This past weekend I traveled with eleven other Fuller students to Salt Lake City, Utah. We went to attend the first National Student Dialogue Conference. This was hosted by Standing Together, an Evangelical Christian organization committed to building relationships with the Mormon community. The conference facilitated dialogue between Mormon and Evangelical scholars and between Mormon and Evangelical students.

Prior to this trip I had little experience in any kind of intense interfaith dialogue. I accepted the invitation from Doug McConnell, the dean of the School of Intercultural Studies after hearing that he would be one of the speakers at the conference. At the time I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but had always found the ongoing dialogue that Richard Mouw and others have been a part of with scholars from BYU intriguing. At the end of the day, accepting that invitation proved to be an act that placed me on an exceptionally steep learning curve!

Several of the speakers focused on the value of dialogue. The fact that this conference was happening makes a lot of people nervous, both Evangelical and Mormon alike. It is sad to me, that we are so often afraid to put our faith and belief to a test. It is also heartbreaking to witness how easy it is, even in me, to speak ill of our neighbors from an ignorant position. The purpose of the conference was to help us, Evangelicals and Mormons, understand our differences so that if we are to disagree, they are authentic disagreements and not assumed or invented disagreements. If what we proclaim is indeed the truth, then we should have no fear in working to understand the faith of others. And if it is not true, then we really have nothing but a lie to lose. In the end, however, I found that my own faith was strengthened because it stood up against such a test. God is good!

Participating in this dialogue was exciting and challenging. It seemed that many of the LDS speakers were working hard to emphasize that we are the same, but they have “a little bit more.� Therefore, a lot of time was spent trying to understand what is, exactly, the “little bit more�? I am sorry I cannot answer that question here, I don’t know. Doug McConnell, I felt, did the best in articulating the need to be honest in dialogue. It needs to be something of substance.

The real challenge, however, was less in understanding what the differences are, and more in coming with an attitude of a student, letting go of assumptions and rumors that I had heard. The challenge was in letting go of judgment, remembering that we do not make it into heaven because of a perfect theology (praise God, I would be doomed for sure), but by grace. The challenge was in coming to the conversation with an attitude that was open to learning more about this faith that has shaped so many, and is deeply believed by thousands. The challenge was to meet people in their world, as Christ met me in mine.