A box of old photos belonging to Michael Quinn at his home. By Peggy Fletcher Stack June 23, 2015 Many Mormon feminists experienced Kate Kelly's excommunication as a harsh slap felt around the world. I heard she's not Mormon at all. "Mormon facing excommunication makes his living off his podcasts," by Peggy Fletcher Stack, Salt Lake Tribune, February 8, 2015 "On Attempts to Smear (i.e., Being 'Fair Gamed'") by John Dehlin ; Faith Transition episodes on Mormon Stories . He himself did not even stay in town. And he was the most strident of the group when it came to denouncing internal critics of Mormon leaders and teachings. The church reports a worldwide membership of 16 million. In many respects, Andersons affirmations mirror those of other members. Men only become gay in prison, or sometimes in the Navy. McLean invited her, she said, to describe her faith in a letter, which includes her conviction that God cherishes everyone. This massive housecleaning may be one of the church's largest since the 1850s, when thousands were excommunicated for everything from poor hygiene . Daryl Peveto/Luceo Images for Slate. He went to San Diego to give the keynote address for the annual conference held by Affirmation, a support group for gay and lesbian Mormons, and he stayed in California for several days afterward. One of Ordain Womens founders, Kate Kelly, was excommunicated in June 2014. Vern Anderson wrote an AP story about the book, and several Utah papers carried reviews. Before the first court, Whitesides and Anderson alerted friends and the press, and word spread quickly. It was really important to Paul and me that Christian grow up in a religious community, and the church was the one we chose. The main target of the statement, issued in August 1991, was the Sunstone Symposium, an annual gathering started by Sunstone magazine 12 years before. Hanks worked for the Church Educational System, where Packer had long been an administrator, and Quinn heard that Loren C. Dunn, a friend of Packers and fellow general authority, had spoken to Hanks personally. Especially considering that in a lot of cases she's the one doing the exposing My guess is she's a let's-reform-this-baby-from-within progressive. By Peggy Fletcher Stack January 16, 2015 SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) John Dehlin, known to support same-sex marriage and the Ordain Women movement, said he expects "either disfellowshipment (i.e . At first, his timing appeared serendipitous: In 1972, while he was completing a masters in history at the University of Utah, an academic named Leonard Arrington was appointed church historian. A page of the so-called Salamander Letter, forged by Mark Hofmann. Quinn showed that Brigham Young had a legitimate claim to the calling, though he was not the only one who did. Peggy Fletcher. The church's definition of "membership" includes all persons who were ever baptized, or whose parents were members while the person was under the age of eight (called "members . I attended the Sunstone Symposium this past summer, held on the University of Utah campus, and many people I spoke to there said that as Packers influence has waned, a more tolerant approach to dissent is taking hold. Quinn studied English literature in collegehe attended BYUbut during his three-year stint in the military he decided to become a historian, and make what had become a consuming pastime into his profession. [5], In 1975, following discussions with Scott Kenney and others, she helped found Sunstone, an independent magazine of Mormon studies. Neither Paul nor I nor Christian had to field a single negative comment the next week, when we went to church in our ward. He has continued to publish articles about Mormon history and to participate in the Sunstone Symposium. They can't ex someone with that king of lineage. 1897 - First Presidency member George Q. Cannon used the media attention on the 1895 conviction and two-year imprisonment of famed Irish poet Oscar Wilde as an opportunity to pu One Sunday in February of 1993, Michael Quinn was home sick with a fever when his doorbell rang. Salt Lake City Laurie Lee Hall was excommunicated from the LDS Church for being a woman. Find your friends on Facebook. She was told to pass along this message: Im tired of hearing him criticize the church. c. 2014 Salt Lake Tribune(RNS) The Mormon Church insists that excommunication threats targeting activists Kate Kelly and John Dehlin were generated by their respective LDS leaders in Virginia and northern Utah.Others see the timing as evidence that the two disciplinary hearings are being coordinated from the faith's Salt Lake City headquarters.But this much is certain: If Mormon higher-ups . Mike Quinn in his Rancho Cucamonga home in California this summer. At Sunstone, Hanks described her path back to Mormonism as a heros journey, la Joseph Campbell. Quinn got hate mail. Hanks return predated the Ordain Women movement, which pushed for women to join the faiths priesthood, said Latter-day Saint scholar Matthew Bowman, who heads the Mormon studies program at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California. Half of these men speak for the accused, and half for the church. Most people don't know I've been excommunicated. The timing of his career, which once appeared serendipitous, now seems almost cruel. I didn't have to look at the councilmen and wonder what they said about me. It is always harder on the loved