Category Archives: News & Updates

New Training Resource for Pastors

News & Updates

In partnership with Loving Utah, a church plant network, Ross Anderson is leading a team to create an extensive training curriculum for pastors and church planters new to Utah. This much-needed training, called “Utah Ministry”, will also be helpful for church planting teams, as well as church leadership teams already in Utah.

The curriculum consists of around 100 short videos on a variety of useful ministry topics:

  • Western and Intermountain West Culture
  • LDS History
  • LDS Doctrine
  • LDS Culture
  • The LDS Experience
  • Contextual Outreach
  • Apologetics
  • Enfolding Former Mormons
  • Polygamy

Each topic comes with related resources for further study and questions for personal comprehension or group discussion. We have compiled a group of excellent contributors that represents decades of ministry experience in Utah’s unique religious and cultural setting.

The course will be available on Moodle, a major host of online curriculum. It can be taken individually at one’s own pace, but we recommend doing it in a group or cohort. Training cohorts meet for six months, with the first groups starting next March. Churches, denominations, and other agencies can form and lead their own cohorts as well.

Here’s a sample of what this ground-breaking curriculum project will include: Joseph Smith and the Doctrine of God.

2018 Faith After Mormonism Conference

News & Updates, Transitioning from Mormonism

This year we decided to put on a conference with the purpose of providing hope and wisdom for people leaving Mormonism as they explore a new faith home in historic, biblical Christianity. The conference provided speakers, workshops, and individual interactions with others on a similar journey – all to help transitioning Mormons.

Our vision for this event came to life on September 7-8 at South Mountain Community Church in Draper, Utah. With 122 attenders, the Faith After Mormonism conference was a success. Many great connections were made and the weekend was encouraging and insightful.

We featured an excellent line-up of speakers, all former Mormons, including:

These incredible speakers were also backed by an amazing team of volunteers: Martha Bybee, Linda Enders, Danny Martin, Michelle Mooney, and many others made the weekend go smoothly.

The conference was such a success that many people would like to see it happen again next year. We are planning on making the Faith After Mormonism Conference an annual event to help those on the difficult journey out of Mormonism,  as well as those helping others on that journey.

For more information on the Faith After Mormonism Conference, check out our related website: faithaftermormonism.org/conference.

 

Resource: Journal Your Journey from Mormonism

News & Updates, Transitioning from Mormonism

Mormonism encourages journaling, and many Mormons are pretty faithful at keeping a journal. Keeping a journal can also be a great way to process the journey once a person decides to leave the LDS Church.

My friend Tracy Tennant has produced a wonderful tool to help. It’s called Confessions of an Ex-Mormon Recovery Journal. It’s filled with open-ended questions about your experiences as a Mormon, your journey in leaving, and how it affected your relationships and your life. There is plenty of space to to document events, record emotions, and plan for your future.

This tool will help you or a friend sort through all the difficulties associated with separating from the LDS faith community. To can find it at amazon.com, click HERE.

 

Support Utah Advance as you Shop on Amazon

News & Updates

If you want to support the work of Utah Advance Ministries, you can do so without any cost to yourself, just by shopping on Amazon.con through their AmazonSmile charitable foundation. Go here to get started: smile.amazon.com/ch/45-2613435

It’s simple and automatic. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to Utah Advance.

How do I shop at AmazonSmile?
To shop at AmazonSmile simply go to smile.amazon.com from the web browser on your computer or mobile device. You may also want to add a bookmark to smile.amazon.com to make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile.

Which products on AmazonSmile are eligible for charitable donations?
Tens of millions of products on AmazonSmile are eligible for donations. You will see eligible products marked “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” on their product detail pages. Recurring Subscribe-and-Save purchases and subscription renewals are not currently eligible.

Can I use my existing account on AmazonSmile?
Yes, you use the same account on Amazon.com and AmazonSmile. Your shopping cart, Wish List, wedding or baby registry, and other account settings are also the same.

How do I get started?
Go to this link: smile.amazon.com/ch/45-2613435 to select Utah Advance Ministries as your charity of choice before you begin shopping. Amazon will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will automatically result in a donation.

How much of my purchase does Amazon donate?
The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the base purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases. From time to time, we may offer special, limited time promotions that increase the donation amount on one or more products or services.

“Faith After Mormonism” on YouTube

News & Updates, Transitioning from Mormonism

This summer I started a YouTube channel to provide resources for people making the transition from Mormonism into traditional, biblical Christianity. It’s called Faith After Mormonism. The videos are not just designed to help former Mormons, but to help the people who are in a place to help (mentor) former Mormons.

I’m encouraged to report that the library of videos is increasing. I’ve been able to post one new video every week. Mainly I’ve been interviewing former Latter-day Saints about the kind of issues that transitioning Mormons often face on their journey to a new faith.

I encourage you to subscribe to the channel and share it with others!

Here is a list of some of the topics you can find at the Faith After Mormonism YouTube channel at this point.

Help Build This Library!

If you are a former Latter-day Saint living anywhere in Utah or Idaho, I invite you to join me to have a conversation on camera about the issues you faced and overcame in your journey. Contact me at utahadvance@gmail.com.