{"podcast":{"title":"Mormon Stories Podcast","slug":"mormon-stories-podcast-975797","podcast_index_feed_id":975797,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/f7ccb224/podcast/rss","website_url":"http://www.mormonstories.org","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/41473873/41473873-1774439842873-4051333073691.jpg","author":"Dr. John Dehlin","episode_count":2202,"summary":"Mormon Stories Podcast is the longest-running and most successful podcast in Mormonism. At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormon Stories is a product of the Open Stories Foundation - a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to supporting Mormons in religious transition. Mormon Stories is not affiliated with or sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-08T08:17:24.229711+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mormon-stories-podcast-975797"},"episode":{"title":"Leaving the Seventh-day Adventist Church - Melissa Duge Spiers Pt. 2 | Ep. 2150","slug":"leaving-the-seventh-day-adventist-church-melissa-duge-spiers-pt-2-ep-2150","published_at":"2026-05-21T18:00:01+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mormon-stories-podcast-975797/leaving-the-seventh-day-adventist-church-melissa-duge-spiers-pt-2-ep-2150","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mormon-stories-podcast-975797","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonstories/episodes/Leaving-the-Seventh-day-Adventist-Church---Melissa-Duge-Spiers-Pt--2--Ep--2150-e3jne3s","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO5434328982.mp3","summary":"In Part 2 of our series on Seventh-day Adventism, Melissa Spiers shares her personal story of growing up as a fourth-generation Adventist in a deeply religious family shaped by strict lifestyle rules, purity culture, and constant pressure to perform spiritually. Melissa describes her experience navigating SDA education systems, thought control, and the intense expectations placed on young women within the church. She also discusses her eventual move away from Adventism, and the complicated relationship between religion, identity, and personal freedom. Another major focus of this episode is Melissa’s discovery of abuse within her own family, the response from Seventh-day Adventist leadership, and the broader systems she believes protect abuse within high-control religious institutions. She shares how these experiences affected her relationships, mental health, and eventual religious deconstruction. Throughout the conversation, Melissa reflects on healing, rebuilding life outside of religion, and the challenges many people face after leaving high-demand faith communities. We also discuss her new memoir, "Holy Disobedience: Sex, Sin, and Secrets in the Biggest Church No One Knows". You can purchase it here . ___________________ YouTube At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals. Our overall mission is to: 1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology 2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis 3. Promo…","meta_description":"In Part 2 of our series on Seventh-day Adventism, Melissa Spiers shares her personal story of growing up as a fourth-generation Adventist in a deeply reli…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":8391,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/mormon-stories-podcast-975797/episodes/leaving-the-seventh-day-adventist-church-melissa-duge-spiers-pt-2-ep-2150/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mormon-stories-podcast-975797/leaving-the-seventh-day-adventist-church-melissa-duge-spiers-pt-2-ep-2150.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}