Mormonism Explained

Mormonism Explained

Investigates · Case Update

One Sentence, Three Terms, and $1.19 Million: Inside the Settlement Offer Mormon Stories Keeps Refusing

A new federal filing lays out what it would take to end the Church’s lawsuit against John Dehlin’s podcast — no name change, no ban on the word “Mormon.” He said no. Again. We can’t read minds. We can read tax filings.

By Todd Noall · October 8, 2026 · 7 minute read

Case 2:26-cv-00321, U.S. District Court, D. Utah

In its answer to John Dehlin’s counterclaims, filed this month in federal court, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints put its settlement position on the public record: it has offered, repeatedly, to end its trademark and copyright lawsuit against Mormon Stories — and the offer remains open. VERIFIED

The terms, per the filing, after a range of earlier proposals — several of which kept the word “Mormon” in the podcast’s name — were all rejected:

  1. Lock in the logo changes Mormon Stories has already made. The filing itself acknowledges the adjustments were implemented after the Church raised its objections.
  2. Stop using the Church’s copyrighted photographs.
  3. Post a visible disclaimerthat Mormon Stories is “not affiliated with or sponsored or endorsed by” the Church — in writing on its website and social media, and spoken at the start of episodes. By the filing’s math: under ten seconds, in episodes that often run past two hours.

Accept those terms, the filing states, and the Church dismisses the case. Dehlin’s team refused. Again. VERIFIED

What the case is not about — according to both filings

The Church’s papers are emphatic that the case targets neither criticism nor the word itself: Dehlin can criticize the church as he chooses and can use “Mormon” in connection with his podcast, its attorneys wrote in August. The claim, per the filings, is narrower — that logos, fonts, color schemes, and copyrighted images together suggested affiliation with the Church. DOCUMENTED Church spokesperson Doug Anderson put the position in four words when the Church first spoke publicly about the case: “It’s about preventing confusion.” DOCUMENTED

His side — at full strength

Dehlin’s defense deserves its strongest form, and it has real weight. His filings argue that nobody owns the word “Mormon” — a term millions have used for two centuries to describe themselves, their cultures, and their roots — and that the Church itself walked away from the word after its 2018 naming shift, which his counterclaims say should cost the Church its “Mormon” trademarks through abandonment. He argues the Church waited far too long to sue a podcast it demonstrably knew about for two decades. The ACLU of Utah and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed briefs urging the court to dismiss the case, warning of its implications for speech about religion. DOCUMENTED

Two more points in his column. Mormon Stories says the Church’s preferred disclaimer language already appears in its show descriptions across platforms — the dispute now is prominence and permanence, not existence. DOCUMENTED And his team has publicly accused the Church of mischaracterizing earlier settlement discussions — a standing objection that any account of these negotiations, including the Church’s and including ours, has to carry. PUBLIC CLAIM

What Dehlin has conceded in court: some Church photographs were used without permission, and some of his logos and marks were similar to the Church’s. DOCUMENTED

The Church’s lead attorney, in his own words

David Jordan, the Church’s lead counsel on the case, addressed the central question — why sue at all — in a recent appearance on the Keystone podcast. People had reported to the Church, over years, that they believed the show was affiliated with or sponsored by it, Jordan said, concluding:

“There is that evidence of actual confusion.”

David Jordan · Counsel for the Church · Keystone podcast, September 2026

That interview promptly became contested ground. Dehlin’s lawyers filed papers citing Jordan’s remarks about a different brand — his comment that common sense tells consumers Heather Gay’s “Bad Mormon” isn’t Church-affiliated — as evidence, in their words, that the Church misuses trademark law as a “tool of coercion,” pointing to the Church’s earlier pressure on Gay’s trademark. PUBLIC CLAIMThe counter-reading is just as available: Jordan’s point — words alone don’t confuse; words plus mimicking branding can — is precisely the architecture of the Church’s complaint and of its settlement offer. Both readings are now before the court.

So why refuse? We can’t read minds. We can read tax filings.

Dehlin’s stated reasons are above, at full strength. What follows is not a claim about his heart. It is the financial record of the organization he leads, drawn entirely from Open Stories Foundation’s own IRS filings — and it shows one pattern with unusual consistency: public collision with the Church has been followed by growth. Every time. VERIFIED

Open Stories Foundation total revenue, FY 2010–2024
  • FY 2010
    $58,580
  • FY 2011
    $106,251
  • FY 2012
    $201,694
  • FY 2013
    $134,109
  • FY 2014
    $152,905
  • FY 2015
    $198,136
  • FY 2016
    $332,678
  • FY 2017
    $454,810
  • FY 2018
    $480,173
  • FY 2019
    $464,339
  • FY 2020
    $511,117
  • FY 2021
    $751,928
  • FY 2022
    $738,478
  • FY 2023
    $1,192,816
  • FY 2024
    $1,120,862
  • 2015 EXCOMMUNICATION → +67% IN 2016
  • DEC 2022 REBRAND → +61% IN 2023

All figures from IRS Form 990 filings via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (EIN 27-2026793); 2010 from the foundation’s filed 990-EZ. No estimates, no interpolation.

Two inflection points stand above the rest. Dehlin was excommunicated in February 2015; the foundation’s revenue rose 67 percent the following year, from $198,136 to $332,678. VERIFIEDThen, after five years of plateau in the half-million range, came December 2022 — the month Mormon Stories adopted the blue, light-rayed look at the center of this lawsuit, the rebrand the complaint says had listeners asking whether the show was the Church’s.

