This year’s Sunstone Northeast was my first Sunstone symposium, and it was a tremendous experience.

Here are the highlights:

  • Judith Dushku’s Friday-night keynote address was absolutely amazing. She was raised in a military family and moved every 18 months, mostly to places with very little church organization. Her parents built the Kingdom by helping small branches organize and succeed. This process defined her understanding of the church in terms of her parent’s gospel, which was far more accepting than most of the rest of the church at that time. It was edifying to hear how this motivated her to seek broader social justice in the world, and it reminded me of what a low-class louse I am because I’m too happy just being a working-class stiff. Professor Dushku is a class act.
  • The “Reader’s Theater” presentation was honestly something that I would have skipped if I hadn’t arrived so late on Saturday. I’m glad I did not skip it, because I’d have missed out — big time. It was an oral history, a 5-participant dialogue about the way things were in the Cambridge stake. This included topics like the ins-and-outs of complicated moves, the evolution of ward events, and the re-activation stories of notable members. It was funny, slightly nostalgic, candid, and touchingly human.
  • I had the opportunity to hear others talk about the future of Sunstone and to be asked about my own opinions on the matter. This gave me a sense of pride in the fruits of our culture. (as opposed to what I feel when I see ceramic miniatures of the Salt Lake temple. And yes, we have one in our home; it’s complicated.)
  • It was obvious to all present at Connell O’Donovan’s presentation that his work on Walker Lewis is groundbreaking. Walker Lewis was a black man who was ordained an elder in the 1830s. I had known about Elijah Abel, but I had no clue that there were others besides him. As recently as the 1980s, nobody knew anything about Lewis, and he was relegated to a mere footnote. Connell has done extensive research to uncover Lewis’s biography (available here). Talking to Connell afterwards, I learned that there were at least 7 black men who were known by the Nauvoo apostles to have been ordained Elders.
  • Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s presentation on Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History was engaging and brilliant. Though she readily acknowledges that inventive mavericks do “make history,” she sought to emphasize that those who have gone before us “make history” when historians look to the past — and look to them — for answers. The point is that we need to give well-behaved women a place in history by telling their story. Her book sounds amazing. Though I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t own it yet, I will soon. (And you should, too).
  • Grabbing a burger for dinner with several of the participants at Sullivan’s was a great time (and the burgers there are awesome).

The papers were amazing, but what really makes this type of conference worthwhile is the people who attend. The people that I’ve met at symposia and conferences like Sunstone Northeast are among the smartest, most engaging and most open people I know. On my way home from the symposium, I thought to myself, “Mormons rock.” And they do. Sunstone proves it.

So if there’s a Sunstone regional symposium anywhere within driving distance, go there! You won’t regret it.