one who has to stand by and see someone they love being hurt. But he had a caring bishop that first year and decided on his own to serve a mission. Some church leaders continued to marry multiple wives, which is why there was a Second Manifesto in 1904, during the Reed Smoot congressional hearings. Hed been told it was an unusually accepting congregation. [10][11][12][13] The American Academy of Religion awarded her a first place Journalism Award in 2014 for her reporting on LDS missionaries who return home early from their volunteer missions. Local TV reporters were filming the session, and the AP reporter Vern Anderson was sitting at the far side of the room about halfway back. ``It was like `We're here to support you, Brother Gileadi,' '' he said of the atmosphere at the . We embedded him as thoroughly in the church as we ourselves had been. This was almost certainly wrong: Romney has plenty of LDS critics, most notably Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Hed read the essay about women and the priesthood, and he asked Quinn to speak on the subject at an upcoming fireside, an informal evening meeting often held at Mormon meetinghouses. England said he knew about this espionage systemit was called the Strengthening Church Members Committee, and it compiled documents and highlighted statements considered critical of the church. He decided he would suppress that part of himself and be a good Mormon. But Robertson is especially pleased with the "Pillars" session. (In 1985, an Arizona man filed an $18 million lawsuit against the LDS church for not allowing him to do so. That night, we went over to our neighbors' house and watched "A Man for All Seasons" and ate popcorn. As a Mormon, he also knew that same-sex attraction was considered unfortunate at bestsomething to be struggled with, and, if possible, overcome. Excommunication opened the door to a larger cosmos, inside and outside myself.". Many people do reside in the borderlands between Mormon and not. Peggy Fletcher Stack has been reporting on faith and religion since 1991. So she met with local and high Mormon leaders and, after several months, they set a baptismal date. But the Churchs case against Twede will never be known: After the Daily Beast story, the council was postponed, and a few weeks later, Twede resigned from the faith. The suit was settled out of court and a process for voluntary withdrawal was established in 1989.). It struck him as an old missionarys trick. She talks very vaguely when it comes to personal, specific spiritual beliefs and whether they align with doctrine, but she doesn't hesitate to call the church out on its shit at all. [5] She then received a fellowship to work in the Church History Division of the LDS Church (then run by Leonard J. Today, LDS leaders seem more inclined to recognize, said Wotherspoon, now host of the "Mormon Matters" podcast, "that Zion is made up of people of all types. The field has grown and appears to have moved on, even though the research that Quinn did, and the fights that he picked, were crucial to what has come in his wake. I don't think I could have done that graciously. BYU and Utah State both wanted to hire him. He was housesitting. These men are often referred to by Mormon faithful as the Brethren. Unlike local lay leaders, who hold secular day jobs and perform their ecclesiastical duties on a voluntary basis, they are full-time employees who oversee the global operations of the church. He compared Packers treatment of Church leaders to the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal infallibility, which is anathema to Mormons. sltrib.com. Quinn attended that ward in Westwood every week while he was in California. In September, Hanks wrote Quinn another letter, saying that he had listened, twice, to a recording of Quinns paper about the Baseball Baptism Program, delivered at the Sunstone Symposium that summer. Box 15 miles from where he was staying, and in New Orleans he had it delivered to a receiving center a little ways from his apartment. One theory on that first day of panic was that the bombings were connected with the business, an investment company called CFS. Using the familiar Christian metaphor of a lost sheep who listens for the one voice that can guide it back home, Oaks said Mormons should beware of alternate voices whose avowed or secret object is to deceive and devour the flock. Among the voices Oaks warned about were the ones heard in magazines, journals, and newspapers and at lectures, symposia, and conferences. At the same General Conference, another apostle said that a true stalwart of the church would not lend his or her good name to periodicals, programs, or forums that feature offenders who do sow discord among brethren. , When the Sunstone Symposium next convened, in the summer of 92, Lavina Fielding Anderson presented a paper on this growing conflict between leaders and intellectuals. Robert Kirby does this also, but much more indirectly. He asked Quinn to come see him in his office after work one day, Quinn says. Ultimately, the events of September 1993 may have helped broaden those borderlands, encouraging other members of the faith to openly question Mormon orthodoxy without entirely leaving the religion behind. The bombings and subsequent murder trial cast a pall over the practice of Mormon history. Boyd Packer, left, and Dallin Oaks, right, Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, wait