Latter Day Struggles
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The Latter Day Struggles Podcast addresses beliefs and issues within the LDS faith that are challenging to talk about but vital to discuss for those trying to navigate their relationship in or around the church. Valerie and her guests invite psychological maturity, theological health, and institutional integrity.
328 Episodes
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Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Transcending Church Rules on the Path Towards Genuine Christlike Discipleship w/Russ Hinckley Part I of IV Welcome to a beautiful series featuring guest author Russ Hinckley (who doesn't mind being referred to as Mr. Susan Hinckley of the "At Last She Said It" podcast) where Val and Russ explore his book "Beyond Belief" a radical reinterpretation of what Jesus likely would have those who gathered in his name focus on. In this episode Russ ...
Subscriber-only episode Send us a Positive Review! In this timely conversation Valerie tackles Elder Anderson's recent general conference talk on abortion. In one hour she goes from the macro issue of abortion itself and offers some thought-provoking concepts about NOT focusing on abortion and instead focusing on how abortion is the prevailing solution to unwanted pregnancy only because we live in a patriarchal society. She also proposes that LDS women have valid reason to feel unique a...
Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie is invited to be a guest on "Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt," a podcast where she shares many experiences leading to her choice to commit her career to the psychological and spiritual healing of those connected to her own Latter-day Saint faith tradition. Val shares some personal experiences, some of her reasons for beginning and staying in this nerve wracking space, about the ups and downs of the work she does. Mostly she shares her conviction t...
Subscriber-only episode Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: A Look into the Minds of Creators of The Mother Tree & Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos [Part II of II] In this continuation of our conversation about modern Mormon feminist scholarship, Taylor and Kathryn riff about various schools of thought regarding the heavenly roll of a feminine divine in historical and contemporary Mormon scholarship and complicate these ideas with their own, connected to a potential heaven...
Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: A Look into the Minds of Creators of The Mother Tree & Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos [Part I of II] Why is my job the very best? Because I get to sit down with two of the kindest, more brilliant and beautiful souls out there--Kathryn Sonntag and Taylor Petrey-- to facilitate a conversation about all things modern Mormon feminism, scripture, symbology, and the feminine divine. The Mother Tree: Discovering the Love and Wisd...
Subscriber-only episode Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: A Deep Dive into the Fascinating Cosmos Found in Taylor Petrey's Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos [Part IV of IV] Here's one final mindblowing conversation that will definitely leave you thinking "I never thought of the garden narrative THAT way! In this episode Taylor and Val peruse the various and sundry ways that the Garden Narrative has been used to justify all manner of unhelpful theology and social and political...
Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: A Deep Dive into the Fascinating Cosmos Found in Taylor Petrey's Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos [Part III of IV] One definition of "queering" that Taylor uses in his book is to complicate or expand--and this episode does just that in the realm of the feminine divine. Buckle up as Taylor and Val walk through his fascinating ideas regarding what Latter Day Saints call Heavenly Mother. This episode addresses historical and current...
Subscriber-only episode Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: A Deep Dive into the Fascinating Cosmos Found in Taylor Petrey's Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos [Part II of IV] Get ready to have your mind blown just a little more as Taylor walks Val through more expansive ideas around a heaven that privileges "kinship" over all other types of covenant bonds and uses the deep and loving relationship within the Godhead as a model, opening doors of eternal connection that transcend ...
Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: A Deep Dive into the Fascinating Cosmos Found in Taylor Petrey's Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos [Part I of IV] In this episode Val and guest scholar and author Taylor Petrey set this series up by walking through the focus of Taylor's phenomenal new book, Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos. They set the stage to blow your mind in the many ways that an open-minded and close reading of scripture makes all kinds of space for a h...
Subscriber-only episode Send us a Positive Review! In this Office Hours live session, members of the Latter Day Struggles community are asking their questions and Valerie brings her encouraging responses. Since February is the month where love is celebrated, this conversation centers around marriage, partnership and navigating the sometimes tumultuous waters of maintaining close relationships during a faith expansion journey. Don’t lose heart! It really is possible to maintain love, pat...
Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Valerie & Nathan Hamaker Forced Resignation from the LDS Church [Part III of III] In this final episode detailing the tough events of Val and Nathan's last year trying to collaborate with their local priesthood leaders, they share why they chose to resign their membership instead of experiencing a disciplinary counsel. They also explore the fear that some LDS leadership experiences with mental health workers and conclude with their proc...
