A Thoughtful Faith - Mormon / LDS

A Thoughtful Faith - Mormon / LDS episodes:

• 05.22.2022

  Accepting the Shadow and Light of the Church

  The shadow and light of the church are a part of the same story and integrating the suffering and the healing that the church created is part of our necessary preparation for the next part of our journey. Acceptance of...

  
• 04.30.2022

  381: The Reconstruction Series: Encountering Fear at the Threshold of Leaving

  It’s one thing to know that letting go is possible and even necessary.  But it’s another to stand at the threshold of leaving without feeling fear.  Most of us will carry some fear.  In this episode I discuss the DNA...

  
• 04.20.2022

  380: Letting the Church Go With Graciousness

  In this episode: "Letting go needn't be truly feared.  Letting go can become a friend to us, releasing us into the flow of an abundant and growthful life."  

  
• 04.12.2022

  379: The Beginning of the End: Gina Colvin

  This episode opens up the last chapters of my time as host of A Thoughtful Faith Podcast.  I aim to hang up the mic at the end of the 2022. The remainder of my time with the podcast will...

  
• 02.23.2022

  378: When the Church isn't Enough: Tali Aitofi

  Some years ago, Tali Aitofi found Mormon podcasts and became hooked.  But Tali isn't Mormon, he's Pentecostal.  His faith journey has played out with the hum of Mormon faith crises in the background. Tali recently came out as gay;...

  
• 01.20.2022

  377: Bright Spark: The Reconciliation of Artist Trevor Southey: A Conversation with Director Nathan Florence

  Painter, now documentary film maker and producer Nathan Florence joins me  to discuss ‘Bright Spark:  The Reconcilation of Trevor Southey’ For eleven years, artist Nathan Florence documented Trevor Southey's life with his heart and with his lens in order to...

  
• 01.13.2022

  376: Doing Our Inner Work: Jana Spangler

  Utah based life coach, Jana Spangler, reflects on her extensive work with Mormons who are in the thick of deconstruction and reconstruction.  She argues that being in healthy relationship with our bodies will yield precisely the wisdom we need to...

  
• 12.31.2021

  375: Let's Cancel Christmas! Nicola Petty

  If you love Christmas, then this episode isn't for you.  But, if you or someone you know doesn't approach Christmas with merriment and cheer, then this conversation between me and my good friend Nicola Petty might be worth listening to....

  
• 11.30.2021

  374: Trauma & Moral Injury in Mormonism: Dr. Sean Aaron

  At Syracuse University, moral injury is defined as, "… the damage done to one’s conscience or moral compass when that person perpetrates, witnesses, or fails to prevent acts that transgress one’s own moral beliefs, values, or ethical...

  
• 10.17.2021

  373: The LDS Church's Response to Sexual Abuse: Neville Rochow QC

  Child sexual abuse in the church is pernicious and confounding. Why anyone purporting to be Christian would sexually abuse a child is beyond the imagination of many. Yet it happens, and far too often to be dismissed. The...

  
• 10.15.2021

  372: The Spiritual Formation of Children: Amanda Suarez and Drew Hansen

  Author of the Spiritual Child, Professor of Psychology Lisa Miller writes in ‘The Spiritual Child’: “Spiritual development through the early years … provides a protective health benefit, reducing the risk of depression, substance abuse, aggression, and high-risk behaviors.” It’s for...

  
• 10.04.2021

  371: The LDS Church & Its Business: Neville Rochow QC Part 2

  Australian barrister Neville Rochow QC has offered the LDS Church legal advice over the years and has appeared for the church at parliamentary committees on the question of religious freedom.   For two years, he also represented the church at...

  
• 09.26.2021

  370: The Church and its Legal Machinations Part One: Neville Rochow

  Australian barrister Neville Rochow QC has offered the LDS Church legal advice over the years and has appeared for the church at parliamentary committees on the question of religious freedom.   For two years, he also represented the church at the...

