A Thoughtful Faith - Mormon / LDS

Peter Bleakley has had an intriguing journey in Mormonism, born at BYU to British parents he grew up in England loving the Mormon theology and teachings and enjoying a life in the church that he treasures.   Of late he's less pleased with the church's departure from the Mormonism he came to love and has much to say these days about the seemingly uninspired corporatization of the church.  Yet, he remains on the pews, faithfully serving, but with hope that one day Mormonism will recapture the vision that once had his heart.

Direct download: Peter_Bleakley2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:22pm NZDT

Recently 16-year-old Abel Nelson's Sunday School Teacher asked her students to submit questions that they might have about the church.  Abel discusses these questions with host, Gina Colvin.

Direct download: Abel_Nelson.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:05pm NZDT

Recently released Bishop, Richard Ostler reflects on his ministry to the hundreds of young people on the fringes of the church in his YSA Ward in Magna, Utah.

Direct download: Richard_Ostler_on_2016-12-14_at_11.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:04pm NZDT

While in the United States LDS church finances are not publically accessible, this isn't the case in Commonwealth countries where the LDS church is usually registered as a charitable trust.  In this episode Chris Mace gives an overview of the annual financial reports of Canada, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland.  

Direct download: Chris_Mace_Level.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:38am NZDT

When Isabella Parker (Witchita, Kansas) was 14 years old she joined her school's Gay Straight Alliance and she submitted a profile to Ordain Women.  At the same time she was also called to be the Mia Maid Class President.  When her bishop discovered Isabella's social justice activities, things changed dramatically for her and her family.

Direct download: Isabella_Parker.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:51am NZDT

Part Two of Enmeshed Family Systems.  A discussion with psychoanalyst Wendy Christian about enmeshment and differentiation in the Mormon context.

Direct download: Enmeshed_Families_-Wendy_Christian.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:51pm NZDT

Part one of the Enmeshed Mormon Family Systems episode.  In this episode Lacey, Paula and Delilah discuss their experiences being in enmeshed families and they reflect on the effect on their family when their engagement with the church shifted or when they differentiated.

Direct download: Enmeshed_Families_Part_One.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:45pm NZDT

The Open Stories Foundation Podcast team gather together to discuss the fall-out over the US Elections.  They offer some advice on how to get through this somewhat divisive and challenging time.

Direct download: OSF_Hosts--Post_Election_Blues.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:39pm NZDT

A conversation with Mormon political commentators Brad Kramer, Joshua Madson, Mehrsa Baradaran about the US Presidential elections.  They tackle the question 'What happened to America?'  & 'What happened to the Mormons?'

Direct download: The_Mormon_Election_Autopsy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:44pm NZDT

Mica McGriggs, Kalani Tonga and Fatimah Salleh discuss what it means to be women of colour in an American church that so overwhelmingly voted for a candidate who leveraged American's deep-seated racism to win the 2016 Presidential election.

Direct download: 167_Racism_Mormonism_and_the_US_Presidential_Election.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:47pm NZDT

One of the core teachings of the LDS church is that everyone is born with an essential gender identity based on one's biological sex.    Either you are male or female.  Intersex upsets the notion that there are always clear biological sex distinctions.  Emily Quinn has XY chromosomes, she has no ovaries, no uterus but identifies as a girl - with testes, demonstrating how muddied the idea of the binary male/female can be.  

Direct download: Emily_Quinn.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:32pm NZDT

A discussion with Dakota Professor Elise Boxer about the Dakota Access Pipeline and the sacred work of protecting our environment in a world filled with corporate greed.

Direct download: Elise_Boxer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:09pm NZDT

A conversation with contemporary spiritual artist J.Kirk Richards about the power of art to create social disruption.

Direct download: 164_Kirk_Richards.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:31pm NZDT

In late October 2016 the LDS replaced their Mormons and Gays orphan/unofficial website with a new site linked to LDS.org.  While softer in tone Kimberly Anderson, Lisa Tensmeyer Hansen and Natasha Helfer Parker raise some important critical questions about its usefulness particularly in therapeutic contexts.

