In November 2010, the delegates to the General Assembly of the National Council of Churches of Christ (NCC), a leading force for ecumenical cooperation and witness among US Christian denominations, accepted the Community of Christ as a member, making it the 37th communion [denomination] in the NCC. This paper will explore the impulses, initiatives, and …
Speaker: Dale E. Luffman
Banquet: Treasures Of Earth On Heaven: The Impact Of Mormonism’s Missing, Repudiated, Rebuilt, And Museum-Sequestered Artifacts
A supremely important artifact to early Christians was the cross; slivers of it were cherished as the most valuable of relics. Over time, the cross has been repudiated by latter-day Saints, who instead mark their most sacred buildings with a statue of Moroni. Arguably the most important artifact of Mormonism, the object on which its …
Devotional. Dare We Question Scripture?
In this devotional, we will consider 2 Nephi 5:30 (CofC) / 2 Nephi 6:12 (LDS) and focus on a responsible interpretation of this significantly prejudicial text in the Book of Mormon. Dale E. Luffman
SL09191 Panel: The Dynamics of Power and Authority in the LDS Church
Who exercises power and authority in the LDS Church? What matters about who’s inside and who’s outside the current power structure? Our panel will explore the personal, spiritual, and institutional implications of the current power dynamics in the LDS Church and discuss what other models and approaches might be possible.We’ll hear from panelists on many …
SL09211 A Woman of Sorrows, Acquainted with Grief
It is time! It is time to acknowledge and confess as faith communities the pressures and restrictions women often experience in religious culture. Texts of scripture provide divine guidance and inspired insight for life when responsibly interpreted and faithfully applied. However, texts must be read, overheard, and absorbed so that lives lived might be both …
SL09321 Making a Case for a Nineteenth-century Reading of the Book of Mormon
To interpret the Book of Mormon responsibly requires readers be brought into a historical conversation with early nineteenth-century North America and into a larger hermeneutical conversation with the text itself. This presentation will outline how this interpretive strategy will enable a more adequate reading of the Book of Mormon, including the perceived aims and purposes …