Inside Out with Jim Bennett and Ian Wilks

Send us Fan Mail Is the Church growing? What can be done to help it grow? Ian and Jim explore the stats, cask the hard questions, and come up with some possible answers. (Spoiler: counting baptisms for the dead as church growth is not the answer.)

Send us Fan Mail Ian recounts the heartbreaking and compelling circumstances that led him from serving in a stake presidency to leaving the Church. 

Send us Fan Mail We continue with Ian Wilks's personal story, which involves his return from his mission and his call into church leadership. This touches on many of the themes we've explored in depth in previous episodes. 

Send us Fan Mail Jim recounts his contentious exchange with another podcaster and discusses the contention within the Church that has driven him off of Twitter. Ian and Jim then discuss the divisions within the Church that fall upon theological and political lines. How much do these divisions damage the Church? And could they lead to a significant schism at some point down the road? 

Send us Fan Mail Ian's story continues as he discusses his mission in Scotland, which is where Ian and Jim met. They commiserate over a particularly difficult mutual companion, and Jim recounts trauma that has spilled over to the next generation. There's also a dead cat, a practicing witch, and the incredible healing properties of Ian's used bathwater.  

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Ian recounts his first experience going through the temple and goes on to discuss the beginning of his mission - and both Ian and Jim recount stories of what happens when missionaries tracting in a cold, wet country find themselves sitting in front of a roaring fire after a long day. 

Send us Fan Mail In Part II of Ian Wilks's conversion story, Ian shares his joy at being baptized and the pain of being rejected by his family as a result. He discusses being homeless alongside his dog Shep, and how the ward rallied around him to literally save his life. 

Send us Fan Mail The first of several episodes exploring Ian Wilks's conversion to and ultimate departure from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There's also a story about a live pheasant flying around inside a car...

Send us Fan Mail Ian and Jim discuss the past, present, and future of the Church's missionary program, offering colorful tales from their own missions along the way. 

Send us Fan Mail Ian and Jim break the First Rule of Internet Publishing: Don't Read the Comments!

Send us Fan Mail Ian and Jim discuss the perfect and permanent memory of church records and the Strengthening Church Members Committee. 

Send us Fan Mail Politics and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have long been inseparable, and Ian and Jim try to make sense of it from both inside and outside the Church, as well as inside and outside the United States. 

Send us Fan Mail Ian and Jim discuss the things that you're allowed to discuss with regard to the recent changes to the temple endowment ceremony.  CORRECTION: In the original version of this episode, Jim erroneously stated that Dan McClellan had "resigned from the Church," when what he meant was that Dr. McClellan had resigned only from Church employment. The original audio file ha...

Send us Fan Mail Ian and Jim discuss how the Church is a remarkable force for good in the lives of so many people, as well as how and why that stops when people step outside the boundaries of the Church. 

Send us Fan Mail Using Elder Kevin Hamilton's comments about how references to the Church and Jesus Christ are interchangeable as a catalyst for discussion, Ian and Jim discuss the challenges of disunity at every level of the Church and consider different approaches to an age-old problem. 

Send us Fan Mail How should the Church handle problematic scriptures and teachings that we no longer believe?