Community of Christ & Latter-day Saint Dialogue

Andrew Bolton grew up in England as a Roman Catholic. He first met Community of Christ in Germany as a young adult and was baptized in South Wales a year later. He taught world religions in high school and then at Westminster College, Oxford before going to work for the church at its international headquarters, Independence, MO in 1998. For 12 years he coordinated Peace and Justice Ministries for Community of Christ. From 2007-2016 he served as an administrator for the church in Asia and for indigenous peoples – 215 congregations in 10 countries. With Jewell, his wife, they have two grown up sons, Matthew and David. Andrew has written a number of essays on church history and theology that have been published in the Journal of Mormon History, Dialogue, John Whitmer Journal and Restoration Studies.

David Howlett is a historian of religion in America and serves as the Mellon Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion at Smith College. He is the author of Kirtland Temple: The Biography of a Shared Mormon Sacred Space (University of Illinois Press, 2014) and co-author of Mormonism: The Basics (Routledge, 2017). A native of Independence, Missouri, David is a seventh-generation member of Community of Christ. He holds the office of elder and volunteers as one of three World Church Historians for his church. He and his spouse, the Rev. Anna Woofenden, reside in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Matthew J Frizzell lives in Independence, Missouri with his wife (Margo) and three daughters, Katy, Kenzlee, and Kyla. Matt earned a PhD in theology and ethics from Chicago Theological Seminary. His academic interests include contemporary theology, critical social theory, and postmodern thought. Matt currently serves in ministry as Director of Human Resource Ministries for Community of Christ. He has been a youth minister, pastor, and Dean of Community of Christ Seminary at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. He loves reading, the outdoors, old Volvos, vintage campers, motorcycles, campfires, reading, deep conversation and bleu cheese.

Daniel P. Stone holds a PhD in American religious history from Manchester Metropolitan University (United Kingdom) and is the author of William Bickerton: Forgotten Latter Day Prophet (Signature Books, 2018). He has taught history courses at the University of Detroit Mercy and Florida Atlantic University, and currently works as a research archivist for a private library/archive in Detroit, Michigan.

Keith J. Wilson began our formal BYU outreach program with the RLDS/Community of Christ in 2010. He is an associate professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University where he regularly teaches Book of Mormon, New Testament, and Old Testament courses. Br. Wilson served an LDS mission to Vienna, Austria. He received a BA and a MA from BYU in German. He received a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Utah. His educational specialty is institutional change and he is currently researching about the fundamental changes in the RLDS Church. He and his wife Linda Marie Criddle are the proud parents of eight children and a bunch of grandkids.

Richard G. Moore is a retired instructor for the Church Educational System. He received his BA and MA degrees in American history from Brigham Young University, and his doctorate in Education from the University of the Pacific. Brother Moore is the author of several books, including A Comparative Look at Mormonism and the Community of Christ. He is a former member of the board of directors for the John Whitmer Historical Association. He also served as a Richard L. Evans Fellow in BYU’s Office of Religious Outreach from 2015 through 2019, and was one of the original members of the Community of Christ & Latter-day Saint Dialogue. Rich was raised in Salem, Utah and served as a missionary in Japan. He and his wife, Lani, now reside in Orem, Utah. They are the parents of three children, and have nine grandchildren.

Casey Paul Griffiths is an assistant professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. He served as a missionary in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He holds a BA in History, an MA in Religious Education, and a PhD in Educational Leadership and Foundations from Brigham Young University. He currently serves as the president of the BYU Latter-day Saint Educator’s Society and on the board of the John Whitmer Historical Association. He teaches courses on Latter-day Saint doctrine and history. His research interests include the history of religious education, material history, and Restoration movements. He lives in Saratoga Springs, Utah with his wife, Elizabeth, and their four children.

Robert L. Millet is Professor Emeritus of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University. In 1983, following the receipt of his PhD in Religious Studies from Florida State University, he joined the BYU Religious Education faculty. He has served as Chair of the department of Ancient Scripture, Dean of Religious Education, and Richard L. Evans Professor of Religious Understanding. For almost thirty years Brother Millet has been involved in interfaith work— building bridges of understanding and friendship with scholars and religious leaders from other faiths. He has been engaged in formal academic dialogues with Evangelical Christians, the Church of the Nazarene, and the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). In 2014, after 31 years at BYU, Brother Millet retired from teaching.

Alonzo L. Gaskill is a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University, where he teaches World Religions. As a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (from Greek Orthodoxy), Professor Gaskill served as an Evans Fellow in the Office of Religious Outreach (from 2014 through 2019); and has served on several interfaith councils in the community and at institutions of higher education. In his courses, Professor Gaskill teaches a dozen religions, and has written extensively on Roman Catholicism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Sikhism, and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Scott C. Esplin is a professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University, where he also serves as the publications director for the Religious Studies Center. He specializes in twentieth century Latter-day Saint church history and is the author of the award-winning book, Return to the City of Joseph: Modern Mormonism’s Contest for the Soul of Nauvoo (University of Illinois Press, 2018).

Barbara Morgan Gardner is an associate professor of religion at Brigham Young University. She served as the Youth and Young Adult Religious education leader in Boston, Massachusetts overseeing all students associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon). As part of this assignment she served as the LDS Chaplain at both Harvard and MIT, the first female to receive this assignment, and still serves as the LDS Higher Education Chaplain at Large. Her research interests focus primarily on religious education, including interfaith dialogue, women in religious education leadership and LDS international Church education.
Barbara received her master's degree in Educational Leadership and foundations with an emphasis in international education development, her Ph.D. in Instructional Technology and did post-doctoral work at Harvard University in Higher Education Administration and Management. Previous to teaching at BYU she worked as a seminary and institute teacher as well as a researcher for the Church Educational System. She was born and raised in Salem, OR, served a Spanish-speaking mission in L.A. California, visitors’ center, and currently resides in Highland, UT. She is married to Dustin Gardner. Barbara enjoys spending time with her family, learning, teaching, traveling, people, the great outdoors and life!

Taunalyn Ford Rutherford was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. She received her BA and MA degrees at BYU and her PhD in History of Christianity and Religions of North America at Claremont Graduate University. Taunalyn taught early morning seminary and adult religion classes in Newbury Park California and Sandy Utah and served a mission in Stockholm Sweden. Her love of interfaith engagement began when she traveled with the BYU Young Ambassadors to the Middle East and South Asia and spent a day in Calcutta with Mother Teresa. Currently, she is an adjunct instructor of religion at BYU teaching classes in Church History and Doctrine as well as World Religions. Her publications and current book projects have focused on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Restoration movements in India drawing from her field work and expanding oral history archive. Taunalyn is the mother of five children.