Direct download: 163-_Mormon_and_Gay-__A_response_to_the_LDS_Church_Website.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:54pm NZDT

What happens when a life that seemed so perfect implodes and you are left to reassemble everything?  Suzy Benson Billies tells her story about her recovery and growth and the joy that waiting for her on the other side of suffering.

Direct download: Suzy_Benson_Gillies.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:45am NZDT

Part two of a collaboration with Lindsay Hansen Park from 'A Year of Polygamy' where we discuss the new book 'The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy' with author Carol Lynn Pearson.

Direct download: Carol_Lynn_Pearson-__The_Ghost_of_Eternal_Polygamy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:28am NZDT

Part One of a collaboration with Lindsay Hansen Park from 'A Year of Polygamy'.  We discuss Carol Lynn Pearson's new book - 'The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy.'

Direct download: 106_YOP1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:25am NZDT

Assistant Director of Sunstone, Lindsay Hansen Park and Gina Colvin discuss the state, purpose and future of progressive Mormonism.

Direct download: Lindsay_Park_-_Progressivism.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:47pm NZDT

A discussion with Ordain Women Chair Bryndis Roberts about the latest OW actions along with a consideration of the feminine divine in Mormonism.

Direct download: Bryndis_Roberts_-_Awakening_the_Mother_God_in_the_Church_Track_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:35pm NZDT

Noah Rasheta shares his thoughts on Buddhist practice and how it can be integrated into a Mormon life.

Direct download: Noah_Rasheta_Secular_Buddhism_for_Mormons.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:59am NZDT

A conversation with writer and philosophy professor Adam Miller about his new book Future Mormon.

Direct download: Adam_Miller_Future_Mormon.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:15am NZDT

A conversation with a co-director of the Mormon Women's Oral History Project,  Liz Johnson about what it means to collect stories from ordinary Mormon women, the power and the importance of them for Mormon women's history.

Direct download: Liz_Johnson.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:53pm NZDT

Gary McNaughton, Roy Hann and Nathan McCluskey discuss American Mormon Cultural Imperialism and its effects in Scotland.

Direct download: The_Decline_of_the_Scottish_Church.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:35pm NZDT

In this discussion we talk about the issues related to LGBTQ Mormon Youth suicide and how we can build more loving, inclusive and compassionate communities for all regardless of sexual orientation.

Direct download: 153-Parkinson_and_Christofferson-__Talking_LDS_LGBT_Youth_Suicide.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:34pm NZDT

Executive Director of the Kaizan Foundation - an American non-profit who specializes in sending groups of young people to orphanages in the Global South.

Direct download: Josh_Brazier-_Missions_American_Saviors_Serving_and_Becoming_Teachable___.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:04am NZDT

A further conversation with Thomas McConkie, author of Navigating Mormon Faith Crisis: A Simple Development Map about developing a compassionate response in hard spiritual times.

Direct download: Thomas_McConkie-_A_Compassionate_Response.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:55pm NZDT

A discussion with Exponent II board member Suzette Smith about her faith journey, and her passion for Mormonism's oldest and most well established feminist magazines.

Direct download: Suzette_Smith_The_Exponent.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:50am NZDT

A discussion with American and Religious Artist Greg Olsen about his work and what it means to paint Jesus.

Direct download: Greg_Olsen-_Painting_Jesus.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:32am NZDT

A discussion with Brad Levin, a founder of Free BYU, about the practices and policies that discriminate against st udents who change their beliefs or disaffiliate from the LDS Church, and what FreeBYU are doing about it.

Direct download: Brad_Levin-__Free_BYU.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:15pm NZDT

Gina's interview with Lynn Packer about his book "Lying for the Lord" that covers the story of Paul H. Dunn's sanction.

Direct download: Lynn_Packer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:44pm NZDT

Part two of Henning Muller's interview with Lynne Packer.

