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WHAT IS LIBERAL
MORMON SPIRITUALITY?
A SEARCH
FOR KNOWLEDGE
A CHRIST-
CENTERED LIFE
A CALL TO
GOD'S WORK
A VISION OF
LIFE'S PURPOSE
Why "Liberal"?
Why "Mormon"?
Why "Spirituality"?
Symbols and Icons
A Spirit of Discernment
Faith, Not Doubt
Does Historicity Matter?
Only One True Church?
A Place for Liberals?
Staying in the Church
Living outside the Church


Why "Spirituality"?

Spirituality is lived religion. It is a practice—something we do. Beliefs or feelings, in and of themselves, are not spirituality. Rather, spirituality is the concrete difference that beliefs and feelings make in how we live. Spirituality involves the disciplined observance of rituals such as daily prayer and scripture study, weekly worship, yearly commemorations, and rites of passage. Spirituality also includes a commitment to values, norms, and traditions that govern our daily lives: what we eat and drink, how we dress, how we use our time and money, how we treat others. Living these disciplines gives our lives a distinctive shape. Spirituality thus plays a fundamental role in constructing and maintaining our identity.

Ultimately, spirituality means living in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). The worth of any spiritual tradition—Mormon, Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and so on—is the tradition's ability to help practitioners experience the gifts of the Spirit: to obtain insight and direction, to grow into the best of their being, and to use their talents to serve others. LDS tradition is one vehicle through which the Spirit operates in people's lives to do all these things.

The term "liberal Mormon" is often applied to intellectuals who explore controversial issues in Mormonism. The term may also refer to individuals who have become distanced from Mormon faith but still claim a connection to Mormon "heritage" or "culture." This website has a different focus: liberal Mormon spirituality. The website offers resources for liberally inclined individuals who wish, within a Mormon context, to nurture their relationship with God and to be instruments in blessing others.


Nephi Jensen: Spirituality is that liveliness of spirit that intensifies appreciation of the beautiful, deepens loyalty to truth and kindles love for the good; it puts the heart in harmony with the moral forces of the world; promotes delight in the realization of high ideals; and quickens in the heart the joyous glory of being in actual partnership with God in the purification and ennoblement of mankind.

"The Abundant Life," Improvement Era, July 1935

David O. McKay: Spirituality is the consciousness of victory over self and of communion with the Infinite. Spirituality impels one to conquer difficulties and acquire more and more strength. To feel one's faculties unfolding and truth expanding the soul is one of life's sublimest experiences. Being true to self and being loyal to high ideals develop spirituality. The real test of any religion is the kind of [people] it makes.

Man May Know for Himself (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1967), 114-15

Lowell L. Bennion: Why should a man be baptized? Why should he partake of the sacrament? How can these things help a man to be a true disciple of Christ? . . . There is not an ordinance mentioned in the Doctrine and Covenants or the Book of Mormon that is not inseparably aligned with a religious life. It is only efficacious as it prepares or inspires us to live righteously.

The Best of Lowell L. Bennion, ed. Eugene England (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1988), 60

Spencer W. Kimball: The righteous life is achieved as we magnify our view of life and expand our view of others and of our own possibilities. Thus, the more we follow the teachings of the Master, the more enlarged our perspective becomes. We see many more possibilities for service . . . and we cannot have spirituality without service!

President Kimball Speaks Out (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981), 39

Ezra Taft Benson: Spirituality—being in tune with the Spirit of the Lord—is the greatest need of Latter-day Saints.

Come unto Christ (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983), 22


This website is an independent effort to discern the Spirit's voice in LDS teaching. The site is not sponsored by the LDS Church. Quotations from the teachings of any individual should not be taken to imply that the individual does or would endorse this website or other statements made here.