  
• 08.28.2021

  368: The Illegitimacy of Jesus: Mark Crego

  Mark Crego and I met around eight years ago, fellow sojourners in the quest to understand our shared faith in the LDS church.  We had a similar curiosity about the spiritual life and consequently we both completed a Masters degree: ...

  
• 08.25.2021

  367: The Law of Chastity or Sexual Ethics?: Linkhart, Ross & Mangelson

  While the Mountain Saints speak of the Law of Chastity being the iron clad rule that anything sexual should happen in marriage, the Praire Saints have a statement of Sexual Ethics. The Statement of Sexual Ethics is the distillation of...

  
• 07.25.2021

  366: Breaking Up Well: Dr. Nicola Petty

  When I began questioning the LDS Church, I did not expect the Stake Relief Society president to join me. Nicola Petty went from orthodox and loyal member guided by the priesthood to a Stake Relief Society President who had been woken up by the Ordain Women movement. It was in this capacity that I...

  
• 07.12.2021

  365: Sealed: A Memoir by Katie Langston

  Born and raised a devout Mormon in Utah, Katie Langston chronicles her unexpected conversion to orthodox Christianity with candor and theological depth. Her remarkable debut memoir explores themes of religious fundamentalism, mental illness, and family belonging—culminating in her surprising and...

  
• 06.12.2021

  364: Death By a Thousand Cuts: Ordinary Mormon Trauma: Lindsay Hansen Park

  We were made for tenderness, gentleness, openness, authenticity, vulnerability, compassion and caring.  We are threaded through with the strands of genuine goodness.  Our true selves, our inner landscapes are beautiful and potentiated for wholeness, fullness and love. Mormon trauma is...

  
• 05.23.2021

  Why the RLDS Reformed but the LDS Didn't: Prof. David Howlett

  Some people say that Community of Christ is just LDS lite. This simply isn't true. Despite their common roots, you would be unlikely to find two more differently wired faith traditions than the Community of Christ (RLDS) and the...

  
• 05.19.2021

  362: 'That Was Not of God': Natasha's Witnesses Speak Up

  Ambivalence, ambiguity, lack of accountability and spiritual abuse characterize Natasha Helfer's membership council. Her witnesses speak out about their experience.

  
• 04.30.2021

  361: American Excommunication: Spencer Wells & Isaac Barnes May

  Spencer Wells and Isaac Barnes May seek to put the recent ex-communication/name removal of Natasha Helfer from the LDS Church into the broader context of church boundary maintenance in America.

  
• 04.26.2021

  360: Perfoming Art with Bread: Andi Pticher Davis

  As a performance artist, Andi has been feeding her culture with bread for many years.  She bakes, graffitis and gifts her bread warm to those in need. Artistically weaving mountains, fire, lament and bread comes from an elemental and a...

  
• 04.18.2021

  359: When a Woman's Professional Expertise Becomes a Question of LDS Apostasy: Natasha Helfer

  Natasha Helfer (LCMFT, CST, CSTS )is a licensed clinician and mental health professional who has been summoned to a LDS Church trial for her public stance on sexual health. Taking offence at the idea that the LDS Church is a...

  
• 03.31.2021

  358: The Spiritual Advice Line With Katie Langston: March 2021

  This month, our discussion comes from listeners' questions about; white supremacy, intra-faith marriage,  community belonging, spirituality and the true church!

  
• 03.29.2021

  357: An Ordinary Unordinary Life as a Polygamist's Daughter: Mary Jayne Blackmore

  One of 150 siblings, Mary Jayne Blackmore is the daughter of Mormon leader Winston Blackmore.  Mary Jayne Blackmore grew up within the closed-off polygamist community of Bountiful, BC. Her family’s staunch Fundamentalist Mormon faith imposed fanatical doomsday preparation and carried...

