In July 2022, the Wheatley Institute was again a co-sponsor of a EuroSeminar, this time in the Czech countryside near Prague. The official theme of the 2022 Euro Seminar program was “Family in the Wilderness: Covid Aftermath, Family Dynamics, Individual Belonging.” Discussions focused on healing and understanding in the circumstances and contexts that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Europe face. More than forty young professionals, university students, and presenters gathered from over a dozen countries around Europe to learn from one another about these issues.

The Wheatley Institute acknowledges with sadness the passing of Kate Holbrook and we express our condolences to her family and friends who feel her loss keenly. Kate’s inspiring capacity to convey the experiences and values of Latter-day Saint women was highlighted in a lecture she gave at the 2017 conference “My Grace is Sufficient: Latter-day Reflections”. The conference was co-sponsored by the Wheatley Institute, Religious Education, and the Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University.

Wheatley Institute Sponsors Conference

Tyson Reeder, an Affiliated Scholar for Wheatley Institute's Constitution Initiative, was awarded the prestegious George Washington Prize for his book Serpent in Eden. The book is an exploration of foreign meddling in early American politics, analyzing both the ways in which foreign powers swayed American democracy and the ways the new republic attempted to respond. The work was praised as "a blend of wonderful storytelling and intriguing characters along with perceptive historical analysis. . . . This important contribution stands out as an incredibly timely and relevant book for how we can use the past to understand the present."

I am not legally bound to honor the holy spaces of others, to make room for their beliefs and practices, or to respond to their religious speech with peace, tolerance and respect. But the norm of religious freedom creates a powerful social force encouraging me to do so.

Differences of opinion are part of life and differences of conviction are part of life too. I think we need to have the expectation that we're not always going to agree, even on the most important, even on the most personal, down-to-the-heart type of things. And that is okay. The way that we disagree is what's important.