The program teaches teens "not to assume you know what Latter-day Saints do or don't believe. You don't put them in a box, that you know how they must think and believe because they carry the label Mormon."

Pascoe believes there's enough interest in the program that they produced 1,000 DVD packages that sell for $95, which includes a youth ministry leader's guide. Individual work books for teens are $5 each. Under way for the past two years, "there is a pent-up demand" among youth ministers both in Utah and Idaho.

Joey Day, one of those featured on the DVD, said he understands both sides of the issues since he grew up in an LDS household but become an evangelical Christian after serving an LDS mission in the Bible Belt.

"I had a companion one day who decided the (LDS) church wasn't true and he was going home. My first reaction was, 'You can do that?' I decided from that time if I was going to be out there, I needed to really know what I was up against."

He spent the last few months of his mission in a searching mode, gathering information from a wide variety of churches to read. "I told myself I was listening to them so I could strengthen my own defense. But a lot of things they were saying made a lot of sense, and for the first time, I became much more comfortable around people of other faiths."

Back home at the University of Utah, he found a friend from high school and realized for the first time that she wasn't LDS but Baptist. "Back in high school I would have been like 'I can't even associate myself with her.' But after my mission I was a lot more open to meeting people like that."

Once he finishes his bachelor's degree, Day said he's considering the ministry after serving as an intern for a local youth minister. During one encounter with a young girl who didn't like his "I (heart) Mormons" T-shirt, he explained that his family was LDS and he loved his mother.

"I think it made her stop and made her think. This is not about who is right or wrong but about showing the love of Christ and building those relationships and loving people. I hope she walked away thinking differently about things."

Tyler Hillam, an LDS teen who talks about his faith on the video, said he was happy to be involved with the project once his fears about it being "anti-Mormon" were eased.

"I'm ecstatic for it. David Pascoe (one of the producers) is one of my good friends, and I'm thrilled that he did something like this. It's an issue that needs to be looked at."

Hillam credits his parents for teaching him early to accept people as they come, rather than discriminating in friendship based on faith. "I'm pretty open-minded no matter what others believe. ... It's not a question of how to be comfortable with other religions — that's just who I am."

He said he has often been warned by LDS friends about "who you hang out with" when they find he's befriended people who don't share his faith. "I have close friends who tell me I'm one of the only LDS kids they've known that haven't been rude or insensitive about this situation. I could name dozens of people who I feel treat others badly because they are not of the same religion. I've always just disagreed with it."

During conversations with friends about faith, he hasn't felt the relationships have been threatened. "We don't stray too far in our opinions. We've always been able to either agree or just agree to disagree."

For information about "Grounded," call the Salt Lake Theological Seminary at 801-581-1900.

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com