Wednesday, 29 July 2015
7:00 pm
University of Utah
Olpin Student Union
Saltair Room 

Smith-Pettit Opening Lecture

John Dominic Crossan

The Kingdom Mind: From Jesus to Paul and the Implications for Mormonism

When Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of God and Paul announces the Lordship of Christ, that common vision intends the present realization of Israel’s ancient hope for a transfigured earth. They envisage a transformed world of non-violent distributive justice here below and a transformed world of justice and peace here and now. Their call is to a collaborative covenant, a participatory latter-day challenge, a transfiguration of the earth in which God does not act without us and we cannot act without God. Whence came such a startlingly counter-intuitive vision for our world and what are its implication for Mormonism—and everyone else as well?

About John Dominic Crossan: Widely regarded as the foremost historical Jesus scholar of our time, Crossan is the author of several bestselling books including The Historical Jesus; Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography; The Greatest Prayer; and The Power of Parable: How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction about Jesus.

Crossan was born in Tipperary, Ireland in 1934 and educated in Ireland and the United States, receiving a doctorate of divinity from Maynooth College, Ireland in 1959. He did post-doctoral research at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome from 1959 to 1961 and at the École Biblique in Jerusalem from 1965 to 1967. He was a member of a Roman Catholic religious order, the Servites (Ordo Servorum Mariae), from 1950 to 1969 and an ordained priest from 1957 to 1969. He joined DePaul University, Chicago, in 1969 and remained there until 1995. He is now a professor emeritus in its department of religious studies.

He received awards for scholarly excellence from the American Academy of Religion in 1989, DePaul University in 1991 and 1995, as well as an honorary doctorate from Stetson University, DeLand, FL, in 2003.

He has written twenty-seven books on the historical Jesus, the apostle Paul, and earliest Christianity. His work has been translated into thirteen languages, including Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese.

His most recent book is How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian: Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis through Revelation (HarperOne, 2015).

This lecture is sponsored by the Smith-Petit Foundation. It is free and open to the public.

………………………………

Thursday, 30 July 2015
8:00 pm
University of Utah
Olpin Student Union
Saltair Room

Pillars of Our Faith; Faith in Action

The Fight to End Human Trafficking

Moderated by Katie Langston

Lacy Bentley is a Behavioral Science student at Utah Valley University. A survivor of exploitation as well as severe abuse and neglect as a child, she seeks to share a message of hope and healing. She is co-founder of an upcoming non-profit organization that can be found at  www.achangeofheartfoundation.org. Focuses include recovery from self-destructive behaviors learned through exploitation and abuse; healing from the grips of loved one’s addictive behaviors; and the  power of personal choice in building one’s own future. She is a candidate for the National Speakers  Association, a Suicide Prevention Educator and volunteer for the Utah County Crisis line. She has worked   with women in self destructive addictive behaviors since 2000, has led assemblies for young women on   the dangers of eating disorders, has instructed coaches, school nurses and counselors around addressing   eating disorders in students, and has been a participant, sponsor, facilitator and founder in numerous 12-step programs.

A twenty-one year sober alcoholic with 15 years sobriety from anorexia, the messages she offers   are of personal experience with choice in recovery. This choice has expanded to her recovery from  sexually addictive behaviors and beliefs, which she seeks to share through messages of healthy sexual connection to God, self and others.

A dedicated member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Lacy believes firmly in   the power of God to heal any heart from catastrophic pain and suffering. She is an advocate of hard work and personal responsibility in all facets of life.

Timothy Ballard is the founder and CEO of Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.). He also serves as O.U.R.’s jump team commander for rescue operations. Ballard spent over a decade working as a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and deployed as an undercover operative for the U.S. Child Sex Tourism Jump Team.

Ballard has been featured on many national news outlets to discuss his efforts combating child trafficking, including Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, The Meredith Vieira Show, CBS Nightly News, ABC Nightline, CNN Headline News, MSNBC, The Glenn Beck Program, and many local news shows. Ballard is the best-selling author of The Covenant: One Nation Under God and The Lincoln Hypothesis. He has taught American and international politics courses at Imperial Valley College, San Diego State University, and American Heritage School.

