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Hired in 1991 to cover Utah's various faiths, particularly Mormonism, Peggy has talked forgiveness with Archbishop Desmond Tutu . He does not have friends in Rancho Cucamonga. 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. Peggy Fletcher-Stack: Hi Dave. Then I went away to my cabin for the summer and he called all the temples in Utah, saying he was canceling my recommend. 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. sltrib.com 1996-2023 The Salt Lake Tribune. 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 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. by Peggy Fletcher Stack. 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. Anderson was photographed at her Salt Lake City home on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019. 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.. How is Peggy Fletcher Stack still Mormon? : r/exmormon - reddit And the Tribune is changing with it. "All they asked me about was my relationship to Jesus Christ. Quinn attended that ward in Westwood every week while he was in California. In hindsight, the purge of September 1993 looks like the last big push for a kind of control that LDS leaders will probably never have again. It is always harder on the loved one who has to stand by and see someone they love being hurt. 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. She won the Cornell Award for Excellence in Religion ReportingMid-sized Newspapers from the Religious News Association in 2004, 2012, 2017, 2018, and 2022. If there is unfinished business, its the First Presidencys, not mine.. She was also the only one whose disciplinary council was overseen by her bishop, rather than her stake president. Peggy Fletcher Stack Senior religion reporter. Grant, a President of the LDS Church and is the granddaughter of United States Senator from Utah Wallace F. Bennett. Some, perhaps, simply regretted the bad press. Report a missed paper by emailingsubscribe@sltrib.comor calling801-237-2900, For e-edition questions or comments, contact customer support801-237-2900or emailsubscribe@sltrib.com. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted. 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. Quinn and four othersLavina Fielding Anderson, Maxine Hanks (a distant relative of Paul Hanks, the stake president who showed up at Quinns apartment), Paul Toscano, and Avraham Gileadiwere excommunicated by stake presidents in Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah; a sixth, Lynn Whitesides, was disfellowshipped, meaning that she remained a member of the church but could not fully participate in its rites and activities. In October, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that a threatening phone call had been made to the home of a local man named Michael D. Quinn. Peggy Fletcher Fletcher (Peggy Bennett Fletcher) See Photos. 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. I assured him I did not. 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 officials disciplined Anderson and five other Mormon intellectuals in and around the fall of 1993. That was established definitively in 1986 after Hofmann confessed to the murders of Christensen and Sheets as part of a plea to avoid the death penalty. or. 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. Devout Mormons consider these callings divinely inspired. 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. Many people do reside in the borderlands between Mormon and not. One of Ordain Womens founders, Kate Kelly, was excommunicated in June 2014. LDS author disfellowshipped - Rick Alan Ross The churchs critics find the timing convenient: By 1890, the U.S. government had threatened to seize LDS property if polygamy wasnt renounced. The suit was settled out of court and a process for voluntary withdrawal was established in 1989.). 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. And he based at least one of his forgeries on the work of Michael Quinn. All rights reserved. Quinns status in the church remained unchanged. 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. One of the articles came from an anthology called Women and Authority: Re-Emerging Mormon Feminism, edited by Maxine Hanks, a distant relative of Pauland his uncle Marionand, soon, one of the September Six herself. But Packer certainly said similar things before larger audiences. 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. 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. It did not happen overnight, but many LDS leaders seemed to regret the furor and the hurt that surrounded those excommunications. At least, that's how Hall sees it. "Nobody asked me to disavow my book or stop writing," Hanks told The Salt Lake Tribune that year. Going to the temple, but I feel that it's more important to have the temple in me than for me to be in the temple. 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. The church reports a worldwide membership of 16 million. When they left, they said, "Have a nice day," to which I replied, "You have just assured that I will not.". Truth is, she has never stopped attending her Mormon ward. Following the wave of media attention that greeted the September excommunications, the First Presidency defended what had taken place. Experts authenticated the letter, and Christensen, a devout Mormon, bought it from Hofmann, with plans to donate it to the church. There are other matters that I need to talk with you about that are not related to your historical writings. He got up in front of the congregation and declared his belief in the Mormon gospel, in Joseph Smiths status as a prophet of God, and in the Book of Mormon as divine scripture. 