The rebrand window
  • 2017
    $455K
  • 2018
    $480K
  • 2019
    $464K
  • 2020
    $511K
  • 2021
    $752K
  • 2022
    $738K
  • 2023
    $1.19M
  • DEC 2022 · BLUE REBRAND ADOPTED
  • +61.5% · +$454,338 IN ONE YEAR

Revenue plateaued 2020–2022 ($511K → $752K → $738K), then jumped 61.5% in 2023 — from $738,478 to $1,192,816 — the largest single-year dollar increase in the foundation’s filing history. Dollar-scoped: 2015→16 was larger in percentage terms.

To be precise about what these charts do and do not show: they show sequence, not cause. VERIFIED Revenue rose after the excommunication and after the rebrand; the filings cannot tell us why donors gave. What can be said on the record is narrower and, frankly, sufficient: nothing in fifteen years of filings shows public conflict with the Church costing this organization money.

The lawsuit itself is following the pattern

Mormon Stories launched a legal defense fund the week it was sued, soliciting donations at a dedicated page on its site. DOCUMENTED Its episode announcing the lawsuit drew roughly triple the top end of its typical audience, per contemporaneous press reporting. DOCUMENTED The counterweight is real and belongs in the ledger: federal trademark defense is expensive — the ACLU’s brief cites median costs of $250,000 to $1.1 million through trial — and what the defense fund has collected is not public. Whether this collision nets out like the last two is a question only the foundation’s next filings will answer. DOCUMENTED

Where the record stands

Status

Verified

What it covers

The offer and its three terms, from the Church’s filed answer. The revenue series, from fifteen years of IRS filings. The concessions, from Dehlin’s own court papers.

Status

Claimed

What it covers

Each side’s reading of the settlement talks — the Church’s account of refusals, and Mormon Stories’ charge that those accounts mischaracterize the negotiations. Jordan’s podcast remarks, now cited by both sides.

Status

Open

What it covers

The motion to dismiss, which remains before the court. Why Dehlin refuses — his stated principles, the documented incentives, or both. The next 990.

One sentence — “not affiliated” — plus two terms he is, by the record, already partway to. The filing says the offer is still on the table. The answer, so far, is still no. Unless the lawsuit is worth more than the settlement? Judge the record for yourself.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Church asking Mormon Stories to do to end the lawsuit?
Per the Church's filed answer, three things: make permanent the logo adjustments Mormon Stories already implemented, stop using the Church's copyrighted images, and post a visible written disclaimer of non-affiliation, with the same disclaimer spoken at the start of episodes — under ten seconds in episodes that often run past two hours. No name change is requested, and the word 'Mormon' stays.
Is the Church trying to stop Mormon Stories from using the word 'Mormon'?
The Church's filings state the opposite: Dehlin can criticize the church and can use 'Mormon' in connection with his podcast. The dispute, per the filings, is about logos, colors, fonts, and copyrighted images that the Church alleges suggest affiliation. Dehlin's filings contest the trademarks themselves, arguing abandonment after the Church's 2018 naming shift.
Why does Mormon Stories say it refuses the settlement?
Dehlin's stated positions: nobody owns the word 'Mormon,' the First Amendment protects the show, the Church waited too long to sue, and his team says the Church has mischaracterized settlement discussions. The ACLU of Utah and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed briefs supporting dismissal.
What do Open Stories Foundation's tax filings show?
IRS Form 990 filings show revenue rising from $58,580 in 2010 to $1,120,862 in 2024. Revenue rose 67% the year after Dehlin's 2015 excommunication, and rose 61.5% — from $738,478 to $1,192,816, the largest one-year dollar increase on record — in the first full year after the December 2022 rebrand.

Further reading

The Mormon Stories Playbook: John Dehlin's $1M Formula

A sourced investigation into the Mormon Stories podcast, John Dehlin's editorial pattern, the 2021 IRS whistleblower complaint, and the April 2026 federal trademark lawsuit.

Mormon Church Finances, Explained: Tithing, Ensign Peak & the SEC

Tithing, the $5M SEC settlement, the $100B fund, and the 11–0 Huntsman ruling — every major claim about Mormon church finances, tested against the record.

Sources

  • Plaintiffs’ answer to defendants’ counterclaims, Intellectual Reserve, Inc. et al. v. Open Stories Foundation et al., No. 2:26-cv-00321 (D. Utah) — settlement terms and quoted disclaimer language.
  • Plaintiffs’ opposition to motion to dismiss (filed Aug. 20, 2026) and contemporaneous coverage: Deseret News; KUTV; ABC4 (Doug Anderson statement).
  • Defendants’ answer, counterclaims, and motion to dismiss (June 22, 2026); amicus briefs of the ACLU of Utah and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (Aug. 2026).
  • Defendants’ filing citing counsel’s podcast remarks, per The Salt Lake Tribune (Sept. 30, 2026).
  • David Jordan remarks: Keystone podcast (Sept. 2026).
  • IRS Form 990, Open Stories Foundation, EIN 27-2026793, FY 2010–2024, via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (accessed Sept. 2026).
  • Legal defense fund: mormonstories.org/legal; audience figures per May 2026 press reporting.