It’s General Conference weekend! Time to dig up the BINGO cards and park yourself in front of the TV with some cinnamon rolls and a Diet Coke or two, to soak in some inspiration and maybe even encounter some discomfort.
We thought we’d release a re-edited episode with Patrick Mason that feels really timely.
In this conversation with Patrick, we talked about creating what Brian McLaren has called a “four-stage community.”. The “stages” we’re referencing here come from Brian’s book Faith After Doubt, and refer to different stages in which people might find themselves in their journeys of faith. McLaren defines these stages as simplicity, where faith is straightforward; complexity, where faith becomes somewhat more complicated; perplexity, the stage where questions become more important than answers and previous faith paradigms often undergo massive shifts; and finally, harmony, where the gifts of each stage are finally realized and integrated.
It seems to us that the diverse reactions and feelings engendered by General Conference are often the result of being members of a community in which all four of these stages are manifest. Messages that seem to be tailored to members at a particular stage of faith may not resonate with listeners at a different stage. This can feel like misalignment, and it can sometimes feel jarring.
In this conversation, Patrick points to a couple of practices that have helped us turn that dissonance we sometimes feel into a gift: for one, being intentional about deeply listening to those we might be inclined to disagree with, and orienting ourselves toward generosity, asking what virtues and values might they be speaking from. Patrick also pointed out there’s a real potential for growth when we choose to stay in relationship with people we disagree with. As Eugene England points out in his essay “The Church is As True as the Gospel,” in many ways, that struggle is the point.
Patrick is the Leonard Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University and the author of several books including Restoration: God’s Call to the 21st Century World. He brought the wisdom, insight, and optimism that he always seems to meld so beautifully. We really hope that you can take what feels valuable in this episode, and use it as we come together in solidarity as a community this weekend, with all our varied life experiences and perspectives to be inspired by and stretched by General Conference.
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120. The Law of Love — A Conversation with Steve Young
119. Is God Alive in Cambridge? — A Conversation with Noah Feldman
118. The End of Roe v. Wade? — With Sherif Gergis, Jenet Erickson, and Justin Collings
117. Faith in Action — Fiona Givens and Britta Ellwanger
116. Turning Our Hearts — A Conversation with Richard and Linda Eyre
115. The Science of Spirituality — A Conversation with Dr. Lisa Miller
114. Are We Listening, Learning, and Loving? — A Conversation with Richard Ostler
Celebrating Our Divine Mother — A Conversation with McArthur Krishna and Bethany Brady Spalding
113. A New Approach to Church History — A Conversation with Dr. Lisa Olsen Tait
112. The Mother Tree — A Conversation with Kathryn Knight Sonntag
111. An Early Resurrection — A Conversation with Adam Miller
110. The Silent Sufferers of OCD — A Conversation with Paul Peterson
109. 10 Signs of a Healthy Self — A Conversation with Dr. Julie Hanks
108. Embracing and Challenging Scripture — A Conversation with Brian McLaren
107. Ukraine: Bearing Burdens, Bearing Witness
106. Cultivating a Child's Inner Compass — A Conversation with Jon Ogden
105. The Many Doors of Faith — A Conversation with Terryl Givens
104. Green Flake, Brad Wilcox, and a Path to Zion — A Conversation with Mauli Bonner
102. So Who Wrote the Bible? — A Conversation with Terryl Givens
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