It struck him as an old missionarys trick. The bearded dad, a father of 11 who was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 2015 for apostasy, suggests they sing hymns . Find your friends on Facebook. Maybe she wants to be, though. I have kept my covenants, remained close to the church and have felt that what I have done is accepted by the Lord, the Salt Lake City editor and writer said. [14] Along with five other reporters, she won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017 in the Local Reporting category for a series of stories about sexual assault victims at BYU. Peggy Fletcher Stack is an American journalist, editor, and author. Not long before Hofmann sold that forged document, he approached Quinn in the church archives, and asked about the succession crisis and the article. Gileadi, Toscano, Anderson, and Hanks were all excommunicated. I love Jesus. She is in the right family. After the Newsweek article ran, Quinn got a phone call from Marion D. Hanks. I love the church. Following the wave of media attention that greeted the September excommunications, the First Presidency defended what had taken place. Peggy Fletcher Stack is an American journalist, editor, and author. After 20 years, this excommunicated Mormon still attends her LDS ward Something similar, if more protracted, took place after September 1993. He left quietly and went to call the LDS Church Office Building to ask about this committee. While Packers precise involvement remains a matter of dispute, what little is known hints at his interference. The accused is called in, another prayer is offered, and the court proceeds. ", 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. A box of old photos belonging to Michael Quinn at his home. 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. They didn't say anything. False Prophet Gaining Steam Among a 'Remnant' Church She declined. A former BYU professor named David Wright was excommunicated in 1994 after publishing a paper arguing that the Book of Mormon was not an ancient text. "But when I got to the point of priestly ordination, I pulled back. According the her Wikipedia page: She is a great-granddaughter of Heber J. Her explorations gave Hanks a new level of understanding and "testimony" of Mormonism. 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. Report a missed paper by [email protected] calling801-237-2900, For e-edition questions or comments, contact customer support801-237-2900or [email protected]. Many religions have strictures that establish who is in and who is out, but the Mormon church draws a brighter line than most. Writer excommunicated during 'September Six' purge loses her bid to But the cause didn't really matter because it was pretty clear that Elder [Boyd K.] Packer [of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles] was trying to send a message by targeting certain people, such as historians and feminists. If you've picked up a copy of the Salt Lake Tribune in the last 26 years, you know Peggy Fletcher Stack's name. When they did, Quinn, an only child, would go to his room, put on a classical record, and turn the volume up. After the church court, when I walked into the chapel, it took about three times longer to get to my seat because so many people hugged me. They can't ex someone with that king of lineage. Stack has been the lead religion writer for The Salt Lake Tribune since 1991. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. This is maybe where John and I are very different. 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. Article type . When they left, they said, "Have a nice day," to which I replied, "You have just assured that I will not.". No way. It is also worth noting that the church president in 1993 was an ailing Ezra Taft Benson. She has participated as much as she was able playing the piano and singing in the choir and watched as seven lay bishops have come and gone. Like Robert Kirby, it would be a shit storm to ex her. Whitesides says that Connie Chungs people asked her to take a hidden camera into her court. The movie was a live-action adaptation of the Nintendo game Super Mario Bros. 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They never gave me one reason. Just before his excommunication, in the spring of 1993, Quinn bore his testimony at the singles ward he was attending each week in Westwood, near UCLA. was pressured to resign from Brigham Young University and subsequently excommunicated from the faith in 1993 as part of the famed "September Six . Packer approved Quinns hiring, but he may have come to regret it five years later. That last comment became the caption for a Newsweek photo three months later, when the magazines religion reporter, Kenneth L. Woodward, wrote a 1,000-word story about Quinns talk and the controversy it prompted. I did. Grant, a President of the LDS Church and is the granddaughter of United States Senator from Utah Wallace F. Bennett. Why didn't you go to the hearing to defend yourself? Dave: We remind our listeners about a new way to support Mormon Land. We appreciate the search for knowledge and the discussion of gospel subjects, the First Presidency said. If Peggy wanted to do some groundbreaking . Experts authenticated the letter, and Christensen, a devout Mormon, bought it from Hofmann, with plans to donate it to the church. Anderson was photographed at her Salt Lake City home with the work of her late husband, Paul L. Anderson, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019. Supposedly Nelson, like Benson, was a supporter of the John Birch Society, a radically right-wing, conspiracy-mongering, anti-Communist group. 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 . Quinn showed that Brigham Young had a legitimate claim to the calling, though he was not the only one who did. In the early 90s, when he was living in New Orleans, Quinn, nearing his 50th birthday, tried his hand at fiction, going back to the literature he once studied as an undergraduate. ", Kelly goes on KUER's Radio West "A lot of people are asking me why I came forward [with the news of my disciplinary hearing]. I admire her. I hate him. Quinn got hate mail. [15], Stack wrote a children's book about religion with artist Kathleen B. Petersen, entitled A World of Faith, published in 1998.