meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Leading Saints Podcast

Making the Bishop’s Office the Ward Council Office | An Interview with Stephen Jones

Leading Saints Podcast

Leading Saints

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.81.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Stephen Jones hails from Tallahassee, Florida, and served his mission in the Brazil Porto Alegre North Mission. He is a bishop in Springville, Utah, and has previously served in various leadership callings, including ward choir director, elders quorum president, in a Young Men presidency, first and second bishopric councilor, ward mission leader, and executive secretary. Stephen holds a bachelor’s degree in Physiology with an emphasis in Social Physiology and a master’s degree in Public Administration, both from Brigham Young University. He’s best known as an American actor, comedian, host, and educator. Stephen’s entertainment journey began as a university mascot and a headlining standup comedian, and he gained nationwide attention when he starred in a viral Old Spice parody video. Stephen has cohosted the television series Random Acts and featured in other television shows and commercials. After almost a decade of teaching, Stephen is currently the director, producer, editor and host of “Let’s Get Real with Stephen Jones,” an original podcast on Scripture Central.

Links

Let’s Get Real with Stephen Jones There is already a discussion started about this podcast. Share your thoughts HERE.

Watch on YouTube Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcast Get 14-day access to the Core Leader Library

Highlights

02:05 Introduction to Stephen and what he hopes to accomplish with his podcast. How to apply the principles of the gospel and stories of how people live the gospel. 04:30 Getting called as Bishop during covid and while he was finishing his master’s degree 10:20 Learning how to be a bishop and getting his footing. Picking the brains of other leaders, choosing counselors, and receiving revelation. 14:15 Partnering with God to make decisions. We can’t totally rely on God to give us all the answers. We work with Him to make decisions and we have to own those decisions. 19:00 The restoration is not just about restoring the church. It’s about restoring people. God wants to build you through experience. 23:50 Stephen talks about his ward council. Meeting one to one makes ward council more effective. 30:30 How Stephen sees the bishop’s office. It can be for more than just the bishop. Other leaders can have access. 34:00 How Stephen works with the youth in his ward and the things he has learned. Inviting the youth to minister with him and take part in leadership. 40:00 We need to be better at helping people understand where repentance really is. Stephen shares how he helps people with repentance and how he teaches it. 47:15 When it comes to repentance, have more conversations and ask more questions about understanding and belief instead of focusing on the behavior. Get to the base of the problem. 51:15 Repentance is not a straight line. It’s not just a process but a constant and daily turning to God. It’s a lifestyle. 59:15 Resources and where to find more about Stephen and his podcast 1:00:20 The best way to lead is to follow Him.

The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.

Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 600 episodes.

Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Have you ever had a loved one leave the church and your relationship becomes awkward?

0:07.5

This is so common and so sad.

0:10.0

I got the chance to interview the Packard family who have been down this road.

0:14.0

Cindy and Blair Packard are Orthodox believing parents and Josh, their son, and his wife, have left the church.

0:20.4

We came together to discuss their journey and it was amazing what they taught.

0:25.0

They talked about the communications they regretted and how other siblings responded in positive and negative ways.

0:31.0

They learned how to pick up the pieces again, express love, carry on, and build a beautiful

0:36.2

relationship. This has become a favorite in the questioning Saints virtual library.

0:41.0

You can actually gain access to this interview at leading

0:43.8

saints.org. This will give you 14 days to watch the Packard's interview and

0:48.8

many others related to helping individuals who begin to question their faith.

0:53.0

Go to leading Saints.org

0:55.0

slash 14 and get access now.

0:57.0

Before we jump into the content of this episode, I kind of feel it's important that I introduce myself now many of you've been around a long time

1:08.0

You're well familiar with my voice and with leading Saints as an organization.

1:13.6

But if you're not, well, my name is Kurt Frankam.

1:15.9

And I am the executive director of Leading Saints

1:18.2

and the podcast host.

1:19.5

Now, Leading Saints is a nonprofit organization

1:22.4

dedicated helping Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead.

1:25.8

And we do that through, well, content creation like this podcast and many other resources at

1:30.0

leading Saints.org, and we don't act like we have all the answers or know exactly what a

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Leading Saints, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Leading Saints and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.