After serving a church mission to Chile, Ballard graduated cum laude with a BA in Spanish and political science from Brigham Young University. He graduated summa cum laude with an MA in international politics from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. He lives in California with his wife and children.

Ed Smart is a child safety advocate and president of the Surviving Parents Coalition. He is an internationally recognized advocate for children’s safety with a focus on preventing abduction, bullying, abuse, and sexual assault. His advocacy began as a result of the abduction and return of his daughter Elizabeth from their Utah home in 2002. Ed, along with other children’s safety advocates, lobbied Congress and the Senate for passage of the National Amber Alert plan, the Adam Walsh Act, and the Protect our Children Act of 2008. He is working with other organizations on state felony arrestee DNA legislation.

He is currently program director of rehabilitation and prevention for Operation Underground Railroad.

Ed has a bachelors degree in finance from George Washington University and a masters degree in business administration, specializing in urban planning. The parents of six children, Ed and his wife, Lois, live in Salt Lake City.

Jerry Gowen is the chief operating officer (COO) at Operation Underground Railroad, responsible for development, IT, marketing, communications, donor relations, and partnerships.

Gowen earned a BA in public relations with a minor in business management at Brigham Young University in 1998 and was recognized as the outstanding graduating senior in communications. He earned an MBA at Washington State University in 2010 and was presented with the Chancellor’s Award for Student Achievement.

Gowen lives in Vancouver, Washington with his wife and six children. He is active in the community, supporting the Boy Scouts of America and local youth soccer programs.

Rebecca McHood Rebecca McHood is the founder of International Sexual Exploitation Enemies United (ISEEUHope) – an non-profit dedicated to activism, support and awareness of the sex trade and its damaging effects. Recent victories have included new massage parlor ordinances in the cities of Mesa and Gilbert Arizona. I SEE U Hope also provides support to those affected by the sexual addiction of a loved one.

………………………………

Friday, 31 July 2015
8:00 pm
University of Utah
Olpin Student Union
Saltair Room

The Religious Brain

Presented by Dr. Michael Adam Ferguson

Moderated by Dr. Nicole Forsgren

Michael Ferguson is a research fellow for the Human Neuroscience Institute at Cornell University and a founding investigator of The Religious Brain Project. His neuro-medical research focuses on pattern analysis in the human brain. Using direct brain imaging, he is developing clinical markers for psychiatric diagnosis and care. He has a BS in biochemistry from Brigham Young University and a PhD in bioengineering from the University of Utah. He and his husband, J. Seth Anderson, were the first same-sex couple to be legally married by the State of Utah. They are the proud parents of two pet rats, Amber and Bernadette.

Nicole Forsgren holds a PhD in Management Information Systems with a minor in Cognitive Science. She studies the factors that influence people to use technology and the outcomes of that technology use, and is the Director of Organizational Performance and Analytics at Chef Software. Prior to joining Chef, she was a Professor at Utah State and Pepperdine Universities.

………………………………

Friday, 30 July 2015
2:00 pm
University of Utah
Olpin Student Union
Saltair Room 

Why We Stay

Gina Colvin, Mitch Mayne, Ken Driggs, Kalani Tonga, Fatimah S. Salleh

 This perennially well-received session features the stories of those who have chosen to remain active, dedicated Latter-day Saints even in the face of challenges to traditional faith.  

Moderator: Dan Wotherspoon is the former editor of Sunstone magazine and host of the Mormon Matters podcast.

Gina Colvin is lecturer at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, hosts the podcast A Thoughtful Faith and blogs at KiwiMormon.

Mitch Mayne is a national voice on Mormon LGBT issues, focusing especially on improving the health, mental health, and well-being of Mormon LGBT youth in the context of their faith. abstract

Ken Driggs, a criminal defense lawyer in Atlanta, has written extensively about Mormon and legal history topics, including several articles about Fundamentalist Mormons. He is the author of Evil Among Us: The Texas Mormon Missionary Murders.