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. 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. The book won an award from the American Historical Association, but it brought Quinn more grief in Utah. [5] She met Mike Stack when he volunteered as a photographer for Sunstone in 1984, and they married in October 1985. That higher-ranking leader, James Paramore, had further instructed West to say that the decision was Wests own, and had not come from above. Mike Quinn in his Rancho Cucamonga home in California this summer. And he continued to correspond with Paul Hanks, who had written to express his displeasure at seeing his words quoted in the newspaper. He wrote a short story about two male missionaries in Louisiana who become attracted to each other and are stalked by a religious psychopath. Ordain Women's Kate Kelly loses last appeal; husband to resign from Mormon church . Some did not know that they were. Peggy Fletcher Stack is an American journalist, editor, and author. What I heard was that I would be excommunicated and that I shouldn't go. Two years later, he was called as an apostle. . 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. (They draw numbers to pick sides.) SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Laurie Lee Hall was excommunicated from the Mormon church for being a woman. During Sunday school, a man approached him and said, The bishop would like to talk to you. Quinn dreaded what was coming. Sign Up. 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. Peggy Fletcher Stack: How I report on Utah's changing faith landscape My dad was a bishop twice. [5][7][8] From 1978 to 1986, she was the third editor of Sunstone. "Nobody asked me to disavow my book or stop writing," Hanks said. Later he was told that despite his request that no one speak for him, a friend had attended and done just that, playing recordings of Quinns presentations at past Sunstone Symposia and reading excerpts from his writings. Men only become gay in prison, or sometimes in the Navy. [3] She is a great-granddaughter of Heber J. West refused to do this, according to Quinn. In the first few days after the bombings, several people who had come into contact with Hofmann feared for their lives. We had stake [regional] conference in September. Hed better start keeping it to himself. Peggy Fletcher Stack is an American journalist, editor, and author. Bad marriages had women running to and away from . [Husband] Paul, Christian [their son] and I sang in the choir that day. Quinns mother, on the other hand, was a sixth-generation Mormon: She had an ancestor who converted when the Mormons were still in Nauvoo, Ill., and who is mentioned in Joseph Smiths journals. Quinn told friends that he did not want anyone to lobby on his behalf. In 1988 he resigned his position at Brigham Young University, the private college owned and operated by the Mormon church, having decided that his interest in the problem areas of the religions past jeopardized not only his position on the history faculty but his membership in the church itself. 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. A missionary who doesn't want to preach false doctrine I have been taught a vision of a truly cooperative future where men and women are complete equals. The second thing that happens is members learn to be afraid of leaders, and leaders learn to be afraid of members. (He took the surname from actor Anthony Quinn, whom he knew growing up in the Los Angeles barrio.) Hanks officially came back into the fold in 2012. Feb 17. The symposium's "Pillars of My Faith" session will showcase a similar path, said Mary Ellen Robertson, Sunstone's interim executive director. They didn't say anything. 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. 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. . He then expressed his gratitude to the church for providing, throughout his life, a vehicle for service. 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. Quinn had spent three years in the military in the late 60s, working in counterintelligence. What's happening is so wrong. 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. The kindness of my ward members has been really important. On Friday , during a popular evening session of next week's Sunstone Symposium, an annual meeting for Mormon intellectuals and observers, Hanks will detail her 20-year spiritual sojourn as a feminist theologian and chaplain, which brought her full circle back into Mormonism. Whats more, all Mormons are supposed to have a calling in the church, which makes for a wonderfully participatory religion but also discourages casual membership. She was struck by how frail he appeared, and found herself feeling nothing but compassion and love for a man who had once seemed like an enemy. At its worst, such talk is sometimes called speaking evil of the Lords anointed.. Packer approved Quinns hiring, but he may have come to regret it five years later. Looking back, it was a real blessing. However, we believe that Latter-day Saints who are committed to the mission of their Church and the well-being of their fellow members will strive to be sensitive to those matters that are