FAIR

lds women

Seven reasons to attend (or stream) the FairMormon Conference

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Conference registration is ending on July 26! We recently had some fun with another list, here are seven amazing (and this time, completely serious) reasons to attend or stream our conference:

1. Celebrate the 20th anniversary of the FairMormon Conference.
Yes, 20 years! Can you believe it? This is going to be a landmark conference.

2. This year we will have our first EVER full day devoted to women in the church.
This special day is in addition to our regular two day conference (making the complete conference three days long) and is in conjunction with the Church History Department. All are welcome, but the topics will focus on women’s topics and issues.

3. Attending & streaming supports FairMormon – it’s a chance to give back to the volunteers.
FairMormon needs your help to survive. Without your support, we will cease to exist. Attending (or streaming) the conference is one of the best ways to give back. And in return, you get to hear some amazing speakers, meet new people, and build your testimony. A win-win for all.

4. Over 20 sought-after speakers. Exactly as many intriguing topics.
Speaking of speakers, our lineup this year is stunning. We will hear from some well known personalities (such as Brad Wilcox, Steven Harper, and Dan Peterson), among others. You will learn about LDS women in India, and members in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Book of Abraham, horses in the Book of Mormon, dealing with barriers to belief, same sex attraction, and the new Mormon history. It a year not to be missed!

5. Stream your favorite talks for an entire year.
If you can’t attend in person, we offer a streaming option. Watch the conference from the comfort of your home. For those who are too busy on the days of the conference to watch, purchasing streaming will allow you to watch the talks at any time after the conference for up to a year. In other words, you can enjoy conference no matter your circumstance.

6. Check out new titles and old favorites in the onsite Bookstore.
For those who attend, you’ll get to enjoy pursuing our the many many titles in our bookstore and take home some awesome reading to help you continue your learning and growth in gospel scholarship and apologetics.

7. A generous donor is offering to double donations now and through the conference.
This is something you can take advantage of whether you attend or not, but starting now, for every $1 you donate to FairMormon, an incredibly generous donor will donate $2 up to $7,000. After that, your donation will be matched dollar for dollar up to $50,000! This is a critical time for us, and your donation and conference attendance will go a long way is securing FairMormon’s future.

So, we hope to see you there, either in person or over the internet! Feel free to reply if you have any questions.

P.S. There is a special discount for seminary and institute teachers. Please ask your Seminaries and Institute supervisor about the discount or send us an email.

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Articles of Faith 14: Mormon Women Stand – Defending Prophetic Authority

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Podcast: Download (42.6MB)

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Kathryn-Skaggs

Kathryn Skaggs is the founder, and Angela Fallentine the co-founder of the Mormon Women Stand Website and Mormon Women Stand Facebook Page—an effort that focuses its efforts on defending the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it’s leaders and its teachings by using a united voice of faithful women from the Church.

Kathryn Skaggs is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She took the Ann Romney approach to womanhood by staying home and raising her children, and making no apologies for doing so. Her online efforts started in 2008 with the blog A Well Behaved Mormon Woman where she shares her voice on a variety of social issues.

Angela grew up in Alberta Canada, and later attended Rick’s College/BYU Idaho, and Utah State UAngela-Fallentineniversity with a degree in Journalism with an emphasis in public relations and corporate communications. After graduating she interned for the Church Public Affairs Office and also worked for the Church’s Office of International and Governmental affairs in Washington D.C.

Both are here today to talk about what it means to be a voice on the internet, more specifically a female voice on the internet and the opportunities that effort has in sustaining Church leaders and furthering church dialogue online.

Questions we address in this interview: We are here (being recorded) at the Provo City library because you are both in town for BYU’s Education Week. How has your experience been so far?

In what ways does attending this conference help you in your efforts as a voice online in defense of the gospel and the church.

You have a combined effort that you co-founded, Mormon Women Stand. Was this a response to something in particular, the ground up inspiration to add your voice to the discourse online?

How and why is MWS different? (how many people involved and what is your audience?)

Who is the intended audience of your work with MWS?

There is an article posted on the Mormon Women Stand website entitled Chipping Away at Priesthood Authority of Mormon Prophets to Undermine Faith. This was written by Angela, but I was told by Kathryn that she shares your words. While neither of you have been guilty of too much subtlety when it comes to your online articles, I am sure the title is a bit of a giveaway, what is the genesis of the article?

The warning that you give in the article is that we need to give care and attention to the idea that the more we seek out the faults of our leaders, and they will be found as all of them will have them, the more we give place for discord, for distancing ourselves from orthodoxy. Is that accurate? What then is the remedy as many will say that there is nothing wrong with becoming aware of even the self proclaimed faults of the leaders themselves?

You give a statement in the article that might come across as strongly worded so I want to give you the opportunity to develop it further, “Is it wrong to speak ill or critically of church leaders or of a talk they give in General Conference? Yes. How serious is speaking and writing against the leaders of the Church? Very serious.”

You give in support of the thesis and title of your article, a quote from Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “Criticism is particularly objectionable when it is directed toward Church authorities, general or local. Jude condemns those who ‘speak evil of dignities.’ (Jude 1:8.) Evil speaking of the Lord’s anointed is in a class by itself. It is one thing to depreciate a person who exercises corporate power or even government power. It is quite another thing to criticize or depreciate a person for the performance of an office to which he or she has been called of God. It does not matter that the criticism is true. … When we say anything bad about the leaders of the Church, whether true or false, we tend to impair their influence and their usefulness and are thus working against the Lord and His cause.”

You encounter people everyday leaving comments on your articles and your accompanying Facebook posts. You are actively engaged in online discussion, which leads me to Elder Bednar’s talk here at Education Week regarding the proper use and role of social media online. In what ways has that presentation effected you, in what ways might you change and in what ways did you find yourselves affirmed by his presentation?

 

Kathryn Skaggs is the founder and Angela Fallentine the co-founder of Mormon Women Stand, found at mormonwomenwomenstand.com.