Faith Matters

Today, we’re excited to bring you a special episode—a replay of one of our favorite sessions from last year’s Restore Gathering, featuring Dave Butler. We’re also thrilled to let you know that Restore 2025 is happening this September 25–27 in Orem, Utah, and this episode is a great preview of the kind of experience you can expect—thoughtful, joyful, expansive, and rooted in a deep desire to love a...

Today we’re so excited to share a conversation about the new book Carry On , a rich and thoughtful history of the church’s Young Women organization. This project has been ten years in the making, created by historians Lisa Olsen Tait, James Goldberg, Amber C. Taylor, and the late Kate Holbrook. Joining us today to talk about the project are Lisa and James. In this conversation, they trace the arc...

Today, we’re sharing a really special session from last year’s Faith Matters gathering, Restore. This conversation has really stayed with us, and we're so grateful we get to share it with you now. It begins with a short, beautiful film—we’d highly recommend heading to our YouTube channel if you’d like to watch it. You’ll hear John Gustav-Wrathall share his journey as a gay Latter-day Saint—a...

Today we’re excited to share our conversation with Anna Lott, and we’re especially thinking of those who are walking—or have walked—the path of divorce. Anna is the host of the Solo Saints podcast and retreats, and she’s become a thoughtful and compassionate voice in our community—especially for those who often feel like their experiences don’t quite fit the mold. As a divorced mother of four, Ann...

This week—June 9th—marks the 47th anniversary of the 1978 revelation that ended the Church’s 126-year ban on Black members receiving the priesthood and entering the temple. It’s a moment we often point to with reverence and gratitude—but the story we’ve inherited about how it happened is, in many ways, incomplete. To help us understand more fully what led to that pivotal moment, we’re joined by Dr...

Today, we’re so excited to share something brand new with you—the very first episode of a new podcast we’re launching here at Faith Matters. It’s called Article 13 . This new narrative podcast brings together cutting-edge research and spiritual wisdom to explore creative paths toward a more connected and compassionate world. As our society grows increasingly divided along political and cultural li...

This week, we got to sit down with someone we’ve long admired and are so thrilled to finally have on the podcast—Steven Sharp Nelson, known to millions around the world as “The Cello Guy” from The Piano Guys. He’s a creative force and a pioneer in "cello-percussion"—where rhythm, melody, and movement come together in such creative and beautiful ways. If you’ve ever seen Steve perform, yo...

This week, we’re sharing a conversation with Phil Barlow about his new book, published by Faith Matters, called A Thoughtful Faith for the 21st Century . If that sounds familiar, it may be because Phil published the first volume back in 1986. That original collection included essays by Eugene England, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Francine Bennion, Richard Bushman, and others—each exploring what it mean...

This week, we’re excited to share a special live episode recorded at the Compass Gallery in Provo, as part of our Big Questions series with Terryl Givens. Each month, Terryl is joined by a guest for a conversation about some of our biggest theological and historical questions. In this episode, he’s joined by scholar and teacher Jared Halverson. Together, Terryl and Jared explore the question: can...

With Mother’s Day coming up, we’re so honored to bring you this conversation with McArthur Krishna about her new book, Mother in Heaven: A Gospel Topics Essay Study Guide. The doctrine of Heavenly Mother is one of the most beautiful and distinctive Latter-Day Saint teachings—but for many, it’s still unfamiliar territory. McArthur and her co-authors created this study guide as an invitation to enga...

This week, we’re so glad to be sharing a conversation with our friend Chad Ford. Chad is a conflict mediator, peace educator, and associate professor of religious studies at Utah State University. He’s spent decades working in some of the most entrenched conflict zones in the world—from the Middle East to South Africa to Northern Ireland. He’s also the author of a new book called Seventy Times Sev...

With Easter just a few days away, we’re so excited to share this conversation with Amanda Suarez and Jon Ogden. Amanda and Jon are two of the co-founders of Uplift Kids , a lesson library and curriculum that helps families explore spirituality, values, and emotional health together. Amanda is a school psychologist and certified conscious parenting coach, and Jon is a writer, curriculum creator, an...

