Episode 24: Four Invitations for General Conference

This is Meagan Skidmore, your host of the Beyond the Shadow of Doubt podcast.

As a life transitions coach, I work with LGBTQ+ families of a conservative faith background who feel their world has been turned upside down.

I started the Beyond the Shadow of Doubt podcast to attempt to bring the traditionally taboo topic of doubts and questioning out of the shadows of shame and into the sunlight.

Welcome to Episode 24 — thank you so much for joining me today.

To start off, I’m proud to share that I’m a member of the Dialogue Podcast Network — found at dialogjournal.com/podcastnetwork.

The Dialogue Podcast Network features shows by Latter-day Saints who wish to bring their faith into dialogue with the larger stream of world religious thought and human experience as a whole, and to foster artistic and scholarly achievement based on their cultural heritage.

I love that I am a part of this network. So much of what I just shared resonates with me.

Mormonism is my cultural heritage. It is part of my human experience and has shaped so much of who I am.

And all of this is really especially relevant this week.

For those who also identify with the LDS faith, this coming weekend is the Semiannual General Conference — a time that many look forward to for spiritually uplifting messages and direction from our church leaders.

For others, perhaps, some of these messages bring cognitive dissonance, confusion, hurt, and possibly pain.

If this is you, my heart genuinely goes out to you, and I hold that space of hurt with you.

If this is not you, I invite you to put on the lenses of those for whom this upcoming weekend could be very difficult — for whom a place where peace once was found is now a place of sadness.

Perhaps now, to put it bluntly — unless you have been perhaps living under a rock (which I’m sure you have not) — you know that many folks are experiencing a shift in their faith.

Many conservative faiths, not just the LDS.

Some call it a faith crisis, a faith journey, a pivot in their faith journey, or a faith expansion. I’m sure there are others.

For me, I prefer “faith expansion.” And why? Because that expression fills my soul with hope.

And is that not what we are taught to have? A perfect brightness of hope?

Expansion means bigger, greater, larger.

I like to picture a hot air balloon. As the heat causes the balloon to fill with warm air and it fills every corner and pocket, once those are filled — the balloon doesn’t stop there. It takes flight.

And as long as that heat soaks the fire, so to speak, that balloon continues on its journey, exploring uncharted territory and learning of things unknown to the balloonist — or the traveler, we’ll say — before.

Since this is the Beyond the Shadow of Doubt podcast, where my goal is to normalize having questions and doubts, I’m going to be so bold as to make four invitations to you today.

If you plan to listen to General Conference this weekend — and by the way, even if you’re not LDS and of another faith, you can do this — these invitations are relevant to your faith of origin as well.

Perhaps you can ask yourself these questions as they relate to counsel and discourses given to your church body as a whole from your leaders.

Invitation #1
The first invitation I make comes from an email I received about a week ago. It’s the most recent subscriber email from Brother Kurt Francom of the Leading Saints organization, dated March 25.

Brother Francom lists four things to do this coming weekend, and I’m going to share one of them with you:

Seek cognitive dissonance, not confirmation bias.

He goes on to explain:
“I’ll often hear people highlight specific talks that confirmed a belief or position they had held previously, or they will dismiss talks that do not confirm their bias. Talks that confirm your bias are nice to hear because they make you feel like you are in line with the Brethren.

However, instead of looking to confirm your bias or current beliefs, highlight those concepts you hear that go against a previously held belief, or that don’t sit comfortably in your mind — or even identify your least favorite speakers and treat their talk like the most important address of the century. Take intense notes and identify specific quotes you can easily review in the days following conference.

I’ve always had a beneficial experience wrestling with those topics that give me cognitive dissonance and then taking them to God for deeper understanding and direction.”
— End quote.

I thought this was very wise counsel. I can’t really add anything else to it other than the invitation to do it — to look for those places where you notice something coming up for you, some feeling of not feeling settled or questioning or uncertainty perhaps.

