Photo Credit: Mini Malist The shadow and light of the church are a part of the same story. 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 our past life in church with its blessings is a wholesome alternative to staying locked in the fight with what has been.  In which case, there’s no freedom to move on.  The post 382: Accepting the Shadow and Light of the Church first appeared on A Thoughtful Faith Podcast ..read more

Some years ago, Tali Aitofi found Mormon podcasts and became hooked.  But Tali isn’t Mormon, he’s Pentecostal.  Yet, his own spiritual and religious journey has played out with the hum of Mormon faith crises in the background. Tali recently came out as gay; he left his family church, and is currently suffering from a life threatening illness.  All of this has caused deep and searching questions.   Tali joins me to talk about his life journey and how the Netflix series Midnight Mass spoke to his larger questions about church, God, Jesus, shame and forgiveness. Th ..read more

If you love Christmas, then this episode isn’t for you.  Credit: Kevin Dooley @flickr 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. Both of us are avowed Grinches. As a concession to those who have to put up with our annual disagreeableness, we try to identify our points of dislike for Xmas.  We tackle the question, ‘Can Christmas be redeemed?’ The post 375: Let's Cancel Christmas! Nicola Petty first appeared on A Thoughtful Faith Podcast ..read more

Photo Credit theilr@flickr 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 codes of conduct.” In this episode, clinical psychologist Dr. Sean Aaron joins me to discuss moral injury. Many coming from the LDS tradition have been taught to spiritually bypass our gut reactions to practices or doctrines, chalking our doubts up to our personal failings and faithlessness. Dr Sean Aaron draws on the concept of moral in ..read more

CC Photo Credit: Leonard J. Matthews@Flickr 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 Royal Commissions of Inquiry into Sexual Abuse in Ireland and Australia, and currently being conducted in New Zealand, have resulted in powerful evidence-based recommendations for best practices that keep children safe from predatory behaviour in faith-based institutions. Despite the extent, breadth and thoroughness of these inquiri ..read more

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 this reason that the team at Upliftkids has created a resource for parents to help them spiritually nurture their children, regardless of religious persuasion. The resources at Uplift Kids assist both parents and children to find their inner compass by integrating the best of modern science and ancient wisdom that ..read more

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 European Parliament in Brussels. He has been intimately involved in the church’s legal concerns and is well versed in how its legal machinery works, particularly internationally. In part two of this series, Neville joins me to discuss the LDS Church and its financial activities.  The post 371: The LDS Church & Its Business: Neville ..read more

Photo Credit: Woody Hibbard @ Flickr 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 European Parliament in Brussels. He has been intimately involved in the church’s legal concerns and is well versed in how its legal machinery works, particularly internationally. In part one of this series, Neville joins me to discuss the LDS Church and its legal machinations.  In this episode he off ..read more

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:  He in theology and me in ministry.   Having taken a Christian formation path we find ourselves similarly interested in the necessity of the divinity of Jesus.  Was he literally, biologically the Son of God?  Neither of us think so. This conversation is not new.  Jane Schaberg  is one scholar who tackled the question front o ..read more

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 years of discussion with church leaders across the world and continues as a living document up for discussion and debate. Community of Christ Apostle Robin Linkhart and former LDS members and now Community of Christ Ministers, Brittany Mangelson and Nancy Ross join me to have the conversation about sex  from the perspective of two very different restoratio ..read more