This week, we’re so excited to welcome Adam Miller and Rosalynde Welch to talk about their brand-new book, Seven Visions . This book is an exploration of seven visionary experiences in the Doctrine and Covenants—moments where heaven and earth meet in powerful and sometimes surprising ways. Through these visions, Adam and Rosalynde invite us to consider how we engage with scripture and revelation i...

This week, we’re really excited to share a conversation about a brand-new Children’s book called Changemakers by McArthur Krishna and Anne Pimentel, with beautiful artwork by Jessica Sarah Beach.  The book is a powerful and much-needed affirmation, especially in a moment when many women are quietly wondering where they fit. Through stories from scripture and the global history of the Church of Jes...

Today we’re bringing you a special conversation hosted by Jared Halverson, who’s joined by three women—Bethany Brady Spalding, Kathryn Knight Sonntag, and me—who’ve been part of a larger, ongoing conversation sparked by one of Jared’s recent videos on social media. If you haven’t seen the video, here’s the context: Jared highlighted the recent trend of women leaving the Church in greater numbers t...

We have a really fun episode for you today—We’re talking with James Goldberg about his delightful book Tales of the Chelm First Ward , which he co-wrote with his, wife Nicole Wilkes Goldberg, and his brother, Mattathias Singh. The book is a collection of fictional stories set in a Latter-day Saint ward in the imagined town of Chelm—a nod to Jewish folklore and the famous “village of fools.” The hu...

This week, we’re joined by Mike Petrow, who serves as the Director of Formation, Faculty Relations, and Theological Foundations at the Center for Action and Contemplation. The CAC is a nonprofit founded by Father Richard Rohr that introduces seekers to the contemplative Christian path of transformation. Mike is intimately involved with the CAC’s Living School, a core educational offering from the...

This week, we’re excited to share a conversation between Zach Davis and New York Times columnist and author David French. David French began his career as a constitutional litigator, with a special focus on religious liberty. He has since become known for his thoughtful, principled political writing, having worked previously for The National Review, The Dispatch and The Atlantic.  In their convers...

This week, we’re welcoming back our good friend Jeff Strong. Last year, Jeff and his team sent out a survey to the Faith Matters audience as part of a larger research project on faith and church participation. Over 1,600 of you responded, and the results were fascinating! We’re excited to share them with you today. What emerged was a picture of a significant and often unheard cross-section of the...

For today’s episode, we’re releasing a fascinating conversation that Aubrey had with Rich Hanks about the life and legacy of his father, Marion D. Hanks. For those who know his name, you’ll know exactly why this conversation matters so much to us—Marion D. Hanks embodied so many of the values we hold dear. He was a leader of immense integrity, a champion for those on the margins, and a disciple of...

We have been waiting a long time for this episode with our friend Thomas McConkie. As many of you know, Thomas is an incredibly skilled meditation teacher and guide on the path of spiritual awakening. Faith Matters produced his very popular online course Transformations of Faith and also published his incredible book At-One-Ment, which has deeply impacted so many readers.  For the last several yea...

This week, Tim and I are sharing a fascinating conversation with therapist and researcher Janeen Martin about the complex and deeply personal ways that religion and mental health intersect. Janeen has spent years working with clients navigating the full spectrum of religious experience—some who find their faith to be a source of deep resilience and healing, and others for whom it has been a source...

This week, we are thrilled to welcome back Terryl Givens—one of our all-time favorite guests and collaborators and someone we always have a running list of topics for. This time, we’re finally diving deep into the topic of agency and free will: it’s something that has come up in many of our past conversations but never had its own dedicated discussion.  Terryl’s new book, Agency , is part of the M...

This week, we’re thrilled to talk with Carl Youngblood— longtime technologist, software engineer, and president of the Mormon Transhumanist Association. Artificial Intelligence is no longer a distant, futuristic idea—it’s already shaping the way we learn, work, and even practice our faith. And just this past week, AI made big headlines again in the tech world with the release of vastly improved mo...

This week, Zach Davis is joined by New York Times columnist and author Ross Douthat to talk about his new book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious. Ross has spent his career bridging worlds—explaining faith and conservatism to a largely secular audience while also translating secular ideas back to religious readers. In this conversation, he makes a compelling case for why belief isn’t just...