimes feel jarring. In this conversation, Patrick points to a couple of practices that have helped us turn that dissonance we sometimes feel into a gift: for one, being intentional about deeply listening to those we might be inclined to disagree with, and orienting ourselves toward generosity, asking what virtues and values might they be speaking from. Patrick also pointed out there’s a real potential for growth when we choose to stay in relationship with people we disagree with. As Eugene England points out in his essay “The Church is As True as the Gospel,” in many ways, that struggle is the point. Patrick is the Leonard Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University and the author of several books including Restoration: God’s Call to the 21st Century World. He brought the wisdom, insight, and optimism that he always seems to meld so beautifully. We really hope that you can take what feels valuable in this episode, and use it as we come together in solidarity as a community this weekend, with all our varied life experiences and perspectives to be inspired by and stretched by General Conference. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

As Latter-day Saints, we often say that we focus more on Jesus’ resurrection than on His death, and we consider the atonement in Gethsemane as the most sacred event in Jesus’ life. In this episode, we consider a question we don’t think about too often, stemming from this: why have we not cultivated more robust ways to celebrate Holy Week, and all the events leading up to Easter Sunday? Especially when we compare it to all that we do leading up to Christmas?  We sat down to talk with Eric Huntsman, a professor of ancient scripture at BYU and author of God So Loved the World: The Final Days of the Savior's Life. Eric has done a lot of work as a scholar to understand the events of Holy Week leading up to Jesus’ death on the cross on Friday, his resurrected visitations on Sunday, and where, as Latter-day Saints, we might place the points of emphasis differently than other Christian denominations. His family has cultivated Easter traditions, complete with meals, activities, and scripture readings, to help them really feel and anticipate these events, and invite a deeper witness of the Savior. By getting more creative with our Holy Week traditions, Eric says we can connect ourselves more deeply with the rest of Christianity while immersing ourselves more fully in a scriptural journey. We hope this episode inspires you to get more out Easter Weekend, which is coming up in just a few days. And for more on this topic, you can check out Eric’s book God So Loved the World at Deseret Book, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week we sat down with Kathy Kipp Clayton and Bill Turnbull to talk about the fascinating chapters they contributed to a new book entitled No Division among You: Creating Unity in a Diverse Church. Bill, and his wife Susan, are two of Faith Matters’ co-founders. Kathy and her husband Whitney have served around the world on Church assignments for the past two decades. Whitney served in the presidency of the Seventy until his release in 2020. They now help supervise and often travel the world with the Tabernacle Choir. Kathy is an author and an education innovator. In their essays, Kathy and Bill share how the everyday, sometimes uncomfortable situations we find ourselves in at Church can be a profound opportunity to get curious about what others are seeing, especially  when we don’t see eye to eye with them. They talk through their own experiences learning to love people they didn’t expect to love, and finding ways to open themselves to questions rather than fear — to look at differences or aberrations from the norm as ways to connect.  At a time when in-person gatherings, clubs, and associations are in decline across society, these experiences we have with others at Church might be increasingly rare. We really hope you enjoy this conversation. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

As Holy Week and Easter Sunday approach, we thought it would be helpful to visit with someone who could help us reflect on these sacred events in a new way. Our guest today, Dr. Kerry Muhlestein, recently wrote The Easter Connection, which dives into the biblical account of Holy Week and illuminates the theme of eternal unification. In this short book—you could read it in just one sitting—Kerry explores the various ways Jesus’s final week teaches us about disconnection, and the idea that through the atonement of Jesus Christwe  can overcome the separation that seems to be at the heart of our suffering.  One of the things we appreciated about our conversation with Kerry is that, while his new analysis offers a fresh understanding of the atonement, he also leaves space for the mystery of the atonement, and the ways it surpasses our understanding. Holy Week is a time for contemplation, of sitting with the story of Jesus’ atonement and death on the cross and letting it transform us. While we always hope for new insights that increase our understanding, the magnitude of what we can’t comprehend about the story is part of what keeps us coming back to the story again and again. We appreciate Kerry drawing us to the beauty of mystery in the atonement. We also appreciated the practical takeaways from Kerry’s book; when we see human suffering and sin as a product of separation and disconnection, it is easier to be merciful with people’s flaws and mistakes, not to mention our own. Kerry helps us see how love and unity are always what we are seeking, deep down. Kerry’s book, The Easter Connection, is at Seagull, Deseret Book, and Amazon. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Ever since October 7th, we’ve been wanting to better understand the conflict in Israel and Gaza and how we as Latter-day Saints can be good neighbors and friends to everyone impacted by it. We know there are no easy answers. Our guest this week, BYU Hawaii professor Chad Ford, has been working on peacemaking initiatives in the region for several decades and acknowledges the very real fear people involved in this conflict feel: that peace isn’t going to happen in their lifetime. In the conversation, Chad walks us through a brief history of the conflict in the Middle East and why, at this moment, there is so much suffering and resistance to peace. We talk, as well, about the difficulty of resolving conflict in our personal lives, and how tempting it is to want to justify ourselves and be “right”, at the expense of fostering love in our relationships. We were also really aware of how easy it can be to sit in a position of relative comfort and ease and make pronouncements about what people directly involved should do or think. We tried really hard not to do that and focus more on what we can do to be engaged peacebuilders where we are. As is often the case with difficult conversations, we’re asking for some extra grace because we certainly didn’t handle any of this perfectly. As challenging as this conversation was, we also found much of it invigorating. Chad has spent years thinking through passages of scripture that seem to justify war and how Christ’s overarching message counteracts them, reminding us that it is more important to be “right” before our brethren than it is to hold the “right” position. He reminds us, as well, that as Latter-day Saints we have one of the most compelling examples of peacemaking in our scriptural canon, in the story of the Anti-Nephi Lehites who set down their weapons of war out of commitment to God. Chad shares unforgettable stories about peacemakers in Israel and Gaza who have used their faith, creativity, and commitment to loving their neighbor to find ways for Israelis and Palestinians to connect and form awareness of their common humanity. Most of these people, he says, are not giving up, even with the situation as dire as it is. If you want to hear more from Chad, we encourage you to check out Chad’s book, Dangerous Love: Transforming Fear and Conflict at Home, at Work, and in the World. We should mention that Chad is one of the most fascinating people we’ve ever interviewed; he seems to have lived many lives in one. He not only holds a degree and has decades of experience in conflict resolution, but he has a law degree and had a whole other career as a writer and analyst at ESPN—you’ll hear in the episode how that side of him has tied into his peacebuilding work. Later this year, Chad is relocating from Hawaii to Utah to join the faculty in religious studies with the Haravi Peace Center at Utah State University.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Book of Mormon scholar Grant Hardy knows that there are lots of different views about what The Book of Mormon is—how it came to be, how credible its origin story and originator are, and what its value is to Latter-day Saints, and to the world. Though he himself falls firmly on the side of belief, he believes the approach of the Book as sacred text asks its reader to consider that “every word or phrase may hold existentially significant meaning” — regardless of exactly how one views the Book’s origins and historical value. That’s the perspective that he brings to a newly produced work, The Annotated Book of Mormon, a remarkably thorough and rich exploration of The Book of Mormon which is the first “fully annotated, academic edition of the Book… in its 200-year history,” and which was published by Oxford University Press. We loved talking with Grant, and for us, some of the most powerful moments of the conversation were his reflections on how the Book of Mormon is calling us, as a people, to hold up the mirror and ask what we can do better. You’ll hear Grant specifically bring up the topic of how we as a church use and disclose our financial resources. We want to note that this part of the conversation is challenging—and while the views Grant shares, like those of all guests we have, are his own, we really appreciate his vulnerability and willingness to engage these tough issues. We know not everybody’s going to agree on this, and we’re very aware of our inadequacy in navigating difficult topics. We hope that one thing we can do at Faith Matters is to help keep conversations going in good faith, and that’s what we tried to do here, however imperfectly. We really encourage you to pick up the Annotated Book of Mormon, which does an amazing job of making this text easier to study and understand by reformatting it with headers, punctuation markers, and paragraph styles in line with modern bible translations. Grant is donating all royalties for the book to the Humanitarian Aid Fund of the LDS Church. Grant is a Professor of History & Religious Studies at UNC Asheville, where he’s taught since 1994. We think that this is a special episode with a remarkable person and message, and we really hope you enjoy this conversation with Grant Hardy. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

When Lenore Skenazy’s son was nine, he asked her repeatedly if she would let him have a solo adventure in their hometown of New York City. Her son had a specific plan for this adventure: he wanted her to take him somewhere new in the city and then let him find his own way home. Lenore took the leap of faith, and when her son burst into their apartment later, he was practically “levitating with pride and joy” at what he had accomplished. Lenore then wrote an article in the New York Sun called “Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone” — and a media firestorm ensued. We’ll let Lenore share more about that particular time, but she realized then how radical and important an idea it was for modern parents to “let go.” In 2017, Jonathan Haidt, co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind reached out to Lenore with two others, all of whom shared concerns about the increasing fragility they’re seeing in young people in America, and the poor outcomes that follow. They went on to launch Let Grow, a non-profit organization that promotes childhood independence. Lenore’s message is that parents can sometimes become compulsive about protecting children from every possible danger, but blind to the trade-offs: decreased independence, resilience, social skills, and creativity, and increased anxiety and depression. But this message also has broader implications for our lives and our faith: while we often tend to try to micromanage everything with the mistaken belief that we can prevent anything bad from happening, deep faith can help us see that there’s Something Bigger going on — and we don’t always need to be in control. We found Lenore to be delightful—she’s sharp, funny, and has profoundly important things to say for anyone interested in helping our next generations to be resilient and happy. We really hope you enjoy this conversation with Lenore Skenazy. ——— Subscribe to Wayfare here: wayfaremagazine.org Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re sharing with you an episode from a brand new podcast that Faith Matters is co-sponsoring in collaboration with Mormon Women for Ethical Government, called Proclaim Peace. This podcast is hosted by Jennifer Thomas, Co-Executive Director of MWEG, and Patrick Mason, Leonard Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, and longtime friend and advisor of Faith Matters.  In this first season, these two will be exploring with guests a “peaceful reading of the Book of Mormon.” In the episode we’re sharing, they have a fascinating conversation with Jennifer Finlayson-Fife on some of the tension-filled early chapters of The Book of Mormon. They dive deep on the conflicts that Lehi’s family couldn’t seem to escape—what was done well and what might have been different—and how the unhealed rifts in this family eventually had existential societal consequences.  We’re proud to be a part of this effort that we see as a hopeful and faith-filled response to President Nelson’s prophetic call to “follow the Prince of Peace, [and]... become His peacemakers.” You can subscribe now by searching “Proclaim Peace” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or anywhere else you listen to podcasts. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’re back sharing a favorite session from last year’s Restore Conference. In this session, Adam Miller retells the parable of the prodigal son and a highlight from the Children’s book series, 'Frog and Toad", to re-examine our relationship to love. It is our nature to think we have to work hard to earn love, and we constantly tell ourselves stories about what we have to do to earn it. But if God’s love is constant, then these stories are elaborate distractions. We feel guilt and shame whenever we try to earn love that is already given.  We always appreciate Adam for his wisdom, but also for the way he presents it. This session feels like a meditation that allows us to see the worries we carry that we are unworthy of love and release them, which God invites us to do. And, as Adam ends his session, “While [this] is still very hard work, it is work of an entirely different kind.”  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

A little less than two decades ago, you might walk past a bookstore and see The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins featured among the bestsellers. The mid to late 2000’s were the heyday for the New Atheists, a small cohort of scientists and philosophers who were convinced religion was both untrue and a bad influence in the world. At the time, it was easy to see the rise of the New Atheists as the latest peak of secularism, a sign that public belief in religion was long gone, and there was no going back. Where we sit now in 2024, we can see that the New Atheist movement fell apart due to internal disagreement and concern about its own influence on the world. According to our guest Justin Brierley, public opinions towards religion are complex and mixed, not nearly as negative as the New Atheist movement would have anticipated. In fact, there are many signs that a Christian renewal is underway. From notable conversions of high-profile individuals to the rise of secular thinkers defending Christianity to the increasing skepticism that science and atheist worldviews can answer our most important questions, Justin observes that the Christian story is far from dead. Justin Brierley is a writer, speaker, and podcaster committed to building dialogue between Christians and non-Christians. His first book was titled Unbelievable? Why, after ten years of talking with atheists, I'm still a Christian and in September 2023 he published his second book, The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God. Zach interviews Justin in this episode, and the conversation ends with several fascinating questions: will there be a renewal of Christianity and belief in God? If so, are the churches prepared for it? How can the Christian world transcend tribalism and culture wars to welcome a new batch of seekers? Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In 2018, Pete Davis was graduating from Harvard Law School and was chosen to give a commencement address that ended up going unexpectedly viral, having now been viewed over 30 million times. The thesis of Pete’s speech was that our culture has entered what he calls “infinite browsing mode”—with so many options to choose from, and devices that present those options to us literally endlessly—we can become paralyzed by choice and inadvertently live out our lives without ever dedicating ourselves to something. And this lack of choosing and committing over the long haul has real consequences, Pete argues — it prevents us from finding the meaning and impact that we’re longing for. Pete’s ideas eventually crystallized into a really incredible book—Dedicated—which explores these ideas in depth. We loved this book and found it to be so relevant to conversations we seem to always be having. In this conversation, we were able to talk with Pete about many of the reasons we might fear committing to something, including the fear of missing out, the fear of regret, and the fear of association with something with which our values aren’t totally aligned. But, Pete argues, commitment in the face of those fears is what leads us to long-term purpose and impact, real community, and connection with something truly transcendent. We can’t emphasize enough how important and relevant we found this book, and how infectious we found Pete’s enthusiasm for these deeply resonant ideas. We are so excited to share this episode with you, and we really hope you enjoy the conversation with Pete Davis. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re sharing another fantastic session from our Restore Conference last October, this time from Lisa Miller. Lisa is a clinical psychologist and professor at Columbia University who specializes in the science of spirituality. She’s also the author of the popular 2021 book The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life. We often think of science and spirituality as separate ways of knowing that don’t really speak to each other, where science focuses on what we can see and empirically observe, while spirituality focuses on the unseen. Lisa’s research bridges these worlds, building an empirical case for the reality of spirituality and its benefits across the lifespan, and showing how science can be a “witness” to spirituality. She believes we all have an innate, in-born capacity for spirituality, or “relational, transcendent awareness”. Individuals who cultivate a strong spiritual core are less likely to experience despair, addiction, and depression throughout the life course, and a spiritual core is correlated with growth and resilience after facing challenges. We really loved Lisa’s session as well as her beautiful spirit. As we got to know her in person at Restore, we realized what a special person she is and felt the love she has for our community. We think you’ll be able to feel that as you listen to her talk.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’re excited to share with you this interview with George Handley, a professor of humanities at BYU. George recently published a fascinating and moving intellectual biography of Lowell Bennion. As we’ve learned more about Bennion, he’s begun to loom large for us as a truly inspiring figure who models some of the best of what our faith tradition has to offer. He was an educator, humanitarian, and practical philosopher who had an outsized impact on the Church in the 20th century, even if few might recognize his name today.  Lowell Bennion was both committed to intellectual integrity and to prioritizing people over ideas. In the interview, George walked us through how this dual commitment led Lowell to a heart-led vocation that refused to compartmentalize the gospel—to separate it from either intellectual inquiry or from the practical, everyday needs of society. It also allowed Bennion to navigate the tricky, bumpy moments in relationship with other thinkers and educators in the Church with love and integrity. His list of projects is truly extensive, but among the most memorable are his founding of the Institute of Religion next to the University of Utah, and of a boys ranch in Idaho—the Bennion Teton Boys  Ranch—where George spent time as a boy. As an educator, Bennion took an expansive view of the gospel that sought to blend itself with secular learning and embrace all truth. Even on the occasions when those who disagreed with his approach made decisions that cost him professionally, Bennion was committed to seeing these events as part of the adventure of life. The topics that came up in this episode really struck home with us. Lowell Bennion’s life invites us to consider not just what the right ideas are, but what ideas are for, and how they can be turned to the service of humanity. We’re thankful to George for taking the time to bring this impactful, if understated, thinker to our attention through this book.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

