As more and more faithful Latter-day Saints are heartbroken by the increasing numbers of people disavowing their faith and leaving the church completely (count me among the heartbroken), I see more and more emphasis being brought to the “tough questions” in our...
“The Lord’s anointed.” This is a term you hear from time to time related to church leaders. This is a powerful framing of church leaders, but what does it actually mean? Or better yet, how does the perceived meaning of “The Lord’s Anointed” influence church culture in...
Let’s call it how it is… I have the best job in the world. Seriously, I wake up every day energized to get to work on Leading Saints, whether it is interviewing someone interesting about a leadership concept, writing a newsletter like this, or attending a conference...
Last week I shared what I see as some typical bad habits of Sunday School teachers that lead to less-than-ideal lessons even though they have the best intentions. As a fun experiment, I wanted to challenge myself to provide a list of tactics any Sunday School teacher...
We’ve all experienced a Sunday School teacher who is gifted with the skill of teaching. Often we think, “I could never teach Sunday School in such an effective way.” This made me wonder, is there a general format that any teacher could follow, no matter their...
A few years ago, my wife and I were driving through our neighborhood when we passed a party someone in our ward was having outside their house. It seemed that everyone there was a member of our ward (many we considered friends). Our initial reaction was, “Ahhhh… why...
Over the decades, I’ve seen a familiar message often come through to those in elders quorum. Generally, it comes in the form of a mass email or text: “Service opportunity! [insert family/individual name here] are/is moving tomorrow and need your help.” The passive...
A few weeks ago, I referenced the role of priesthood keys in a local church organization. In short, I made the observation that sometimes leaders will avoid innovation and inspiration that comes through their priesthood keys and assume they must not do more or less...
In 2006, after returning from my honeymoon, I remember stopping by my childhood home to pick up the rest of my personal items before beginning my new life with my wife in a basement apartment. Driving away from this home, I began to cry like a baby. I had previously...
Have you ever considered what offerings only the Church can provide? Obviously, the restored gospel has offered us priesthood authority and revealed eternal truth through scripture. But what are the things that ONLY the church can offer us on a regular weekly basis...
