", 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. She's been covering religion for the paper since 1991 taking on a variety of topics, but mostly the LDS Church. Since I'm there every Sunday, I don't fit their model of an excommunicated member. But nothing else has driven him to contribute to the lives of others the way the faith in which he was born and raised once did. There, he tried other kinds of writing, thinking maybe hed put Mormon history behind him. 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. 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) Sunstone The spiritual journey of Maxine Hanks, one of the "September Six,'" comes full circle. Quinn read fiction, too, including James Baldwins new book, Giovannis Room. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted. Grant, an LDS Church president, a granddaughter of United States Senator from Utah, Wallace F. Bennett, and a granddaughter of American physicist Harvey Fletcher. Peggy Fletcher Stack. He moved back to Utah and began receiving mail at his actual address. It had been a difficult year. "Mormonism was limiting to me, so I needed to test the limits to see who I and the church really might be. There was no process for voluntary withdrawal from the Mormon Church in the 1960s, so each of these kids had to be excommunicatedtechnically, for apostasy. The Salt Lake Tribune/June 16, 2014. We embedded him as thoroughly in the church as we ourselves had been. In May, my stake president called me in about it. Though the letter from the current First Presidency made up of church President Russell M. Nelson and counselors Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring offered no explanation for the rejection, Bowman speculates that there may be at least two possible answers history and dissent. After high school, Christian went to Stanford, and we thought, "This may be where we hear bad news." When they left, they said, "Have a nice day," to which I replied, "You have just assured that I will not.". This puzzled me because I had a lot to say, but the message was absolutely clear. . The kindness of my ward members has been really important. He visited these homes with his missionary companion and asked the boys if they still wanted to be Mormons. She said she was really angry at the church, not at me. Now I see that he just didn't appreciate the dishonesty associated with his grandpa. 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.. Knowing her personally (not closely, but we're acquainted) I get the feeling that she is much more culturally LDS than actually LDS. Wearing a bathrobe, he answered after several rings and found three men in suits and ties on his doorstep. But 90 percent of the ward has changed since my court. The September Six were six members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who were excommunicated or disfellowshipped by the church in September 1993, allegedly for publishing scholarly work against or criticizing church doctrine or leadership. Crucially, much of that project is onlinemore than anything, the Internet has revolutionized the field. His father was never Mormon: The son of Mexican immigrants, he changed his namethough never legallyfrom Daniel Pea to Donald Quinn, apparently wanting to escape his heritage as well as his poverty. Did the Utah Legislature do enough to save the Great Salt Lake? 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. The accused is called in, another prayer is offered, and the court proceeds. . In 1981, he produced a blessing allegedly given by Joseph Smith to his son Joseph Smith III, declaring him my successor in the Presidency of the High Priesthood. The document was partly inspired, it appears, by The Mormon Succession Crisis of 1844, which refers to such a blessing. He froze. I feel like I am going by proxy for others who feel too damaged, too hurt and afraid to go. 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 . Hed better start keeping it to himself. It was already, in the minds of some, a dangerous pursuit, and it had now become a deadly one, marred by fraud and riddled with errors. Lynne Kanavel Whitesides was not. West refused to do this, according to Quinn. 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. Would love to hear your stories about her. He asked Quinn to come see him in his office after work one day, Quinn says. . 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. Following his excommunication, he finished The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power and turned his attention to another scholarly book with deep personal meaning. 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. Not long after that, the bishop met with Anderson and asked her ever so gently if she would like to discuss reinstatement. Dated Oct. 23, 1830, the letter was addressed to an early Mormon convert named W.W. Phelps and signed Martin Harris. Quinn was already on the alert for such wrinkles in the churchs history. Ironically, this testimony only ever deserted him on his Mormon mission. 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. There have always been dissidents in the Mormon ranksthe religion itself is one particularly dramatic dissent from the rest of Christian traditionbut a new community of Mormon intellectuals had coalesced in the 1960s and 70s. What to him and others that is so threatening is that this [Ordain Women movement] is coming from a very faithful, devout perspective. No way. That was my decision. [Excommunicated Mormons are not supposed to take communion.] After the Newsweek article ran, Quinn got a phone call from Marion D. Hanks. I had my answers.". 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? After a prayer, the stake president explains to them the details of the case. But Packer certainly said similar things before larger audiences. Running almost 100 pages and including nearly 400 footnotes, the essay was the fruit of decades of thought and research. He decided he would suppress that part of himself and be a good Mormon. All rights reserved. Since I'm there every Sunday, I don't fit their model of an excommunicated member. By Peggy Fletcher Stack | Sep. 5, 2019, 1:20 p.m. | Updated: 11:59 p.m. . Once the kids were interested, the missionaries were supposed to contact their parents, with the aim of converting whole families. Robert Kirby does this also, but much more indirectly. Saturday, February 22, 1997. 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. From an early age, he felt within himself the presence of God, this burning of the spirit, as he says. Find your friends on Facebook. The cabin has no phone access, so I had months [after her initial conversation with the stake president] to think about it. Hofmann eventually became, in the words of one expert, the most skilled forger this country has ever seen. For LDS leaders nervous about church history, he was a nightmare personified: a lying, murderous man hell-bent on embarrassing the religion while glorifying and enriching himself. In 1997, the acclaimed historian Richard Bushman, who spent much of his career writing on non-LDS topics, began studying his religion again in earnest, and convened an annual seminar that helped attract young scholars who might have pursued other interests. I accuse that committee, England declared, of undermining our Church.. Hired in 1991 to cover Utah's various faiths, particularly Mormonism, Peggy has talked forgiveness with Archbishop Desmond Tutu . Hankswhose nephew Paul would show up on Quinns doorstep in 1993was himself a general authority, and he had overseen the two-year Mormon mission Quinn served in England after his freshman year at BYU. (Rick Bowmer/AP) This article is more than 8 years old. He later got married in the temple, while I sat outside with friends. 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. Just go to . 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. Today, its Nelson, with a new counselor, Oaks, instead of Dieter F. Uchtdorf. West said hed been told by a higher authority to take further action to remedy the situation, Quinn says. The regional council forwarded her request to church headquarters, with the recommendation that she be approved for rebaptism. Quinn went over local church rolls and found addresses of kids who didnt come to Sunday services. "She might be a model for others who have been missing their Mormon community.". 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.