To kick off the new year, we recently had the privilege to speak to academic duo and long-time friends, Adam Miller and Rosalynde Welch about the new book they co-authored together, titled Seven Gospels: The Many Lives of Christ in the Book of Mormon.  Their book examines the many ways that Christ shows up in the lives of individuals in the Book of Mormon, including Nephi, Abinadi, Abish, and others. Like the New Testament gospels, these distinct witnesses both affirm and challenge each other, showing how Christ’s message for each of us intimately reflects our personal questions and circumstances. This episode not only guides us through these distinct witnesses but also describes the close reading process that allowed Adam and Rosalynde to observe such differentiation in the first place. By slowing down with the scriptures and zooming in on details—even supposedly mundane ones like punctuation and phrasing—scripture can teach us things we don’t expect to learn. Just as there are a multiplicity of witnesses of Christ in the Book of Mormon, Adam and Rosalynde make a case that our scriptural canon is a springboard to endless interpretations that speak to us according to our spiritual needs. For those who don’t yet know these two, Adam is a professor of philosophy at Collin College, and Rosalynde is the Associate Director and Research Fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute. Adam and Rosalynde are two of the brightest minds in Latter-day Saint studies, so to have them team up on a book is a special privilege, and we loved talking with them, as we always do. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re sharing a conversation that we had a lot of fun with, along with an exciting announcement about the work we’re doing at Faith Matters. Our guest was our friend Jared Halverson. Few people we know exude as much enthusiasm for scripture—the Latter-day Saint canon in particular—as Jared does. He’s someone who clearly loves and cherishes these holy texts, and has taken the best they have to offer to heart. He’s as genuine, loving, and big-hearted as they come. So we felt Jared would be the perfect person to talk to to kick off this year’s study of The Book of Mormon, the book Joseph Smith called “the keystone of our religion.” In our discussion with Jared, we talked about how we might be able to gain something from engaging with the Book, regardless of where our faith is at; how scriptures are the means, not the end, and how they’re not frozen in time—they’re part of an ongoing conversation that we’re a part of. With all that said, we could not be more excited to tell you that Faith Matters is formally teaming up with Jared to bring his podcast, Unshaken, one of the most widely engaged scripture study podcasts out there, into the Faith Matters network of podcast and YouTube shows. We’ll have more to share about that in the future as that network expands and grows. For now, it means that Jared will continue to bring his signature blend of scholarly rigor and devotional reflection to his discussions of scripture that move with the Come Follow Me curriculum. But whereas in the past, Jared’s podcast episodes have been deep dives of 3-5 hours per episode, the new Unshaken format will shoot for an hour or so to make them a bit more digestible. Unshaken will continue to operate on its own Youtube and Podcast channels, while the Faith Matters podcast will continue to operate on this one. If you’re interested in Jared and his work based on what you hear today, we’d highly recommend you head over to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube to subscribe. For those unfamiliar with Jared, he’s an associate professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, and has taught religion courses at the high school and college level since 1998. He studied history and religious education at BYU and earned a PhD in American religious history at Vanderbilt University. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re sharing another session from our Restore conference, this time featuring a scholar most of you will be familiar with: our long time friend and advisor Terryl Givens. Terryl’s heartfelt session explores what he finds to be the “peaceable things” of Christ, referred to in scripture. An unsettling experience at the age of sixteen led Terryl to confront the inherent risk and uncertainty of our choices in life. And while life may not always be “peaceful,” Terryl says, we can always access “peaceable things”, which he anchors in the Restoration’s understanding of God. If you know Terryl’s work, you know of his gift for illuminating gospel truths gleaming quietly throughout Christian history. Terryl guides us through three names of Christ–Creator, Emmanuel, and Paraclete–that show God to be relational, loving, and open-hearted. This God doesn’t seek to judge or condemn, but to invite us at their table as peers and mutual witnesses of each other’s inherent goodness. We hope you enjoy this hopeful message that cuts straight to the heart of the fear and uncertainty that so many of us feel, day to day.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Nearly everything we do in the Church — from missionary work and ministering efforts to baptisms and temple work — hinges on an underlying question: who is the Church for? Is the project of the Restoration to find and shepherd the elect of God to exaltation in the next life, or is it to create a Zion community here that strives to include those on the margins, the way Jesus ministered? Should it be one or the other? It’s seemed to us that there’s an implicit discourse around this question playing out on social media, in Church meetings, in books and articles, on podcasts — and even in forums like General Conference. And it has significant implications — the answer holds real weight as for we participate in the work of the Restoration, but not just that — what does it say about the nature of God? This past conference, Pres. Dallin H. Oaks declared “the purpose of this restored Church is to prepare God’s children for salvation in the celestial glory and, more particularly, for exaltation in its highest degree.” In theory, that destiny is available to all God’s children. But what about the multitudes of God’s children who may seem to be left behind-–those for whom any quest for exaltation seems buried under conditions like grinding poverty, mental illness, abuse, or other serious obstacles to thriving. Is the restored church for them too? We thought it could be important and helpful to have an explicit conversation around this question that’s often felt more than heard. And, we think we ended up with the perfect conversation partner, and someone we know many of you love and admire as much as we do — Patrick Mason. Patrick helped us walk through some of this tricky territory with his signature blend of love for the Church, enthusiasm about the restoration, and clear-eyed realism about where we are as a community and tradition — and where we could hope to go.  Patrick Mason is the Leonard Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, has been a frequent guest on this show and is long-time friend and advisor to Faith Matters. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Buy Melissa’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Struggle-Seeking-Christ-Resistance/dp/1639931872/ As we’ve gotten to know her over the past few years, we’ve noticed that Melissa Inouye, in any group, has a remarkable way of reorienting a conversation. She tends to be the one with the eyes to see “the least of these.” She has a profound and sincere empathy for those who are in deep struggle, those on the edges, the marginalized, the looked-over, the passed-by. When these people and their difficulties are invisible to others, she gently call others’ attention to them as well.  That uniquely empathetic perspective she brings has found a beautiful expression in her new book Sacred Struggle: Seeking Christ on the Path of Most Resistance. It’s a “treatise on trials” — one in which Melissa asks the deepest, most difficult questions without shying away from them, including those around her own experience with cancer. The book, and the conversation we had with Melissa, deal with struggle itself, but also with its second-order effects: how can struggle be alchemized into connectedness — into Zion — instead of driving us apart? Who gets to assign meaning to struggle? Is there a way to avoid pain in a community, or is it built into the experience? Melissa received her Ph.D. from Harvard in 2011 and became a Senior Lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. She’s now working as a historian for the Church History department. We were grateful, as we always are, to benefit from her deep wisdom born of lived experience. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Professor Eric Huntsman has an infectious enthusiasm when he talks about Christmas. He’s up for the fun, the decorating, the shopping, the lights, and the gift-giving. He also has a deep intellectual curiosity and many years’ academic research into the historical development of this holy day. And of course, most importantly, he has a profound devotional attachment to the holiday’s namesake, Jesus Christ.  So it’s only natural that he would spend years developing ways to help his family, students and community find more meaning throughout the Christmas season. One way that he’s done that is through the observance of Advent. Much more than just the calendar many of us think of checking off the days in December leading up to Christmas, Advent is a traditional Christian season that’s been observed for at least 1500 years and is marked by the four Sundays prior to Christmas, each of which celebrates a theme of Christ’s birth: hope, love, joy, and peace.  In today’s conversation, Eric shared with us the background and purpose behind Advent and some of its symbolism, how he celebrates it, and what he recommends for anyone looking to observe Advent as part of creating their own traditions or rituals. Resources: Good Tidings of Great Joy: An Advent Celebration of the Savior's Birth (Eric's book): https://www.amazon.com/Good-Tidings-Great-Joy-Celebration/dp/1606416596/r Come, Lord Jesus: An Advent Invitation (Wayfare Magazine): https://www.wayfaremagazine.org/p/come-lord-jesus Celebrating Advent: https://huntsmanseasonal.blogspot.com/2013/11/celebrating-advent.html First Advent: https://huntsmanseasonal.blogspot.com/2013/12/first-advent-hope.html Christmas Resource Guide (Daily December devotionals): https://huntsmanseasonal.blogspot.com/p/christmas-resource-guide.html Advent Carols: https://www.amazon.com/Advent-Carols-Countdown-Stories-Christmas/dp/1639930477 Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

