Mormon Stories Podcast

In early 1994 the distinguished career of Richard D. Poll, historian, professor, writer, husband and friend, came full circle. His Liahona/Iron-rod dichotomy, borrowed from the Book of Mormon, had entered the lexicon of Mormon thought almost 30 years earlier in his landmark essay"What the Church Means to People Like Me" (Dialogue 2:4, Winter 1967). His"Pillars of My Faith" sermon in Sunstone called for committed LDS worshipers and writers to join a mighty Christian chorus"in which almost all the singers hear the dissonant sounds of the alternate voices as polyphonic enrichment of the message of the gospel music." For people like him,"neither dogmatic fundamentalism nor dogmatic humanism provides convincing answers to life's most basic questions." He defined history as"human strivings to discover divine realities." Like Paul, Richard Poll lived his life as part of the leaven that"leaveneth the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9), offering his Liahona questioning in the spirit of"charity, humility, persistence." In a time when men and women are being called sinners for a word (or many words); when the terms"alternate" and"dissident" are being redefined as sinister; when some seek apostasy, while others have apostasy thrust upon them, Richard Poll's calm, reasoned, compassionate voice rings with a clarity that will live on in our hearts and minds.

For over 40 years, William D. Russell has been a progressive voice among the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (now the Community of Christ). This is his story -- from a 1993 Sunstone Symposium presentation called,"Pillars of my faith". William D. Russell is a professor of American History and Government, Graceland College. He is a past president of the Mormon History Association; former assistant editor of the Saints Herald; author of Treasure in Earthly Vessels: An Introduction to the New Testament; a founder of the Independence, Missouri, chapter of the Congress on Racial Equality; and former chair of the Decatur County Democratic Party. He has competed in the Boston and Los Angeles marathons and twenty-four others.

Love him, hate him, or indifferent -- D. Michael Quinn will go down as one of the most important Mormons of the 20th century. This is his story, in his own words.

The Decade of the Sixties: The Early Struggles in the RLDS Shift from Sect to Denomination: This is a discussion of how, during the 1960s the RLDS Church made very decisive steps toward shedding its sectarian past. It began the decade clearly rooted in the sectarian world view. But by the end of the decade, many of the church's leaders and a reasonable number of its members had adopted liberal views, down-playing traditional unique Latter Day Saint doctrines. Today, the RLDS Church (or Community of Christ) has but a fraction of the membership it once enjoyed. What lessons can the LDS Church learn from the Community of Christ. What did they do right, and wrong?

This presentation discusses why people leave the LDS Church, and what we can do to help. It was recorded in 2006.

In the 1995 Salt Lake Sunstone symposium, Elbert Peck spoke in the annual"Pillars of my faith" presentation about the"Remnants of his faith." This presentation represents (to me) the closest thing I've ever found to expressing how I now feel about my Mormon faith. I hope some of you will find value in it as well.

In part 4 of this 4 part series, Elbert Eugene Peck (editor of Sunstone Magazine from 1986 to 2001) discusses the September Six excommunications, the decline of Sunstone, and his thoughts on Sunstone's future.

In part 3 of this 4 part series, Elbert Eugene Peck (editor of Sunstone Magazine from 1986 to 2001) discusses the events leading up to the September Six excommunications of 1993, including the"Alternative Voices" and warnings against Symposia statements by LDS leaders.

In part 2 of this 4 part series, Elbert Peck (Editor of Sunstone Magazine from 1986 to 2001) discusses many of the central people of Sunstone, including Leonard Arrington, Bonner Ritchie, Eugene England, Lavina Fielding Anderson, Ed Kimball, Orson Scott Card, Peggy Fletcher Stack, Scott Kinney, and many others.

Elbert Eugene Peck was editor of Sunstone Magazine from 1986 to 2001. In part 1 of a 4 part interview, Elbert discusses his early years as a member of the LDS church in Washington D.C., his mission, his time at BYU with the Seventh East Press, and the events leading to him taking over Sunstone Magazine.