How I Lead as Bishop After a Faith Crisis | An Interview With Dan Conway

From LeadingLds.com

Dan Conway is a bishop in Newcastle, in northeast England, and has also served as an elders quorum president. He served a mission to Scotland, and works as a digital marketing executive. In this episode Dan walks us through his crisis of faith prior to being called as bishop, and how that affected how he leads now.

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Offer a New Framework

Here is a quick understanding of how an LDS member might experience Fowler’s Stages of Faith model: 

Stage 1: “Heavenly Father gave me a nose and a family!” (Toddler age learning)
Stage 2: “Follow the Prophet, Follow the Prophet, Follow the Prophet, he knows the way!” (Primary age learning)
Stage 3: “This is the True and Living Church restored by God in a perfect way.” (Black and white learning)
Stage 4: “The Book of Mormon was mainly translated from a seer stone?!?!?! If this is true I’m going to have to figure out a new way of structuring my faith in order to fully benefit from what the gospel offers.”
Stage 5: “I love how much nuance there is in the gospel and the history of the restoration. It challenges me with new questions the lead me to a new understanding of the gospel.”
Stage 6: Jesus Christ was at stage 6 and He was at the highest level of charity and was only focused on love and justice. ("Being an LDS Leader Comfortable With Doubt: 8 Tips to Help Those You Lead Who Doubt", Leading LDS, 30 Aug 2017) 

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Spiritual Inoculation

On Saturday, a counselor in our Stake Presidency encouraged the Young Men's leaders to be prepared to answer any question from the young men in our care. He told us that if we are to spiritually inoculate them, we must master the content of the gospel topic essays available on lds.org. They are also available on the Gospel Library app under the church history section.

I recommend the full talk by Elder Ballard the counselor referred to.
"The Opportunities and Responsibilities of CES Teachers in the 21st Century", Feb 2016.