A few weeks ago, Faith Matters released a video we called “Why Church?” It features several of our favorite people, who gave really thoughtful answers to that question that is present for so many.  Today, we’re sharing Tom Christofferson’s Restore talk, which addresses the next question: “How Church?” Tom describes in poignant and sometimes hilarious detail his experiences joining a new ward where so many people are so unlike him, and, in the end, found that that was kind of the point.  For us, this was one of the very most memorable sessions at this year’s Restore. We love Tom deeply and know he has so much to teach us. When he talks, we always stop to listen. For those of you who don’t know, we’ve decided to release all of this year’s Restore sessions on YouTube totally free of charge. If you’d like to watch them, just head to YouTube and search “Faith Matters”  — you’ll see our channel pop up and you can subscribe there. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Our guest today is a long-time friend and collaborator, and an incredibly unique voice in the Latter-day Saint tradition: Thomas McConkie. Thomas is an author, developmental researcher and meditation teacher who has been practicing under masters in the traditions of Sufism, Buddhism and Christian contemplation, among others for over 25 years. Thomas is the founder of Lower Lights School of Wisdom, and is is currently researching and writing on transformative spiritual practice at Harvard Divinity School. He’s also the author of a brand new book published by Faith Matters Publishing called At-One-Ment: Embodying the Fullness of Human-Divinity. This is, in our opinion, a monumentally important work, and one that has the capacity to powerfully change the way we see the world. The book reminds us that much of Christianity has spent centuries focusing on what to believe. Thomas redirects this conversation to the simple but potent practices we can engage in body, heart, mind and spirit to awaken us to a greater measure of the Sacred right here and now. “At-one-ment” becomes a spiritual reality in which we can all participate, not just a historical event in which a select few believe. In our conversation, we covered some important themes of the book, including how we can all at once seek transformation and already feel whole; how we are both individuals and yet deeply connected to everything and everyone around us, and how the mind, while indispensable and so prominent in our modern society, is far from the only way of knowing. We really encourage you to pick up this book — it’s available now on Amazon and we think it makes a great gift as well. And, as a note for those interested: Thomas will also be leading a 3-day retreat in Salt Lake City in May 2024, diving deeper into the concepts of At-one-ment. Additional details can be found here: https://lowerlightswisdom.org/classes/the-art-and-practice-of-becoming-one-retreat-may-2024 Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’re very excited about this week's episode. In early 2021, in the wake of January 6th, McKay Coppins contacted Mitt Romney with a bold request: he wanted to write a biography about him. But McKay had stipulations: not only would he have full access to the Senator  — he’d also retain full editorial control. To his surprise, Romney agreed, and shortly had given him stacks of journal entries, emails, and texts. They met over 45 times over the coming years for lengthy interviews, and McKay also interviewed many of Romney’s closest friends, family, and colleagues. That unprecedented access has now turned into a book called Romney: A Reckoning, which just debuted at #3 overall on the New York Times Bestsellers list.  We hoped that this interview would offer a unique take on this subject, and we spent some real time on questions of integrity, culpability, and faith. McKay brought not only deep insight into the psyche of one of the most fascinating—and in some cases polarizing—political figures of our time, but he also brought really clear-eyed discernment of his own. He helped us work through some other fascinating questions: what does it take to live on the edge of inside, and what does it cost? Is it possible to stave off cynicism while remaining pragmatic about having impact for good? McKay Coppins is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covers politics, religion, and national affairs. He’s a former visiting fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics and has won the Aldo Beckman Award from the White House Correspondents Association for his coverage of the Trump presidency and the Wilbur Award for religion journalism.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Organized religious communities have seen steep declines in participation in recent decades and the rise of the “nones,” those who have no particular religious affiliation, is a well-rehearsed story. But that story isn’t just about loss and lack. New forms of spiritual life and meaning-making are emerging that seek to fill the universal longings of the human heart: belonging, transformation, and love. Casper ter Kuile has studied this horizon of spiritual frontier for many years. 10 years ago, he and fellow Harvard Divinity School classmate Angie Thurston wrote a report called "How We Gather", which looked at how millennials were seeking spirituality in seemingly secular communities like crossfit, soul-cycle or social justice movements. Since that report, Casper has continued to explore the changing spiritual practices of young people. He started a very beloved podcast called Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, wrote a book called "The Power of Ritual" and has recently launched a new project called The Nearness, which is an online space to explore life’s big questions in small communities. In this conversation, Zach Davis talks with Casper about what he’s learned in his years studying and working on the edge of America’s evolving spiritual landscape. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re sharing with you one of sessions we had to kick off our Restore conference, which featured Utah Governor Spencer Cox along with Judge Thomas Griffith. Before we get going, we’re very excited to announce that we’ve decided to give free digital access to all of our Restore recordings! Although we were joined by 3500 of our closest friends, we know there were so many who wanted to join us but couldn’t for a variety of reasons, so we decided to make all of the sessions available, free of charge. Please head to our YouTube channel and subscribe in order to make sure you see them when they drop in the next week or two. Gov. Spencer J. Cox is is Utah’s 18th governor and is serving as the  2023-2024 chairman of the National Governors Association. He is developing a national reputation as both a bridge-builder and as a tenacious fighter against social media companies and their effects on teen mental health. That bridge-building is also the foundation of his NGA Chair’s Initiative called “Disagree Better.” After Governor Cox’s initial remarks, you’ll hear him be joined on stage by Thomas Griffith, who was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit from 2004-2020. Currently, he is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, a Fellow at the Wheatley Institution at Brigham Young University, and Senior Policy Advisor to the National Institute for Civil Discourse. Judge Griffith is also a trusted advisor and friend of Faith Matters.  These two were passionate in their advocacy for disagreement with civility and kindness, and we thought did an amazing job pointing a path forward in all areas of society where we find ourselves opposite someone else on an important issue. We really think this one’s memorable. Thanks as always for listening, and with that, we’ll jump right into the session. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For this week’s episode, we’re sharing a conversation we had originally released almost three years ago — before many of you had started listening to the podcast! It’s the discussion we had with Fiona and Terryl Givens about the ground-shifting book they published in 2020 through Faith Matters Publishing, called All Things New: Rethinking Sin, Salvation, and Everything in Between. When this book was first published, we knew it had the potential to truly change lives, and change how Latter-day Saints see the world. It certainly did for us. The book starts by tracing the roots of our religious vocabulary and shows how many fundamental gospel concepts and words have become  unmoored from their original foundations and in many cases, can get us stuck in a gospel of fear that places limits on God’s love and grace. Fiona and Terryl show us how we can renovate that vocabulary to embrace a gospel of hope where there is no final buzzer or sad heaven, because in their words, "Salvation and heaven are not rewards that God can dispense, or that we can earn. Relationships are forged. Life is the school of love, and our growing capacity for love constitutes the bricks out of which the heavenly Zion will be constructed." In the book, and in our conversation, Terryl and Fiona address everything from our concepts of heaven, sin, salvation, exaltation, and family togetherness in the eternities. We found the work they do in this important book to be immensely healing and hopeful. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In July of 2022, Rosalynde Welch had a distinct impression while cleaning her house — that she should reach out to Kate Holbrook and ask how she could help share more of Kate’s own writing and thinking with the world. As many of you know, Kate was a historian, scholar, and a light in so many lives. Kate had been previously diagnosed with a rare eye cancer, which had just entered a terminal phase. As she cleaned, it struck Rosalynde that Kate had spent so much time promoting others’ voices, particularly the voices of women, that the insights Kate herself needed to share were preserved. She reached out immediately, and Kate responded gratefully. Rosalynde, and a few others who she mentions in the episode, began an urgent work of gathering, compiling, and filling in gaps to complete what is now a brand new book of Kate’s writing: Both Things Are True, which is part of the BYU Maxwell Institute’s Living Faith series. Kate, tragically, would pass away only a few weeks after this work began, in August of 2022. And we want to be really clear about this  — this is a really special book. What comes shining through so clearly is Kate’s gentle nature alongside her “backbone of steel” (as Rosalynde puts it), and perhaps more than anything, her authentic discipleship. As the book’s title indicates, it wrestles with what Joseph Smith called contraries: how the church can be both true, and open to further truth; how revelation can be, how what Kate calls “the crucible of housework” can bring about a sense of both inadequacy and divinity. And, true to Kate’s hope that she’d be remembered for her recipes, the book ends with Kate’s own recipe for what she calls “the perfect chocolate bundt cake.” Our guest, Rosalynde, is an incredibly insightful scholar who currently works as a Senior Research Fellow at the Maxwell Institute. She has also hosted the Maxwell Institute podcast since March of this year, a resource which we can’t recommend strongly enough, especially with Rosalynde at the helm. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For this week’s episode, we’re sharing one more talk with you from our Restore gathering in 2022. This was one of our absolute favorite sessions, and it was the final presentation, right at the end on Saturday afternoon. We were privileged to hear from Brian McLaren, who shared his simple and incredibly resonant framework for faith development. It’s one that we’ve referenced before on this podcast, and we think you’ll love hearing Brian teach it. Brian does a beautiful job emphasizing that the point isn’t to get everyone to a particular “stage” of faith — rather, it’s creating a Church and a community where each stage is welcome and included. First, you’ll hear Brian give his presentation, and afterward, Tim and Aubrey sit down for a live Q&A with him. We think Brian brought really key insights to both parts of this session. When we listened back, there was so much there that we hadn’t fully absorbed, and even if you were with us at Restore last year, we think this one’s really worth a listen. For those of you who haven’t heard Brian from before, he’s a bestselling author, speaker, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for a Christianity that is just, generous, and works with people of all faiths for the common good. He is a core faculty member of  The Living School and podcaster with Learning How to See, which are part of the Center for Action and Contemplation. His newest books are  Faith After Doubt, released in 2021, and Do I Stay Christian?,  which was released in 2022. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Dacher Keltner is a scientist who has been studying happiness and well-being for decades. He writes that he’s taught happiness to hundreds of thousands of people around the world and that twenty years into teaching happiness, he’s actually found an answer to how to live the good life: find awe. To that end, he’s written a new book called Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life. The book was not only moving, fascinating and thoroughly researched, it also raised lots of really important questions for us. Among the most important was what implications his research on awe has for religious people. It seems like what Latter-day Saints call “feeling the Spirit” has a strong connection to what Dacher refers to as awe, and we were able to ask Dacher about that. While he’s not a traditionally religious person himself, his exploration of awe has led him to believe that there is a realm of understanding and human experience that is beyond scientific explanation. On a really practical level, Dacher’s book, and the conversation with him, helped us understand how we can integrate awe into our everyday lives, and illustrated the astounding benefits that an “awe” practice can have for each of us. Dacher received his PhD from Stanford University in 1989 before joining Berkeley’s psychology department in 1996, where he’s been ever since. Over 500,000 people have enrolled in Dacher’s EdX course, The Science of Happiness, and he’s the host of the podcast also called The Science of Happiness. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

When therapist Bonnie Young was a teen, the subject of sexuality was for her, “drenched in fear.” And many of us can probably relate. For many Latter-day Saints growing up in a sexually conservative culture and with a strict law of chastity — for all of the goods those things can bring — feelings of anxiety, fear, and shame around sexuality may be more the rule rather than the exception. Bonnie’s on a mission to change that, and we think she’s done really important work to do so with her new book, Sex Educated: Letters from a Latter-day Saint Therapist to Her Younger Self. As the title implies, the book is structured as a series of letters, from Bonnie, to herself at various ages, starting as young as ten. It serves as a really useful retrospective, to get into our own minds at various stages of development, and helped remind us that there are really good, constructive, healthy ways to talk about sexuality to kids of any age. That “talk” — the one that can produce so much anxiety among both kids and parents — is one of the main subjects of our conversation with Bonnie. She also had amazing insights around the difference between lust and arousal, about healthy sexual relationships between committed partners, and how this all fits beautifully into the theology of the Restoration. Bonnie Young is a licensed marriage and family therapist, frequent presenter and podcast guest, and published author of several academic articles and essays on religion and mental health. She is the founder of Azure Counseling, an online mental health clinic focused on treating clients with anxiety, religious OCD / scrupulosity, and sexual disorders. Bonnie holds a bachelor’s degree in history with an emphasis in Mormon women’s history and a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy, both from Brigham Young University. She’s currently completing her doctoral studies at Utah State University in marriage and family therapy. Her dissertation work explores questions about women’s experience with power dynamics in Latter-day Saint marriages. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re excited to share with you another gem from our Restore gathering last year. This is a presentation by Jeff Strong.  Now his name may sound familiar to you because Jeff also came on for an incredible episode called “Getting Real About Missionary Work” last year- episode #124, which we highly recommend. That episode is one of Faith Matters’ most listened to of all time. But in today’s episode, you’re going to hear about Jeff’s experience as a mission president of the Bentonville, Arkansas Mission where he and his wife led a phenomenally successful pilot program with his missionaries. I’ll let Jeff fill in the details — but for us, the story of the Bentonville, Arkansas mission has totally revolutionized the way we imagine missionary work and we can’t wait for you to hear about it. There are some really interesting visuals in this presentation you may want to see so you can also go to our YouTube channel to watch the video there. To tell you a little bit about Jeff, in addition to serving as a mission leader with his wife Sara from 2018- 2021 in the Bentonville, Arkansas Mission, Jeff has been a senior level executive at several multinational companies, and has spent almost 3 decades in management. He’s also worked as a consultant and private equity advisor and has served as a special project director at BYU’s Marriott School of Business, where he led the startup of the Marketing Lab.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we talked with Ben Behunin, and we think when you hear him, you’ll feel immediately what we felt: this is someone who is absolutely full of pure, good energy who has been able to fully align his own gifts to serve in the world. Ben is a full-time artist, potter, and writer who makes his living through creativity. He’s also a stake president in downtown Salt Lake City.  In our conversation with Ben, he talked about his mission experience and conversion to the Church  — his story is incredibly moving and illustrates in a powerful way that God seems to be working through good people in every tradition and culture. Ben also shared a lot about how his creativity plays into his role as a leader in the Church, and it was inspiring to hear how innovative he is in his stewardship and work to serve and bless others. Ben also shared what he believes are the gifts that Latter-day Saints, in particular, have to share with the world.  All in all  — this is a special one that we really think you’re going to want to hear. We can’t wait to introduce you to Ben. You can find out more about his pottery, writing, and other work at potterboy.com. Links: https://www.potterboy.com/ https://www.instagram.com/protopiansunited/ https://www.amazon.com/stores/Ben-Behunin/author/B00J428YU8 Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week we’re sharing something really special  — it’s Terryl Givens’ talk that opened last year’s Restore gathering. In it, Terryl gets more personal than we’ve ever heard him, telling a dramatic story about nearly drowning off the West coast of Africa and how the experience has helped him frame key aspects of his faith. Terryl also shares some other really meaningful moments from his life and career. In one of our favorite moments, he says "I have come to know the love of God as it is manifest in a community of people working to keep one another from drowning." We imagine that almost all of you know Terryl by now, but as a reminder, he’s a Neal A. Maxwell Senior Research Fellow at BYU’s Maxwell Institute. He formerly held the Jabez A. Bostwick Chair of English and was Professor of Literature and Religion at the University of Richmond. He is the author of many books about Latter-day Saint history and culture, including, along with his wife Fiona, All Things New, which was published by Faith Matters in 2020. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Religion in America is undergoing a revolution. In 1972, 90% of Americans were self-professed Christians. Now, that number is about 64%. There are now large and growing populations of non-Christians, as well as many who have no particular religious beliefs. Such a time of change has made it an exciting time to be a scholar of religion, charged with making sense of the shifting landscape of American religious experience. For today’s conversation, Zach Davis sat down with one of those scholars, Charles Stang, the Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. Zach went to grad school at HDS and Charlie was one of his very favorite professors. In the conversation, Charlie discusses his life as a scholar of religion, the path his own spiritual life has taken and shares details about the exciting new research initiative he is leading at Harvard called Transcendence and Transformation. Charles M. Stang is Professor of Early Christian Thought at Harvard Divinity School and the Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions. His research and teaching focus on the history and theology of Christianity, in particular asceticism, monasticism, and mysticism in Eastern Christianity. His most recent book, Our Divine Double, was published in 2016 by Harvard University Press. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Before we get started, we just wanted to give you a quick note that this episode does contain frank discussion about sexuality, so you can determine if it’s appropriate for anyone listening in. For this conversation, we were really happy to bring on our good friend and one of our favorite people, Jennifer Finlayson-Fife, and we know many of you are fans of her of her work, too. For a long time, we’ve wanted to have a discussion with Jennifer about the concept of modesty—something that anyone who’s grown up in our tradition is intimately familiar with, and which has certainly driven lots of opinions over many years. And we were really glad to be able to talk through several aspects of this topic with her, including the different experiences for men and women, how our cultural definition for modesty can often be too small, and the principles behind the practices. But once the conversation got going, as it always does with Jennifer, it led back to something bigger — about how all of this, including our sexuality, points toward the ability to have deeper embodied joy, and how there is a real wholeness waiting behind a developmental process that each of us need to go through, including with our own sexuality. Jennifer is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with a Ph.D in Counseling Psychology from Boston College, where she wrote her dissertation on LDS women and sexuality. She leads both in-person and online courses, workshops, and retreats helping people increase their capacity for deeper emotional and sexual intimacy. You can find her podcast “Conversations with Dr. Jennifer,” on major podcast platforms, and find out more about her work at finlayson-fife.com. We should also mention that Jennifer will be presenting at this year’s Restore gathering in October. We’re super grateful to Jennifer for coming on, and really think you’re going to enjoy this episode.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In recent months, Governor Spencer J. Cox  of Utah has been in the news for the passage of two new state laws: one that puts strict limits on access to social media for teens, and another that would prohibit social media companies from using designs that are addictive to teens.  Governor Cox believes that social media and smartphones really are the culprit behind a teen mental health crisis that has manifested, for example, in a skyrocketing rate of depression among teen girls. That rate has doubled since 2010, when the smartphone began mass adoption. With this in mind, Governor Cox has made Utah the first state to act in such a direct way. In this conversation, we asked Governor Cox about the rationale behind these laws, the pushback he expects, and what he thinks the long-term legislative vision should be when it comes to teens and social media. Governor Cox argues that In any other context, if we saw the statistics we're seeing about social media, we would drop everything to fix it. Given these drastic and unprecedented changes in mental health, it seems this is a crucial issue for our young people and that all people of faith should be engaging with this issue that is so important for kids and for the connective tissue of society. We also want to mention that Governor Cox will be appearing at our upcoming Restore Gathering in October; in that presentation, he’ll be talking about his new initiative as incoming chairman of the National Governors Association: to help Americans “disagree better.”  We hope that regardless of the side of the political aisle you find yourself on, you can help us engage with the important ideas and issues Governor Cox is bringing to the forefront. As he might say, though we certainly won’t all agree, we can all benefit from learning to do it better. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