And as he says — treat that as the most important part of the talk or the most important address of the century, and really dive in.

Invitation #2
Ask yourself:
What is my role in the ongoing Restoration?
How am I expanding and growing what our forebears worked hard to establish?

To illustrate what I mean, I quote from the book Restoration by Patrick Q. Mason, historian who has held the Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University since 2019.

In Chapter Two, he says:

“Restoration is one of those terms that only makes sense when connected to something else. In other words, for a restoration to happen, something has to be restored.”

(This is me interjecting — I looked it up. Merriam-Webster says restoration is: “a bringing back to a former position or condition.” It’s a reinstatement — i.e., the restoration of peace, or a restoring to an unimpaired or improved condition.)

Brother Mason continues:

“According to the Church’s bicentennial proclamation to the world, the Restoration entails a restored church, restored priesthood authority, and the restored gospel — meaning the doctrine and teachings of Jesus Christ and the prophets and apostles throughout the ages.
The work of the Restoration is not yet complete, but remains ongoing. Through the gift of continuing revelation, God continues to inspire and guide the apostles He has called to lead The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is ‘Christ’s New Testament Church restored.'”

But then he says something surprising:

“As far as I’ve been able to discover, Joseph Smith never talked about a ‘restored church.’ Not once.”

He scoured both the scriptures Joseph produced and publications in the Joseph Smith Papers. Except in the modern historical introductions (which are not original sources), he found no mention of “restored church” or “restoration of the church.”

He discovered that the first time the phrase restored church was used in General Conference was in October 1918, nearly 88 years after the church was organized in 1830.

Similarly, “restored gospel” appeared only three times in General Conference before 1900 — and didn’t become commonly used until the 20th century.

Yet, Restoration was very much part of the early LDS vocabulary.

So what were they referring to?

In a word: Israel.

That’s where I end off.

So — invitation #2 again:
What is my role in the ongoing Restoration of Israel?
How am I expanding and growing what our forebears worked so hard to establish?

Invitation #3
This comes from an interview of Anthony Sweat on the Leading Saints podcast by Kurt Francom.

Brother Sweat is an author and associate professor of Church History and Doctrine at BYU. He has a Bachelor’s in Painting and Drawing and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction.

The interview was about navigating ambiguity in a church classroom setting — though the principles apply broadly.

At around 39 minutes in, Brother Sweat says:

“Clarity can come through the wrestle. Teach what is declared and known without shutting off sincere comments about things that are not.”

In other words:
Don’t manage opinions.
Listen without agreeing.

Then at 50 minutes in, he says:

“There are clearly things that have not yet been revealed. Embrace ambiguity. Just as artists don’t always reveal precisely what they had in mind in their work of art, God seems to want us to grow by wrestling with some things where only hints are provided. He wants seekers who ask and knock.”

So — invitation #3:
Where is your focus when having discussions?
Are you managing opinions or listening without shutting others down?
How are you a wrestler? A seeker? One who asks and knocks?

Invitation #4
I share words of Richard “Papa” Osler — author of Listen, Learn & Love and host of the Listen, Learn & Love podcast with over 500 episodes.

On March 5, he posted:

“Things we don’t agree with or understand can’t just be dismissed as ‘woke.’ That feels intellectually shallow.
When we disagree, we can state the facts of our positions without invoking emotionally charged language that just further divides us.
Let’s be better.”

So — invitation #4:
How do you engage in discussions — especially with people you disagree with?

Are you able to keep your emotions in check and still help others feel seen and heard?

That’s it. That is a lot.

But I felt really prompted to share all of it with you today.

Please share it with your family, friends, and loved ones.

Let’s get some open, genuine, real, respectful, loving conversations started.

If you’re ready to get the care and attention you deserve through one-on-one coaching, I invite you to reach out.

Connect with me at meaganskidmorecoaching.com

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We’re in this together.

Until next time, thanks for joining.