The On The Other Side Podcast is a weekly, hour-long podcast distributed by the Open Stories Foundation. It is a diverse panel representing varied voices within the millennial religious experience who will discuss topics relating to their personal spiritual journeys
For our first episode, we introduce our three co-hosts (Chris, Michelle, and Blake) and we chat about how each of them got to where they are now in relation to spiritual/religious identity, practice, and beliefs.
Chris, Michelle, and Blake all grew up Mormon (LDS). But various experiences and issues throughout the years have made them feel more distanced from Mormonism in a variety of ways.
While briefly summarizing the stories surrounding these experiences and issues, we end up discussing transcendence, zealous Mormon evangelism, missionary service, ritualistic Temple worship, historical/doctrinal study, and institutional disillusionment.
In the future, we hope to explore some of these faith transition-related topics, both inside and outside of Mormonism, in much more depth. But to build the foundation for those conversations, we wanted to start with a robust introduction of our “origin stories,” so to speak. Enjoy!
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Comments 10
As another millennial ex-mormon, this was a fun thing to listen to. So much to relate to, a lot of similar experiences and thoughts. There were a couple of interesting reminders that the church was such a different experience for older generations, I would like to hear more of your thoughts about that. Didn’t the church used to be more fun? More activities, more community, less rules, etc. Do you guys think that has contributed to rising numbers of disaffected millennials? I also appreciated that the hosts are all unique in their current affiliations with mormonism, some interesting perspectives.
Great first episode, look forward to hearing more!
Loving it so far! Where do we find your fun fact Friday’s?
Exciting podcast. Thanks for doing this, I look forward to many more episodes!
I was impressed with the extensive knowledge you three possess about the Bible, as well as the in-depth research you’ve done in order to understand your church the teachings, the practices, and the doctrine in order to develop your belief system, as you seek “your personal truth about life and our existence on this planet.”
Thank you Kathy!
Appreciate it Zak! We will release every Thursday.
Thank you! Check out more episodes every Thursday.
Thanks for listening, Hilary!
And good question about the rising numbers of disaffected millennials (though I should note here that I’m hesitant to speak authoritatively about numbers. I’ll refer you to Jana Riess’ research re: “The Next Mormons” for a more robust treatment of the topic).
I think you’re probably right that a focus on community/connection/fun (as opposed to a focus on rigid orthodoxy and “rules”) would be healthy, and would likely keep people engaged in the institution of the LDS Church for much longer. But I don’t think that that’s the only problem. I also don’t think that it’s a new problem, necessarily. As a culture, Mormonism has in general been obsessed with rigidly holding on to conservative interpretations of orthodoxy and orthopraxy since the McKay era (which is to say, since the era of “correlation”).
Hi Julie! Thanks for listening! I will be posting them, from now on, on our Facebook page: ON THE OTHER SIDE: MILLENIALS AND RELIGION. And I’m working on compiling a back log so you can look at past fun facts!