The Gospel Topics essay titled “Mother in Heaven,” on churchofjesuschrist.org states “The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.” It’s with this in mind that three Latter-day Saint women — McArthur Krishna, Ashli Carnicelli, and Trina Caudle, have curated a new collection of writing, poetry, and art called Cherish: The Joy of Our Mother in Heaven. We were lucky enough to bring McArthur on, along with another one of the book’s contributors, Michal Thomas. We thought that those two women were the perfect pair to come on and speak with us. Among the subjects we discussed was Elder Dale G. Renlund’s April 2022 General Conference address on the subject of Heavenly Mother — McArthur described the joy she felt when she heard Elder Renlund address the topic in General Conference, in her mind, effectively ending the speculative taboo that Church members shouldn’t even talk about Heavenly Mother. Of course, Elder Renlund did call for an end to “speculation” about Heavenly Mother, and McArthur and Michal fully endorse that idea. As McArthur explains in the episode, it appears that it was unfounded “speculation” by a seminary teacher that led to the half-century-plus “sacred silence” around Heavenly Mother. These two emphasize that there is so much we can do with our existing beautiful doctrine; everyone should be able to see deity in their own image, and women, in particular, can better understand their own nature by understanding the nature of a Mother in Heaven. And because Heavenly Mother is infinite, there are infinite ways to connect with Her. McArthur and Michal explore that in this conversation, and of course, this new book is a great example of how many are doing it. We’re really grateful to McArthur and Michal for coming on and having this discussion with us. You can find this new book, Cherish, on Amazon. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week we are covering the Enneagram, a fascinating topic and a tool that we’ve found to be very helpful and deeply meaningful over the past few years. For this conversation, we were lucky enough to bring on one of the world’s foremost proponents and teachers of the Enneagram  — Ian Morgan Cron. Ian is a bestselling author, psychotherapist, Enneagram teacher, Episcopal priest, and the host of the podcast "Typology," which has over 20 million downloads. His books include the Enneagram primer The Road Back to You, which has sold over 1,000,000 copies, and the book we based today’s conversation on: The Story of You: An Enneagram Journey to Becoming Your True Self (December 2021). For those unfamiliar with the Enneagram, at its most essential it is a personality typing system identifying nine types of people and how they relate to one another and the world. But it’s intended to be much more than that  — not just a typing system, but in Ian’s words, “a prescription for deep change.” In this conversation, Ian does an overview of the nine basic Enneagram types, and you’ll probably see yourself in at least one of them. But he also goes deeper  — Ian says that we all have stories we tell ourselves, and the Enneagram can help us see them, recognize when they’re unhealthy, and start to rewrite them. As we continue on that path, Ian says, we’ll begin to “wake up,” as the mystics have said — and find that everything is brimming with God’s presence. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Over the years, much of the work that we’ve done at Faith Matters has tried to take into account much of the wisdom and research that’s been done in the field of faith and adult development. It’s also been important to us to share and discuss some of the existing models, including Brian McLaren’s four-stage framework, and the “creation, fall, atonement” framework that our amazing friend Jared Halverson has spoken about at Restore and on this podcast. All that said, we’ve never done a deep dive into the model that deserves as much or more credit than any other for helping people think along these lines in the first place, and that’s James Fowler’s Stages of Faith. Fowler published a book by that title in 1981 that laid a real foundation for understanding faith development systematically. So we’re delighted that in this episode, we finally got a chance to talk about Fowler’s work specifically and in a Latter-day Saint context, and to do that, we brought on our good friend Jana Spangler. And to be super clear upfront, and this comes out in the episode — it would be a misuse of any stages model to paint a given stage as “better” or “worse,” than others — what matters is not so much the stage we’re in, but how we approach the world around us as we see through the lens of that stage. As Jana says, each stage has its gifts and shortcomings. What these frameworks can do is help give each of us the humility to recognize that there is another way to see things, and to give ourselves enough grace to accept the stage we’re in and confidently live through it thoroughly, and without fear. Jana Spangler is a Certified Integral Professional Coach at Symmetry Solutions, and member of the International Coaching Federation. She is an alumnus of The Living School where she studied contemplative spiritual traditions and the work of transformation under the direction of Fr. Richard Rohr. Jana’s professional and personal experience combined with her training makes her an expert in the field of faith transitions. She is a sought-after podcast guest, speaker, presenter, and retreat leader.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In May of this year, the news program 60 Minutes aired a segment exploring the finances of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. David Nielsen, a former portfolio manager at Ensign Peak, the investment arm of the Church, alleged that the Church had been operating improperly as a tax-exempt organization and called for that tax-exempt status to be revoked. 60 Minutes also interviewed W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, who denied Nielsen’s claims. Near the end of June, the Wall Street Journal published an article of its own, again emphasizing the size of the Church’s assets and the opulence of its temples. This is an issue with an extraordinary amount of complexity, and significant moral weight. Though the Church hasn’t publicly disclosed the value of its assets, estimates place it at over $100 billion — put in context, that’s about double the size of Harvard’s endowment, making the Church one of the wealthiest religious institutions, or non-governmental organizations of any kind, in the world. The questions this raises are clear: how did the Church acquire this much wealth? Is it reasonable to see assets of this size as a “rainy-day fund,” even for a religion with a name attesting that we live in the last days? Is tithing simply “God’s money” and a matter of faith alone, or should members have insight and transparency into Church finances, and how their donations are used? And of course  — what good could be done in the world with $100B or more? We felt like it was the right time to explore these questions on Faith Matters, and we brought on Aaron Miller to help us sort through some of them. Aaron is a Teaching Professor in BYU’s George Romney Institute for Public Service and Ethics, where he teaches classes on business ethics and nonprofit structure and finance. Though he’s quick to point out that he doesn’t have privileged insight into Church finances, he was able to walk through these issues in a really detailed but understandable way, and to us, he represented extraordinarily clear, objective, and open-hearted thinking on this subject. Aaron also hosts a really cool podcast called “How to Help” that presents conversations and ideas about living a life of positive impact on the world and the people around us. You can check it out wherever you listen to podcasts. We’re really grateful that Aaron would come on and discuss this tough but important issue. As is the case with all sensitive topics, we’re sure we got something wrong here. Our goal is always to explore tough issues with as expansive a lens as possible, and explore arguments on both sides charitably. No doubt we did that imperfectly, but we hope you know that is our intention. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

A few weeks ago, we released a conversation with Terryl Givens about the life of Eugene England. England’s work on atonement theology had felt like it necessitated another conversation, but it was too big to fit into the first one. So this week, we brought Terryl back to talk not just about England’s views, but about atonement generally. The conversation starts with the fascinating premise that our faith doesn’t actually have an official theology of Atonement. What is clear, doctrinally, is that Christ brought about something of universal importance: as the Book of Mormon says, "we talk of Christ, rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, (and) we prophesy of Christ." (2nd Nephi 25:26) We accept Christ as both savior and healer — but that doesn’t mean that we’ve achieved a consensus understanding of how Christ’s atonement actually accomplished those goals of “saving” and “healing.” So in this conversation with Terryl, we discussed various atonement theories — what some of the greatest Christian and Latter-day Saint thinkers have posited over the years about how the atonement works; why it’s necessary, and how it can apply in real life. It seemed to us that there was something to value in nearly all of these explorations, and it was fascinating to see how those views have evolved over time. And, as it always does, conversation with Terryl brought us back to what’s really important: how Christ’s atonement can bring less retribution and more healing to society, and how we can participate in that work. Terryl reminded us that Atonement is about reintegration into loving relationship — not just vertically with God, but horizontally with those around us. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For this week’s episode, we were honored to bring on Alice Faulkner Burch, General Editor of Deseret Book’s new collection of essays by Black American Latter-day Saints: My Lord, He Calls Me. The title of the book comes from an early Black American spiritual called “Steal Away to Jesus.” The book shares contemporary experiences of Black Americans in the Church, and stories from every era of the Restoration. The essays found in the book are extremely personal — the type of stories you’d only hear as a trusted friend. Alice says that these stories are offered “as a gift for Black Americans and an invitation to white Americans.” In the interview, she shared really important perspectives on not just the experience of Black Americans in the Church, but what it means for each of us to be part of the body of Christ, and how we can more fully embrace the gifts of the Spirit, even “charismatic” ones like those shared in some of the remarkable stories in this book. Alice was baptized into the Church in July 1984. She served as the first African American in the Chile Santiago South Mission from 1987 to 1988, and in 1989 she was called as the first African American ordinance worker in the Salt Lake Temple. She has served the community as secretary of the Utah Chapter of Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society, secretary for the Utah Black Roundtable, and a member of the annual Utah Juneteenth Committee. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In September of 1857, one of the greatest atrocities in the history of Mormonism was carried out. Now known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a group of Latter-day Saints led a siege in Southern Utah against a wagon train of emigrants on their way from Arkansas to California. After the siege had dragged on for several days, and under the guise of a truce, leaders of the Mormon party lured the emigrants out of their protective circle of wagons and marched them a short distance across the valley before turning on them in surprise and slaughtering at least 120 unarmed men, women, and children. The details of this evil are difficult to talk about at all — much less dive deep on — but at the same time, historians Richard E. Turley and Barbara Jones Brown believe that it’s important that we confront history, even its most difficult episodes, with as much honesty and depth as we can. Rick has served in many roles at the Church over many years, including as managing director of the Family and Church History Department, and managing director of the Public Affairs Department. Barbara is the director of Signature Books Publishing and former executive director of the Mormon History Association. Together they are the authors of a new book called Vengeance is Mine: The Mountain Meadows Massacre and its Aftermath, which is the second in a two-volume series of exhaustively researched masterworks on the subject. The first book, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, on which Rick was one of the authors and Barbara was a content editor, was published in 2008, and this second volume is the culmination of over 18 years of research, writing, and editing by countless contributors. Though brilliant historians have written about the Massacre before, these books include new research from documents and records that have never before been available. As we spoke with Barbara and Rick, we were struck by not just their comprehensive knowledge of these tragic events, but by the depth of their empathy for the victims, and insights about how knowledge of difficult history can be part of a larger story of healing and reconciliation. They and many others have been important in spearheading efforts in recent years to allow for that healing, including working with the Church itself and organizations of victims’ descendants. In fact, Henry B. Eyring credited the work done on the first book in 2007 in an official statement given at the site of the massacre on its sesquicentennial. As part of that statement, he said, “What was done here long ago by members of our Church represents a terrible and inexcusable departure from Christian teaching and conduct. We cannot change what happened, but we can remember and honor those who were killed here…We express profound regret for the massacre carried out in this valley 150 years ago… and for the undue and untold suffering experienced by the victims then and by their relatives to the present time." What we hope for this episode is what we think Barbara and Rick hope for their book: that it can promote the same work of at-one-ment that is at the core of the Gospel by fully acknowledging the sins of the past, actively listening and working toward healing in the present, and looking forward to a future of deep relationship and connection. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

