Leading Saints Podcast Leading Saints
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- Religion & Spirituality
Leading Saints is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help Latter-day Saints (LDS, Mormon) be better prepared to lead.
Here are 4 ways Leading Saints accomplishes the above mission statement:
1. Connect Latter-day Saint Leaders
2. Enhance Leadership Ability
3. Present Leadership Scholarship & Research
4. Celebrate Divine Guidance
Podcast Host:
Kurt Francom is the founder and executive director of Leading Saints, a nonprofit organization helping Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. He manages the day-to-day efforts of Leading Saints and is the host of the podcast by the same name. Leading Saints has reached individuals internationally and has received over 2 million downloads. Kurt currently lives in Utah with his lovely wife Alanna. They are blessed to have three children. He enjoys drawing caricatures, playing basketball, reading, and watching college football. Kurt has served as a full-time missionary (California Sacramento), as a bishop, 1st counselor in a stake presidency, and elders quorum president.
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How I Lead as President of BYU-Idaho | An Interview with Elder Alvin F. Meredith III
Elder Alvin F. "Trip" Meredith III is the president of Brigham Young University–Idaho and a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Prior to his call as a General Authority, Elder Meredith served as president of the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission. He also served as an Area Seventy in the North America Southeast and Asia Areas, and previously served as a missionary in the Utah Salt Lake City Mission, as an elders quorum president, bishop, and stake president.
Elder Meredith received a bachelor of science degree in Psychology from BYU, and a master of business administration in Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In his professional career, he worked as a Six Sigma black belt for GE Capital, as a consultant for Boston Consulting Group, and as a senior vice president at Asurion in Tennessee, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Elder Meredith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and married Jennifer Edgin. They are the parents of six children.
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Highlights
In this podcast conversation, Elder Meredith shares insights on his approach to leadership, emphasizing the importance of listening and seeking revelation. He highlights the significance of focusing on individuals and fostering spiritual momentum in leadership roles. The episode also touches on the challenges and joys of working with the rising generation, particularly in the context of YSAs.
Throughout the interview, Elder Meredith reflects on the lessons learned from various leadership positions, including serving as a stake president, mission president, and Area 70. He emphasizes the importance of pointing individuals to the Savior, aligning with the counsel of living prophets and apostles, and conveying the joy of living the gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:03:30 - President Alvin F. Meredith III's Background and Name
00:08:58 - Transition to BYU-Idaho
00:13:19 - Approach to Leadership at BYU-Idaho
00:22:21 - Leadership Lessons from Tennessee
00:28:12 - Transition to Mission President
00:36:22 - Leadership Journey in Utah
00:41:49 - Focus on the Rising Generation
00:45:29 - Encouraging Joy in Living the Gospel
The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.
Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen... -
Rallying the Ward Around Sacrament Meeting | A How I Lead Interview with Ryan Webb
Ryan Webb grew up in Tremonton, Utah, and has been married to his wife, KaDawn, for 22 years. They have six children. He has taught within Seminaries and Institutes in Orem, Utah, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Raleigh, North Carolina. He also spent 10 months as the Raleigh Temple Recorder. Ryan has served as a Young Men president, elders quorum president, stake high councilor, bishopric counselor, and currently serves as bishop of his ward.
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Highlights
Ryan discusses his approach to enhancing sacrament meetings by involving the ward council and focusing on creating a worshipful and edifying experience. He shares various creative ideas implemented in sacrament meetings, such as having musical numbers every week, incorporating different languages, and allowing members to share their testimonies on specific topics such as "Why I Believe"—all with the purpose of to strengthening the ward members' connections to Jesus Christ.
03:10 Ryan Webb's path in church education. He started with teaching Seminary and is now an Institute director.
06:00 Ryan is currently serving as a bishop. He describes his ward and demographics.
07:10 Ryan’s initial approach as a bishop
08:35 Focus on improving sacrament meetings.
10:20 Implementing changes in sacrament meetings to make people feel more welcome and create a new culture.
12:50 Involving the young women’s president to help make changes in the sacrament meeting and give the young women more chances to serve.
15:50 More ways they have improved sacrament meeting. They threw out the old, cookie cutter ways of doing this meeting and met together to come up with lots of new ideas to worship.
18:20 Music is powerful and brings the spirit. They have tried to have a musical number every meeting.
19:10 Washing away prior tradition because sometimes we feel bound by that tradition. There is power in starting over and just trying new things to see what works. The spirit speaks and can help us create a unique, edifying meeting.
20:30 Involving all the organizations in the ward to do musical numbers. They also involve other churches by inviting their choirs to come and sing in church.
22:00 How they organize sacrament meetings. They don’t do the traditional 10-minute speakers. They normally do shorter talks.
