Talk to Feature an Evangelical and a Mormon

Westmont alumnus Gregory Johnson ’89, a Baptist pastor in Utah, and Robert Millet, professor of religious education and director of the Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University, talk about their two different faith traditions in “A Conversation Between a Mormon and an Evangelical,” Thursday, Sept. 16, at 7 p.m. in Westmont’s Porter Theatre. The event, sponsored by the Westmont Sociology/Anthropology Department, is free and open to the public.

Johnson and Millet, co-authors of “Bridging the Divide,” have appeared in almost 60 churches and colleges in hopes of modeling a dialogue between the two faiths that have a history of deep enmity. Evangelicals do not recognize Mormonism as a Christian faith, while Mormons believe that they are a restored Christianity that alone possesses the authority of God’s true religion here on earth.

Millet, a Mormon who earned his doctorate from Florida State University, is a distinguished Latter-day Saint author and speaker with more than 50 published books and 140 articles on virtually all aspects of Mormonism.

Johnson, a evangelical Christian, was raised in the Mormon faith until age14 and has ministered full time in Utah as a pastor since 1992. In 2001, Johnson started Standing Together to unite Christians in Utah and to engage Mormon leaders and scholars in a conversation about faith-related issues. The ministry brings in well-known evangelical speakers and holds workshops for Utah Christians, who are a distinct minority in the state of Utah.

“We live in a world that is full of conflict,” Johnson says. “We live in a time when people seem to voice their disagreements with each other largely through debate and tense rhetoric. Dialogue and what I call ‘convicted civility’ allow individuals to engage one another in substantive conversations about things we differ on and things we agree on, and allow us to attempt to persuade others with the truth we believe we have.

In 2004, Johnson and a coalition of Utah evangelical churches made news when they hosted “An Evening of Friendship,” an historic meeting at the Mormon Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City that nearly 7,000 people attended. The Standing Together network invited Christian philosopher and evangelist Ravi Zacharias, the first evangelical to preach a sermon in the Tabernacle since D.L. Moody spoke in 1899.

Also on the tabernacle stage during that major event, were Millet and Westmont Professor Ronald Enroth, who will act as host for the Sept. 16 discussion.

The Standing Together coalition made history again in September 2009 when 60 local ministries hosted evangelist Nick Vujicic for an evening at the Mormon Tabernacle on Temple Square.