It isn’t easy to be born into a famous family with big expectations. And there’s few families more famous or with bigger expectations than the Kennedys. Tim Shriver’s immediate family includes not only a former US president, a US Attorney General, and a US Senator, but his parents, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver, founded global humanitarian organizations like the Special Olympics, The Peace Corp, and more. But Tim has risen to the challenge in every respect and is adding a new aspect to the legacy. In this week’s conversation with Zach Davis, Tim shares what it was like to grow up in his remarkable family, the motivation behind the important initiatives he is currently leading, and how his deeply-held Christian faith shapes all aspects of his life. Tim serves today as the CEO of  Special Olympics and is also the founder of Unite, a national grass-roots organization dedicated to transcending seemingly intractable difference. He is also a leading researcher focusing on the social and emotional factors in learning and has also produced six films, including Amistad and The Loretta Claiborne Story. He is the author of Fully Alive: Discovering What Matters Most, and co-editor of The Call to Unite: Voices of Hope and Awakening. Tim and his wife, Linda Potter, reside in the Washington, D.C area and have five adult children. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For this week's episode, we spoke with Brooke Romney, a guest that had been recommended to us over and over — and we were so happy we were able to connect with her. Brooke is a writer who began her career on Capitol Hill and whose work has appeared in many publications, including in the Washington Post. She now spends much of her time writing and speaking, particularly on the subject of parenting, but also on social media, connection, and faith.  In 2021, she published 52 Modern Manners for Today’s Teens, which reached #1 on Amazon’s bestselling Parenting books list, and climbed as high as #29 in its entire catalog of 38 million books. She’s also published I Like Me Anyway: Embracing Imperfection, Connection & Christ. In our conversation with Brooke, we did talk a lot about parenting, but so many of the principles were broadly applicable. Specifically, we spent time on creating connection with all the people around us, including our children — we talked about some of the habits that are so easy to slip into that can be disconnecting and simple things we may not have thought of that can create moments of connection. We also talked about “living from our values,” and being willing to be misunderstood and receive feedback when we’re doing so — as Brooke says, listening to other perspectives, even if it’s difficult, is how we get better. We were so grateful Brooke took the time to come on the podcast, and we really think you’re going to enjoy hearing from her. To follow Brooke and her work, you can head to her website at brookeromney.com and find her books on Amazon. She’s also on Instagram at @brookeromneywrites  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For today’s episode, we were honored as always to bring back one of our favorite people and conversation partners, and likely one of yours: Terryl Givens. We spoke with Terryl about a book he released in 2021, a biography called Stretching the Heavens: The Life of Eugene England and the Crisis of Modern Mormonism. Terryl’s work on this biography led to a fascinating portrait of a man many of us look up to, and someone we truly wish we could have met (England died in 2001 at the age of 68). His legacy has proven to be both broad and enduring — in addition to a long and storied career in academia, he was a founder of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought and of the Association for Mormon Letters. His writing continues to move and inspire Latter-day Saints today, including through essays that have become classics like Why the Church is as True as the Gospel. In our interview with Terryl, we talked not just about the arc of Eugene England’s life, but about the principles that arose from the insights he shared and some of the struggles he faced. In particular, we talked through some of the issues that came up for him as a man striving to be both true to his own conscience and to the authority of an institution he fully believed in and loved, when the two didn’t fully align.  In many ways, this seems to be the conflict at the heart of discipleship and even of Christianity’s creation story. Regardless, we felt like exploring it through the lens of Eugene England’s life was both relevant and poignant. This book, Stretching the Heavens, was published by UNC Press and is available on Amazon and Audible. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week’s episode is with an incredible Latter-day Saint poet, Darlene Young. Darlene has just released a new book of poetry, called Here, and published by BCC Press. It’s an honest, vulnerable, relatable, and incredibly approachable book that we laughed and cried our way through. In our conversation with Darlene, she talked about the value of poetry itself  — how it can be a “dance” to prose’s “walk,” and help us to see life as “more abundant,” and show the moments we might see as mundane in a more poignant and meaningful light. Darlene also reminded us that in order for art to really affect us, it has to tell the truth — telling the truth is the beginning of healing, and we’ve rarely encountered Latter-day Saint poetry that does this as well as Darlene’s. And, knowing that we’re releasing this episode Mother’s Day weekend, we also talked with Darlene about her poetry that speaks to the struggles and beauties of motherhood, parenting and the bittersweetness of it all. Her poetry really does have a way of giving life to feelings that for many of us, may have previously been somewhat indescribable. In the end, it seemed like “bittersweet” is the word that we kept coming back to when we talked with Darlene and encountered her work. It doesn’t shy away from the difficult, the annoying, or the tedious aspects of our lives — but in a really beautiful way, as faith at its best does, it paints them as part of a fuller picture of beauty and purpose. Darlene received her BA and MFA from BYU, and has taught English and Writing as adjunct faculty there. If you want to pick up Darlene’s book, again, it’s called Here and published by BCC Press and you can pick it up on Amazon. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For this week’s episode, we’re bringing you a conversation with Jason Whiting, a Professor and Program Director in the Marriage and Family Therapy program at Brigham Young University. ​Jason received his PhD from Michigan State University, and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He’s also the author of Love Me True: Overcoming the Surprising Ways We Deceive in Relationships. Jason’s primary research centers around the love lives of couples, and it was fascinating, as a married couple ourselves, to have a marriage and family therapist on the podcast. We found Jason to be extremely personable, insightful, and fun to talk with.  We were able to ask him several questions that have come up in our marriage, as well as some that we’ve heard from others. Some of our favorite topics of discussion included the Gottman Ratio (the famous research that has been done showing that healthy and lasting relationships often have at least 5 positive interactions for every one negative one), some of his favorite marriage advice, how to have conflict in a healthy way, and what are some signs that he sees commonly in marriages that last. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’ve been really excited to share this week's interview with you. Our guest was Astrid Tuminez, President of Utah Valley University. Astrid is an absolute delight to talk with and listen to. She’s full of stories, humor, and deep insights that made our time with her pass way too quickly. This interview actually came about because Astrid wrote an essay in Melissa Inouye and Kate Holbrook’s new book Every Needful Thing. We loved Astrid’s essay and knew we wanted to get to know her better. Astrid has an absolutely fascinating and unique story. She grew up in the slums of the Philippines, but along with her siblings, was discovered to have an exceedingly bright intellect and was offered a free place at one of the most prestigious and expensive Catholic schools in the area. As a child, she was, religiously, a Catholic, but felt that she was always brimming with questions that were being hushed. When she eventually met the Latter-day Saint missionaries, it was a different experience — they gave her a new framework to think about the world, and weren’t afraid to at least try to answer her questions. Astrid’s pursuit of education eventually took her to the United States, where she graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in international relations and Russian literature from Brigham Young University. She later earned a master's degree from Harvard University in Soviet Studies and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in political science. Before becoming President of UVU, Astrid spent many years in leadership in the corporate, non-profit, and academic worlds. What we maybe loved most about Astrid was that her unique perspectives make the world of faith and intellect seem expansive, exciting, and adventurous — even full of mystery. She’s found spiritual insight and even practice well outside of Mormonism while simultaneously keeping that “fixed foot” in the Restored Gospel. In a real way, she’s living Joseph Smith’s injunction to “receive truth, let it come from whence it may.” Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’re super excited to share this week’s episode with you. Our interview was with Dan McClellan, a Bible scholar who began sharing his insights and scholarship on TikTok in 2021, and immediately began racking up millions of views and hundreds of thousands of followers. One of the reasons people seem to resonate with Dan’s content is that he makes traditionally difficult and obscure topics extremely accessible — if you watch any of his videos, you’ll see what we mean, but even those who are pretty unfamiliar with the worlds of the Old or New Testaments will be able to immediately gain helpful and fascinating new understanding from Dan’s videos. In our interview, Dan shares a bit of story about how he got started, including that one of the reasons he began sharing content on social media was that he saw that people would use outdated or incorrect assumptions about the Bible, or the interpretation of scripture generally, to justify power dynamics that placed themselves at the top. Dan believes that scripture should never be weaponized — and that good scholarship can help us understand how to use scripture in a healthier way. For those that wonder why we might want to learn the details of the Bible if we primarily want to engage it devotionally, Dan gives an intriguing answer — the more we learn, the more foreign we’ll realize the Bible is, and the more uncomfortable we’ll become. And the more uncomfortable we are, the more we’re forced to grapple with problems and contradictions — something we’ve found can be a truly meaningful struggle that takes one “further up and further in” to a life of deep faith. Dan received his bachelor’s degree from BYU in ancient Near Eastern studies, then received a masters in Jewish studies at the University of Oxford, a masters in biblical studies in 2013, and a PhD in religion and religious studies from the University of Exeter. From 2013 to 2023, Dan worked as a scripture translation supervisor for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, before leaving to focus on creating more original audio and video content. You can find Dan’s TikTok channel at @maklelan, or check out his brand new podcast, Data over Dogma, on all the major podcast platforms. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In June 2015, a white supremacist entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and murdered 9 members of the church during a Bible study. During the first court hearing, a number of family members of victims said that they forgave the murderer, Dylann Roof. This act of forgiveness shocked many people. Some people were shocked by witnessing such an act of Christian charity. Others were shocked because they thought expressing forgiveness for such an act, especially so quickly, was wrong, and was only perpetuating the violence on the community under attack.  In his new book, Forgiveness: An Alternative Account, Harvard minister Matthew Potts draws upon this event and others to explore the deep complexity and transformative power of forgiveness. As he shares in today’s conversation with Zach Davis, forgiveness is less about settling debts of harm and more about learning to move forward in new life, even if our wounds never fully heal. Matthew Potts is the lead minister at Harvard University’s Memorial Church and the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard Divinity School. His research and teaching focuses on sacramental and moral theology, religion and literature, and preaching. He is the author of two books, Cormac McCarthy and the Signs of Sacrament and Forgiveness: An Alternative Account. He is also co-host of the podcast "Harry Potter and the Sacred Text". Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For today’s episode, we thought we’d bring you a really special story that we think we can all learn from, especially during this Easter season as we ponder concepts like redemption and new life. Our guest was Dave Durocher, the Executive Director of The Other Side Academy in Salt Lake City. If you’re an especially up-to-date listener, or you went to Restore last year, you’ve heard a little bit about The Other Side’s story from Joseph Grenny, Dave’s partner and the Academy’s Chairman. But with Dave, you’ll get to hear about “the other side” of The Other Side. By the time he was 38, Dave had been to prison four times for a total of 15 years. Not long after his release, Dave was arrested again and facing a 29-year prison sentence — but there was one last chance to turn his life around. We’ll let Dave tell the rest of the story, but we can tell you that it’s just as wild and inspiring as you are imagining. Dave’s story seems to teach us that while we like to tell dramatic stories of conversion and change, the reality is that there are many lives in which God seems to be doing slow, patient, redemptive work. The manner in which it happens and the timeline it’s on can be as surprising as Jesus’s resurrection was to his disciples; the journey can be excruciating, but as Terryl and Fiona Givens are so quick to point out — God never seems to give up on anyone. It’s clear that Dave is now doing exactly what he was meant to do all along — and there may have been no other way to get there. Also, quick note about this episode- there's actually a little bit of swearing. So if you are sensitive to that or have little ears who may be listening with you, we just want to make sure you have a heads up.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week we’re bringing you a conversation with Rachel Rueckert, a really amazing young writer who recently published a memoir called East Winds: A Global Quest to Reckon with Marriage. Rachel’s story is a fascinating one. Perhaps due to a highly tumultuous home life as a child, she inherited her suspicions about marriage early. Growing up in the Church, there was a constant drumbeat about marriage and eternal families, but those lessons always seemed to raise more questions for her than they did answers. Eventually, Rachel met her husband-to-be, Austin, and soon found herself on the adventure of a lifetime — a year-long backpacking trip on a shoestring budget that would serve as a honeymoon and bring her face to face with marriage in its stark reality. In between an escape from rabid dogs in the Amazon, accidentally stumbling upon democracy protests in Hong Kong, and a 500-mile trek through Spain in sandals, Rachel found a way to finally confront her deepest questions. This book is the incredibly insightful and beautifully written result, and we feel lucky to have, in a sense, gone in this journey with her. In our conversation with Rachel, we were able to explore her “quest to reckon with marriage” as well as some other fascinating themes in the book: how does one learn to trust their intuition, or recognize the Spirit? How should life’s biggest decisions get made? And at Church in any community, how can we truly practice being brothers and sisters when we all have such different perspectives? We’re so excited to share this conversation with you, and are confident in saying that you really need to pick up Rachel’s book. It was published by BCC Press, and is available online at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

When BYU professor Eric Huntsman was growing up, he spent time among Catholics in Pittsburgh and Baptists in Alabama and came to love the different ways other Christian denominations worshiped Jesus. And one of his favorite ways that other Christians worshiped was during Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter Sunday. Over the years, Eric began incorporating many Holy Week traditions into his spiritual practice and found it helped him connect more deeply with the Savior and his atoning sacrifice.  To help other Latter-day Saints who may be interested in learning more about Holy Week and developing ways of celebrating it, Eric, along with co-author Trevan Hatch, has recently published a book called Greater Love Hath No Man: A Latter-day Saint Guide to Celebrating the Easter Season.  In today’s conversation, Zach Davis spoke with Eric about his journey as a disciple and scholar of Jesus, what traditional Holy Week commemoration looks like, and how Easter is a time when we can connect with our fellow Christian brothers and sisters. Eric Huntsman is a professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU. In April of 2023, Eric began a two and a half year appointment of the BYU Jerusalem Studies Program, from where he joined us for this conversation. After initially researching Roman history, Eric’s scholarly efforts have focused on the life and ministry of Jesus in the New Testament Gospels, especially the Gospel of John. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week we’re sharing with you one of the most popular presentations from our Restore gathering that happened last October  — a talk by Joseph Grenny called “The Other Side.” As a young father, Joseph was determined to have the perfect family. All of kids would be active, go on missions, go to BYU and be stalwart. But that dream was shattered when two of his sons got involved in drugs and crime. Eventually, one son overdosed and almost lost his life.  As a result of that grief and helplessness, Joseph began a spiritual journey that transformed his understanding of God, the atonement and the path to peace.  He eventually felt called to put these principles into action by creating a school for former felons seeking to transform their lives. Called The Other Side Academy, it is a remarkable organization and community located in downtown Salt Lake City that provides miraculous and life-changing hope and healing.  This was an absolute highlight for us at Restore and we’re so happy to share it with you. If you’d like to see Joseph’s presentation visually which is probably what we’d recommend since his slides are so compelling, you can head to the Faith Matters website or YouTube channel.  Joseph Grenny is a New York Times bestselling author of eight books, including the leadership and communication classic Crucial Conversations. He is a co-founder of Unitus Labs, an international nonprofit that has helped over 15 million of the world’s poorest to move toward self-reliance. And in 2015 he and his colleagues started The Other Side Academy, a 2 and a half year school for those with long histories of crime, addiction and homelessness. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For this week’s episode, we’re bringing you a story that we really think will uplift and inspire you. Our guest was Liz Shropshire, the founder of Peace Through Music. In our interview with her, Liz tells the story of how she got started teaching music to children in Kosovo who had been affected by the war and ethnic cleansing that took place there in the 1990s. She knew just two things: she could teach music, and she wanted to help: so she got on a plane and made her way to a refugee camp where she began teaching her first group of kids. There was no way Liz could foresee the broad and deep impact that this inspired work would eventually have — and she’ll share some of that with you today. Liz had tons of great insights to share, but one of the most memorable was that the environments in which children grow up can give them dramatically different worldviews. Liz has found that when a child grows up in war and without meaningful work or learning, the message they learn implicitly is that nothing matters. But by giving children ways to volunteer and serve, they can become leaders in their communities and begin to see that they can make a real difference for people. Liz also shared insights on how each of us can find our own unique ways to lift and serve in the world, and her advice boils down to something simple: just get to work, and trust that God will step in if we’re heading in the wrong direction. We want to send Liz a special thank you for coming on and sharing her inspiring story. If you’d like to contribute or help in some other way, check out Liz’s organization's website at https://www.peacethroughmusicinternational.org Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Several years ago, Matthew Holland, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s son, was on a sabbatical at Oxford University. One day, he passed by a door that said “Chaplain.” Intrigued, he decided to knock. Thus began a remarkable relationship with Andrew Teal, an Anglican priest and lecturer in theology at Pembroke College, Oxford. Since then, Andrew has developed a close friendship with Elder Holland, attended General Conference, given a BYU devotional address and is currently partnering with BYU to establish a center for faith and reconciliation at Oxford. In this episode, Zach Davis spoke with Andrew about his ongoing journey of friendship with the Latter-day Saint community, how we can build truly meaningful relationships with those who are different than us, and why, for Andrew, God’s infinite love for us remains inconceivable.  Andrew Teal is a chaplain, fellow and lecturer in theology at Pembroke College, Oxford University. He writes and teaches in many areas, including Historical & Systematic Theology, Early Christianity, and the arts. He is the author of many publications, including the 2013 book, The God-Man: Athanasius in Early Christianity. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

