Sunstone London
7th-8th September 2019
Making Sense of Authority, Myths, and Integrity:
Orientation! Disorientation? Reorientation…
The Sunstone London 2019 conference focuses on the tensions between authority and founding stories of Latter Day Saintism, and the quest for personal, ethical, intellectual integrity and spiritual wholeness.
A person’s initial orientation in the Latter Day Saint movement often begins with hearing stories about the founding prophet, the miraculous coming forth of the Restoration movement, restored priesthood authority, and continuing prophetic leadership. Initially, this may be sufficient for faith and active participation in the church. But then questions arise. There may be disorientation and confusion, for example about the Book of Mormon (history or inspired fiction), equality (patriarchy, race, LGBT, child protection at church events), and priesthood (heterosexual men only, or inclusion of all). Reorientation is navigating these questions with integrity finding either a deeper faith, or possibly abandoning the movement.
Mormonism is a vibrant religious tradition with a diverse membership that has widely differing needs. For many Latter-day Saints, one of these needs is free and frank exploration of doctrinal, historical, and theological topics as they relate to the complexities of today’s society. This symposium seeks to bring people together from a broad range of religious traditions, including those whose interest is purely academic, and those who find great comfort in being able to read, hear, and share personal faith journeys, including all their twists and turns and occasional uncertainties.
| $65 | Conference (Two Days) Registration including Lunch and Snacks | |
| Make a donation to Sunstone! We need it! |
Saturday, September 7 |
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| 8:30 am | On-Site Registration Opens |
| 8:40 am | Welcome |
| 8:50 am | Concurrent Sessions: |
| Building Identity through Pilgrimage to Sacred Space: Journeys to Wholeness presented by Holly Nelson-Becker | |
| Is Zion a Peaceable Kingdom or Not? — Challenges Defining Peace from the 1830s’ Restoration Church to Community of Christ Today presented by Karen Norton, Elray Henricksen, Ryan Comins with Karen Wade as Chair. | |
| 9:50 am | Concurrent Sessions: |
| Snatching the Phoenix from the Flames presented by Peter Bleakley | |
| Personal and Professional Perspectives on Reparative Therapy presented by Ken McFadyen | |
| 10:50 am | Morning Break (Refreshments Provided) |
| 11:00 am | Morning Keynote presented by Robin Linkhart |
| 12:00 am | Lunch |
| 12:45 pm |
Panel discussion: Stories of Faith Transition presented by Alison Baines, Sheldon Kent, Georgina Comins, Sara Elizabeth, with Mark Johnson as Chair. |
| 1:45 pm | Concurrent Sessions: |
| ‘Babies and Bath Water’: What is the authentic heart of the Restoration and what can be left behind? presented by Andrew Bolton | |
| Founding the Postmos: Adventures in Creating Exmormon Social Groups presented by Josh Kaggie | |
| 2:45 pm | Concurrent Sessions: |
| The Impact of Mission: East England Mission 1971-1973 presented by Christina Hanke | |
| Protecting Our Children in Church Life presented by Karen Waring | |
| 3:45 pm | Afternoon Break (Refreshments Provided) |
| 4:00 pm |
Afternoon Keynote Spiritual Experience as a Latter-day Saint and the Second Anointing: How Do I Handle it Anew presented by Hans Mattsson |
Sunday, September 8 |
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|---|---|
| 8:30 am | Doors Open |
| 8:40 am | Concurrent Sessions: |
| Personal Insights on Church Hierarchy from a Former Bishop presented by Bob Ahlander | |
| TBA presented by Cathy Weist | |
| 9:40 am | Break (Refreshments Provided) |
| 10:00 am | Concurrent Sessions: |
| Realities and Fictions of Fundamentalist Mormon Polygamy: A Panel Discussion presented by Philippa Meek, Alina Darger, and Lindsay Hansen Park | |
| A “virtual tour” of the Temple of Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri presented by Elray Henriksen and Andrew Bolton | |
| 11:30 am | Ecumenical Service (LDS/CoC) Optional. |
Location:
This conference is being held at the The National Council for Voluntary Organisations. To read more about the NCVO conference center, please click here.
National Council for Voluntary Organisations
Society Building
8 All Saints Street
London N1 9RL
Registration:
| $65 | Conference (Two Days) Registration including Lunch and Snacks | |
| Make a donation to Sunstone! We need it! |
Click here to find a hotel in the area!
Hans Mattsson
Hans Mattsson was born in Gothenburg, Sweden 1950. He has a twin brother and two older brothers. The whole family were faithful Latter Day Saints and Hans is a third generation LDS. Hans graduated from College 1969. He served as a missionary for the Church in the Birmingham Mission, England, 1970-1972. He also served in the Swedish armed forces in Gothenburg. During this time he met his future wife Birgitta. Birgitta converted to the Mormon faith when she was 17 years old. They were married in 1974, and sealed in the Swiss Temple. They now have five children and 13 grandchildren.
Hans started his career in sales, working for IBM. His professional career has been within sales and information technology. Hans has held many managerial positions. He ended his career as a partner in a Swedish IT-company.
As a very active LDS member, Hans has served in many positions such as branch president, bishop, high council member, stake presidency, stake president, mission presidency and as area seventy. Hans was an area seventy in the Europe Central Area, headquarter situated in Frankfurt Germany April 2000- April 2005. In this position Hans worked with several general authorities and with one of the apostles. Birgitta was very supportive during all his callings and held herself many church positions at ward and stake level.
After some health issues, including a heart bypass surgery, Hans and Birgitta decided to move to a warmer climate and made Spain their home 2013. In 2018 Hans and Bridget published their book Truth Seeking that describes their difficult journey of sincere questioning. It is available in English on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
Robin Linkhart
Apostle, Council of Twelve
Robin Linkhart is a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles, the lead missionary quorum of Community of Christ. She is assigned to the North Central USA Mission Field. She also oversees Restoration heritage seeker ministry and serves on the Theology Formation Team.
Her previous assignments include serving as a President of Seventy for Quorum 6 and was a member of the Council of Presidents of Seventy. On special assignment in Utah, Robin served as pastor of Salt Lake City Community of Christ and supported a variety of emerging ministries along the Wasatch Front.
Prior to holding the office of seventy, Robin provided ministry in the offices of elder, and high priest. Her experience includes pastor, youth and young adult ministries, community outreach/partnering, leadership development, and congregational consulting. In her prior assignment she served the Western USA Mission Field as field missionary coordinator. Linkhart has been employed by the church since January 1999. She holds a master of arts in Christian ministry from Community of Christ Seminary and a bachelor of arts in biological sciences from the University of Northern Colorado.
Robin, and husband Kevin, make their home in Longmont Colorado. They have four children and two grandchildren.