He has not been since. After a prayer, the stake president explains to them the details of the case. Wearing a bathrobe, he answered after several rings and found three men in suits and ties on his doorstep. 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. The [women's] Relief Society president found a way to involve me as a "permanent substitute" for Relief Society pianist. The charge stems from Palmer's 2002 book, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, which challenges the traditional explanations of the faith's founding . The church declined to comment on the decision. They can't ex someone with that king of lineage. Excommunication has played a significant role throughout the churchs history. On March 23, 2018, Andersons husband, Paul, died of heart failure. We were sitting in the front room of a house owned by a gay couple he knows in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Salt Lake City. No telephone call came., On Aug. 27, McLean delivered the First Presidency denial. Peggy Fletcher Stack, Author at Religion News Service - Page 5 of 6 . At Sunstone, Hanks described her path back to Mormonism as a heros journey, la Joseph Campbell. But he could no longer go to the temple. Taking the sacrament because it's an exclusion I feel every single week. Kate Kelly Shreds Peggy Fletcher Stack for Using Her as "Clickbait" Again, I'm reminded of a scene in "Schindler's List" where the Few people had attended the talk itself, but an independent BYU newspaper ran a story about it, and copies of Quinns remarks, titled On Being a Mormon Historian, began to circulate. [Excommunicated Mormons are not supposed to take communion.] Some things that are true are not very useful. Its not clear whether Packer read Quinns work before interviewing him, but if he did, it probably would have struck him as less than useful. The stake president shook our hands and was cordial. It went back to his college years. He makes fun of the church by making fun of himself and stodgy rank and file, as well as cultural absurdities. She won the Cornell Award for Excellence in Religion ReportingMid-sized Newspapers from the Religious News Association in 2004, 2012, 2017, 2018, and 2022. We had a family devotional every night with prayer, singing and scripture reading. 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. People named Peggy Fletcher. He was in a wheelchair. Hired in 1991 to cover Utah's various faiths, particularly Mormonism, Peggy has talked forgiveness with Archbishop Desmond Tutu . All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. July 26, 2012 12:03 pm . Peggy Fletcher Stack writes for the Salt Lake Tribune. We embedded him as thoroughly in the church as we ourselves had been. I have been doing that for 18 years. disciplined Anderson and five other Mormon intellectuals, church disciplinary actions threatening Mormon feminist Kate Kelly and blogger John Dehlin. Her explorations gave Hanks a new level of understanding and "testimony" of Mormonism. A history full of benignly angelic church leaders apparently advocated by Elders Benson and Packer would, he said, border on idolatry.. . Until 23 years ago, one could not formally leave the church without being excommunicated. The stake president, a man named Paul Hanks, tried to step into the apartment as he said hello, Quinn recalls. Maxine Hanks was held in the same stake center one week before, though she did not attend it. [Excommunicated Mormons are not supposed to take communion.] ", Hanks is a "genuinely spiritual person and quite insightful, who brings a type of spirituality with her that will resonate with lots of people," he said. Article type . He recounted what his former stake president, Hugh West, had done when he received what Quinn saw as similar orders from above. Dave: We remind our listeners about a new way to support Mormon Land. Taylor fled to Canada during the congressional hearings for Reed Smoot, a fellowbut monogamousapostle, who had been elected to the U.S. Senate. When he came to understand this aspect of himself, and learned a name for it, he did what was already typical of him at that age: He went to the library. These dangers, Packer said, were the relatively new feminist and gay-lesbian movements, and the ever-present challenge from the so-called scholars or intellectuals.. In May, my stake president called me in about it. Peggy Fletcher Stack, Author at Religion News Service Peggy Fletcher Stack. What's happening is so wrong. Once in a while such a case will hit the press. 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. The Strengthening Church Members Committee almost certainly passed along notes about Quinn to his new stake president, Paul Hanks, in early 1993. Fixed: Release in which this issue/RFE has been fixed.The release containing this fix may be available for download as an Early Access Release or a General Availability Release. She was upset that he was not attending church, and so he drove 45 minutes to a singles ward, a Mormon congregation specifically for unmarried adults, near UCLA. 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) A forum for ex-mormons and others who have been affected by mormonism to get support and share news, commentary, and comedy about the Mormon church. As a Mormon, he also knew that same-sex attraction was considered unfortunate at bestsomething to be struggled with, and, if possible, overcome. By Peggy Fletcher Stack The Salt Lake Tribune. Person 2 Person: Peggy Fletcher Stack | KUTV For the faithful, the simplest narrative regarding LDS polygamy is that God wanted Mormons to practice it between 1843when He revealed the doctrine of plural marriage to Joseph Smithand 1890, when He informed one of Smiths successors, Wilford Woodruff, of a change in course. In the quarter-century since her ouster, Anderson consistently has attended weekly services at her Latter-day Saint congregation, the Whittier Ward. A view of the Salt Lake Temple outside Olympic Medals Plaza in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1975, partly at Packers urging, Leonard Arringtons role at the church historians office was greatly diminished. Peggy Fletcher Profiles | Facebook The cabin has no phone access, so I had months [after her initial conversation with the stake president] to think about it. By then an assistant district attorney, Lambert later helped prosecute the case against Hofmann. Hundreds of other members joined him at gatherings and in