Direct download: Lynn-Packer2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:41pm NZDT

In the Parts One and Two  Henning interviews Lynn about his life, work with broadcasting in Vietnam, his interaction with and feelings for his uncle Boyd and the events that led up to the publication of the Book “Lying for the Lord – The Paul H. Dunn Stories” as well as the AFCO Fraud scandal where Paul Dunn had acted as co-president. We also discuss Lynn’s thoughts on the LDS Church’s stance on contemporary issues.

Direct download: Lynn-Packer1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:37pm NZDT

Jensen and McKay have recently edited a collection of essays from 33 US Mormons about their thoughts on 21st century Zion.  We discuss contemporary notions of Zion and discover there is still much to say about this transcendent idea.  

Direct download: Jensen_and_McKay_Has_Zion_Fled.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:50pm NZDT

Tariq Khan an anti-authoritarian and anti-colonial activist and Mormon with Muslim Pakistani roots discusses the current political context that has lead to the rise of fascism in the United States fueled by Donald Trump.

We talk about the violence of white supremacy and imperialism and how the Book of Mormon can give us another way of looking at historical and contemporary violence and its remedies and how Mormons can, of their own accord, side with the most oppressed.  

Direct download: Tariq_Khan-Politics_and_Oppression.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:54pm NZDT

Mormon Millennial and Blogger Jon Ogden challenges us to find a balanced intersection between truth, beauty and goodness as a way of managing faith crisis.

Direct download: Jon_Ogden.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:06pm NZDT

Atlanta based attorney Bryndis Roberts is the chair-elect of Ordain Women.  In 2008 Bryndis joined the LDS church from the Black Baptist church, served for a number of years as a  Relief Society President in an inner city Atlanta Ward  soon discovering several concerns with gender inequality in Mormon leadership.  In this podcast Bryndis talks about why she is so passionate about women's ordination.  We discuss the hope that she believes gender equality will offer the church in terms of its spiritual health and survival.

Direct download: Bryndis_Roberts-__The_Future_of_Ordain_Women.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:49pm NZDT

Author and scholar Charles Inouye discusses his book The End of World:  Plan B, A Guide for the Future.  

Direct download: Inouye-_Justice_isnt_enough.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:13am NZDT

A discussion with feminist theologian and scholar Caroline Kline.

Direct download: Caroline_Kline_.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:13pm NZDT

Author and academic Mehrsa Baradaran joins me to discuss her unique Mormon upbringing, her work on Wall Street, and the Christian ethics of the financial system.

Direct download: Mehrsa_Baradaran.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:54pm NZDT

A Discussion with change designer Russ Osmond.

Direct download: Russ_Osmond-__Part_Two.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:09pm NZDT

A discussion with change designer Russ Osmond.

Direct download: Russ_Osmond_Part_One.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:06pm NZDT

A discussion with author Patrick Mason about his book "Planted":  Belief and belonging in an age of doubt.

Direct download: Patrick_Mason_Tackling_the_Hard_Questions.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:06pm NZDT

In this discussion we talk about faith and its meanings in Mormonism.  We consider Robin Meyer's 2013 Beecher Lectures at Yale at wonder together about his proposition that Faith IS Crisis.

Direct download: Re-articulating_Faith-__A_Discussion.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:08pm NZDT

A frank and open conversation with three insightful Mormon lesbian and gay youth.

Direct download: Mormon_LGBT_Youth_Speak_Out_.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:58pm NZDT

A discussion with author Patrick Mason about his book 'Planted - Belief and Belonging in an Age of Doubt.'  Including co-host Dan Wotherspoon of Mormon Matters and Boyd Peterson editor of Dialogue:  A Journal of Mormon thought.

Direct download: Patrick_Mason-_Planted_-_Belief_and_Belonging_in_an_Age_of_Doubt.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:35pm NZDT

A discussion with Greg Prince about this cultural moment in Mormonism.

Direct download: Greg_Prince-_Analyzing_this_Mormon_Moment.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:54pm NZDT

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