** To help, head to https://www.toukrainewithlove.org ** It’s been exactly a year since the world received the shocking news that Russian troops had invaded Ukraine, and exactly a year since the lives of millions of Ukrainian people changed forever. As news of troop movements, cities under siege, refugee crises and all kinds of geopolitical saber-rattling has come to those of us outside Ukraine, many of us have gone through varying stages of shock, dismay, and fear. But what have been harder to come by than news are stories: the stories of families whose lives have been upended, of women and men who have displayed true heroism, and of the bright light of miracles, big and small, shining through the darkness of war. And today, we’re bringing you a few of those stories, starting with the story of Svitlana Miller and her remarkable organization, To Ukraine With Love. This is an organization we’ve gotten to know over the past several months and have been astounded at the sheer effectiveness of the work they’re doing: providing immediate needs like food, sleeping bags, and generators — even building homes for people displaced by the war. We’ve been stunned by the impact of each dollar they’ve raised, all of which goes 100% to direct aid in Ukraine, not to wages for team members or any other expense. Svitlana Miller is a native Ukrainian who founded To Ukraine With Love  once she saw the immediate the needs of her friends, family, and country. She had been running an international education agency from the United States since 2009, and with her team and contacts in Ukraine, Svitlana was able to mobilize aid in a remarkably short amount of time. Svitlana was joined in this conversation by her team member Nancy Cadjan, who has over a decade of experience working with the Global 500 C-Suite and the heads of HR in the biggest organizations in the world. She lived in Russia in the 1990s and has been connected to Eastern Europe for the past 30 years and immediately jumped in to help with both feet when this crisis began. We were honored to have these two on, because they’ve been instrumental in helping us be more connected to Ukraine. Through them, we’ve met families whose homes have been literally destroyed in a moment by direct missile hits, and we’ve been able to learn from and connect with on-the-ground heroes who have changed everything about their work and lives to help relieve suffering. We really believe that these two, and this organization, are remarkable in the work that they’re doing and the impact they’re having. If you listen to this episode, and feel moved to help, you too can be a part of their direct relief efforts, getting food on tables and roofs over heads. You can find out how to help or get in touch at toukrainewithlove.org. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, you’re going to hear a really special episode. It’s a conversation with Melissa Inouye and Kate Holbrook that took place last summer, not long before Kate’s passing in August 2022. We spoke with Kate and Melissa about an amazing new book that they co-edited called Every Needful Thing: Essays on the Life of the Mind and the Heart. In their book, Kate and Melissa gathered so many remarkable Latter-day Saint women who are true leaders in their fields, including academics, psychology, medicine, law, and many more. These women also represent countries around the world; it’s a truly diverse book and gives wonderful insight into how broad the definition of “Latter-day Saint” can be. Kate and Melissa talked through so many important questions with us, including how we can belong exactly as we are and how we may have more choice in the matter of belonging than we think we do; how it’s important to be thoughtful as we think about change and progress in a global Church; and perhaps most importantly, how we can reconcile both mind and spirit as we live our lives. As the book’s description puts it: “Instead of pushing us to choose between faith and reason, love and law, truth within the restored gospel and truth in the wider world of God’s children, these writers urge us to seek ‘anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report’ and learn to live in a world of complexity and abundance.” Melissa received AB and PhD degrees from Harvard University. She is a senior lecturer in Asian studies at the University of Auckland and a historian at the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Kate received a BA from Brigham Young University, an MTS from Harvard Divinity School, and a PhD from Boston University. At the time of her death, Kate was the Academic Outreach Director at the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where she focused on women’s history. We’re really grateful that we got to hold this conversation with these two, especially at the time we did. Kate was an influence for beauty, truth, and goodness wherever she went, including on us at Faith Matters. And for those interested in furthering Kate’s work — when she passed away, a scholarship was set up in her honor, which anyone can donate to at  https://www.kateholbrook.org/scholarship/ This new book, Every Needful Thing is available on Amazon and at Deseret Book. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re sharing another one of our favorite presentations from our Restore conference, given by Jennifer Finlayson-Fife and called Developing Sexual Wholeness. In her talk, Jennifer brilliantly laid out human sexuality in terms of development, in the same way we might talk about adult development or spiritual development. Jennifer teaches that in its earliest stages, our sexuality is egocentric and focused on ourselves; eventually, moves into a social stage with deeper awareness of others and concerned with belonging, and finally, into a self-authoring stage, where we both know our own mind and move beyond self-preoccupation and into expansive love. Jennifer is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with a Ph.D in Counseling Psychology from Boston College, where she wrote her dissertation on LDS women and sexuality. She teaches online courses and live workshops to individuals and couples seeking to develop their capacity for deeper emotional and sexual intimacy.  Additionally, she offers limited private and group coaching services to individuals and couples who have benefitted from her podcasts and courses and are looking for more direct input on improving their lives and relationships.  She is frequent contributor on the subjects of sexuality, relationships, and spirituality to many Latter-day Saint themed blogs, magazines, and podcasts. You can find her podcast “Conversations with Dr. Jennifer,” on major podcast platforms, and find out more about her work at finlayson-fife.com. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week's guest is Richard Bushman, who is simply one of the most important scholarly voices ever in the Latter-day Saint tradition. Of course, Richard has been interviewed many times over the years, and we wanted to make sure that we covered new ground while asking for his perspective on some of the questions that have propelled and perplexed us throughout our faith journey. So in this very wide-ranging conversation, Richard spoke about his own early journey from agnosticism to faith; why learning history, and learning from history, are so important; the revelatory process, including his experience giving many patriarchal blessings; the legacy of Rough Stone Rolling, and even why he wants to live in a world where there could be such a thing as gold plates. Richard received his AM, AB, and PhD in the history of American civilization from Harvard University. Through the years he has taught at Harvard, BYU, Boston University, the University of Delaware, and Columbia. He married his wife, Claudia Lauper Bushman, in August 1955, and together they have four sons and two daughters. He’s written many books, including, of course, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, which has been called “the crowning achievement of the new Mormon history.” Richard served a mission New England and Atlantic Canada, and his Church callings over the years include seminary teacher, bishop, stake president, and stake patriarch. Richard is also the co-founder and Chairman of Center for Latter-day Saint Arts, a project that is incredibly important to him; you’ll hear him discuss in the episode why he believes that art is the next frontier for the Church, and why he’s so excited about what’s to come. The Center will be having a large festival in 2024; to stay up to date with that project or to donate, head to centerforlatterdaysaintarts.org. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For today’s episode, we were honored to bring back the inimitable Terryl Givens. Terryl and his son Nathaniel have recently released a new book, called Into the Headwinds: Why Belief Has Always Been Hard  — And Still Is. This is a remarkable book and addresses some of life’s most profound questions, especially as they pertain to the modern world. Terryl and Nathaniel argue that though many of us see faith as “hard” in our scientific and rational age — but the reality is that for many years faith may have been too easy. People of faith, and Christians in particular, have long benefited from being a part of the in-crowd—since Rome adopted Christianity as its official religion, it’s been quite comfortable to call oneself a Christian. But Terryl and Nathaniel say that that may have produced a more fragile discipleship, and one that focused more on how we believe than on how we live. So in this conversation, we dived into all of this with Terryl — including how he defines faith, the limits of agency, how reckoning with our own biases is key to our own spiritual life, and how we can look well outside our own tradition to find examples of true discipleship. We’re sure that most of you know Terryl, but just in case: Terryl Givens is a Neal L. Maxwell Senior Fellow at Brigham Young University. He formerly held the University of Richmond's Jabez A. Bostwick Chair of English, where he was professor of literature and religion. He is the author and coauthor of numerous books, including All Things New, The God Who Weeps, and The Crucible of Doubt. Nathaniel Givens, Terryl’s co-author on this book, has been published in First Things, the Deseret News, and RealClearReligion on the topics of faith and politics. With graduate degrees in economics and systems engineering, Nathaniel works as a data analyst and entrepreneur. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For today’s episode, we spoke with Kristian Heal.  BYU’s Maxwell Institute has just released an amazing new volume of research called Ancient Christians, that offers remarkable insights into Christianity’s earliest centuries. It’s intended for Latter-day Saints, but based on the best scholarship available to give us a glimpse into what these ancient Christians believed,  how they worshiped, and the ways in which they saw and experienced the world. Kristian Heal was one of the editors of this volume, and wrote the chapter that we spoke with him about, called Preaching Christ. In his chapter, Kristian explores several fascinating topics that we got to ask him about, including the ritual of baptism, and what were referred to as “the deep mysteries of baptism,” what sabbath worship looked like early on, and how he deals with the concept of “apostasy” and “restoration,” including how we can view the evolution of Christianity without seeing it through an “us vs. them” paradigm. And for those of you just being introduced to Kristian and his work: he’s a Research Fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. He received a BA in Jewish History and Hebrew from University College London, an MSt in Syriac studies from the University of Oxford, and a PhD in Theology from the University of Birmingham. As we study the New Testament this year, we actually hope to bring you more of the insights that the Maxwell Institute has shared through this book. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re excited to share with you another presentation from our Restore conference, and one that we think was super memorable to everyone who attended. It was given by our friend Jared Halverson, and called “Don’t Let a Good Faith Crisis Go to Waste.” In it, Jared shares his experiences as a scholar, teacher, mentor, and person of faith who’s been through — and helped others work through — faith crises and faith journeys of all types. And what we loved about it was he completely removes “fear” from the experience of faith crisis — for Jared, not only is faith crisis “ok,” it’s actually a sacred space that many people have even found necessary for their own continued progress on the path of faith. While honoring many of the developmental faith frameworks that have helped so many, Jared brings his own to the table: a simple 3-stage model that he calls “creation, fall, atonement.” As you listen, you’ll hear the depth of this framework and understand why it can be such a useful map for many people as they experience shifts in their faith. Tim and I really related to what Jared had to say here, especially because we consider our own faith crises gifts we wouldn’t give up for anything — and Jared honors the “crisis” part of it while pointing to something even more beautiful on the other side. Jared is an associate professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, and has taught religion courses at the high school and college level since 1998. He studied history and religious education at BYU and earned a PhD in American religious history at Vanderbilt University, focusing on secularization, faith loss, and anti-religious rhetoric. He is frequently involved with interfaith dialogue, has been a featured speaker in both devotional and academic settings across the country. He also hosts a popular YouTube channel and podcast called “Unshaken.” Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we’re bringing back a couple of our favorite guests and close friends, McArthur Krishna and Bethany Brady Spalding. McArthur and Bethany have just released a new book titled: In the Image of Our Heavenly Parents: A Couples’ Guide to Creating a More Divine Marriage. Bethany and McArthur have done super interesting and important work with this book — it uses the model of “divine partnership,” based on the doctrine of Heavenly Parents, to inspire couples to create powerful and fulfilling partnerships in their own marriages. They do so in each chapter with sections that they call “prophetic counsel,” mining the rich resources we have from Church leaders that point to true equality and partnership in marriage, as well as “professional expertise,” allowing marriage and family therapists to help couples find practical ways to make that ideal a reality. The book also functions like a workbook with lots of practices that help us understand our own values and goals for our relationships: we really think it’s something lots of Latter-day Saint couples would enjoy going through together. It really is something special that they’ve put together, and we’re grateful they sat down with us to talk about it. McArthur Krishna has a master’s degree in communication from BYU, and also co-owned Free Range, which is an award-winning marketing business focused on telling social justice stories. In 2011, she moved to India and started writing books, which she’s been doing ever since. Bethany Brady Spalding has a Master of Public Health from the University of London, and has worked for both large, international organizations and small, local non-profits to advance children’s health and wellness in South Africa, India, and the USA. She calls Richmond, Virginia home where she runs school gardens, writes books, and raises three girls. This book was published as an e-book and can be purchased at dstreetpress.com. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, we were honored to bring on a guest we’ve hoped to have on for years — Susan Cain. In 2013, she released her book Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking.  But today, we brought Susan on to talk about her new book, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, another masterwork that reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and has been praised by Brene Brown, Glennon Doyle, and Adam Grant. This book touched us deeply with its key truth: that somehow, feelings of deep pain and deep joy are often intimately linked. In Susan’s words, “Bittersweetness is a tendency to states of long­ing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute aware­ness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy at the beauty of the world. It recognizes that light and dark, birth and death—bitter and sweet—are forever paired.” In this conversation with Susan, we talked about how sadness may be the strongest agent available to us for connection to others, how embracing bittersweetness may be the antidote to toxic perfectionism, and how longing is the very essence of faith. Susan’s books have been translated into 40 languages, and spent over eight years on The New York Times best seller list. Fast Company magazine has named Susan one of its Most Creative People in Business. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. Her TED talks on the power of introverts and the hidden power of sad songs and rainy days have been viewed over 40 million times. She is an honors graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School. She lives in the Hudson River Valley with her husband, two sons and golden doodle, Sophie. You can find out more about Susan and her work at susancain.net. Check out Susan's 30-day “Bittersweet: Practices and Reflections course” at courses.susancain.net. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