small groups, and thus was born the "remnant movement ," which today touts 1000s of adherents. I imagine she walks a careful, thin line to avoid being exed. (Quinn attempted to reach this friend through a third party before my piece was finished, but declined to give me his name before speaking to him.) He left quietly and went to call the LDS Church Office Building to ask about this committee. That higher-ranking leader, James Paramore, had further instructed West to say that the decision was Wests own, and had not come from above. Peggy Fletcher Stack - Wikipedia Re: Kate Kelly Shreds Peggy Fletcher Stack for Using Her as "Clickbait" Quinn refused. But it was a forgery. Most people don't know I've been excommunicated. Stack has been the lead religion writer for The Salt Lake Tribune since 1991. A candlelight vigil was held outside the Salt Lake City meetinghouse where it took place. She currently serves on the . He didn't seem to know what footnotes are so he thought I made the whole thing up. Hed better start keeping it to himself. After 18 months, he moved to New Orleans, where it was less expensive to live. Like Quinn, hed first become interested in Mormon history when he learned that polygamy had gone on for years after its public abandonmenthe knew about this because his mothers parents were among the secret polygamists. In the summer of 1952, the late Sterling McMurrin, an eminent philosopher and writer, met with two LDS apostles to defend his theological views.With complete candor, McMurrin laid out for Elders Joseph Fielding Smith and Harold . The kindness of my ward members has been really important. The biggest thing that got me was the excommunication of bill reel segment of the Mormon stories podcast. McMurrin Differed in Gentler Times. One theory on that first day of panic was that the bombings were connected with the business, an investment company called CFS. They don't feel safe enough to keep going it's such a terrible, terrible loss. 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. The Mormon church is organized into congregations called wards; a group of these is called a stake. Fawn Brodie was related to David O. McKay. Stack is an advisor on religion to the Public Broadcasting Service,[2] and has written two books. Though he maintained a solemn belief in the Mormon gospel and in the sacrament partaken of by the faithful at Sunday services, he stopped attending church altogether. LDS bloggers issue statement of support More than 70 Mormon bloggers, representing a dozen or more websites, have signed a document, "Room for All in This Church," calling for "clemency" in the upcoming disciplinary councils for Kate Kelly and John Dehlin. In order to have her blessings fully restored, she had to meet with a general authority at church headquarters. I am confident that my desire to be worthy of the temple is acceptable of the Lord. I hate him. It was, Quinn told me, an awful, awful year., When he had recovered enough to write, Quinn finished the sequel to The Mormon Hierarchy and revised Early Mormonism and the Magic Worldview. Down in Provo, Avraham Gileadi met more quietly with his local leaders. Find your friends on Facebook. 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. He decided he would suppress that part of himself and be a good Mormon. At least, that's how Hall sees it. I know how to avoid people I didnt want to be in contact with, he says. That has been a blessing truly fulfilled. [5][7][8] From 1978 to 1986, she was the third editor of Sunstone. The book won an award from the American Historical Association, but it brought Quinn more grief in Utah. The timing of his career, which once appeared serendipitous, now seems almost cruel. They can't ex someone with that king of lineage. On the Sunday it was held, Quinn went to a movie theater in downtown Salt Lake and bought a ticket for the first screening he could find, to take his mind off the disciplinary council. 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. Lavina Fielding Anderson, who was excommunicated in 1993 as part of the so-called September Six, has had her request for . 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. Peggy Fletcher Stack | The Christian Century 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. (Rick Bowmer/AP) This article is more than 8 years old. The seventh son of Taylors third wife, Samuel sympathetically portrays his notorious father, who continued to marry multiple wives well after the LDS church officially renounced polygamy in 1890. In the past, many Mormon officials had a sense, he said, that the church must protect its members from "wolves among them.". 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. The other five people who were by then being referred to as the September Six had already faced their courts. By: Peggy Fletcher Stack. I love the gospel. At the pinnacle of the Mormon hierarchy is the First Presidencythe churchs prophet and his two counselorsand the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. My strong hunch is that she is a cultural Mormon who no longer believes, pays tithing or observes the WoW, and that she's loosey-goosey with her attendance. [3][4][5] She was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), with her father traveling and speaking as a member of the stake high council. sltrib.com 1996-2023 The Salt Lake Tribune. I prayed every article I wrote into print, he said, continually asking God what he should do. 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. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Laurie Lee Hall was excommunicated from the Mormon church for being a woman. . Half of these men speak for the accused, and half for the church. These are very sensitive and highly confidential and this is why I have not mentioned them before in writing. Hanks alluded to these matters in subsequent letters, but never explicitly said that he had Quinns sexuality in mind. sltrib.com 1996-2023 The Salt Lake Tribune. Where else would I be but in the church? Lavina Fielding Anderson, who was excommunicated in 1993 as part of the so-called September Six, has had her request for rebaptism into the LDS Church rejected by the faith's governing First Presidency after being approved by her local lay leaders. Quinns parents were divorced when he was 4, and he was raised largely by his mothers parents, who frequently fought. He stinks.. She is in the right family. By Peggy Fletcher Stack June 23, 2015 Many Mormon feminists experienced Kate Kelly's excommunication as a harsh slap felt around the world. [5][8] During her time with the magazine, she helped turn around its finances, saving it from closing. Mystery! False Prophet Gaining Steam Among a 'Remnant' Church Today, its Nelson, with a new counselor, Oaks, instead of Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Peggy Fletcher Stack, Author at Religion News Service - Page 2 of 6 In 1981, Quinn was asked by the colleges chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, a national honor society for history students, to respond to The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect. He did not pull his punches. The meaning of EXCOMMUNICATION is an ecclesiastical censure depriving a person of the rights of church membership. Peggy Fletcher Stack. Bad marriages had women running to and away from . The fact that we keep going to church is a blessing. When they left, they said, "Have a nice day," to which I replied, "You have just assured that I will not.". 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. What I heard was that I would be excommunicated and that I shouldn't go. They are called to them by the men at the very top of the hierarchy. She embodies, more than anyone else I know, the ideal of a broken heart and contrite spirit, which has influenced me so strongly that I, the last time I checked, was one of only two of the 21 children of the September Six who is still an active member.. The main target of the statement, issued in August 1991, was the Sunstone Symposium, an annual gathering started by Sunstone magazine 12 years before. It was a long time coming: Quinn had known he was gay since he was 12 years old. We appreciate the search for knowledge and the discussion of gospel subjects, the First Presidency said. Packers involvement mattered because the Twelve Apostles are considered by devout Mormons to be prophets, seers, and revelators. If they directed the councils, then the excommunications were, essentially, a message from the churchs highest spiritual authorities about what Mormons were allowed to do andpublicly, at leastto say. In many respects, Andersons affirmations mirror those of other members. 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. 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. 9:30AM EDT 8/29/2017 Peggy Fletcher Stack/RNS. When he went into his office, the bishop, a man named Tom Andersen, said hed read this article in the L.A. Times, Quinn told me. See Photos. Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. Quinn attended that ward in Westwood every week while he was in California. The church keeps fairly careful records of its membership, for one thing, records that play a part in the worldwide effort to bring salvation to all of Gods children. Last month, for instance, the Daily Beast reported that a blogger named David Twede was facing excommunication because of critical pieces he had written about Mitt Romney. He was excommunicated in 1911. He, the bishop, and the other counselor held the necessary courts, excommunicating those who wanted out. One Sunday in February of 1993, Michael Quinn was home sick with a fever when his doorbell rang. I asked Quinn this past summer if he thought the provocations he penned as a historian might have been fueled on some level by his own inner conflict with Mormon teachingsif perhaps, unconsciously, he wanted to force a showdown with church authorities. 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. It was not the last time he helped to excommunicate people, though. The accused is called in, another prayer is offered, and the court proceeds. A World of Faith: Stack, Peggy F., Peterson, Kathleen B.: 9781560851622 Soon after, he happened to attend, with some friends, a meeting of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a splinter sect that believes Joseph Smiths son, not Brigham Young, was Smiths rightful successor as prophet. Instead, he simply took away Quinns temple recommend. Temples, distinct from regular meetinghouses, are reserved for sacred rituals, and require a recommend, a small card indicating ones worthiness, to enter. Oaks said Packer had met with Toscanos stake president, and acknowledged that this was a mistake. By Peggy Fletcher Stack After an exhausting six-hour disciplinary hearing Sunday, Mormon leaders temporarily suspended Grant H. Palmer's membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City Laurie Lee Hall was excommunicated from the LDS Church for being a woman. With his background in education, he became interested in how the church taught its own past, and decided he did not like what was going on at the church historians office. Feb 17. . Then she was accused of apostasy for editing an anthology, Women and Authority: Re-Emerging Mormon Feminism, which included a discussion of the all-male LDS priesthood and women's relationship to it. Some, perhaps, simply regretted the bad press. The book, published a decade before, was written by Taylors son Samuel, best known today, perhaps, for writing the short story that became The Absent-Minded Professor. (Quinn is known professionally as D. Michael Quinn; the first name on his birth certificate is Dennis.) Snuffer was excommunicated. The movie was a live-action adaptation of the Nintendo game Super Mario Bros. After organizing a massive campaign to pass Proposition 8 and make gay marriage illegal in California, for instance, the church suffered a massive backlash and has since appeared more tolerant toward gay rights activism. I was removed from that situation. Ordain Women's Kate Kelly loses last appeal; husband to resign from Mormon church . Many religions have strictures that establish who is in and who is out, but the Mormon church draws a brighter line than most. Ive had more than one therapist Ive talked to about this issue say, Dont you see that you were purposely setting yourself up for this fall? he told me. They divorced soon after. The institutional churchs position toward its intellectual community has shifted slowly and subtly but in real ways in the past 30 years; it is possible that there is a worry that allowing for her rebaptism would unearth battles the present First Presidency would like to let lie buried and spur a public relitigation of the issue., Secondly, the controversies surrounding Anderson had a great deal to do with feminism in the church and with ecclesiastical dissent, he said.