more appropriate for private conferring and correction than for public debate. There are times, they added, when public discussion of sacred or personal matters is inappropriate., The Statement on Symposia was another tear in the already fraying relationship between church leaders and scholars. The same group of local church leaders who participated in Gileadi's excommunication were present at the baptism service. I moved into recognizing the value and power of a lay priesthood in the body of Christ and Christian community. By then, Quinn had more or less moved on. Peggy Fletcher Stack writes for the Salt Lake Tribune. Once the kids were interested, the missionaries were supposed to contact their parents, with the aim of converting whole families. Vern Anderson wrote an AP story about the book, and several Utah papers carried reviews. Quinn argued against excommunication, he told me, but he did not have the final say. Excommunicated Mormon to tell how she came back to the faith They were eventually published, without Quinns permission, by two prominent anti-Mormon activists, Jerald and Sandra Tanner. Groundbreaking Emma Smith biographer, a 'giant' in Mormon scholarship, dies at 82. But multiple faculty members argued that, in the words of one professor, Mike was not the right person to head up any kind of Mormon history or Mormonstudies program given the fact hes very publicly excommunicated. ``It was like `We're here to support you, Brother Gileadi,' '' he said of the atmosphere at the . The high council also heard from Andersons son, Christian, who offered his personal assessment. Quinn went to Californiahe had another fellowship at the Huntington Librarystaying this time with his mother. I don't think I could have done that graciously. I found this tl/dr written by Peggy Fletcher Stack in the Salt Lake Tribune:. A box of old photos belonging to Michael Quinn at his home. On Tuesday morning, James J. Hamula was released from his position in the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after disciplinary It really hurt my feelings. The regional council forwarded her request to church headquarters, with the recommendation that she be approved for rebaptism. Find your friends on Facebook. ", This page was last edited on 30 November 2022, at 04:21. Sometimes Stack refers to Salt Lake City . Grant, a President of the LDS Church and is the granddaughter of United States Senator from Utah Wallace F. Bennett. Gileadi, a Hebrew scholar who got into trouble for unorthodox writings about the biblical Isaiah, was rebaptized within several years. The cabin has no phone access, so I had months [after her initial conversation with the stake president] to think about it. 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. A diligent historian, meanwhile, will come to see that the truth of the matter is complicated. 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. [5] She then attended the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California for two years, where she studied religious history. He then announced that I was not a member in good standing and could not use my temple recommend. That night, we went over to our neighbors' house and watched "A Man for All Seasons" and ate popcorn. 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. At the pinnacle of the Mormon hierarchy is the First Presidencythe churchs prophet and his two counselorsand the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 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) Re: Kate Kelly Shreds Peggy Fletcher Stack for Using Her as "Clickbait" I prayed every article I wrote into print, he said, continually asking God what he should do. He was housesitting. Arrington). News. That's a good question. I accuse that committee, England declared, of undermining our Church.. For details, go to http://www.sunstonemagazine.com/symposium. memeorandum: High-ranking Mormon official, who twice spoke in General By Peggy Fletcher Stack | Sep. 5, 2019, 1:20 p.m. | Updated: 11:59 p.m. . This puzzled me because I had a lot to say, but the message was absolutely clear. I had a spiritual prompting that summer staying at my cabin that I wasn't to go. While LDS leaders can be defensive about media attention, sustained criticism from the outside world seems to have an effect. During Quinns college years, BYUs president, Ernest Wilkinson, organized a student spy ring intended to catch out professors with communist leanings. All rights reserved. They can't ex someone with that king of lineage. Log In. 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. Timeline of teachings on homosexuality in the Church of Jesus Christ of 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. 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. In the spring, he had published LDS Authority and New Plural Marriages, 18901904, the culmination of his interest in post-1890 polygamy, first prompted a quarter-century before by Family Kingdom. Photo by George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Anderson wrote another piece that was again picked up by multiple papers, including the Los Angeles Times, which ran it under the headline Mormons Investigating Him, Critic Says.. "But when I got to the point of priestly ordination, I pulled back. The most senior apostle, Howard W. Hunter, also suffered from serious health problems. The Mormon church is organized into congregations called wards; a group of these is called a stake.