Faith Matters Conference: You Must Create

Faith Matter Foundations is associated, but not affiliated, with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Every year Faith Matters Foundation has their annual Restore Gathering conference. This conference is a place of discussion on LDS issues: peacemaking, men and women leading together in the church, and mixed-faith marriages. This year, the conference was held at UVU’s Noorda Center. The Conference had a gallery opening, key speakers, and classes starting Thursday, September 24th until Saturday, September 26th; it focused on the importance of creating and listening to different perspectives. Faith Matter Foundations is associated, but not affiliated, with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).

The art gallery was brimming with artists and attendances. The gallery had some interactive pieces with one artist carving and another one painting live. This art show was hosted by the Compass, they said, “this 200+ piece exhibit is a comprehensive look at some of the newest and most thought-provoking work in the community.”

We were able to meet with one of the artists, Natalie Nordlund, as she experienced her second exhibit. “This is all very exciting; it is very competitive [to get in].” She was an elementary art teacher and recently started to do printing. “I just started doing linoleum craving this May after the passing of my sister.”

The two art pieces that she had in the exhibit, Belonging in Light and Dissonance, were created from linoleum craving. Both paintings show her perspective of being in the LDS church and having children in the LGBTQ+ community. Talking about Dissonance, she said, “this idea came to me in the middle of the night. [I thought] I need to represent how harmful and how hard this has been.” Nordlund said she put a crack in the church to represent the healing that needs to be done.

At the opening of this conference, we heard from Mallory Everton, Steven Nelson Sharp, Emily Susan Pack, and the Faith Matters choir as they welcomed everyone to the conference, bringing an enthusiastic message on how to be a creator in hard times.

Mallory is an actress and a writer, known for her comedic work at Studio C, a BYU TV program. She said, “I do believe that creativity is an act of faith…I cringe every time someone says they are not creative. We are all creators.” She ended her speech asking for us to create, “God put you here right now, on purpose, in this exact body with these exact cultural issues, with these problems with these people. Those are your materials. What are you going to make with it?”

Emily Susan Pack, a singer and comedian, shared with us her struggle with coping with hard emotions. “Now, I let myself cry, and then I find something to be thankful for. Steven Nelson Sharp, known for the music he made with The Piano Guys, shared an experience with raising above discouragement. Then McKenna Breinholt played a self-composed song on the piano.

The rest of the weekend was full of panels and lectures on the art of living, the duality of technology, guidance for parents of LGBTQ+ youth, and so much more. In a panel with Sydney Jezik, McArthur Krishna, and Jenet Erickson discuss why the stats are showing women are leaving the Church at higher rates, Sydney commented that something we can do to improve this is to remember to act like the church is in a state of restoration.

An attendant at the conference expressed appreciation for the inspiration she felt and the space it provided for ideas to be discussed and to gather together. This year’s conference had many attendees, interesting events to go to, and overall themes to create and reflect.