Mormon Stories Podcast 1424: The Life of a Mormon Seminary Teacher - Marc Oslund Pt. 2
Apr 27, 2021
04:18:53
Join us today as we continue with part two of our three-part interview with former baseball player and LDS seminary teacher, Marc Oslund. Fascinating for so many reasons, I believe this is one of the most important Mormon Stories Podcast episodes I've ever released.
- Marc was a heavily recruited high school baseball and football player in the L.A., California area.
- He converted to the Mormon church as a teen.
- He was drafted to the baseball Major Leagues three different times, and turned down those offers to go on an LDS mission and to BYU.
- He was an all-American baseball player at BYU.
- He served an LDS mission where he was often racked with guilt and shame - almost sent home for it.
- When his baseball career ended (due to post-mission injuries), he became a Mormon CES seminary teacher, and served from around 2013 to 2019 - while the Mormon church was trying to become more open/honest about its history, and deal with public activists like Kate Kelly, myself, Sam Young, Jeremy Runnells, etc.
- Even though he constantly had doubts/questions/concerns, his position as a seminary teacher caused major rifts in his marriage when his wife expressed occasional doubts, specifically about the Mormon temple ceremony.
- Marc became a liberal/progressive/Givens Mormon while a seminary teacher - but was punished by CES for his progressive stances.
- Marc ultimately lost his orthodox Mormon faith as a seminary teacher, and was pressured to quit his job.
In part 2 of his story, we will hear about Marc's experience working for the Church Educational System as a seminary teacher, his attempts to be open with students about church doctrines, and why he eventually began to question the leadership of the LDS church - all while working within the CES program.