As we imagine many of you have, we’ve been thinking a lot about Jesus these last few weeks. From the nativity we set up in our living room to the movies we’re watching to the hymns we’re singing in Church, this is a time that in so many beautiful ways, makes him more prominent in our lives and minds. And one question naturally comes up from there: when we imagine Jesus, what do we see? For many of us, it’s probably heavily influenced by the art we grew up with. If you’re like us, you might even be imagining the famous Del Parson painting, featuring the red-robed Jesus with piercing blue eyes. But as today’s guest, Esther Candari, points out, some of this imagery strays quite far from what Jesus, a middle-eastern man born 2000 years ago, probably looked like. But she’s also quick to point out that historical accuracy may not be the point either — none of us do know what Jesus looked like. And if Jesus is the Savior of the World, then couldn’t there be room for diverse images Jesus in religious art that allows members of a similarly diverse, worldwide Church to resonate deeply and personally with it? That’s what we spoke about with Esther in today’s episode, and we found her perspectives fascinating. To give you just a bit more about her background, Esther Hi’ilani Candari is an Asian-American artist and educator from Hawai’i. She has an BFA from BYU-H, an MFA from Liberty University, studied at the New York Academy of Art, and interned with Joseph Brickey. One of her favorite projects so far was working on the Rome Temple Visitors Center mural with Joseph. Her work can be found in galleries and bookstores across Utah including Deseret Book. In addition to her studio work, she teaches art courses for Southern Virginia University, manages programming for Writ & Vision Gallery, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Dialogue Foundation. In her ward she serves as the first counselor in the Relief Society Presidency.   — Lee Correia is the artist we mentioned: https://ascartistry.myshopify.com/products/heavenly-mother-print Tips from Esther: You choose what is displayed in your lessons and homes. We are a home centered church. Teaching the Savior’s Way, the current official teacher’s manual for church curriculum, urges instructors to, “Consider how using music, stories, pictures, and other forms of art can invite the Spirit, clarify gospel principles in memorable ways, and help learners relate the gospel to their everyday lives.”Buy from artists directly.Always credit art when you repost it and if you are using it for any materials/products, even if it is just for church. Check with the artist first.Find ways to support artists of color! It doesn’t just have to be cash. Personal example, giving educational information and experiences freely. If you know them personally, offer to watch their kids if they are a mom artist. Donate supplies. Volunteer what skills/resources you have to help them promote their work. Volunteering to support group activities like I AM.If you are an artist, create art that is genuine to your personal experience.Deseret Books functions as a business, vote with your dollars.Write letters to decision making entities, such as the president of Deseret Book, or members of the temple art committee. Include notes on what was done well as well as what needs to improve. A little bit of strategy can go a long way and sometimes people who haven’t done the work that you have to see biases in art need to be shown where they got it right and where they got it wrong so they know what to aim for more frequently. Have open conversations with your ward/stake leaders aCome to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today we’re sharing with you one of our absolute favorite presentations from our Restore gathering that happened in October  — a talk by Patrick Mason that he called “Envisioning the Restoration’s Third Century.” As we prepare for our Church to enter into this next era, it’s become increasingly clear that something fundamental has changed; people inside and outside the Church are seeing the world and their place in it in different ways. Patrick points out that the world itself is rapidly becoming more secular, or, at the very least, less religious. The response of some of our Christian brothers and sisters has been to advocate for a withdrawal from the world, the creation of a religious counterculture set up opposite mainstream secular society. But Patrick advocates for something different here — he says that even if that were possible, it’s probably not a good idea, and it’s certainly not what Jesus asked us to do. Not only did Christ’s incarnation set a literal example of going “into the world,” he also told his disciples explicitly to do so in his great commission.  Patrick also reminds us that we’re to do that Christian work not with fear, but with a spirit of love — following Christ’s example again by ministering to the broken-hearted, the betrayed, and the marginalized — and to those affected by war, poverty, racism, or any other type of prejudice or violence. That’s how Patrick believes we can truly fulfill our mission as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and participate in the audacious work of “saving the world.” You’ll also hear Dawn Dimick, who’s recently become the first woman to be approved by the Church to be an army chaplain, ask some really insightful follow-up questions to Patrick after his presentation. This was an absolute highlight for us at Restore and we’re so happy to share it with you. If you’d like to see Patrick’s presentation visually, along with his slides, you can head to the Faith Matters YouTube channel. And of course, digital access to our entire Restore gathering is available for purchase at faithmatters.org/restore. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In Japanese culture there is a beautiful practice called Kintsugi, which translates roughly to “golden repair”. This is how it works: when a piece of ceramic breaks, like a teacup or plate, instead of gluing the broken pieces back together so that the cracks are hidden, a special gold or silver adhesive is used so that the fractures are emphasized and even celebrated.  In this episode, Zach Davis spoke with Makoto Fujimura, an artist and writer who has reflected deeply on the meaning of kintsugi and more broadly about the relationship of art and faith. In their conversation, they explore how beauty can help us draw near to God, the role of creativity in bridging our differences, and how we can live with hope even in times of despair. Makoto Fujimura is a leading contemporary artist whose art has been described by David Brooks of New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time”. Fujimura is also an arts advocate, writer, and speaker and was recently awarded the Kuyper prize for his religious engagement in matters of social, political, and cultural significance. He is the author of several books, including Art+Faith: A Theology of Making. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We couldn’t be more excited about today’s episode, and it’s with someone we’ve wanted to get on the podcast for years — Peter Enns.  Pete is a well-known bible scholar and is the Abram S. Clemens professor of Bible Studies at Eastern University in Pennsylvania.  In recent years, Pete has become well known for several highly popular books, including How the Bible Actually Works, The Bible Tells Me So, and the book we discussed with him today: The Sin of Certainty. In addition to his research and writing, Pete co-hosts the podcast The Bible for Normal People.   In The Sin of Certainty, Pete opens up about his own faith journey, including what he calls “uh-oh” moments — those moments that, as Pete says, “wreak havoc with our neatly arranged thoughts of God, the world, and our place in it.”  He makes the argument that a faith preoccupied with correct thinking can quickly become exhausting as we try to fit our “uh-oh” moments into our previous ways of thinking and believing. Pete insists that there’s a different way — the way of listening to our “uh-oh” moments and learning from them, even letting them change us  — and finding our faith transform from a rigid certainty about God to a radical trust in God. We really think you’re going to enjoy this conversation, and we’re super grateful to Pete for coming on. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Everything seemed to be going right for Jason Portnoy. While studying engineering at Stanford, his career took a sharp and unexpected turn upward when he met the CEO of a new startup — a company that became PayPal. He was soon offered a job, jumped on the rocketship and didn’t look back. The years that followed led him to success after success, and Jason became a prominent figure in the high-flying worlds of tech and venture capital. The money and opportunities were endless. In the meantime, Jason got married and had his first child. He was living the dream. But not everything was as it seemed. In fact, Jason was living a secret double life; one that had started with online pornography and led to a dark world of lies, deceptions, extramarital affairs, envelopes full of money, and casual hookups. Eventually, the two worlds collided, causing Jason to rethink everything: where he was, how he got there, and where he was going. Jason has since turned his life completely around — largely influenced by his life coach, Jason learned that shame thrives in secrecy, that taking radical responsibility for one’s life really can change everything, and that in very literal ways, the truth really does set us free. He’s emerged with a new sense of spirituality and mission, and finds himself on a quest to live a life full of love and service. Jason recently released a new memoir called Silicon Valley Porn Star, a deeply vulnerable and moving book. And in this episode, he joined us to tell his story. We’re deeply grateful to Jason for his willingness to share what he’s been through and what he’s learned.  This episode is being released jointly with Jody Moore from Better Than Happy, and was co-hosted by Jody and Tim. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

A few years ago, we were invited by some good friends to see a Christmas concert their kids were participating in. We were happy to be invited, and of course, wanted to support our friends and their kids! So we headed to Salt Lake City expecting a fun evening. But when we walked into Abravanel Hall, we knew something was going on that we didn’t understand. The place was buzzing — it was packed full of people, with a tangible excitement in the air. We took our seats, and when the lights went down, nearly 1000 musicians flooded the stage and filled the balconies around us. When the music began, we were hit with a wall of sound unlike anything we’d ever heard. The quality of instrumentation, singing, and arrangement was truly incredible — by the time the concert was over, it felt like every person in attendance had been profoundly moved. That was our first introduction to Millennial Choirs and Orchestras, known as MCO, founded in 2007 by Brett and Brandon Stewart — and now home to over 4,000 musicians in five different chapters. Brett and Brandon are brothers, both with incredible musical resumes. Brett received a doctorate degree in choral conducting with cognate studies in composition from the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music, a master’s degree in choral conducting from California State University, Long Beach, and a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from BYU. All in all, he’s been teaching music for nearly three decades, and is an accomplished conductor, composer, pianist, and vocalist. Brandon received a bachelor’s degree from BYU before going on to receive a Master’s Degree from Juilliard, and being invited to complete a doctorate program and teach at Juilliard — before choosing to instead join his brother Brett and found MCO. In addition to his talents as a conductor, composer, and vocalist, Brandon has been second-prize winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition and the first prize winner of the MTNA national collegiate piano competition. Brett and Brandon tell the  founding story in the episode itself, but here we’ll just say that these two have felt guided each step of this journey over the last fifteen years, including in some difficult moments that have turned into remarkable blessings for the choir and for audiences around the world. We’re releasing this episode this week because over the next few weeks, MCO will be conducting its Christmas Concert series, with concerts in Utah, Arizona, California, Texas, and Idaho. You can still find tickets to the concerts and we can promise that you won’t be disappointed. To get those tickets, head to millennial.org. You can also find a book about the MCO story, called Divine Orchestration,  written by our friend Greg Trimble and available on Amazon. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

*This discusses the topic of sexual abuse and prevention of sexual abuse. Please use discretion in determining whether or not this is a suitable episode for you or for anyone listening in.* Sexual abuse and sexual violence are shockingly prevalent. In the United States, about 1 in 4 girls, and 1 in 13 boys experience child sexual abuse. In their lifetimes, over half of women and 1 in 3 men will experience sexual violence. And it’s remarkably common for child sexual abuse to go undisclosed for decades: One study showed that the average age at the time of reporting child sex abuse was 52 years old. As Latter-day Saints, we’re encouraged, to “do everything we can to prevent abuse and to protect and help victims,” Pres. Nelson re-emphasized this in his conference talk last month. we hope this conversation can help us all do that more effectively.  Our guests are Sage Williams and Rebecca Bettilyon (please listen to the podcast intro to find out more about Rebecca and Sage). With Sage and Rebecca, we cover issues like the prevalence of abuse, who perpetrators often are, how to recognize abuse, the body's autonomic response system and how we could teach the law of chastity to prevent feelings of shame, and how our communities can be one of the best tools we have in preventing abuse. All of us recognize that our comments in the conversation today are raw, real, imperfect and incomplete. We’re all still learning how to articulate our thoughts and feelings on these difficult topics in public, and together with Rebecca and Sage, we ask for some grace and understanding of our intent to inspire healing for everyone impacted by sexual abuse. NOTES: CDC statistics for adults and childrenPolicy Brief, including average age of disclosing sexual abuse)Shame vs guiltReference to children getting sex education from pornographyConversation prompt to prepare children for an encounter with pornography:Reference for the quote on forgiveness: Neil L. Andersen, The Divine Gift of Forgiveness, Deseret Book Co., 2019, p. 225. Abuse.churchofjesuschrist.orgLiahona articles on consent, sexual assaultFor the Strength of Youth article on relationship boundaries:Friend article on body safety: The Mama Bear EffectCome to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In 1945 fifty-two papyrus texts were found concealed in an earthenware jar buried in the Egyptian desert. They turned out to be early Christian writings, some dating all the way back to the first few centuries AD. Elaine Pagels, a historian of religion at Princeton university, has dedicated her life to studying and interpreting these texts and it turns out that there are some surprisingly powerful connections between some of the teachings in these ancient texts and the doctrines of the Restored Gospel.  In this episode, Zach Davis spoke with Elaine about her life and research, the importance of wrestling with the big questions of existence, and how religion can open transformative new relationships and perspectives. Elaine Pagels is a historian of religion and the Harrington Spear Paine Professor at Princeton University. Her ground-breaking books include The Gnostic Gospels, The Origin of Satan, and the New York Times best-seller Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas. Her most recent book tells her own story and why she loves investigating the history of religion: Why Religion? A Personal Story. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

This week, Faith Matters is bringing you a story that defies expectations so completely that you really have to hear it straight from the source. Our guest was Daryl Davis, who’s easily one of the most fascinating and inspiring people we’ve ever met. Daryl has spent his career as a professional musician, including decades playing alongside rock and roll legends Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis. He’s a master of multiple instruments, but specializes on the piano, where he blends unbelievable talent, skill, and passion to create truly incredible music. Make no mistake however, there's much more to Daryl than just music. Daryl first experienced anti-Black racism from strangers as a young boy, and it inspired a lifelong question: “how can you hate me when you don’t even know me?” Over many years, that question eventually led him to not just meet, but befriend members and leaders of Ku Klux Klan: as those friendships have blossomed, love and respect have grown in the place of hate. Daryl now estimates that he’s been instrumental in persuading over 200 white supremacists to leave their hate groups.  Along with his story, Daryl shares a provocative message: that we should continuously allow people with incorrect or even abhorrent viewpoints to air their opinions. In Daryl’s view, ignorance is the root of fear, hate, and destruction. And only by remaining together in the same cultural spaces, and even actively seeking out and conversing with those we disagree with, can we counter the root cause — ignorance — with education and exposure to better views. That’s how Daryl says we can then eliminate the symptoms of fear, hate, and destruction. Daryl has told his story on platforms like The Joe Rogan Experience and TedX, where he’s garnered tens of millions of  views and downloads.  We want to thank the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, known by their acronym “FAIR,” who introduced us to Daryl and made this interview happen. FAIR is nonpartisan organization dedicated to advancing civil rights and liberties for all Americans, and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding, and humanity. Daryl is a Senior Fellow and Advisory Board Member at FAIR, and you can find out more about their foundation at fairforall.org.  Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For this episode, we were happy to bring on someone that’s been on our list for a long time  — scholar and writer James Goldberg. James is a fascinating person and Latter-day Saint, and brings a truly unique perspective to our faith. In his words, his family is Jewish on one side, Sikh on the other, and Mormon in the middle. He works as a historian at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is also a poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, documentary filmmaker, scholar, and translator. He’s won the Association for Mormon letters awards in both the Drama and Novel categories, for different works, and has been a finalist in the Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, and Criticism categories. He’s also one of a rotating cast of scholars on BYUtv’s Come Follow Up series.  Our conversation was wide-ranging and it turns out James has interesting insights to share on just about anything — so we covered several topics, including how Latter-day Saints can approach the Old Testament, wrestling with other difficult scripture or history, and the virtue of the slow, distilled process of creating poetry. We also discussed James’s book of poetry, Let Me Drown with Moses and its provocative title, including the virtue of choosing faith in a chaotic world while maintaining our own moral compass. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