for the start of the first session of the 181st Semiannual General Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S., on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011. ", Kelly writes in London's Guardian newspaper "For me it is because of my faith and not in spite of it that I have a desire to stand up for myself and my sisters. After Paul Toscano was excommunicated, Steve Benson, grandson of the then Mormon prophet, met privately with the apostles Dallin H. Oaks and Neal A. Maxwell, and asked them aboutamong many other thingsthe rumor that Packer had something to do with it. Two decades ago, Maxine Hanks could not have imagined where her spiritual journey would take her, but she knew this much: She would not likely be walking into the waters of Mormon baptism. In 2001, a long-standing effort called the Joseph Smith Papers Project received additional funding and became a major draw to those who wished to study the early days of the church. He visited these homes with his missionary companion and asked the boys if they still wanted to be Mormons. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Laurie Lee Hall was excommunicated from the Mormon church for being a woman. When interviewing Quinn in 76, Packer said, I have a hard time with historians, because they idolize the truth. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. Her sincere belief in Jesus and determination to follow him no matter the adversity faced within or without the church should be commended, and this good and faithful servant should be rewarded, he wrote. Grant, a President of the LDS Church and is the granddaughter of United States Senator from Utah Wallace F. Bennett. He had become a father figure of sorts, even officiating at Quinns marriage ceremony. In both forms of LDS courts, the accused is typically allowed to bring in character witnesses. At the time, he was grieving the death of his son, who had gone missing and was found weeks later hanging from a tree by an extension cord. The regional council forwarded her request to church headquarters, with the recommendation that she be approved for rebaptism. LDS officials disciplined Anderson and five other Mormon intellectuals in and around the fall of 1993. When Benson asked why no one had stopped him, Oaks allegedly replied, You cant stage manage a grizzly bear. Benson resigned his Mormon membership shortly afterward and became a vocal opponent of the church his grandfather ostensibly led. Anderson was excommunicated for an article she wrote in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought that described episodes of what she called ecclesiastical abuse of Latter-day Saint intellectuals. After high school, Christian went to Stanford, and we thought, "This may be where we hear bad news." It had been a difficult year. They can't ex someone with that king of lineage. SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) After years of tension between Mormons and gay rights activists -- with political action and theological pronouncements on one . Within the past few years, Bradley had a change of heart and was rebaptized. "But when I got to the point of priestly ordination, I pulled back. Hanks became conciliatory, reading On Being a Mormon Historian, and writing to say hed gotten from it deeper insight into your devotion and your dedication to history and the Church. He asked again to meet when Quinn came back to Utah. The temple president tried to make it as good an experience as he could for my parents, Paul, Christian and Marina [his bride] and me. "We pray that a spirit of clemency will guide the words and actions of everyone especially those who bear the heavy responsibility of ecclesiastical discipline of church members and that the words of President [Dieter F.] Uchtdorf [second counselor in faith's governing First Presidency] will hold sway: "Regardless of your circumstances, your personal history, or the strength of your testimony, there is room for you in this church. Peggy Fletcher Stack is the religion columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune, and one of the founders of Sunstone. Since then, only one Avraham Gileadi, an Old Testament scholar who has spent his life researching and writing about the biblical oracle Isaiah's prophecies about our time has been rebaptized into the faith. Most people don't know I've been excommunicated. Snuffer was excommunicated. Knowing her personally (not closely, but we're acquainted) I get the feeling that she is much more culturally LDS than actually LDS. Later that evening, having dinner alone, he felt a new sense of relief about what had happened so far and what he believed was about to happen. Peggy Fletcher Stack. But by the fall of 92 he had to return to Salt Lake City to finish research on the book, and he had grown tired of hiding from church authorities. He was 32; he and his wife, Jan, were expecting their fourth child. He said it was apostasy because I believed that general authorities had done something wrong. Maxine Hanks was held in the same stake center one week before, though she did not attend it. (Peggy Fletcher Stack writes for The Salt Lake Tribune.) They had the responsibility to preserve the doctrinal purity of the church, they said, adding that, because Mormon leaders are constrained by confidentiality rules, the media have relied on information supplied by those disciplined or by their sympathizers. Similar councils occurred more sporadically over the next few years. The demographics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints include statistical data relating to the church's population and particular groups within it.. . Born in 1924 in Brigham City, Utah, the 10th of 11 children, Packer worked for years as a teacher and administrator in the Church Educational System. I accuse that committee, England declared, of undermining our Church.. Hi, Peggy. The Mormon intellectual community far and wide is mourning the loss of Linda King Newell. "It will be a chance for a larger audience to hear this story," she said, and to hear how people can wrestle with their faith and then live it out. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. The latter, a smaller school, offered less money, but BYU had its own drawbacks: It was and is a conservative place, politically as well as religiously. A second bomb that first day killed Kathy Sheets, the wife of one of Christensens former business partners. On Sept. 30 he called Hanks to ask what the court had decided. (Rick Bowmer/AP) This article is more than 8 years old. [15], Stack wrote a children's book about religion with artist Kathleen B. Petersen, entitled A World of Faith, published in 1998.[4][16]. He contends that a former director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir had openly romantic feelings for men, and highlights a once hushed-up gay affair from the 1940s between a prominent church leader and a 21-year-old Mormon serving in the Navy. In May 1993, apostle Boyd K. Packer said the church's three greatest threats came from feminists, gays and intellectuals. The all-male priesthood leaders in his Willow Creek Sandy LDS stake could have excommunicated the 64-year-old author, but chose instead a . By Peggy Fletcher Stack. The stake president, who oversees a number of congregations, remained optimistic, she said, zeroing in on the words, at this time., But the writer replied, Theres hope, and then theres experience., Besides, she said, it was a form letter.. He hopes that eventually hell manage to sell the condo and will get enough money for it that he could move back to New Orleans and live there for the last couple decades, God willing, of his life. The LDS church does not remove any name from the list unless the person is excommunicated, asks to be removed or is dead. How have the members of your ward treated you? Article type . The most threatening thing about Ordain Women to people in the church is that it is coming from faithful, devout, courageous, wonderful women and that's more threatening than anything could be. Two of the so-called "September Six" have found their way back into the LDS fold while Anderson though never rebaptized in some ways has never left. He loves cities, and when he lived in New Orleans in the early 90s, he made friends in bars and in an informal group of gay professionals who gathered once a month. Quinn read Hanks letter that night and wrote a detailed response. [4] During her time there, she has met and interviewed the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Gordon B. Hinckley, among others. I could imagine the First Presidency thinking that this is not an episode worth revisiting, Bowman wrote in an email. Peggy Fletcher Stack, David Noyce 3/23/2022. What to him and others that is so threatening is that this [Ordain Women movement] is coming from a very faithful, devout perspective. Whether Quinns fate had truly been sealed is hard to say. Anderson was photographed at her Salt Lake City home on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019. The nature of religion reporting in Utah is changing. The Version table provides details related to the release that this issue/RFE will be addressed. [Excommunicated Mormons are not supposed to take communion.] Peggy Fletcher Stack, The Salt Lake Tribune, 24 Nov. 2022 To that end, the power that Ms. Cheney and Mr. Kinzinger bring is their personal stories of defiance and excommunication. [5] She met Mike Stack when he volunteered as a photographer for Sunstone in 1984, and they married in October 1985. A view of the Salt Lake Temple outside Olympic Medals Plaza in Salt Lake City, Utah. (They draw numbers to pick sides.) Not long before Hofmann sold that forged document, he approached Quinn in the church archives, and asked about the succession crisis and the article. It was a long time coming: Quinn had known he was gay since he was 12 years old. Peggy Fletcher Stack writes for the Salt Lake Tribune. On Oct. 16, 1985, Quinn was having a late lunch at a BYU food court when he heard a news report that Mark Hofmann had been blown up by a pipe bomb in Salt Lake City. July 26, 2012 12:03 pm . If those top leaders did not know where he lived, then they could not assign him to a particular stake, and his church membership could not be threatened. They cited a 19th-century revelation to Joseph Smith, in which he spoke of the saints gathering up a knowledge of all the facts, and sufferings and abuses put upon them, and said that perhaps a committee can be appointed to find out these things, and to take statements and affidavits; and also to gather up the libelous publications that are afloat. The First Presidency did not mention that when Smith received this revelation he was in prison in Missouri, where a Mormon extermination order had been decreed by the governor not long before.
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