19:11 Involving ward council in sacrament meeting planning.
23:10 Speaking in different languages in sacrament meeting. The whole meeting was short testimonies in different languages.
25:00 Different ideas to create unique sacrament meeting experiences.
* All-music meetings
* Living Christ meeting with multiple musical numbers
* Young Men-only meeting
* Young Women-only meeting
* Because of Him meeting
* 4 Christmas programs in the month of December.
27:30 "Why I Believe" testimony meeting. Members had 90 seconds to share why they believe. Members were prepared 3 weeks before and anyone could go up and share.
31:30 Christ-centered sacrament services. Letting people sign up to speak on something that they want to speak on and then connect it to Christ.
35:25 Mother's Day sacrament meeting
36:30 Establishing a cadence for sacrament meetings
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The Bishop Miracle | An Interview with Brad Agle
Brad Agle is a professor of Ethics and Leadership and holds the George W. Romney endowed professorship in the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University. Brad recently published The Bishop Book, talking about the experiences of serving as a bishop and using quotes from interviews conducted over the past 30 years with former and current bishops, their wives, and stake presidents.
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Links
TheBishopBook.com
The Bishop Book - Insights from LDS Bishops, Wives, and Stake Presidents
Ethical Dilemmas in Church Leadership | An Interview with Brad Agle
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Highlights
This podcast reveals the profound impact of being a bishop, with bishops often feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities and emotional toll of the role. Brad shares personal anecdotes and stories from his book, highlighting the unique challenges faced by bishops and their families. The discussion also touches on the transition from being a bishop to being released from the calling, a process that can be emotionally taxing and challenging for many individuals.
One of the key themes that emerge from the conversation is the importance of family support and the strain that the bishopric role can place on personal relationships. Brad recounts stories of bishops who struggled to balance their calling with family life, leading to moments of reflection and growth. The conversation provides a candid look at the complexities of serving as a bishop and the impact it can have on individuals and their loved ones.
Brad offers a deep dive into the experiences of bishops, shedding light on the sacrifices, joys, and struggles that come with the calling. His insights and the stories shared in The Bishop Book serve as a valuable resource for current and future bishops, offering guidance, empathy, and understanding for those navigating the challenges of leadership within the Church.
3:15 Brad is a professor of ethics and leadership. He has written many academic articles as well as books. He has recently written a book for bishops.
5:40 The story for this book started 34 years ago. The bishop is like the CEO of a ward. He started to study what it meant to be an effective bishop.
9:30 What’s the most difficult thing that bishops go through? It’s not what most people think. It’s getting released.
13:00 How has the focus of the book changed over the past 34 years?
16:55 The bishops in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are a miracle!
17:40 Brad’s experience becoming and serving as a bishop of a brand new ward
21:10 The interview process of bishops for the book. They also interviewed the bishops' wives.
23:50 Overinvesting in the members. You can’t take away someone’s problem. You are there to help and assist but it’s their problem.
25:00 The different sections and chapters of the book
25:45 Brad’s experience in the Lubbock temple as he was working on the book
27:50 The release of a bishop and how it relates to a retiring ... -
The Power of Stillness in Leadership | An Interview with Jacob Hess, Carrie Skarda, Kyle Anderson, and Ty Mansfield
This is a rebroadcast. The episode originally ran in March 2020.
Jacob Hess, Carrie Skarda, Kyle Anderson, and Ty Mansfield are the authors of The Power of Stillness: Mindful Living for Latter-day Saints. In this interview they discuss where mindfulness and meditation fit into the gospel and how we can better approach our service and our practices with the balance of mindfulness.
Jacob Hess, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) instructor trained through the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Carrie Skarda, PsyD, is a psychologist in private practice. She has provided individual and couples therapy with particular interest in attachment trauma and mindfulness, and has studied and practiced mindfulness and formal meditation for over ten years.
Kyle Anderson, PhD, is a professor of Chinese and Asian Studies, currently an administrator in Global Learning, International Partnerships and Initiatives at Clemson University, and came to mindfulness meditation through his studies in Asian literature.
Ty Mansfield, PhD, is an assistant professor in Religious Education at BYU, a certified mindfulness meditation teacher, and a practicing marriage and family therapist specializing in mindfulness-based paths to emotional, relational, and spiritual thriving. He and his wife, Danielle, have five children and live in Spanish Fork, UT.