We’ve been thinking and talking a lot recently about a phenomenon that sometimes happens and that we’ve occasionally felt ourselves — something you might call a “spiritual whiplash.” It can happen when we’re really uplifted by something: maybe a book we’ve read, an inspiring group of people we’ve been around, or even a transcendental experience in nature. We’re feeling fed, and our cup is full… but then, we come back down to earth. We’re faced with the realities of the mundane, and the imperfections and humanity of the people all around us, including ourselves.  So — what are we supposed to do when this happens? Is it realistic to expect to stay in this spiritually uplifted state all the time? What about when even our Church meetings don’t feel like they’re recharging our batteries, but instead are draining them? When we’re feeling fed by something, how do we take that feeling with us to share in our everyday settings and communities, rather than resenting the contrast between them? How can we look at members of our communities as God might, rather than judging them for not meeting our standards — or even judging them for what we perceive as them judging us? To discuss these issues, we brought back a trusted friend and mentor, Patrick Mason. Patrick is the Leonard Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, and a frequent guest on this show and advisor to Faith Matters. He’s spoken and written quite a bit on this topic, including in his book Planted. He was an amazing conversation partner as we worked our way through some of these questions. We can’t thank him enough for coming back on. As a note, we referenced our recent Restore gathering several times in the conversation, including presentations that were given by Brian McLaren, Jared Halverson, and Jody Moore. We also reference a few faith development frameworks that you’ll hear, including Brian’s which you can learn more about in his book Faith After Doubt. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In this episode, we were honored to bring back our friend Brian McLaren to talk about his brand new book, Do I Stay Christian? In this new book, Brian addresses a real question which underlies a startling sociological truth: people are leaving Christianity at a rapid pace. In fact, Pew Research shows that today, about 64% people in the US identify as Christian, after falling rapidly from a high of 90% just a few decades back. Brian’s book takes an unflinching look at the reasons people might leave Christianity, before spending a lot of time on why someone might choose to stay, as Brian has. But you won’t find any “apologetics” here — rather, Brian looks at staying as part of a broader faith journey — one that can take us out of a simple world of black-and-white into a new “stage” of our faith: one filled with paradox, mystery, and love. In one of the most compelling and memorable parts of the book, Brian asks “What if you’re really trying to change stages, not religions?” While truly not prescribing any particular path for readers, Brian shows how all people of good will — including those with doubts, questions, and criticisms — can do so much to benefit their institutions and traditions if they choose to stay. We think this book does so much good work to paint compelling reasons for doing so, and to help illustrate a path forward. Brian McLaren an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is a faculty member of The Living School and podcaster with Learning How to See, which are part of the Center for Action and Contemplation. We’d also recommend going back and listening to Brian’s first appearance on the Faith Matters podcast in episode #67, where we discuss his book Faith After Doubt. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In this episode, we got to speak with Carol Lynn Pearson about her new book, The Love Map: Saving Your Love Relationship and Incidentally Saving the World. Carol Lynn has been a powerful and well-known voice in the Latter-day Saint community for many years. She’s the author of several remarkable works, including the memoir Goodbye, I Love You, and the book of poetry Finding Mother God: Poems to Heal the World. Her full catalog of works is too impressive to list here, but one other highlight is that she wrote one of our very favorite primary songs: I’ll Walk with You, which was published as a children’s book in 2020. Carol Lynn will also be speaking with us at Restore, our upcoming gathering in Salt Lake City. Carol Lynn’s new book is a remarkable work of fiction, that, as Carol Lynn says, is also true. It’s the story of a young woman whose fraught relationship with her husband is reaching a breaking point just as she suffers traumatic injuries in a terrorist attack. But a vision she experiences while recovering gives her something remarkable and unexpected — a “map” that will serve as a guide to healing her most intimate relationship, and allow her to see each person in her life as God does. Though the book is intended for an audience much wider than just Latter-day Saints, its message resonated deeply with us, and Carol Lynn’s hard-won wisdom and remarkable gifts an artist were abundantly apparent throughout the book. We’d strongly encourage anyone hoping for healing in their relationships to pick it up — we really think you won’t regret it. You can find the book available on Amazon now. We want to extend a sincere thanks to Carol Lynn for coming on, and we hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

The Restoration occurred in a fascinating and complex religious and historical moment in American history, and knowing more about that context can help us more deeply appreciate the blessings and beauty of the Restored Gospel. One person at the forefront of expanding our knowledge of early American religious history is David Holland, a professor at Harvard Divinity School and also the son of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.  In today’s episode Zach Davis and Terryl Givens visited David in his Cambridge office to discuss a range of topics, including how to discern the hand of God in history, whether there’s something about Calvinist theology worth celebrating, and how the experience of being a parent might be the best insight of all into the nature of God.  David Holland is a Professor of New England Church History at Harvard Divinity School and a renowned scholar of American religious history. He earned a BA in history from BYU and a PhD from Stanford University. He is the author of Moroni: A Brief Theological Introduction, published by the Maxwell Institute and Sacred Borders: Continuing Revelation and Canonical Restraint in Early America, published by Oxford University Press in 2011. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For today’s episode, we were really excited to bring on Jason Olson, who, along with James Goldberg, is the author of a new memoir called The Burning Book. Jason’s story is truly fascinating: he was born into a reform Jewish household with a Jewish mother and a Christian father. As a child and young person, he was always drawn to God and to religion, and found himself very involved in both study and practice in his faith. After his Bar Mitzvah at age 13, he eventually encountered some Latter-day Saint friends who, after many hours of religious discussions over a long period of time, offered him a copy of The Book of Mormon with no real expectations. Afraid of what his family would think if they saw the book at home, and afraid of what his friends would think if they saw him carting it around, unread, he decided the best option would simply be to burn the book and  destroy the evidence. But just as he was about to do so, Jason had a moment of remarkable spiritual insight — and that’s where his truly unique story begins. Now a defense diplomat and policy officer with a Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic studies, Jason came on with us to share his remarkable insights about faith, religious conversion, and God’s expansive plans across all faiths and religions. The Burning Book was published by BCC Press, and you can find it on Amazon. 2023 Update: The Burning Book won the 2022 Association for Mormon Letters award in creative nonfiction. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For today’s episode, we were lucky enough to bring back Latter-day Saint philosopher and theologian Adam Miller to talk about his new book, Original Grace. Of the many incredible books we’ve read from Adam, this one, we think, might have the most potential to really change the way we engage God and the world. We’ll let Adam explain the major theses of the book, but we’ll just say that in many ways it entirely upends traditional understandings of concepts like justice, suffering, mercy, punishment, and, of course — grace. For anyone that has ever felt that they simply aren’t good enough, Adam mines Latter-day Saint scripture and teachings to show that it was never our job to “save ourselves.” As he puts it, “grace-filled partnership with Christ” was the plan all along. Adam even shares some recent scholarship that shows that one of our faith’s foundational scriptures about grace  — “it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” — has been misread and misunderstood so widely, and for so long, that its original meaning has been almost reversed. Adam Miller earned a BA in Comparative Literature from Brigham Young University and an MA and PhD in Philosophy from Villanova University. This book, Original Grace, was published by BYU’s Maxwell Institute and Deseret Book. Adam is the author of several others, including some of our favorites like Letters to a Young Mormon and An Early Resurrection. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In the past few decades, scholarship on the New Testament has opened up exciting new ways of understanding the context of the early followers of Jesus and has enabled new interpretations of the texts they wrote.  One of the leading scholars advancing our knowledge of early Christianity is Laura Nasrallah, a professor at Yale who specializes in New Testament texts and archaeology. In this conversation, Zach Davis and Terryl Givens visited Laura in her New Haven office to discuss topics like the role of women in the early Christian church, how to discern God’s hand in the messy complexity of history, and New Testament practices like speaking in tongues and baptism for the dead.  Laura Nasrallah is a Professor of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale University. Her research and teaching engage issues of gender, race, colonialism, status, and power and bring together New Testament and early Christian literature with the archaeological remains of the Mediterranean world. She is the author of the book Archaeology and the Letters of Paul. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

The Faith Matters family lost a dear friend this week. Kate Holbrook passed away after a long battle with cancer. Kate was a graceful light in our lives. Her strength, her courage, her wisdom, her intelligence and her gentle manner will be with us forever. Our thoughts, prayers and determined support go out to our good friend Sam Brown, Kate’s forever companion, and to their three daughters. In Kate’s memory and honor, we’re sharing this conversation that she had with Terryl Givens in 2018. The video was called “extraordinary women in Mormon history,” and Kate, of course, is one of them. As managing historian of women’s history at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints history department, Kate wrote, studied, and interpreted history full-time. Her major research interests were religion, gender, and food. Her primary professional activity was to discover, encourage, and celebrate women’s flourishing in the scholarly and spiritual realms. We’d encourage everyone who’d like to honor and further Kate’s legacy to donate to a scholarship fund that has been set up in her honor, and that was established by her, together with her family. It was Kate’s wish as she departed mortality that these funds serve to help the women of the Church to flourish in their scholarly and spiritual lives. Kate herself benefited from a similar gift (from Ruth Silver of Denver, Colorado) early in her scholarly career, when she and Sam had minimal financial resources, and she needed time and money to devote to the study of women and religion. She hoped that such giving would become more and more common over time. To contribute, please head to kateholbrook.org/scholarship. We love you, Kate, and we miss you. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

Today, we’re bringing you a really amazing story that we can’t wait for you to hear. It’s the story of Sam Chiou — a remarkable young man who is nonspeaking and autistic, and who was totally unable to communicate for the first fifteen years of his life. His family was unaware that despite being nonspeaking, he was hearing and understanding everything they were saying — and had so much that he wanted to share. We don’t want to tell the whole story here, but after this long period of struggle — and largely through the faith and determination of his mother, Mindy — Sam and the Chiou family had a real breakthrough that allowed him to begin to communicate for the first time through the use of a letterboard. Sam’s wisdom and insights — what he’s been thinking all along, but never been able to say — are truly moving. On this podcast, you’ll hear the voices of Sam’s mom, Mindy, and his sister, Julia, who help tell the story. Sam was also present for the interview. We also had the privilege of sending questions to Sam beforehand, which he took the time to answer and you’ll hear those near the end of the episode. For those that are watching on YouTube, you’ll be able to see what the use of the letterboard looks like in a brief segment after the episode ends. For those currently listening on audio, just head to our YouTube channel if you’d like to see that. We want to send a huge thanks to Sam, Mindy, and Julia for coming on and telling this remarkable story. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For decades, our understanding of how the brain works has advanced dramatically. Using new theories, methods and tools, like fMRI technology, scientists are beginning to reveal the mysteries of this truly remarkable and complex organ. One scientist on the cutting edge of this research is Michael Ferguson, a BYU grad who is now researching and teaching at Harvard.  For Michael, the most exciting result of all this new knowledge of the brain is how it might transform our spiritual lives and help us connect more fully to the divine. He is a pioneer in a field called neurospirituality and his research has been in part inspired by Latter-day Saint theology, in particular the idea that spirit and matter are on a continuum, not radically different substances. In this episode, Michael was interviewed by Zach Davis and Terryl Givens about these fascinating subjects, and the most important insights he’s gained from his research. Michael is an Instructor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School, a Lecturer at Harvard Divinity School, and a neuroscientist at the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He earned his Doctorate in Bioengineering at the University of Utah, after which he completed post-doctoral fellowships at Cornell University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

In this episode, we spoke with Allison Dayton from Lift and Love, an organization that focuses on strengthening Latter-day Saint LGBTQ families. We met Allison not long ago and were so impressed by the spirit and love she brings to every interaction. She tells her story in the episode itself, but she’s been deeply involved with the LGBTQ community for many years, first through her older brother Preston, and later through her son. In those interactions she’s lived through the deepest of tragedies, as well as the joy of love, acceptance, and unity. Because of the journey she’s been on, and the blessings that she says have come into her life because of her LGBTQ child, she wanted to do more to help other families, wards, and leaders support these remarkable children of our Heavenly Parents. That’s why she started Lift and Love, which has grown into a podcast, meetups, retreats, social media accounts, and even an online store where you can find lots of unique, simple and affordable ways to signal love and support to the LGBTQ community. You can find all of that at liftandlove.org. For us, Allison’s most resonant message was that an LGBTQ child, sibling, or family member of any kind is a true gift: there are so many blessings that come from having these amazing individuals in our lives and communities. That said, Allison expresses this message much better than we could, so we encourage you to listen to her share her feelings in the conversation! Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here. 

For today’s episode, we’re really excited to bring on Jared Halverson. Jared shares with us a really important concept he calls “proving contraries,” —something we’ve talked a little bit about on the podcast before using the term “polarities.” He spoke with us about how recognizing these polarities can help us understand our own strengths and weaknesses, how attributes that are positive, taken too far, almost always become problematic, and how wrestling with contraries is essential in a life full of growth and meaning. Jared Halverson is an associate professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, and has taught religion courses at the high school and college level since 1998. He studied history and religious education at BYU and earned a PhD in American religious history at Vanderbilt University, focusing on secularization, faith loss, and anti-religious rhetoric. He is frequently involved with interfaith dialogue, has been a featured speaker in both devotional and academic settings across the country. He also hosts a popular YouTube channel and podcast called “Unshaken.” We’re also really excited that Jared will be speaking at Restore, Faith Matters’ gathering taking place in October. You can find out more about that at faithmatters.org/restore. Come to Raising Little Saints: A Faith Matters Family Night! RSVP here.