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In part 1 of a 3 part series, we interview Darron Smith--a black man who joined the LDS church as a teenager in Tennessee. After serving a mission for the LDS Church and graduating from the University of Utah, Darron began a 10 year teaching career at church-owned Brigham Young University. After 10 years of teaching at BYU, Darron's employment was terminated in response to (according to Darron) his public writings and speaking--wherein Darron openly called for the LDS Church to apologize for, and renounce the racists statements of past Church leaders. In this series, Darron discusses his upbringing in the Church, provides a brief history of Blacks within the Church, discusses his termination from BYU, and his hopes for the LDS Church in the future with regard to these issues. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

In part 3 of a 3 part interview, we interview Buckley Jeppson. Buckley, 57, says he's been informed verbally by a senior church leader that his life is incompatible with the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that a disciplinary council will soon address the matter. Jeppson, of Washington, D.C., married Mike Kessler in Toronto on Aug. 27, 2004. It is believed that if Jeppson is excommunicated, it would be the first time a Mormon in a legal, same-sex marriage was punished by the church. Jeppson claims that over the past five months Nolan Archibald, his Stake President and CEO of Black and Decker, has encouraged him to resign his church membership, which would avoid disciplinary action. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

In part 2 of a 3 part interview, we interview Buckley Jeppson. Buckley, 57, says he's been informed verbally by a senior church leader that his life is incompatible with the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that a disciplinary council will soon address the matter. Jeppson, of Washington, D.C., married Mike Kessler in Toronto on Aug. 27, 2004. It is believed that if Jeppson is excommunicated, it would be the first time a Mormon in a legal, same-sex marriage was punished by the church. Jeppson claims that over the past five months Nolan Archibald, his Stake President and CEO of Black and Decker, has encouraged him to resign his church membership, which would avoid disciplinary action. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

In part 1 of a 3 part interview, we interview Buckley Jeppson. Buckley, 57, says he's been informed verbally by a senior church leader that his life is incompatible with the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that a disciplinary council will soon address the matter. Jeppson, of Washington, D.C., married Mike Kessler in Toronto on Aug. 27, 2004. It is believed that if Jeppson is excommunicated, it would be the first time a Mormon in a legal, same-sex marriage was punished by the church. Jeppson claims that over the past five months Nolan Archibald, his Stake President and CEO of Black and Decker, has encouraged him to resign his church membership, which would avoid disciplinary action. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

In part 1 of a 2 part series, we interview Ann--a pleasant, yet forceful presence in the bloggernacle, and leader within New Order Mormonism. According to the New Order Mormon Website,"New Order Mormons are those who no longer believe some (or much) of the dogma or doctrines of the LDS church, but who want to maintain membership for cultural and social reasons." --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

In part 3 of a 3 part series, we interview Todd Compton about the basics of polygamy in the Mormon church. Todd Compton is the author of the book In Sacred Loneliness. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

In part 2 of a 3 part series, we interview Todd Compton about the basics of polygamy in the Mormon church. Todd Compton is the author of the book In Sacred Loneliness. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

In part 2 of this interview, we continue our conversation with Serenity Valley and Roasted Tomatoes-a young LDS couple living in the San Francisco Bay area, and creators of the LDS Blog Latter-Day Saint Liberation Front. In this episode, Serenity and RT discuss her ultimate return to Mormonism, the impact it has had on their marriage and family, and conclude with a very candid and somewhat courageous discussion of their testimonies-some of which can safely be considered non-mainstream or alternative within the LDS paradigm. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

In part 1 of a 3 part series, we interview Todd Compton about the basics of polygamy in the Mormon church. Todd Compton is the author of the book In Sacred Loneliness. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

Over the past few months, I’ve developed a friendship with several members of the LDS Bloggernacle-including a young couple known as Serenity Valley and Roasted Tomatoes. This husband/wife pair live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and run a blog called, Latter-Day Saint Liberation Front. Serenity and RT are interesting and inspirational for many reasons one of which being the spiritual journeys that each of them traveled on their way towards being sealed in the LDS Temple (RT being a former atheist turned LDS missionary, and Serenity having left the church to become an Episcopalian, only to return later). In part 1 of this 2 part series, we learn about their early years within the LDS church, and their journeys away from, and back to, faith. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

In this concluding episode (part 3 of 3), we interview with John Lynch, Chairman of FAIR–-the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research. Within the segement, John Lynch discusses the most common issues faced by FAIR, and assesses (in his view) which issues do and do not have merit. John also discusses how members of the Church should treat those struggling in their faith. Finally, John Lynch provides some thoughts/insight into some of President Hinckley’s more controversial responses in his media interviews over the past several years (including Larry King Live, L.A. Times, etc.). --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

In part 2 of this 3 part series, we continue our interview with John Lynch, Chairman of the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), a volunteer group dedicated to Mormon Apologetics. In this episode, John Lynch discusses the top issues bubbling up to FAIR these days, the realities of LDS leadership, the distinction between"good" and"bad" apologetics, the growing problem of"Internet Mormonism", and answers the question as to whether or not Mormon apologetics is a gateway to apostacy. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

In part 1 of a 3 part series, we interview John Lynch, Chairman of the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), a volunteer group dedicated to Mormon Apologetics. In this episode, John Lynch discusses his conversion to the church, his journey into apologetics, and some of the basics about FAIR. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

Over the past 2-3 years, LDS-themed blogs have literally erupted with activity. Today, there is an entire ecosystem of LDS bloggers, and literally hundreds of LDS blogs in the Internet. In this 2005 Sunstone Seattle presentation (to which I was invited to speak), I review the LDS Bloggernacle (past and present), and then discuss my vision for what might be possible in the future, including podcasts, wikis, screencasts, and multimedia content. I also discuss the importance of Sunstone and Dialogue reaching out to these communities. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

The Mason/Mormon connection consistently ranks as a top 10 issues for those who are struggling with, or who have left the LDS Church. Greg Kearney, a lifelong, multi-generational Mormon and Master Mason, discusses the history of Masonry, how it became associated with the LDS Church, and why this association is a positive, and not a negative one. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

In this podcast, we interview Gregory Prince, author of"David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism", as he discusses President McKay's involvement in the Blacks/Priesthood issue. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

Today we interview a young man named Hyrum, founder of the thechurchisnottrue.com web site. In this interview, Hyrum tells his story of why he left the Mormon church. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

David O. McKay presented a dramatic contrast to his predecessors: an athletic, movie-star-handsome, clean-shaven figure who often wore a white double-breasted suit; contrasted to the dark-suited, bearded polygamists (or, in the case of George Albert Smith, son of a polygamist) who preceded him as Church President ever since Joseph Smith. In an age prior to professional image-makers, he instinctively grasped the importance of appearance, and coupled it to the substance of a professional educator to become an icon of Mormonism whose persona did much to change the negative image of the Church in much of the world. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message

I served an LDS mission in Guatemala in the late 1980s. As my mission progressed, we began to average over 700 baptisms per month, with some companionships baptizing over 40 in one month. When I tried to talk with my mission president about the issue--it got messy. Today we claim 12+ million in the Church, but truth be told, less than 1/2 of them actually consider themselves Mormon....and thus the reason why activity rates are so closely guarded. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/message