  
• 02.27.2021

  356: The Spiritual Advice Line: February 2021

  Today Katie Langston returns to the Spiritual Advice Line. We discuss spiritual abuse; unhelpful images of God; spiritual direction; the necessity of community, and how to read the Bible. If you would like to submit a question you may do...

  
• 02.22.2021

  355: Eco-spirituality, Eco-justice and Eco-Feminism: The New Christianity: Emily Rose

  Emily Rose is the Campus Minister for Faith, Justice and Solidarity at a Jesuit University in Kansas City, Missouri. In this episode, Emily Rose joins me to discuss eco-spirituality, eco-justice and eco-feminism and the way that the environment undergirds her...

  
• 02.07.2021

  354: The Spiritual Practice of Earth Care: Prof. George Handley

  Eco-humanitarian and eco-theologian BYU Professor George Handley joins me to discuss his immense concern for the Earth and its future. Professor Handley argues that humanity must be seen in light of our intimate and dependent relationship with Earth’s natural systems. ...

  
• 12.31.2020

  The Spiritual Advice Line with Katie Langston: December 2020

  Katie Langston joins me to discuss Christmas; Why it's perfectly fine not to take the Bible literally;  Why Jesus is not the Jehovah of the Old Testament; Finding new images and symbols for God, and the power and versatility of...

  
• 12.27.2020

  352: Part Two: Rigid Mormon Parents and Their Disaffiliated Children: Liz Brown-MacDonald

  Liz Brown MacDonald was curious about the effect of the behaviour of religiously rigid parents on their children who disaffiliate from the LDS Church. This is Part Two of the discussion.  

  
• 12.27.2020

  352: Part One: Rigid Mormon Parents and Their Disaffiliated Children: Liz Brown MacDonald

  Liz Brown MacDonald was curious about the effect of the behaviour of religiously rigid parents on their children who disaffiliate from the LDS Church. 'It's never good,' she concludes, 'to complicate a parental relationship with an expectation of your...

  
• 12.14.2020

  351: An Advent Reflection on the Suffering of Mothers: ReNee McDonald & Kristin Jensen

  While we honour the expectant Mary at Advent, we rarely discuss her in the context of the suffering of pregnancy and birth.  Our sacred texts and Christmas stories leave out the intensely feminine experience of a mother's body,  bruised and...

  
• 11.30.2020

  349: Spiritual Autonomy When Gay, Mormon & Samoan: Doron Semu

  How does a young gay, afakasi, Samoan, Mormon man put his spiritual life together when he sits across many religious and cultural divides?   When the moorings of fixed belief systems that defined prior generations fall away, what of the spiritual...

  
• 11.26.2020

  350: The Spiritual Advice Line: Episode One

  Lutheran Ordinand Katie Langston and Community of Christ Elder, Gina Colvin get together in this monthly series to offer our responses to Mormons who are grappling with their spiritual and religious deconstruction and reconstruction. Today's topics, Grace; The Trinity; Telling...

  
• 11.24.2020

  348: Unravelling the Mystery of Utah Politics: Dr Roger Hendrix

  For those who grew up in the 'Mission Field', Utah is often referred to as Zion. But, in the 2020 US Presidential elections, Utah seemed anything but Zion. Utah voted for the least Mormon person on the ticket (Donald...

  
• 10.26.2020

  347: The Surprise of Section 132: Michael Mathews II

  In this conversation, blogger, Michael Mathews II  exegetes Doctrine & Covenants Section 132.  Mormons socially read Section 132 as pointing to the endurance of familial ties after death.  However, Mathews argues, there is no evidence to suggest that this is...

  
• 10.26.2020

  346: Laie, Hawaii: What the Haole Did There: Maoputasi Young

  Are unique Mormon communities like Laie, in Hawaii worth celebrating?  Absolutely.  Mormon communities like Laie on Hawaii's North shore, which are uniquely indigenous Mormon,  have made good homes that have been blessed by the confluence of culture, faith,...

