Gordon acknowledged some potential attendees may have avoided the FAIR conference in its early years because his organization developed something of a reputation for bashing critics of the LDS Church, rather than simply addressing the issues.

In fact, Roger Keller of Brigham Young University told participants in last year's FAIR conference that he doesn't like apologetics because "too many people try to use it as a weapon," Gordon recalls.

"In the early stages of it we may have done some of that, but we've tried to move away from that to be a resource for people where we discuss issues. We never do any debates, and we're not there to try to argue against anyone else's position. Early on had a few members with that 'in your face' perspective, but since I've been president, we've actually taken some of those articles off the Web site. . . . We want to be a place where people can talk openly."

Gordon is unabashed about timing of the conference, noting that it is always purposely set in close proximity to Sunstone so those who travel to Utah can attend both. Attendees this year come from as far away as Australia, and in past years participants have traveled from Denmark and the East Coast. "We want them to come to one and then go to the other."

The underlying constituency for both FAIR and Sunstone may well have grown out of the largest and longest-running conference of them all — BYU Education Week, which is slated for Aug. 16-20 in Provo, following Sunstone on Aug. 11-14. The latter has drawn just under 1,000 attendees in recent years.

By contrast, tens of thousands of Latter-day Saints snarl traffic and pack hotels and restaurants in Provo for BYU's weeklong faith fest. Many sessions are televised live locally on KBYU-TV and via satellite. Focused on building faith rather than on scholarly presentation or debate, Education Week has become a staple of summer for hordes of Latter-day Saints from around the globe.

Speakers include LDS general authorities and general auxiliary officers in addition to BYU faculty and LDS professionals. Lines are long for popular sessions, and participants often plan their attendance well in advance in order to secure seats.

And for those whose appetites still aren't sated, yet another conference offers scholarly perspectives on the LDS Church's foundational scripture. Organized by the nonprofit Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum, this year's event is scheduled Sept. 24-25 at the Sheraton in Salt Lake City.