McArthur Krishna & Bethany Brady Spalding | Poetry by Kathryn Knight Sonntag
Sunday, March 8 | 4:30-6 pm MDT
WHERE:
Home of Jeff and Chris Christensen
3250 East Millcreek Road
Millcreek, UT 84109
Thanks to Chris and Jeff for hosting this gathering in their home.
THE CONVERSATION:
Join us for an afternoon of igniting our spiritual imaginations! After a reading by poet Kathryn Knight Sonntag, McArthur and Bethany will lead a lively conversation around the question: How much more abundant would our individual lives and families and communities and church be if we actually applied our doctrine of Heavenly Parents? What would be different and why? We’ll discuss the divine model of collaboration and imagine all the beautiful paths from patriarchy to partnership.
Gotta love that line they gave me: “…the divine model of collaboration.” And “..imagine all the beautiful paths from patriarchy to partnership.” Just writing out those powerful artistic word-weaves makes me eager to be with them and you to see what beautiful thoughts emerge.
ABOUT THIS DYNAMIC DUO:
McArthur Krishna and Bethany Brady Spalding have teamed up to co-author seven books together, including the best-selling Girls Who Choose God series and A Girl’s Guide to Heavenly Mother and A Boy’s Guide to Heavenly Mother. Along the way, they have been invited to LDS Church headquarters to consult on women’s issues both domestic and international. Art pieces from their ground-breaking books have been hung in the heart of the LDS Conference Center, showcased at Brigham Young University, and curated into the first art show celebrating Heavenly Mother. The art (by Caitlin Connelly) from their book Our Heavenly Family, our Earthly Families was the first art portraying Heavenly Parents published at Deseret Book. After its release, the LDS Church purchased a 12’x8’ piece for their permanent collection— and it currently hangs at the Church History Museum on Temple Square. Both Bethany and McArthur serve on the Faith Matters’ Advisory Board and speak widely on aligning policy and practice with our doctrine of Heavenly Parents. McArthur and Bethany believe that unflinching hope, friendships, books, brainstorming sessions, and Chacos can change the world.
Kathryn Knight Sonntag is the author of The Mother Tree: Discovering the Love and Wisdom of Our Divine Mother (Faith Matters Publishing, 2022), winner of the 2022 BIBA Literary Award in Non-Fiction: Religion, and The Tree at the Center (BCC Press, 2019), a 2019 Association for Mormon Letters Awards finalist in Poetry and Criticism. In 2020, her article “The Mother Tree: Understanding the Spiritual Root of Our Ecological Crisis” was nominated for the Geisner & Mogg Best Theological Article Award by the John Whitmer Historical Association. Her poetry has appeared in Sugar House Review, Image Journal, Colorado Review, Four Way Review, Psaltery & Lyre, Rock & Sling, Blossom as the Cliffrose: Mormon Legacies and the Beckoning Wild (Torrey House Press, 2021), and others. Most recently she was awarded the 2025 Orison Chapbook Prize.
Kathryn earned a BA in English and a BS in environmental studies before earning her MLA in landscape architecture and environmental planning. Her thesis focused on the role of the transcendent in landscapes and greatly informs her creative pursuits. She works as a freelance writer and landscape designer, and serves as the poetry editor for Wayfare Magazine.
- The Case for Spiritual Imagination
https://publicsquaremag.org/faith/the-case-for-spiritual-imagination/ - Our Heavenly Family, Our Earthly Family
https://www.deseretbook.com/product/5156317.html?srsltid=AfmBOor-Za58WSs5in3wOtNTxUgNAqBFjsVv1x-siOQ5lwIuAvFAh5AF - In the Image of our Heavenly Parents: A Couple’s Guide to Creating a More Divine Marriage
https://www.amazon.com/in-the-image-of-our-heavenly-parents-couples-guide/dp/099860528X - Heavenly Mother, A Cherished Doctrine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=LTxLR_swmcY - Faith Matters podcast on Equal Partnership
148. Equal Partnership in Marriage — McArthur Krishna and Bethany Brady Spalding
Apologies for the poor audio-visual quality. We lost connection several times.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE RECORDED ZOOM CONVERSATION
I’m delighted those who can’t attend in person can join virtually. I’m sorry I can’t give you the same care and attention given to those in person. Please contact me if you have suggestions for improvement.
- Click on the Zoom link above for either last month’s recorded conversation (if the event date has passed) or the live conversation now. If you are participating in the live conversation keep reading.
- When you are connected you will either be waiting in a lobby and will let be in shortly or you will immediately be able to see other participants. Please make sure that you are muted and that your video is on if you choose to have it on. (Love to see and hear you live, but we’ll take curious lurkers also.)
- If you can’t hear the host, me, or others, find your settings and make sure you have a working microphone and speaker selected. OR maybe the problem is on my end so please let me know if it is.
ZOOM ETIQUETTE:
- Please mute your microphone before entering and when you are not speaking so noises are not heard by everyone else.
- If you are going to multitask—not recommended—or wander around a lot, please turn off your video and make sure you are muted. No one wants to be distracted by you eating or using the loo.