[4][16]. By then, Quinn had more or less moved on. Mormons devote one sacrament meeting each month to personal testimonies, and Quinn was sure this would be his last opportunity to offer his in church. And the Tribune is changing with it. I had a spiritual prompting that summer staying at my cabin that I wasn't to go. West did not formally revoke the recommend, he just put it in his drawer. He decided that only 16 of the changes were significant. At its worst, such talk is sometimes called speaking evil of the Lords anointed.. As a Mormon, he also knew that same-sex attraction was considered unfortunate at bestsomething to be struggled with, and, if possible, overcome. Peggy Fletcher Stack is an American journalist, editor, and author. Religion Two decades after she was "exed," Utah writer still attends her LDS ward. [5][6], Fletcher initially attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, for a year,[1] then transferred to the University of Utah, where she earned a BA in English literature. I couldn't help but wonder if I, too, would be excommunicated if my concerns were made public. ", Hanks' rebaptism suggests a difference in LDS leadership from then to now, said Dan Wotherspoon, Sunstone's editor from 2001 to 2008. (In 1985, an Arizona man filed an $18 million lawsuit against the LDS church for not allowing him to do so. The Strengthening Church Members Committee almost certainly passed along notes about Quinn to his new stake president, Paul Hanks, in early 1993. During Quinns New Orleans years, the First Presidency put out a statement discouraging Mormons from participating in academic conferences and other independent forums devoted to the discussion of their faith. He wept as he read it aloud to others. The men at his door were the local stake president and his two counselors, the men responsible for overseeing all the congregations in the area. Mormonism was as much an identity issue for them as it is for me. Packers notion that those writing church history should share only those things that are faith-promoting is not just intellectually offensive nowit has become quaint, the relic of a time when information was not so freely available. I could imagine the First Presidency thinking that this is not an episode worth revisiting, Bowman wrote in an email. Though a lifelong Latter-day Saint, Hanks had not been attending a Mormon ward for several years. The Salt Lake Tribune/June 16, 2014. By Peggy Fletcher Stack. Just go to . While preparing for the retired Brigham Young University artists memorial service, Bishop Mahonri Madrigal read Pauls written testimony, or statements of faith, that the ward had compiled in 2000. High-Ranking Mormon Official, is Excommunicated - Coercion Code Before the first court, Whitesides and Anderson alerted friends and the press, and word spread quickly. Peggy Fletcher Stack is the religion columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune, and one of the founders of Sunstone. disciplined Anderson and five other Mormon intellectuals, church disciplinary actions threatening Mormon feminist Kate Kelly and blogger John Dehlin. He left it up to local leaders to come up with a reason. That's a good question. In an April 1968 talk about military service, he described the restless, unchallenged young people who are repudiating their citizenship responsibilities by avoiding and protesting the draft. Grant, a President of the LDS Church and is the granddaughter of United States Senator from Utah Wallace F. Bennett. This made some church leaders uneasy. (Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Dallin Oaks speaking at the General Conference in April 1989. If he doesnt, I have his phone number and I know where he lives. In 1999, she joined the Interfaith Roundtable for the 2002 Winter Olympics, where she enjoyed the association of representatives from various faiths and led the annual Interfaith Week. Arrington). At the pinnacle of the Mormon hierarchy is the First Presidencythe churchs prophet and his two counselorsand the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. But it also betrayed tensions within the church that may never entirely go away. Hebrew scholar Avraham Gileadi has been rebaptized into the LDS Church after being excommunicated for apostasy along with five other writers and scholars in September 1993. It had been a difficult year. In May, my stake president called me in about it. Then he made copies of his letter and Hanks' letter and dropped them off at the offices of Vern Anderson and Peggy Fletcher Stack, a former Sunstone editor who had become a religion reporter for . Knowing her personally (not closely, but we're acquainted) I get the feeling that she is much more culturally LDS than actually LDS. 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 He was excommunicated in 1911. But the third bomb, which badly injured but did not kill Hofmann, hinted at a tie to the salamander letter, a disputed historical document that Christensen had purchased from Hofmann a year before and which had inspired Quinns latest research project, a book eventually titled Early Mormonism and the Magic Worldview. We embedded him as thoroughly in the church as we ourselves had been. [5] They moved to Utah in 1991 when she was hired to be the religion writer for The Salt Lake Tribune, where much of her reporting has focused on the LDS Church. Peggy fletcher stack excommunicated Denver Snufferpersonalbordenver Carlos Snuffer Jr.Religion (Mormon Independent) Restoration Andsupra-Denominational Christian [1] Nationality Americanhome Townmountain House, Idahochildrensisx Daughters and Two Children [2] Alma Materdaniel Webster Junior Collegemcmurry UniversityBrigham Young University (JD, 1980) Log In. The biggest thing that got me was the excommunication of bill reel segment of the Mormon stories podcast. [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. P The Sunstone Symposium runs July 25-28 at the University of Utah's Olpin Student Union. But gradually, pressure on Mormon scholars eased, and today many write and publish without any obvious concern for what their stake presidents might think. Most people don't know I've been excommunicated. 