Subscriber-only episode Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Valerie & Nathan Hamaker Forced Resignation from the LDS Church [Part II of III] Join Val & Nathan in this episode answering questions that came in from listeners following their public announcement regarding their forced resignation from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints due to local priesthood leaders' inability to understand the nature of their work and the healing intent of their hearts. Thank you...
2Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Valerie & Nathan Hamaker Forced Resignation from the LDS Church [Part I of III] Please join Valerie & Nathan in this tough 3-part conversation sharing the events that led to what felt to them like their forced resignation from LDS Church this past week. In today’s episode Val and Nathan walk through a timeline of a lot of painful experiences in the past eighteen months with multiple well-meaning local priesthood leaders who ulti...
Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Community Healing: How our Greatest Wounds & our Greatest Healing Happens through Human Relationship [Part VIII of VIII] Join Valerie in the final episode of a series exploring the beauty of community healing in the context of an LDS faith crisis. In this episode you will meet two current members of Valerie's brand new advanced content group, processing the impact of growing up in a patriarchal world and church. This group dives deeply into h...
Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Community Healing: How our Greatest Wounds & our Greatest Healing Happens through Human Relationship [Part VII of VIII] Join Valerie and four amazing guests who get really brave speaking about their LDS faith journey as they become acquainted with the concept of true community. In this episode Val invites two women and two men to talk about the fear of joining a healing group, especially in light of negative experiences, too common in their l...
Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Community Healing: How our Greatest Wounds & our Greatest Healing Happens through Human Relationship [Part VI of VIII] In this Friday episode you will meet Leo, another fellow listener to the Latter Day Struggles podcast and an ongoing participant in Valerie's healing communities. Leo and Val talk about Leo's true self journey and how he has realized his estrangement from his true self and how that was closely connected to burying mult...
Send us a Positive Review! Community Healing: How our Greatest Wounds & our Greatest Healing Happens through Human Relationship [Part V of VIII] In this beautiful episode I welcome Devin (another graduate of my faith expansion growth and processing group) who was willing to share his experiences coming into deep connection with his true self as the most fundamental part of his faith journey. In this episode Devin and I talk about his wrestle with feeling "good enough" to even imagi...
Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Community Healing: How our Greatest Wounds & our Greatest Healing Happens through Human Relationship [Part IV of VIII] Join Val in this beautiful episode with guest Joy, who shares some tender elements of her faith journey which began long before joining one of the growth & processing communities. Val and Joy talk about Joy's journey finding her "true self" after realizing that the core of her selfhood could *not* be her ability to have the lar...
Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Community Healing: How our Greatest Wounds & our Greatest Healing Happens through Human Relationship [Part III of VIII] In this episode, Valerie and Nathan set the stage for why those who commit themselves to Val's healing groups say that what they learn about the concept of the "true self" can be life changing. Val and Nathan talk about why this idea not only gives us access to full healing from LDS faith and trust crisis, it also offers a path to...
Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Community Healing: How our Greatest Wounds & our Greatest Healing Happens through Human Relationship [Part II of VIII] In today's episode Val and Nathan go deeper into what they have learned about the unique healing process of faith and trust crisis connected to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You'll learn how our faith crisis journey might be a bit different from other religion's faith journeys and why being in a non-judgmen...
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Episode 203-206 = Our lived experience as parents! We're so glad you have illuminated this subject. Although my husband and I have moved out of orthodoxy, it has taken years to heal relationships with our children who disaffiliated as teens and young adults. Thank you for sharing these insights. I hope many more parents will listen to these very valuable episodes!
Episode 203-206 = Our lived experience as parents! We're so glad you have illuminated this subject. Although my husband and I have moved out of orthodoxy, it has taken years to heal relationships with our children who disaffiliated as teens and young adults. Thank you for sharing these insights. I hope many more parents will listen to these very valuable episodes!
Really awesome episode! Exactly what I needed this week. ❤️ Love the subscription podcast, too, which includes episode 200, the next in this series. Thank you both so much!
Really awesome episode! Exactly what I needed this week. ❤️
Very helpful episode to help highlight the disturbing harms of patriarchy.
I found this podcast about 2 weeks ago. I love it and so grateful for it