Please join us for Episode 132 as we celebrate our podcast anniversary with an Ask-Us-Anything conversation, hosted by Blakelee Ellis and featuring listener questions with Cynthia-and-Susan answers! It’s a fun, wide ranging discussion packed with women’s voices, ideas, and experiences—a perfect way to commemorate 3 years of saying it at last. Bring your own cake!
It sounds simple to say I must love my neighbor as I love myself, but what does that really look like? We have an unfaltering example in Jesus, whose works offered a living reflection of his teachings about the nature of God. The scriptures may be full of unclear translations, contradictory ideas, metaphors that have lost meaning over time, and laws that have lapsed. But Christ’s actions show clearly who God is, and how God loves. In episode 131, Cynthia and Susan discuss the real challenge of d...
For ALSSI listeners, it’ll be no surprise that when Cynthia was asked to speak on the subject of atonement, she pivoted to an exploration of grace. In Episode 130, ideas from her talk inspire a conversation about the relationship between those two words, as well as salvation and healing. Do Latter-day Saints believe in grace? Or are we mostly just confused by it? As we study the New Testament together, what might change if our discussion at church shifted to focus more on the radical grace exemp...
It’s easy to assume that when we’re all in the same room, we’re hearing, seeing, and experiencing the same things. But this discussion between three sisters shows that living in the same house, growing up in the same family, and attending the same ward and church activities carries no such guarantee. In Episode 129, Cynthia is joined by her two sisters for a conversation about how even Latter-day Saint women who share many commonalities are not having the same experiences in life or at church. I...
Latter-day Saint women in a liminal faith space may find it’s not easy to know what to say, or to whom they can say it. It can feel scary to share non-traditional thoughts with the people closest to us—a husband or partner, a parent, close friend, or child—or discuss shifts we experience in foundational aspects of our church or spiritual lives. In Episode 128, Cynthia and Susan are joined by therapist C.A. Larson for a conversation about having these hard conversations.
Cultural taboos and prohibitions can feel etched in stone for many Latter-day Saint women. Even in things so personal as what to wear to church, we may feel little room to deviate from what’s expected. In Episode 127, Cynthia and Susan discuss choices they each make that are counter to the cultural norm. They’re small things, but in a church where it can feel like there are no small things, learning to ignore raised eyebrows and give yourself permission can pay big mental and spiritual dividends...
Got thoughts about tithing? This may be the episode you’ve been waiting for! There’s a lot of emotion tied up at the intersection of money, obedience, temple recommends, and blessings. And what about charitable giving? How is tithing the same as paying to a charity that benefits others? How is tithing different? In Episode 126, Cynthia and Susan explore a diversity of ideas and personal experiences shared by listeners around this complicated topic.
Because the scriptures have been written, translated, interpreted, and most often taught by men, it’s not surprising many women don’t feel empowered to venture beyond the understanding we’ve received at church. Women’s influence and involvement in the scriptural narrative has been minimized too, leaving only a few female characters with little detail about them. Their role is often glossed over or skipped altogether in our Sunday talks and curriculum. In Episode 125, Kajsa Berlin-Kaufusi joins C...
How does your religion influence your activism? And how does your activism influence your personal religious practice? For Jody England Hansen, there’s never been a boundary between “What kind of member of the Church are you?” and “What kind of member of the world are you?” She writes,“If you see a need, an injustice, and there is something you can do about it, Jesus calls you to do it.” Episode 124 is a conversation about showing up to advocate for and support others, wherever, whenever, and ho...
For some Latter-day Saints, our church services are feeling a little stale. Maybe even boring? If you got a seat on the Imagination Committee, what ideas would you bring for reimagining Sunday worship? How could we make the time we spend meeting together in our wards better? What would inspire and recharge you? What do you wish you might see, hear, sing, say, or do? Where’s your holy envy sitting on Sundays?
In this bonus episode, Becky shares a few more personal insights about faith journeying. Spoiler: growth is always a good thing.
You may or may not call it a faith crisis, but many Latter-day Saints experience a seismic shift at some point that calls into question the faith we thought was settled. Suddenly we no longer feel sure about things to which we used to testify wholeheartedly. Though individuals experience the details differently, sudden uncertainty about foundational beliefs can feel frightening, isolating, even hopeless. In this episode, Becky Edwards joins Cynthia and Susan for a discussion about moving and gro...
Latter-day Saints talk a lot about the wicked world: how it’s getting more wicked, how it’s a sign of the last days, how we’re supposed to be in but not of it, how we should protect our families and fortify our homes against it. But what do we mean when we talk disparagingly about it? What are we gaining collectively from embracing a distrust of, or desire to disengage from, the world? And could there be unintended consequences from consistently highlighting a fearful view?
“The power struggle that’s inherent in this telestial sphere between men and women is the source of all of our pain…” In this short bonus, Kathryn joins Cynthia and Susan to explore a few more ideas about patriarchy. Could it stand in the way of women and men realizing our full potential?
"While there are things I love about the organization, and most especially the people and community, I also see the messiness, the warts, and I see some very real pain and damage in it all. And so here I am today, living at the edge of inside." In this special bonus, Jeralee reflects on her faith journey and the lessons she's learning along the way, sharing an adaptation of her presentation from the ALSSI Fall Gathering, October 2022.
