Episode 882: Jeff Strong, New Book “Torn: Why People We Love Are Leaving the Church and What We Can Learn From Them”

Listen, Learn & Love Hosted by Richard Ostler · Apr 24, 2026 · 1h 13m

My friend Jeff Strong (married father of five, grandfather, former mission president, retired senior executive consumer goods) join us to talk about his new book. Jeff introduces his book with the story of his son Cale leaving the MTC and then leaving the Church—and Jeff’s desire to better understand. Jeff’s book (with a forward from Steve Young) focuses on: Conducting the largest LDS focused study on disaffiliation (20,000 respondents + interviews) About 40% of those that were active in 2000 have left the church 25 years later The “four patterns” that emerge from the data—super insightful…