Quinn read fiction, too, including James Baldwins new book, Giovannis Room. The fact that we keep going to church is a blessing. 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. Where a skeptic sees convenience, a believer may see Gods hand. The bishops next comment was, Whats wrong with those people up in Salt Lake? He was thrilled to have Quinn in his ward. Knowing her personally (not closely, but we're acquainted) I get the feeling that she is much more culturally LDS than actually LDS. "Nobody asked me to disavow my book or stop writing," Hanks told The Salt Lake Tribune that year. 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. 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. 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. He was housesitting. Would love to hear your stories about her. By then, Quinn had more or less moved on. Quinn got hate mail. He asked Quinn to come see him in his office after work one day, Quinn says. Denver Snuffer . 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. They dont acquire these positions by filling out an application and sending in a rsum. [4] During her time there, she has met and interviewed the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Gordon B. Hinckley, among others. She won the Cornell Award for Excellence in Religion ReportingMid-sized Newspapers from the Religious News Association in 2004, 2012, 2017, 2018, and 2022. There, he tried other kinds of writing, thinking maybe hed put Mormon history behind him. Late last year, a friend approached LDS officials to say that Hanks was ready to return to the fold. Quinn went over local church rolls and found addresses of kids who didnt come to Sunday services. They cited a 19th-century revelation to Joseph Smith, in which he spoke of the saints gathering up a knowledge of all the facts, and sufferings and abuses put upon them, and said that perhaps a committee can be appointed to find out these things, and to take statements and affidavits; and also to gather up the libelous publications that are afloat. The First Presidency did not mention that when Smith received this revelation he was in prison in Missouri, where a Mormon extermination order had been decreed by the governor not long before. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted. The biggest thing that got me was the excommunication of bill reel segment of the Mormon stories podcast. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. "She might be a model for others who have been missing their Mormon community.". Today, its Nelson, with a new counselor, Oaks, instead of Dieter F. Uchtdorf. On Sept. 30 he called Hanks to ask what the court had decided. 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. ", 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. Dallin Oaks speaking at the General Conference in April 1989. Which has also, it seems, made Michael Quinns singular focus on the unspoken parts of the Mormon past less relevant to younger historians, who operate with more freedom and less pressureand who draw far more interest than their predecessors from the wider world, which has suddenly become fascinated by Mormonism. She said hello, but he did not recognize her. Some church leaders continued to marry multiple wives, which is why there was a Second Manifesto in 1904, during the Reed Smoot congressional hearings. or. 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. Look at Steve Benson, I suspect that there was no way they were going to ex him so he exed himself. sltrib.com 1996-2023 The Salt Lake Tribune. With no regular income to speak of, Quinn moved into his mothers condo in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Dated Oct. 23, 1830, the letter was addressed to an early Mormon convert named W.W. Phelps and signed Martin Harris. Woodwards piece, headlined Apostles vs. Historians, called Quinns talk a stirring defense of intellectual integrity that had put Benson and Packer on the defensive. It was illustrated with a large photograph of Quinn up top, and a considerably smaller one of Packer. That has been a blessing truly fulfilled. 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. I love John and I support him, but I have never made any claim against truth claims of the church. What I heard was that I would be excommunicated and that I shouldn't go. Following his excommunication, he finished The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power and turned his attention to another scholarly book with deep personal meaning. When something like [my excommunication] blows up, the first casualty is trust and that never comes back. 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. The general authority assigned to interview Quinn in the spring of 1976 was Boyd K. Packer. See Photos. During Sunday school, a man approached him and said, The bishop would like to talk to you. Quinn dreaded what was coming. He decided he would suppress that part of himself and be a good Mormon. 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 book won an award from the American Historical Association, but it brought Quinn more grief in Utah. While Packers precise involvement remains a matter of dispute, what little is known hints at his interference. I love the church. . After it was published, Hugh West, the president of his stake in Salt Lake CityQuinn never moved to Provo, finding the hourlong commute worth it to live in Utahs one metropolisasked to see him. We appreciate the search for knowledge and the discussion of gospel subjects, the First Presidency said. 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. This is not entirely uncommon in Mormon culture, but Quinn took it sincerely to heart. 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. 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. That's like solving obesity by turning MacDonald's into a gym. I did the very best I knew how to do, the thing that I felt was the right thing to do., Donate to the newsroom now. In the quarter-century since her ouster, Anderson consistently has attended weekly services at her Latter-day Saint congregation, the Whittier Ward. The bombings and subsequent murder trial cast a pall over the practice of Mormon history. I couldn't help but wonder if I, too, would be excommunicated if my concerns were made public. 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. If the blessing really happened, then Brigham Young, who led the early Mormons to Utah, might have been wrong to seize control of the church after Smiths murder. West did not formally revoke the recommend, he just put it in his drawer. There is a peace that comes with that kind of clarity. He makes fun of the church by making fun of himself and stodgy rank and file, as well as cultural absurdities. On Oct. 16, 1985, Quinn was having a late lunch at a BYU food court when he heard a news report that Mark Hofmann had been blown up by a pipe bomb in Salt Lake City. Peggy Fletcher Fletcher (Peggy Bennett Fletcher) See Photos. 