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Listen, Learn & Love Hosted by Richard Ostler

Episode 882: Jeff Strong, New Book “Torn: Why People We Love Are Leaving the Church and What We Can Learn From Them”

Listen, Learn & Love Hosted by Richard Ostler

Richard Ostler

Religion & Spirituality

4.7855 Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2026

⏱️ 74 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

My friend Jeff Strong (married father of five, grandfather, former mission president, retired senior executive consumer goods) join us to talk about his new book. Jeff introduces his book with the story of his son Cale leaving the MTC and then leaving the Church—and Jeff’s desire to better understand. Jeff’s book (with a forward from Steve Young) focuses on: Conducting the largest LDS focused study on disaffiliation (20,000 respondents + interviews) About 40% of those that were active in 2000 have left the church 25 years later The “four patterns” that emerge from the data—super insightful Importance of culture—needs to nourish and create belonging—and how we can do better “It isn’t about lower standards; it’s about more love” Framing of the tension—four areas Powerful story of reconciliation with his son Cale Jeff’s book is so needed in our community—bringing the data forward and then framing it a way that gives us tools and insights to do better. I encourage everyone to read and share this book—and consider what we can do better to create the culture/belonging that Jeff’s talks about in his book. Thank you Jeff for writing this book and being on the podcast. You are making a huge difference for good in our community. Links: Jeff’s website: www.tornbyjeffstrong.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588509745251 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tornbyjeffstrong/ Steve Young’s Root talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpMJkBbTqB0

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, welcome listeners to another episode of Listen, Learn, and Love hosted by Richard Osler.

0:09.8

My guest on today's podcast joining me from his home in Midway, Utah, is my friend Jeff

0:15.6

Strong.

0:16.6

Welcome to the podcast, Jeff.

0:17.6

Hi, Richard.

0:19.1

Wow, it's really great to be with you.

0:21.3

Thank you for the opportunity to come and visit.

0:24.4

Jeff is going to talk about his new book called Torn.

0:28.5

It's a book about people that leave the church and the data behind why they leave and what

0:33.2

we can do to better support them.

0:35.6

I've had a chance to read several of these chapters, and being

0:39.2

a market researcher by profession, I'm drawn to the data always why someone, you know, stops

0:46.1

using a consumer product and wanting to understand why and what I can do better as a marketer.

0:51.5

And Jeff is doing this within our faith community. As background, he's a married

0:56.2

father of five. He has six grandchildren. He's in his early 60s. He has been church leader throughout

1:02.9

his church service, Arkansas Bentonville mission leaders, Jeff and his wife from 2018 to 2021.

1:11.6

He's been a senior executive in consumer goods.

1:14.8

And I love that training that he's had for his career to then bring that lens and

1:20.7

expertise to our faith and why some people are leaving our faith and the data behind it.

1:27.3

So in the show notes, we will link to a website.

1:31.5

This is the key thing for you to remember now, but it'll be in our show notes, listeners,

1:35.7

torn by Jeffstrung.com.

...

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