Links
The Power of Stillness: Mindful Living for Latter-day Saints
Jesus: The Perfect Leader, by Spencer W. Kimball
The Council for Sustainable Healing
Transcript coming soon
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Highlights
5:40 Jacob was exposed to meditation in graduate school and began to see where it fit into the gospel tradition
7:00 Backgrounds of the authors
9:00 Definitions of mindfulness and what it means to Christians and to Latter-day Saints: compassionate presence in the moment
11:10 Christ was meditative and present in the moment
12:25 Being busy vs. mindfulness 14:00 Looking for words in our own tradition: reverence, peace, stillness, pondering
15:45 Advice for a busy leader: Christ had a practice of punctuating his doing with non-doing; the rhythm of action and pausing is already built in to our practices
19:40 It’s not the gospel that people struggle with, but an impoverished experience of it
20:55 David O. McKay quote: “I think we pay too little attention to the value of meditation, a principle of devotion. In our worship there are two elements: One is spiritual communion arising from our own meditation; the other, instruction from others, particularly from those who have authority to guide and instruct us. Of the two, the more profitable introspectively is meditation. Meditation is the language of the soul.”
22:10 Example in a ward council: not praying as a to-do, but sitting with the Savior
23:30 Clarity and priority come through pausing between action
24:25 Centering the attention on the inspiration in the moment and not on the calendar: Am I interruptable?
26:20 The Savior was interruptable in his task at hand and could pivot to what was most needful in the moment
28:35 The Savior was willing to build in his time with His ... -
A Latter-day Saint Bishop Sits Down with Four Evangelical Pastors
In this podcast, Kurt Francom sits down with four Evangelical Protestant pastors, Jeff McCullough of Hello Saints, Curtis Gilbert—a senior pastor in Shiloh, Illinois, Kyle Beshears, —pastor of a nondenominational church in Mobile, Alabama, and Nate Fox—pastor of Lightstone Church in Herriman, Utah. This conversation is part of the Hello Saints Summit, happening June 11-20, 2024, which involves two dozen Latter-day Saint and Protestant presenters—all FREE to watch!
Links
Watch the Hello Saints Summit
Transcript coming soon
Highlights
00:02:06 - Introductions of the four evangelical pastors
00:07:11 - Unexpected call to serve as a bishop
00:15:38 - Pastors sharing their unique stories of being called into ministry
00:26:08 - Typical week in the life of a pastor
00:28:40 - Discussion on burnout and validation in pastoral roles
00:35:49 - Importance of humility and avoiding self-validation in ministry
00:43:46 - Involving and supporting pastors' spouses in ministry
The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.
Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, a href="https://leadingsaints. -
Visiting Other Churches as a Stake Communications Director | A How I Lead Interview with Maria Duncan
Maria Duncan was raised in the San Francisco East Bay area where she learned the gospel from sister missionaries and joined the Church as she entered her teens. She moved to Cache Valley, Utah for high school and college, graduating from Utah State with a bachelor's degree in Technology Systems, then worked in the professional media market and has since transitioned to project work.
In the Church, Maria has served in Young Women and Relief Society, worked with the stake youth, and been a Public Affairs (now Communication) director for the most recent six years. She serves on boards for non-profit organizations in her community while coaching middle school sports and raising seven children with her loving husband, Tom.
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Highlights
3:10 Intro to Maria and an explanation of the role of a stake communications director
6:30 Misconceptions about the role of a stake communications director
8:50 The Global Communication Network site requires a special login. The purpose of a private site is for a private way to access marketing and PR materials before they're released to the public.
9:15 A good starting point when you are called as stake communications director
10:50 Maria’s stake’s focus is interfaith work. Bringing the church out of obscurity and serving your fellow man. It’s about getting to know your community and building connections and relationships with people from other faiths.
12:20 Maria shares some of the things that she does in her calling and the time commitment. She attends different churches in the community and builds relationships with them.
15:40 Involving youth in stake communications activities. Maria shares an experience she had taking some of the youth to a food giveaway and to another local church.
19:10 Are other pastors or church leaders skeptical when you want to work with them?
21:00 When visiting other churches cater to your audience. Dress as they dress, join them, sing with them.
23:00 How Maria involves the youth and the importance of taking youth to other churches
25:10 Attending different churches in the community and building relationships
28:40 Importance of networking and building relationships with other faith communities
30:10 Focusing on connections and relationships rather than conversion. Maria’s calling doesn’t allow her to talk about the church so her main focus is just building a relationship.
33:20 Reflection on the experience of temple open houses
36:10 Maria has 14 people that work with her on the stake communications team. There is a graphic designer, newspaper writer, youth specialist, social media manager, JustServe leaders, education specialist, interfaith leadership, a member of the stake presidency.
38:20 Advice and tips for doing a temple open house.
41:40 Gratitude for the stake communications work and its impact
42:30 How leadership in stake communications has enhanced following Jesus Christ
The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at a href="...