Enjoying Church Again
Enjoying Church Again by Dan Wotherspoon I was recently invited to join a Facebook discussion about Sunday church experiences following a crisis of faith. I was grateful for the prompting to reflect on how I have come, once again, to enjoy Sunday meetings. Some who...
Summoned and Unsettled: Gay Mormons and the Power of the Face of Love
Summoned and Unsettled: Gay Mormons and the Power of the Face of Love by Jacob Baker Renowned Jewish thinker Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995) spent much of his life thinking about how and why we relate or fail to relate to others. A French Jewish prisoner of war during...
Baptism
Saturday was my oldest child's baptism. He asked me to talk about baptism at his baptismal program. I decided to share the talk here. In Matthew in the New Testament, Jesus said “Be ye perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect.” In Greek, the word translated...
Finding Peace in the Plan of Salvation
On April 28th, 2011 our family of four grew to a family of six with the birth of our twin sons. Nearly three years ago, I held two tiny angels in my hands and said goodbye. And my world changed. Suddenly, I was personally invested in what happens in the here afters....
And My Face Shall Be As Stubble
I am a man, teeming with testosterone, evidenced by my extremely hairy body. Oh, I am not exaggerating. You name the body part, and I have hair growing there: back, shoulders, toes, neck. I used to loathe it, but now I embrace it. It makes for some diverse looks,...
The Truth about Topaz
“…some had nice tools and were very earnest in their search, others just had simple garden tools, screwdrivers or even sand-box toys. I’m not sure if nicer tools were more effective since I couldn’t see what others had found…”
Daniel explores exploration.
Am I a Critic?
For those of you waiting for my next speculative, theological post, I'm sorry to put you off a month. Maybe I'll get you a new, Plan of Salvation, home evening lesson by Christmas. That's probably a good time for it. I need to write about something more immediate. One...
Holy Saturday
HOLY SATURDAY by Jerilyn Hassell Pool Tonight, on the eve of Easter Sunday, our ward held a candle ceremony to observe of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We gathered as a ward family in the parking lot of our ward building and waited for the darkness of night to...
Celebrating Passover
CELEBRATING PASSOVER by Jerilyn Hassell Pool On Thursday night, our ward held a Seder meal as part of our celebration of Holy Week performed by Ayala Sarah Zonnenschein, the Executive Director at Havurah Shir Hadash, a Jewish community in Ashland, Oregon. In the...
Perspective on Peter
Growing up in the church, I have often heard Peter referenced as one who failed. He lost faith when he removed his gaze from Jesus and sunk into the water. He denied the Christ three times on the day of our Savior's crucifixion. Yes, he did many great things too, but...
A companion like no other
Way back in the day, when I served my mission the bar was low. EVERY worthy young man was expected to serve a mission and serve I did. Since 2005 we have undergone a policy change known as "raising the bar" and we won't take just anyone to serve. Elder M. Russel...
The Elusive Book of Mormon Lands
I’ve grown up with a love of the Book of Mormon. The culture of Book of Mormon love has been strong as long as I’ve been alive, since Benson gave his big Book of Mormon talk before I was born. I’ve read the Book of Mormon dozens of times. We owned all of the Living...
MORMONAD: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT
MORMONAD: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT by Milayna Barker - age 12 Note: Soon after joining Young Women's we were told that we were going to be making a video version of the Mormonads with the young men in our ward. I didn't know what those were and so I asked my mom and...
CELEBRATING PALM SUNDAY AS A MORMON WARD – A REFLECTION
CELEBRATING PALM SUNDAY AS A MORMON WARD - A REFLECTION We piled into our minivan almost a half hour earlier than we normally do. "Okay, I'll say family prayer," I said. "...Heavenly Father, we are grateful that today we can remember the last time Jesus went into...
The King James Bible in the Book of Moses, Part I
With the recent publication of David Bokovoy's Authoring the Old Testament: Genesis-Deuteronomy, many have wondered to what extent the Bible has had influence on the Book of Moses. The discussion has mainly revolved around the parts of the text that are obvious...
Living Scriptures
I went west seeking God. I wanted to knock at the door and made it known that I am seeking the greater light. A burning in my heart was the Spirit’s testimony that what I was doing was right for me. In a sea of people, and under a storm of hail and insults I walked....
LGBTQ Mormon Crisis
Two Printable handout for bishops and stake presidents that talks empirically about LGBTQ suicides:
The LGBTQ Mormon Crisis: Responding to the Empirical Research on Suicide
Youth Suicide Rates and Mormon Religious Context: An Additional Empirical Analysis
The Barker Brothers’ Projects
These videos were created for Latter-day Saint parents and allies to voice their love for their LGBT brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. They want to give a message of comfort and support to other parents who are navigating the difficult conflicts that can arise in families around this issue.
“Cogito!” (“I think!”) follows the intellectual adventures of a recovering academic outside the walls of academia.
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