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It's our holiday special! Any donation made before the end of the year automatically receives a PDF printable of our 50th anniversary Sunstone ornament!
Sunstone helps build rich communities engaging in thoughtful conversations about Mormonism. You can help by making a contribution below!
All contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Any donation made before the end of the year automatically receives a PDF printable of our 50th anniversary Sunstone ornament! Get yours today!
This year we're celebrating 50 years of Sunstone! Scroll through the last 50 years below, and make a donation to keep us around for the next 50!
1974 - 1977
It all started when Berkeley theology graduate student Scott Kenney and some dedicated friends started a new foundation with the mission of publishing LDS student work. “May Sunstone attract the best efforts of young Latter-day Saints who will raise the questions, pursue the discussions, and bear the witness worthy of a living faith that is both intellectually vigorous and spiritually discerning.”
1974: Sunstone’s first fund-raiser is a Mormon history calendar, making just enough to print the first issue.
1975: The first issue of Sunstone is published in a journal format with full-color interior images.
1977: With the “rat issue,” Sunstone moves to a magazine format. This becomes the rarest issue. Sunstone no longer publishes only student content.
1978
1978: Sunstone’s first office is housed in a building owned by Cooper/Roberts Architects. Future Sunstone editor Peggy Fletcher works as the receptionist to pay the rent.
1978: Sunstone covers the lifting of the priesthood/temple ban. The LDS Church asks to use the front cover photograph in one of its own publications. At this point, the magazine is still entirely produced by volunteers.
1978: Sunstone publishes Freeway to Perfection, a cartoon book by Calvin Grondahl. Even Deseret Book decides to carry it! 20,000 copies are sold.
1978: As Kenney steps away, Peggy Fletcher and Allen D. Roberts become co-editors/publishers of Sunstone, saving it from an early demise.
1978: Sunstone moves to an inexpensive space on the 12th floor of the nearly empty historic Newhouse Hotel. Staff members bring books along to read on the ancient elevator. Sunstone will be the last tenant to leave before the building is demolished.
1979 - 1989
1979: Sunstone holds the Mormon Theological Symposium at the University of Utah. Three hundred people attend. Only one speaker goes over time . . . way over time.
1980: Sunstone moves to the Bennett Paint and Glass building—space donated by Peggy’s grandfather. It becomes a gathering place for questioning Mormons.
1981: Sunstone begins publication of the Sunstone Review, covering Mormon-related news, books, movies,
and culture.
1984: At a symposium held at the Sheraton Hotel in Salt Lake, Sunstone reaches a new symposium attendance record: 1,036. New apostle Dallin H. Oaks is invited to speak at the closing banquet. He turns it down.
1985: Sunstone holds its first regional symposium, in Washington, D.C. Regional symposia are soon held in Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Berekely, Dallas, Kirtland, and Nauvoo.
1989: Dallin H. Oaks gives his “alternate voices” talk at general conference, discouraging Church members from attending unauthorized “symposia.”
1990 - 2010
1990: Sunstone publishes a report on national news stories about changes to the temple endowment ceremony. The temple recommends of Sunstone leaders Daniel Rector and Elbert Peck are confiscated.
1991: The LDS Church releases a statement warning members against “recent symposia.” “There are times when public discussion of sacred or personal matters is inappropriate.”
1992: Under pressure, the number of BYU professors willing to participate in Sunstone symposia plummets from sixty per year to five
1994: Sunstone steps into the digital age, releasing twenty years of back issues on CD-ROM.
1996: Sunstone moves to its current home: a historic house in the center of Salt Lake City. To cover costs, it rents the upstairs floor to various groups, including The Little Lavender Book, an LGBTQ Salt Lake City directory.
2002: Sunstone holds the first “Why We Stay” symposium session—an annual tradition that continues to the present.
2002: SunstoneOnline.com introduces Sunstone to the internet. It moves to SunstoneMagazine.com in 2008 and sunstone.org in 2012.
2011 - Present
2013: After 26 years of Connie Disney’s classic layout, the magazine and logo get a redesign by Chris Briggs.
2016: Sunstone hosts its first international symposium in the United Kingdom.
2019: Sunstone launches its award-winning podcasts, covering LDS history, culture, and current events, while also reviving classic symposium sessions and magazine articles.
2020: In the face of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions Sunstone holds an online summer symposium. A hybrid symposium is held the next year, and in-person symposiums begin again in 2023.
2018–2024: Sunstone brings in big names for its Smith-Pettit Lectures, including John Dominic Crossan, Reza Aslan, Melissa Harris-Perry, Ned Blackhawk, Leah Sottile, Bart Erhman, and Krista Tippett.
They said Sunstone would never last.
But 50 years later, by the grace of a shoestring budget, hundreds of volunteers, and many generous donations, we’re still providing a place where there is always More than One Way to Mormon. Sunstone has also become a central clearinghouse of information on Mormonism that regularly works with news and media outlets such as PBS, BBC, Netflix, Hulu, Rolling Stone, and the Los Angeles Times.
But what we’re most proud of ...
is the many people who have found understanding, community, and healing through our symposia and publications. If you’re one of those people, please help us reach out to future seekers—for another 50 years—by donating today.
VENMO
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343 n 300 w
Salt Lake City, ut
84103
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While cash donations are always useful and welcome, there are a number of other ways to support Sunstone. Some other ways to give include:
All contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Sunstone EIN: 87-0683974



Don’t know what to say
Hi Lindsay and Bryan! I just started a monthly donation and wanted to tell Bryan I love the biography of Sydney Rigdon he suggested, and Lindsay thanks again for info on the historical tour in St George. Also, I love the podcast!