Bridges - Ministering to Those Who Question - David Ostler Pt. 2 | Ep. 1178

The Faith Crisis Crisis: Why the LDS Church Struggles to Minister to Those Who Question

Every year, thousands of members leave The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But what troubles church leaders more, if emerging research is any indication, is that many who remain are experiencing profound doubt, disillusionment, and spiritual crisis while sitting in the pews. David Ostler's book Bridges: Ministering to Those Who Question addresses what may be one of the most significant institutional challenges the modern LDS Church faces: how to effectively minister to members in faith crisis without losing them entirely. As discussed in the Mormon Stories Podcast's recent interview with Ostler, a former bishop and stake president, the problem runs deeper than most ward members realize, and the church's current approach may be structurally inadequate to meet the scale of the challenge.

Understanding the Scope of the Problem

The numbers tell a stark story. According to data referenced in the Mormon Stories discussion, the LDS Church has maintained roughly a one-third activity rate among those baptized since 2005, meaning two-thirds of all people baptized into the faith have ultimately left or become inactive. What has changed more recently is the speed of disaffiliation and the type of person leaving. The church is no longer losing primarily those on the margins; it is losing committed, educated, and theologically sophisticated members, the very people one might expect to be most stable in their faith commitment.

Marlin Jensen, the church's former historian, reportedly indicated that the institution is experiencing "apostasy at levels never before seen since Kirtland." This assessment carries weight precisely because Jensen occupied a position of institutional knowledge and authority. The question shifts from whether a crisis exists to whether the church's leadership and local ministries possess adequate tools, training, and frameworks to respond.

The Leadership Readiness Gap