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. Look at Steve Benson, I suspect that there was no way they were going to ex him so he exed himself. Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. And it was not popular with those of the brethren that Quinn had already angered with his talk on Mormon history four years before. She said hello, but he did not recognize her. Quinn went over local church rolls and found addresses of kids who didnt come to Sunday services. It's Judgment Day for Far Right: LDS Church Purges Survivalists Until 23 years ago, one could not formally leave the church without being excommunicated. He was excommunicated by the LDS Church in 2013 for refusing to cease publication of his 2011 book, Passing the Heavenly Gift which challenges many points of LDS orthodoxy. The term "September Six" was coined by The Salt Lake Tribune and was used in the media and subsequent discussion. Re: Kate Kelly Shreds Peggy Fletcher Stack for Using Her as "Clickbait" While the simpler approach is handled by a bishop and his two counselors, the more elaborate version is run by a stake president, and it involves not only his two counselors but the stakes high council, a group of 12 men. These three shocks to Quinns testimonyabout the Book of Mormon, polygamy, and LDS theologyspurred a pursuit to unearth and understand those parts of his religions past that complicated the simpler story of the faith he had learned as a child. Or a great one, if possible: Since childhood, Quinn had been told by his grandmother that someday he would be an apostle of the church. By Peggy Fletcher Stack By David Noyce For the first time in nearly 30 years, the Mormon church has excommunicated one of its top leaders. Did the Utah Legislature do enough to save the Great Salt Lake? Lavina Fielding Anderson may have been excommunicated from the LDS Church for apostasy more than 20 years ago, but don't think for a minute that this Utah writer is now an outsider to her faith. He referred to the pathos that I felt in your private letters to mea plea to not be discarded from something that you love. I want to help resolve that pathos, he added, and a sadness that seems to pervade your private writing to me.. By Peggy Fletcher Stack The Salt Lake Tribune. LDS author disfellowshipped - Rick Alan Ross Hanks was excommunicated in 1993, one of the "September Six," Mormon writers and scholars who were disciplined by their local LDS officials in the same month. But that was not how he experienced it. Mike Quinn in his Rancho Cucamonga home in California this summer. This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. After reading Peggy Fletcher Stack's article (linked in April's post), I realized that many of us share Lavina's ongoing concerns, including the exclusion of women from institutional authority and the side-stepping of the Heavenly Mother doctrine. But some simply baptized the boysa few without explaining what the baptisms were for. On March 23, 2018, Andersons husband, Paul, died of heart failure. Earlier this year, Maxine Hanks became the first of the September Six to fully return to the Mormon Church since the conservative outlier Avraham Gileadi was quietly rebaptized almost two decades ago. Saturday, February 22, 1997. How is Peggy Fletcher Stack still Mormon? : r/exmormon - reddit He recounted what his former stake president, Hugh West, had done when he received what Quinn saw as similar orders from above. . I didn't have any doubts. Dear Reader: When I began this series of essays on leadership, I never anticipated the final installment would chronicle recent events that have triggered the biggest spiritual struggle of my life. I used to think Steve Benson was a bad person. Paul's mother was great. We had been home about 20 minutes when two high counselors came to our house and delivered a letter, inviting me to a disciplinary hearing two weeks from that day. McMurrin Differed in Gentler Times. This friend, Quinn says, told him that the men on the council disagreed about whether Quinn was an apostate, and that President Hanks finally declared that Boyd K. Packer was pressing him to take action, and they needed to do something. By Peggy Fletcher Stack January 3, 2013. The former LDS stake president, who oversaw a group of Mormon congregations in Tooele for eight years and worked as an architect on her faith's most sacred spaces, faced, in her mind, an impossible choice: Either return to living as a man or resign her . (Benson died in 94, Hunter in 95.) In Mormon history circles, this period is often called the Camelot years., After those 18 months, Quinn left for Yale to do a Ph.D. and finished it in just three years. . Despite his productivity, though, hes never broken back into academia. All rights reserved. In May 1993, apostle Boyd K. Packer said the church's three greatest threats came from feminists, gays and intellectuals. Quinn refused. The stake president, a man named Paul Hanks, tried to step into the apartment as he said hello, Quinn recalls. Excommunication has played a significant role throughout the churchs history. Nobody Knows Religion Quite Like Peggy Fletcher Stack For details, go to http://www.sunstonemagazine.com/symposium. The stake president said I was "exed" for apostasy but I didn't really fit the handbook definition. The most senior apostle, Howard W. Hunter, also suffered from serious health problems. His hiring was vetoed by the ASU administration, and many observers believe the administration caved to pressure from Ira Fulton, a Mormon donor who between 2003 and 2006 gave at least $155 million to the school. Most memorably, Harris says that the spirit who appeared to Smith and directed him to the golden platesfrom which Smith claimed to have translated Mormonisms founding scriptureappeared as a white salamander and struck Smith three times. To this day, I would have made exactly the same decision. But 90 percent of the ward has changed since my court. What I heard was that I would be excommunicated and that I shouldn't go. She was told to pass along this message: Im tired of hearing him criticize the church. McLean invited her, she said, to describe her faith in a letter, which includes her conviction that God cherishes everyone.