Kalani Tonga is a lifelong member of the Church. She is an active Mormon single mother of five children who helped found the FEMWOC blog for Mormon women of color.

Fatimah S. Salleh earned a PhD in mass communication at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is currently earning a masters of divinity at Duke University.

………………………………

Saturday, 1 August 2015
8:00 pm
University of Utah
Olpin Student Union
Saltair Room

Mormon Stand-Up Comedy

Sponsored by Mormon Stories

Featuring: Landon Bench, Chelsea Shields Strayer, Peter Kern, Amber Pechin, Mike Grover, David Christiansen

Landon Bench was born November 28, 1986 to Curt and Pat Bench. Landon was a chubby kid growing up, and garnered his first laughs due solely to his portly stature. Being fat wasn’t his only accomplishment though; he also won the Upland Terrace Elementary School Spelling Bee in the 5th and 6th grades. Several years and a few misdemeanor crimes later, Landon found solace in making people laugh, and not just because he was fat. Because he wasn’t fat anymore. Through the grace of God and a strict regimen of non-FDA approved weight-loss solutions, Landon lost over 70 pounds—the equivalent of a six year-old child, or a 15-year-old child from Zimbabwe. After the weight loss, he became physically active. Instead of going from the fridge to the couch in a Jazzy scooter, now he walks.  Using that victory to fuel his desire, Landon decided to try his hand at stand-up comedy. He won some contest at Wise Guys comedy club and now does shows there sometimes, as well as private and corporate functions.

Chelsea Shields Strayer is a part-time comedian and a PhD candidate at Boston University in cultural and biological anthropology researching Asante indigenous healing rituals. She is also a Mormon feminist activist leading demonstrations, organizations, and lobbying efforts on behalf of religious gender equality. She is a TED Fellow and speaks regularly on evolution, religion, and gender. As president for Mormons for ERA, she works with the national ERA taskforce in Washington, D.C.

By night Amber Pechin hangs out in sketchy bars and comedy clubs in Phoenix, telling stories and feeding off her drug of choice- loud laughter. When she’s not doing stand-up she’s performing with an improv group. By day she dresses like a grown-up (when she has to) and is a public relations professional in order to afford her performance habit. She holds the belief PR is basically the same skill set as stand-up comedy, but generally with fewer penis jokes. On weekends you’ll find her anywhere but church and her favorite sin is seeking loud laughter… as far as anyone knows.

Peter Kern attended his first open mic in 2008. The show was limited to 20 comics and Peter was the 21st in line. Undaunted, he returned the next month, slightly earlier, took the stage and got his first modest laughs. Peter later auditioned for and became a member of Humor U, BYU’s Stand-up Comedy Club. He remained an active member of the club for three years, performing for thousands of students in nearly 100 shows. Peter is an original member of the professional touring stand-up comedy troupe, The Left Field and was featured on their first DVD, Live at the Wagner. In 2013, Peter applied for and received a grant from the De Florez Fund for Humor in order to teach stand-up comedy workshops at MIT, capping the week with a sold out show on campus featuring workshop participants and comedians from The Left Field. That same year, Peter competed in The World Series of Comedy, scoring well with the judges in Colorado Springs. Peter is on a lifelong journey of consuming all Superman media. He runs a small solo law practice in Orem, UT and might design a board game someday.

Mike Grover was recently featured on KSL TV’s “InDepth” for his stand up comedy and has done shows with comedians like Tim Meadows, Chris Hardwick, Hannibal Buress, Arj Barker, and Jimmy Pardo just to name a few. Though stand up is his first love, he also co-founded the improv troupe Logan Out Loud and has performed with several other improv groups.

David Christiansen became a standup comedian while at college in Utah. “I started out entertaining Mormons. They are like the Amish without the cool barns. It was tough, but it taught me I could write clean and still get laughs.” After several films and TV appearances Christiansen still prefers the live audience. “I love people coming up and saying, ‘That happened to me too!'”

………………………………