  
• 09.30.2020

  345: Sex, Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism: Prof. Taylor Petrey

  Whatever your position on LDS Studies, it can't be said that the Mormonism is boring.  Socially, historically, culturally, politically and theologically its a gold mine of intrigue and interest.  Nevermore so than on the topic of sex. Taylor G. Petrey’s...

  
• 09.23.2020

  344: Mormon Divorce: Les Butterfield

  When Mormon divorce happens acrimoniously it's never a better time to observe the LDS church's position on the wellbeing of women and children.    The wife of a physician and the mother of four children Leslie felt...

  
• 09.15.2020

  343: Radical Christian Youth Development: Cat McFedries

  Cat McFedries joins me to talk about youth spiritual and religious formation and how some radical pastoring that she received as a young person might have put her off the church, but it didn't put her off the person of...

  
• 08.21.2020

  342: Polynesian Musings on White Supremacy: Maoputasi Young

  In the wake of Joanna Brook's book that starkly presented a case for Mormon white supremacy, Samoan Mormon, Tasi Young, BYU alumna and die-hard Cougars fan wrote to the Salt Lake Tribune asking for the name of BYU to be...

  
• 08.04.2020

  341: A Community of Christ View of the Book of Mormon: Elray Henriksen

  In the basic beliefs of Community of Christ The Book of Mormon is understood as follows:   We affirm the Bible as the foundational scripture for the church. In addition, Community of Christ uses the Book of Mormon and the...

  
• 07.20.2020

  340: Out from Under the Sacred Canopy: Prof. Rick Phillips

  Professor Rick Phillips hails from Utah and has an impressive Mormon pedigree.  He was raised under the sacred canopy of LDS belief and faith.  And it was a good life, one that Rick remains nostalgic about to this day.  But,...

  
• 07.16.2020

  339: Mormon Women Claiming Power: Franzoni Thorley, Ross, Olsen Hemming

  Exponent II Editor, Margaret Olsen Hemming says of the Exponent guest edition of Dialogue, "   In this issue, we asked women to write about claiming power. We hoped that writers would think creatively about the idea of power, including...

  
• 06.29.2020

  338: Finding Freedom For the Mind: Luna Lindsey Corbden

  The question as to whether or not Mormonism is a cult is a contentious one, but despite your definitions, one thing is for certain, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a high demand faith and as such...

  
• 06.18.2020

  337: Mourning America's Brokenness: The Rev. Dr Fatimah Salleh

  Liberation theologian James Cone has said: “It is ironic that America, with its history of injustice to the poor, especially the black man and the Indian, prides itself on being a Christian nation.” So, what sense does a profoundly...

  
• 06.08.2020

  336: Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier: Ben Park

  Is the USA a democracy, a nascent theocracy, or a mobocracy?  Perhaps it's all of those things and all at the same time.   The Nauvoo experience gives us a strong sense of the unsettled ideological, economic and religious arguments...

  
• 06.02.2020

  335: Mormonism and White Supremacy

  In this much-needed volume, that follows the evolution of LDS Church thought about race,  from its earliest beginnings to its contemporary constructions, Professor Brooks seeks to account for a religious tradition that has never made a definitive departure, nor offered...

  
• 05.28.2020

  334: Women, Pandemic and an Uncertain Future: Prof. Annick Masselot

  Professor of Law, Annick Masselot and I reflect on the many gender inequalities that the COVID-19 pandemic has made apparent.   With research foci on equality and anti-discrimination law, gender equality, pregnancy and maternity rights, and work-life balance, Annick argues that...

  
• 05.19.2020

  333: Then I stopped listening to Rush Limbaugh: Steve Otteson

  One of the great American phenomena is the enmeshment of religion and politics.   That relationship is never more present than in the Book of Mormon belt where being Republican is a matter of faithfulness.  From Southern Alberta down to Arizona...