Category Archives: Transitioning from Mormonism

2018 Faith After Mormonism Conference

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: Choosing a Church

As a pastor in Utah, Jonathan Stoddard has frequent conversations with people on their way out of Mormonism who are looking for a new spiritual home. He often is called on to counsChoosing a Churchel transitioning Mormons about what to look for in a new church. He has boiled down his wisdom about the topic into a short handbook called Choosing a Church.

The book is written for those who are interested in Christianity but unfamiliar with the Christian movement, or for those who want to learn more about Jesus, but don’t know where to turn. Stoddard answers common questions like: Why are there so many different churches? Does it matter what music style a church employs? Is there one true church? How do I know what beliefs are essential?

This book is very helpful for anyone looking for a new church home, but especially to those coming out of the LDS culture. It answers questions that former Latter-day Saints are likely to have. It answers with theological and historical depth.

Choosing a Church is available in Kindle format at amazon.com
for only 99 cents.

Pastor Stoddard serves at Jordan Presbyterian Church in West Jordan, Utah.

Resource: Journal Your Journey 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.

 

“Faith After Mormonism” on YouTube

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.

New YouTube Channel Launch

This week I started a new YouTube channel dedicated to providing resources for helping former Latter-day Saints navigate the journey into historic, biblical Christianity. The channel is called Mentoring Former Mormons.

I encourage you to subscribe and share it with others! There isn’t much there right now, but I’m planning to release one new video every Monday.field-691616_1280-1280x554

There will be two kinds of resources featured.

  • Training resources for mentors. The training series will help prepare people to mentor or disciple transitioning Mormons. These videos will explore the unique issues former Mormons face on the journey, including emotional, relational, doctrinal, and cultural hurdles to overcome.
  • Topics for transitioners. We will fill the library with all kinds of resources that mentors can use with former LDS to talk through key issues with them. A mentor can say, “Here’s a video about to how find relationships in a new church. Let’s watch it and talk about it.”

We’re partnering with the discipleship website pursueGOD.org, where the videos can be found with summaries and discussion questions to facilitate the mentoring process. Here’s a recent one called “God: Body or Spirit?” PursueGOD.org also has great materials on how to succeed at biblical mentoring.

If you are a former Latter-day Saint, 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.