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. Unresolved: Release in which this issue/RFE will be addressed. West refused to do this, according to Quinn. People named Peggy Fletcher. 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. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. This is all lies! he told the friend who showed it to him. Not long after that, the bishop met with Anderson and asked her ever so gently if she would like to discuss reinstatement. Quinn was shocked that it took that long. He wept as he read it aloud to others. According the her Wikipedia page: She is a great-granddaughter of Heber J. 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. Dave: We remind our listeners about a new way to support Mormon Land. Lavina Fielding Anderson decided not to appear at her court, either, which took place at another Salt Lake meetinghouse a few days afterward. The entry for perversion said See homosexuality, and he read all the available books in that categorynot a lot in a small public library in 1956, though fairly heady stuff for a 12-year-old: Kinseys Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, some Freud, some Havelock Ellis. Religion Two decades after she was "exed," Utah writer still attends her LDS ward. ", 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]. Paul usually sits on the outside of the pew, so when the sacrament comes, he shakes his head toward me so we don't have any socially embarrassing moments. The stake president said I was "exed" for apostasy but I didn't really fit the handbook definition. 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. Supposedly Nelson, like Benson, was a supporter of the John Birch Society, a radically right-wing, conspiracy-mongering, anti-Communist group. 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. An Excommunication, And The Future Of The Church Of Jesus Christ - WBUR 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. In 1989, Dallin H. Oaks, the onetime law professor and BYU president who was now an apostle, had given a talk called Alternate Voices at the churchs semiannual General Conference. I wouldn't give it up, but promised him I wouldn't use it. She was the editor of Hastings Center Report from 1986 until 1991, when she was hired to start the "Faith" column in the Salt Lake Tribune. Michael Quinns final disciplinary council was held on Sept. 26, 1993, in the Salt Lake Stake Center, the headquarters for the oldest stake in Utah, founded by Brigham Young in 1847. What's happening is so wrong. memeorandum: High-ranking Mormon official, who twice spoke in General This is not entirely uncommon in Mormon culture, but Quinn took it sincerely to heart. (He took the surname from actor Anthony Quinn, whom he knew growing up in the Los Angeles barrio.) Crucially, much of that project is onlinemore than anything, the Internet has revolutionized the field. The noisy nonsense on-screen felt to Quinn like a rough equivalent of what the church was doing to him. Quinn was an ordinance worker, meaning he went to the temple regularly and helped others perform those rites. Until 23 years ago, one could not formally leave the church without being excommunicated. Demographics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. LDS author disfellowshipped - Rick Alan Ross 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. By declining to talk with any priesthood leaders, he wrote, you are cutting yourself off from the blessings of the Temple and the blessings of the priesthood. He insinuated that the churchs problems with Quinn were not all theological. It took several hoursa vigil was held outside for the first few, with candles and hymns and hot chocolate. (Peggy Fletcher Stack writes for The Salt Lake Tribune.) I see her articles on here all the time and the Tribune has never really been a friend to the TSCC. On Sunday with similar church disciplinary actions threatening Mormon feminist Kate Kelly and blogger John Dehlin, Anderson discussed her spiritual journey: What triggered the LDS Church's disciplinary action against you? Most people don't know I've been excommunicated. I couldn't help but wonder if I, too, would be excommunicated if my concerns were made public. 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 . 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. This other Quinn was not home when the call came, and a baby-sitter answered the phone. From that point on, she explored various Christian teachings and practices, assisted clergy with religious services and served as volunteer chaplain at Holy Cross Chapel for 13 years. The day before, a similar bomb had killed Steve Christensen, a friend and Mormon history enthusiast who had arranged for Quinn to speak at lunch and dinner engagements, paying him with generous gift cards to his fathers clothing store. I always felt that I had Gods sanction and encouragement, so I went ahead following that path. Even early on, a fellow Mormon historian started telling Quinn he must have a death wish regarding his membership in the church. "The issues in Mormon doctrine, history and practice highlighted by those facing church discipline are much larger than any one individual," the statement reads. That was my decision. ", 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. 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. Peggy Fletcher Stack has been reporting on faith and religion since 1991. 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. Mormon higher-ups hold keys to excommunication process against two 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. Peggy Fletcher Stack is an American journalist, editor, and author. It was held by the stake high council, and so my bishop and ward members took the position that that was their doing. 