I am so excited to be launching this project, www.mormonfaithcrisis.com, in partnership with John and Margi Dehlin!

John and I have been partnering on all kinds of podcasts, events, workshops, networking and so forth in regards to our work with faith transitions and faith crisis for almost ten years now. Pretty much from the beginning… we talked about doing something like this…. “let’s write a book together”… “let’s figure out how to support people going through these difficult issues”… “let’s offer group coaching”… etc. And life happens. And we are all super busy like most people. And we have PhDs to finish, private practices to manage, children to raise… you know… Life!

So here we finally are. In the last few months we have spent some consistent time (yes, we actually have each other scheduled into our calendars – woot, woot) planning the launch of this project. We’ve discussed a lot of different methods we could take and landed on the one that gets us moving. Meaning we are not going to wait to release information until it’s all neat, tidy and ready to be “published.” Neither John nor I work well with that approach. It’s long and cumbersome. Instead, we prefer immediate results (cliche, I know) that will motivate us to continue forward. So, we are going to write as we go.  We are going to organize as we go. We are going to plan as we go. We are going to create as we go. We are going to try and succeed/fail at different approaches as we go. Over the next several years we will provide blog posts, events, podcasts, and coaching to support Mormons in religious transition.  The beautiful part about this approach… is that you get to go on the journey with us! Over the next several years we will provide blog posts, events, podcasts, and coaching to support Mormons and their families in religious transition. The culmination of this collaborative project will be a book entitled “Mormon Faith Crisis: A Practical Guide.”

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!!!

When we write or do things that are helpful and valuable to you… tell us! When we get it wrong or are not inclusive to your situation… tell us! When we don’t realize there’s a platform we’re not using that we should be… tell us! When you have an idea we haven’t thought of… tell us! I’m so excited to invite our audience to be part of creating the finished (and I’m sure edited on an ongoing basis) product. This audience collaboration will make this an even richer resource.

This project is meant to serve those who are going through a faith crisis or transition…. as well as their family and friends who may still have more believing or orthodox viewpoints and testimonies. We know that everyone is in pain in these situations and that there aren’t a lot of great resources to help families and communities deal with this hurt… especially coming from the Church itself. This is part of the reason why communication around these situations often goes badly. To the point that really traumatic things happen way too often in our experience: family ostracizing, divorce, detrimental custody battles, rude and belittling comments on a regular basis from all parties, defensiveness, stonewalling or retreating from significant relationships, etc. Even in the best of circumstances, people on both sides feel a new relational wedge that hurts, is confusing and difficult to know how to deal with.

This is another reason why John, Margi and I are pleased with our partnering together. We each bring different perspectives and personalities to the project. We each represent different belief systems. John and I bring years of clinical experience and Margi brings a wellness approach and much lived perspective. We all honor our Mormon heritage and roots, regardless of where we or others find themselves on the spectrum of what it means to be a Latter-day Saint. And we are all devoted to this process of helping families and individuals better navigate these turbulent waters towards calmer seas and brighter vistas.

So, we want to hear from you…. whether you are a practicing Mormon, a nuanced Mormon, a post Mormon, an orthodox Mormon, a progressive Mormon, an atheist Mormon… or any other type of Mormon you may identify with. This is OUR project. This is OUR journey. And regardless of where we stand, or whether we like the concept or not… we know enough about this process that the journey is taken together. Please join us on this journey!

Welcome to mormonfaithcrisis.org!