Jeff Strong, Part 1: Why People Leave the Church

When Jeff Strong’s missionary son decided to come home and step away from the Church, it forced Jeff to confront questions he had already begun seeing in the lives of people around him.

In Part 1 of our conversation with the author of Torn, we talk about what his research uncovered about why active Latter-day Saints leave, how those reasons have changed over time, and why Jeff believes Church culture can either soften those struggles or make them much harder.

At the center of the conversation is a simple metaphor: culture is the soil we grow in. It can be firm enough to provide stability, but it also has to be nourishing enough for people to breathe, grow, and belong.

This is a conversation about faith, culture, fear, curiosity, and what it might look like to create more room for people whose experience of the Church does not fit the traditional mold.