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. The same group of local church leaders who participated in Gileadi's excommunication were present at the baptism service. In it, Harris, who paid for the first printing of the Book of Mormon, tells a story of that books origins strikingly different from Smiths later, official account. Hymns were sung. (KUTV) Peggy Fletcher Stack is the religion writer for the The Salt Lake Tribune.It's the best beat on the paper, she said.Stack fell into the job when she was hired in 1991.I have no degree in . Maybe she wants to be, though. She talks very vaguely when it comes to personal, specific spiritual beliefs and whether they align with doctrine, but she doesn't hesitate to call the church out on its shit at all. The term "September Six" was coined by The Salt Lake Tribune and was used in the media and subsequent discussion. 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. Paul Toscanos sister-in-law was excommunicated for her writings about the Heavenly Mother, a controversial aspect of Mormon theology. 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. He rejected the idea that his writings and his comments to reporters about Mormon history warranted disciplinary action, and he had come to a kind of peace about what he was sure awaited him. . 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. It sent him down a rabbit hole. One theory on that first day of panic was that the bombings were connected with the business, an investment company called CFS. Whether Quinns fate had truly been sealed is hard to say. I love the gospel. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax Photo by George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images. I wouldn't give it up, but promised him I wouldn't use it. 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. Part of what I feel is a calling to be there. 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. 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. What to him and others that is so threatening is that this [Ordain Women movement] is coming from a very faithful, devout perspective. She was told to pass along this message: Im tired of hearing him criticize the church. 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. 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. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. This new knowledge sent Quinn to the Journal of Discourses, a 26-volume collection of Mormon sermons. In a detailed confession, Hofmann said that he had secretly stopped believing in Mormonism as a teenager and had hatched a plan to embarrass the church by creating fake documents that exposed uncomfortable facts about early Mormon history. The Salt Lake Tribune/June 16, 2014. Elder Packer, he told Quinn, will never get over this.. Years ago, Don Bradley, a longtime scholar of Mormon history, asked to have his name removed from LDS membership rolls when participation became uncomfortable. Groundbreaking Emma Smith biographer, a 'giant' in Mormon scholarship, dies at 82. 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. Experts authenticated the letter, and Christensen, a devout Mormon, bought it from Hofmann, with plans to donate it to the church. 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. Kate Kelly Shreds Peggy Fletcher Stack for Using Her as "Clickbait" Again, I'm reminded of a scene in "Schindler's List" where the The most senior apostle, Howard W. Hunter, also suffered from serious health problems. I have been taught a vision of a truly cooperative future where men and women are complete equals. [5] She then received a fellowship to work in the Church History Division of the LDS Church (then run by Leonard J. 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. The modern Mormon church has become a fairly top-down organization, but most responsibility for attending to its members still resides in local lay leaders. This was almost certainly wrong: Romney has plenty of LDS critics, most notably Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In many respects, Andersons affirmations mirror those of other members. Disciplinary councils still happen, though they appear to be less frequent, particularly when it comes to apostasy. From an early age, he felt within himself the presence of God, this burning of the spirit, as he says. Peggy Fletcher Stack. (Rick Bowmer/AP) This article is more than 8 years old. Sign Up. They don't feel safe enough to keep going it's such a terrible, terrible loss. He recounted what his former stake president, Hugh West, had done when he received what Quinn saw as similar orders from above. He was in a wheelchair. In 2004, after a series of fellowships and visiting appointments, he was the only finalist for a tenured position at the University of Utah. He has not been since. (Peggy Fletcher Stack writes for The Salt Lake Tribune.) By Peggy Fletcher Stack. 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. 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. "The issues in Mormon doctrine, history and practice highlighted by those facing church discipline are much larger than any one individual," the statement reads. If there is unfinished business, its the First Presidencys, not mine.. The meaning of EXCOMMUNICATION is an ecclesiastical censure depriving a person of the rights of church membership. They can't ex someone with that king of lineage. McLean invited her, she said, to describe her faith in a letter, which includes her conviction that God cherishes everyone. No way. (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.) Mormons from around the world have gathered to listen to church leaders during the two-day conference. [5] She then attended the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California for two years, where she studied religious history. She said she was really angry at the church, not at me. The noisy nonsense on-screen felt to Quinn like a rough equivalent of what the church was doing to him. He compared Packers treatment of Church leaders to the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal infallibility, which is anathema to Mormons. 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. Hed been told it was an unusually accepting congregation. After the Newsweek article ran, Quinn got a phone call from Marion D. Hanks. Devout Mormons consider these callings divinely inspired. The same month that his essay about post-Manifesto polygamy was published, in April 1985, Quinn and his wife separated. If her reentry had been approved, Anderson would have been the third of the six the other five are Avraham Gileadi, Lynne Kanavel Whitesides, D. Michael Quinn, Paul Toscano and Maxine Hanks to be welcomed back into full fellowship with the Utah-based faith. 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. How did you find out about the impending disciplinary hearing? In 1975, partly at Packers urging, Leonard Arringtons role at the church historians office was greatly diminished. 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 . It's a way for me to participate and contribute, almost like having a calling.