Mormon Stories Podcast

Natasha Helfer Parker interviews Dustin Jones, a black active latter-day saint, about the unique challenges of growing up Mormon as one who has African ancestry. Dustin practices law in Arizona, is married to an interracial woman (Chinese Mexican) and has 4 children.

Natasha Helfer Parker interviews Dustin Jones, a black active latter-day saint, about the unique challenges of growing up Mormon as one who has African ancestry. Dustin practices law in Arizona, is married to an interracial woman (Chinese Mexican) and has 4 children.

Natasha Helfer Parker interviews Dustin Jones, a black active latter-day saint, about the unique challenges of growing up Mormon as one who has African ancestry. Dustin practices law in Arizona, is married to an interracial woman (Chinese Mexican) and has 4 children.

On March 26, 2011 we held our first Mormon Stories regional retreat/conference in New York City. In this presentation Greg Prince discusses 21st century lessons from the lives of David O. McKay, Leonard Arrington and Paul H. Dunn.

On March 26, 2011 we held our first Mormon Stories regional retreat/conference in New York City. This presentation exploring the future for uncorrelated or non-traditional Mormons was given by John Dehlin.

On March 26, 2011 we held our first Mormon Stories regional retreat/conference in New York City. This presentation on religion and mental health was given by psychologist Dr. David Christian. The title of this presentation was,"Utility vs. Validity: A Practical Approach to Faith-Related Psychological Problems."

On March 26, 2011 we held our first Mormon Stories regional retreat/conference in New York City. The purpose of the event was to explore the possibility of creating regional communities of support for"uncorrelated Mormons." This episode was the introduction to the event.

Based on the success of our recent Mormon Stories Conference in New York City, we have decided to organize several local, Facebook-based communities of support for what we like to call uncorrelated (or intellectual/feminist/gay/politically liberal/inactive/post/ex) Mormons. We have already created 32 groups, and hope to establish a support group for every major city/region in the world. The idea behind each group will be to: 1) foster local, face-to-face communities of support for non-traditional Mormons, and 2) help to encourage healthy/constructive living amongst those for whom the traditional LDS Church experience is not adequate. Note: this is NOT meant to replace the LDS church experience. Instead, it is meant to augment the church experience (for those who still attend), or to provide community support for those who no longer feel comfortable attending church. Some ideas we are hoping to foster include: Monthly local meet-ups Book clubs/study groups Weekly play groups for children Annual youth conferences for teens College groups for Mormon university students (BYU/UVU and USU already created!) A dating service Service projects Annual conferences/retreats Etc. If you are interested in any of this, please check out our existing groups for a group near you. If you would like to start your own local support group, please email us at: mormonstories@gmail.com

In this 2-part discussion, KC Kern (BookofMormonOnline.Net) speaks with Dr. Grant Hardy and his wife Heather Hardy. Grant Hardy is Professor of History and Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He has a B.A. in Ancient Greek from Brigham Young University and Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Literature from Yale. He has authored Worlds of Bronze and Bamboo: Sima Qian’s Conquest of History; The Establishment of the Han Empire and Imperial China; and Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide, as well as the Introduction for Royal Skousen’s recent Yale edition of the Book of Mormon. He has also edited The Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Edition; Enduring Ties: Poems of Family Relationships; and the Oxford History of Historical Writing. Vol. 1. His 36-lecture DVD/CD course for The Teaching Company entitled “Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition” will be released this summer. Heather Hardy has a BS and an MBA from Brigham Young University (she says the latter seemed like a good idea when Grant was studying Greek; someone was going to have to support the family someday). She worked in university finances at Yale and then as the scholarship coordinator at BYU for a couple of years. She has published articles in Dialogue and the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, but is mostly a full-time reader masquerading as a stay-at-home mother. Grant and Heather have been married for 28 years and have been talking to each other non-stop the whole time. This interview is broken in two parts: Part 1: Introductions, early personal, academic, and scholarly experiences, and approaching the Book of Mormon as world scripture and literature. Part 2: Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide, thoughts on narrative structures, phraseology, historicity, evidences, anachronisms, Book of Mormon usage in the LDS Church, and on balancing faith and reason.

In this 2-part discussion, KC Kern (BookofMormonOnline.Net) speaks with Dr. Grant Hardy and his wife Heather Hardy. Grant Hardy is Professor of History and Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He has a B.A. in Ancient Greek from Brigham Young University and Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Literature from Yale. He has authored Worlds of Bronze and Bamboo: Sima Qian’s Conquest of History; The Establishment of the Han Empire and Imperial China; and Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide, as well as the Introduction for Royal Skousen’s recent Yale edition of the Book of Mormon. He has also edited The Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Edition; Enduring Ties: Poems of Family Relationships; and the Oxford History of Historical Writing. Vol. 1. His 36-lecture DVD/CD course for The Teaching Company entitled “Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition” will be released this summer. Heather Hardy has a BS and an MBA from Brigham Young University (she says the latter seemed like a good idea when Grant was studying Greek; someone was going to have to support the family someday). She worked in university finances at Yale and then as the scholarship coordinator at BYU for a couple of years. She has published articles in Dialogue and the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, but is mostly a full-time reader masquerading as a stay-at-home mother. Grant and Heather have been married for 28 years and have been talking to each other non-stop the whole time. This interview is broken in two parts: Part 1: Introductions, early personal, academic, and scholarly experiences, and approaching the Book of Mormon as world scripture and literature. Part 2: Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide, thoughts on narrative structures, phraseology, historicity, evidences, anachronisms, Book of Mormon usage in the LDS Church, and on balancing faith and reason.