Are women complicit in their own marginalization within the Church? In their Season 5 finale episode, Cynthia and Susan unpack the idea of complicity, and some obstacles to overcoming it. It’s an itchy topic with no easy answers. But the real focus of the conversation is a call for women to support other women as a necessary first step to change. If we can’t allow for different experiences, and sit with each other in that difference, can we truly love one another?
In this Part 2 episode, more Latter-day Saint women share stories of personal feminist awakenings. It's hard to shake the unsettling realizations once we begin to see through a feminist lens at church. For these episodes, Cynthia and Susan asked listeners to talk about their feminist journeys. Do you think about things today the same way you did 5 or 10 years ago? If not, what has led you to see things differently? And what are the implications for your faith life going forward?
There are probably as many versions of a feminist awakening as there are feminists. Some have always felt aware of the disparity between men’s and women’s experiences and opportunities. For others, the awareness has come more recently. Either way, it’s hard to shake the unsettling realizations once we begin to see through a feminist lens at church. For this episode, Cynthia and Susan asked listeners to talk about their personal feminist journeys. Do you think about things today the same way you ...
Language is powerful. The words and phrases we use repetitively in church create well-worn pathways in our brains. Each time we think in a certain way, practice a certain task, or feel a certain emotion we strengthen and grow that pathway, making it easier for our subconscious to find again and again. Whether it’s hearing male pronouns associated with deity or studying scriptural records written by and about men, without conscious effort there’s a good chance we’re reinforcing ideas about gender...
In her book, The Mother Tree: Discovering the Love and Wisdom of Our Divine Mother, author Kathryn Knight Sonntag wrote, “Further exploration of the Mother is part of the unfolding Restoration in our hearts.” Today many women are feeling led to explore the divine feminine more deeply, or for the first time, in an effort to erase the separation that has existed between Latter-day Saints and our Heavenly Mother. In Episode 113, Kathryn shares insights and ideas gleaned from her personal research a...
What does it mean to a Latter-day Saint young woman when she hears that virtue and chastity are ‘most dear and precious above all things?’ Purity Culture is a movement built on teachings of sexual abstinence before marriage, with the insidious slant that girls and women are responsible for not only their own purity, but that of boys and men. Young women face strict dress codes and years of lessons about how to avoid tempting or distracting. Some even internalize a message that's difficult to ove...
For women who have experienced some kind of faith shift or feminist awakening, how to raise children in the Church may become a perplexing question. We may want something different from the messaging and experiences—cultural or religious—we grew up with. We may want a more expansive idea of God than is presented in correlated materials. We may hold more nuanced views than some official positions. We may wonder how to answer questions about issues to which we don’t really have answers ourselves. ...
How do you think about repentance? Is it a way to become pure? A way to change direction? A way to accept responsibility for harm we’ve caused ourselves or others? And how do you feel about an organization that doesn’t apologize? Can we make amends without acknowledging harm? Repentance is something we hear and talk a lot about at church, but we don’t all think about it the same way. In Episode 110, Cynthia and Susan share personal ideas about repentance, and discuss whether or not Latter-day Sa...
In this short bonus episode, Cynthia and Susan share a few more listeners' experiences and feelings about temple sealings and the policies around them. Spoiler: It's complicated.
Disparity in the Church’s sealing policies for men and women is something many members never think about until their life experience reveals it in some way. The truth is, a variety of complex real-life scenarios may change the idea of sealing from a joyful eternal prospect to a painful eternal sentence for some Latter-day Saint women. If you are widowed, divorced, remarried, or single, your sealing options as a woman are limited, and you have little to no power in the process of determining what...
Having learned about her well-defined role as a wife and mother from the time she is a young girl, when and how does a Latter-day Saint woman develop an understanding of who she is as an individual? Over time, not living in alignment with our true self is exhausting, and may be detrimental to health and happiness. ‘Finding yourself’ may sound cliché, but self-discovery is key to making choices about our life and identity that will lead to personal fulfillment. Therapist C.A. Larson joins Cynthia...
‘Blessing’ is a catch-all word. From prosperity gospel to the laying on of hands, it is used to describe a transactional approach to our relationship with God: we do something and believe we are ‘blessed’ as a result. But when we try to connect those specific dots in our lives, things can get tricky. Such a transactional view may challenge our faith as often as it affirms it. In this follow-up conversation, Cynthia and Susan take another look at some complicated ways Latter-day Saints perceive, ...
In this short bonus episode, Susan shares “Circles of Light,” the essay in which the phrase ‘I’m in the process of staying’ originated.
“Why do you stay? How do you stay?” Because the conversations on this podcast often highlight problems Latter-day Saint women have observed or experienced in their church lives, these questions come up a lot. Every so often, it’s helpful to check in with oneself for the current answers. In this episode, Cynthia and Susan discuss the process of staying: what that process looks like for them, and why they each continue to find value engaging with it today.
There’s a lot of pressure around missions in the Church. From the time they are very young, our children hear the clear expectation that they will serve. But the decision to serve, the realities of mission life, the possibility of returning home early, and the pressure to make big life decisions soon after a mission ends, can all weigh heavily on young Latter-day Saints and their families. “The reality of mission life both pre- and post-mission is hard!” says therapist Apple Lanman, who joins Cy...
