Leading‏‏‎ the Restoration Today | An Interview with Patrick Mason

Patrick Mason holds the Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University. He is the author of multiple books, including Planted: Belief and Belonging in an Age of Doubt and Restoration: God's Call to the 21st-Century World. He and his wife Melissa have four children and live in Logan, Utah, where he currently serves as ward Sunday School president. Highlights 5:30 What led him to write the book Restoration 8:00 Change and restoration on every level 9:35 God is more interested in restoring His people than in restoring "things"; everything else is a means to the end of restoring His children to wholeness 16:00 Encouraging leaders to join in the Restoration without stepping outside the lines: there is room for creativity and engagement 19:30 Joseph Smith never used the terms "restored church" or "restored gospel"; the word restoration referred to the house of Israel and bringing marginalized people back into wholeness in the embrace of the love of God 23:50 As leaders we need to consider what it is about what we are doing that will bring people wholeness; WHY do we do these things that we do? 26:00 Relativism and exclusivism * Exclusivism: if one thing is true then something different cannot be true * Relativism: different paths up the mountain * Particularism: God gives specific gifts to all people; what is God doing among the rest of His children? 32:10 The scriptures also point outside of themselves: seek wisdom out of the best books and the Spirit will help you discern what is true 35:30 Brigham Young quote: "It is now our duty and calling to gather up every item of truth." 37:30 Having a lay leadership leads to diversity within the Church; bring the best of who you are and apply it to the Restoration 39:55 We have been a church addicted to growth; maybe our calling is to have a transformative effect, not a dominating effect 42:50 History is different than the present and part of the Restoration is to recognize what is being restored today; complacency holds us back and recognizing our baggage and changing it is part of our collective repentance process so that we can move forward 47:50 The burden of local leaders is localized and they can lean into the inspiration for their local congregation's struggles 51:30 Wards are outwardly homogenous: share your struggles and ask how you can do better; there are a lot of needs outside the ward boundaries as well 54:20 Start with our responsibility to teach the doctrine then listen and learn from one another 56:00 The world doesn't offer a place like this to love and learn together that we have within our church organizations 57:30 Cultural colonialism: separate the culture from the doctrine, and empower people to bring their gifts 1:02:15 Fundamentalism: rigidity, intolerance, condescension; the opposite of gentle, open, humility 1:07:50 Keep the focus on the individual, not a set of ideas 1:08:30 Catching the vision of the Restoration Links Planted: Belief and Belonging in an Age of Doubt Restoration: God's Call to the 21st Century World