1398: Contemplative Mormonism - Jana Spangler Pt. 1

Mormon Stories Podcast

Dr. John Dehlin

Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 February 2021

⏱️ 190 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Is it possible to stay active in the LDS Church in 2021 after....

....learning all of the problematic history... ....becoming an ally for LGBTQ Mormons... ...becoming a feminist... ...becoming an "intellectual Mormon"... and after losing one's orthodox faith?

More importantly, why would anyone WANT to?

In Part 1 of my two-part interview with dear friend and faith transitions coach Jana Spangler, Jana tells us the story of her Mormon faith journey, which includes:

Battling with perfectionism as an LDS teen and young adult.
Feeling broken and inadequate as a single Mormon woman attending the University Utah, struggling to meet the church's standards of "worthiness."
Being threatened with an LDS Disciplinary Council be a well-meaning Mormon bishop, and how that actually HELPED turn Jana's life around at the time.
Finding and marrying Rob - who "checked all the Mormon boxes" at the time.
Batting with infertility.
Experiencing self-doubt and depression as a Mormon Mom.
How Jana's passion for self-improvement and retreats/workshops led to a Mormon faith crisis.
Jana's shifting views of Christ's atonement, which include absolute, unconditional love.
Jana's courage to share her testimony struggles with her Holladay, Utah ward and stake.
How untraditional Mormon podcast hosts, authors, and organizations (such as Bill Reel, Gina Colvin, Dan Wotherspoon, John Dehlin, Thomas Wirthlin McConkie, Sunstone, etc.), along with a supportive husband and understanding church leaders, helped Jana find a way to stay ACTIVE in the LDS Church.
What factors led Jana to decide to stay active in the LDS Church...for now.

In Part 2, Jana provides a more detailed framework for how others can find a way to remain active in the LDS Church if they so desire, inspired by the works of Richard Rohr and James Fowler (among others).

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Mormon Stories Podcast.
0:03.8	I'm your host, John Delin.
0:05.6	It is February 17, 2021.
0:11.0	And I am super excited today to have in Mormon Stories Podcast Studios, Janice Bangler.
0:17.6	Hey, Janice.
0:18.6	Hi, John.
0:19.6	Welcome to Mormon Stories Podcast.
0:21.4	Thank you.
0:22.4	So I've had Janice on Mormon Stories a few times, often in panels to talk about topics
0:29.2	to you or below we've never done is just to have Janice in to kind of tell our story.
0:34.4	And if I had to kind of describe why I was interested in Janice, it's not just that she's
0:40.3	almost a neighbor.
0:42.1	She is a lovely human.
0:44.3	And one of the traditions of Mormon Stories Podcast over the years is to interview people
0:50.4	who know all the problems with the church, who care about women and women's issues and minorities,
0:58.6	racial issues, LGBTQ issues, all the issues that kind of vex or plague modern Mormonism,
1:05.4	intellectual issues, etc.
1:07.3	And who find a way or who choose for whatever reason to stay engaged with the Church of
1:14.5	Jesus Christ of Latter-East Saints as participatory, active or semi-active members.
1:20.0	For those who have been listening to Mormon Stories for quite some time, you'll remember
1:23.2	my interviews with Dan, Witherspoon and others, and that is the angle from which I wanted
1:30.6	to interview Janice because she is in a semi-mixed faith marriage, I would say.
	...

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