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. Peggy Fletcher Stack, Author at Religion News Service - Page 5 of 6 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. 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.. [5] She then attended the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California for two years, where she studied religious history. Unto Dust Shalt Thou Return | Out of Obscurity News. Peggy Fletcher. 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. 'Mormon Land': A scholar who was excommunicated for his - MSN sltrib.com. 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. I felt they were not going to drive me away. Peggy Fletcher Stack was born and raised in New Jersey; studied at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California; traveled through Africa for two years with her news-photographer husband; and worked at Books and Religion in Manhattan before settling down as a religion writer at The Salt Lake Tribune. Taking the sacrament because it's an exclusion I feel every single week. 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 the Salt Lake Tribune. was pressured to resign from Brigham Young University and subsequently excommunicated from the faith in 1993 as part of the famed "September Six . All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. Many people do reside in the borderlands between Mormon and not. They didn't say anything. Excommunication opened the door to a larger cosmos, inside and outside myself.". We had a family devotional every night with prayer, singing and scripture reading. Being treated like an ordinary person is a gift a ward can give. One Sunday in February of 1993, Michael Quinn was home sick with a fever when his doorbell rang. Peggy Fletcher Stack. There were stretches of time when he was the only deacon, and he and I would exchange glances as he passed the sacrament to our row. I cannot be anything but a Mormon. I used to think Steve Benson was a bad person. It went back to his college years. (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.) "Mormonism was limiting to me, so I needed to test the limits to see who I and the church really might be. With no regular income to speak of, Quinn moved into his mothers condo in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. By Peggy Fletcher Stack The Salt Lake Tribune. 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. 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. I had received a blessing from a former stake president, assuring me that when the time was right, it would come very easily, so I could be at peace. If he doesnt, I have his phone number and I know where he lives. Writer excommunicated during 'September Six' purge loses her bid to 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. I imagine she walks a careful, thin line to avoid being exed. It's Judgment Day for Far Right: LDS Church Purges Survivalists The [women's] Relief Society president found a way to involve me as a "permanent substitute" for Relief Society pianist. One theory on that first day of panic was that the bombings were connected with the business, an investment company called CFS. Peggy Fletcher Stack - WikiMili, The Best Wikipedia Reader The book he was finishing, which would be published in 1994, was called The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power. Bradley and Hanks are friends who trod a lot of common ground, Robertson said. Woodruff himself said in his journal that he was acting for the temporal salvation of the church, and the 1890 Manifestoas his official statement is knownwas not immediately taken to be a divine revelation. Wearing a bathrobe, he answered after several rings and found three men in suits and ties on his doorstep. He has not been since. Hymns were sung. Peggy Fletcher Fletcher (Peggy Bennett Fletcher) See Photos. Feb 17. 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. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. 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. It struck him as an old missionarys trick. They were eventually published, without Quinns permission, by two prominent anti-Mormon activists, Jerald and Sandra Tanner. When his mother died in 2007, she left him the condo. Nobody Knows Religion Quite Like Peggy Fletcher Stack Kelly was excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in June. I just feel such heartache that the church I love is doing this to people who are sincere and trying to find ways of being Mormon and express their love of the gospel. 1511: Mormon Stories Transparency Q&A for Peggy Fletcher Stack and Tony All rights reserved. Peggy Fletcher Profiles | Facebook But gradually, pressure on Mormon scholars eased, and today many write and publish without any obvious concern for what their stake presidents might think. During Sunday school, a man approached him and said, The bishop would like to talk to you. Quinn dreaded what was coming. The timing of his career, which once appeared serendipitous, now seems almost cruel. Excommunication is a complicated and multi-layered process for sexual minorities in the church who choose to marry in a way that the church considers a "same sex" marriage. False Prophet Gaining Steam Among a 'Remnant' Church Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. He was the first academic to occupy the post, previously held only by high-ranking LDS leaders, and his appointment signaled a broader effort to reorganize the historians office along professional lines.