They never gave me one reason. 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. After the Newsweek article ran, Quinn got a phone call from Marion D. Hanks. With no regular income to speak of, Quinn moved into his mothers condo in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. In 1961, when Michael Quinn was a devout Mormon of 17, his best friends girlfriend gave him a copy of Family Kingdom, a biography of the one-time apostle John W. Taylor. Being treated like an ordinary person is a gift a ward can give. In Mormon history circles, this period is often called the Camelot years., After those 18 months, Quinn left for Yale to do a Ph.D. and finished it in just three years. Following the wave of media attention that greeted the September excommunications, the First Presidency defended what had taken place. Dear Reader: When I began this series of essays on leadership, I never anticipated the final installment would chronicle recent events that have triggered the biggest spiritual struggle of my life. Late last year, a friend approached LDS officials to say that Hanks was ready to return to the fold. 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. Nor does it read like one. Fawn Brodie was related to David O. McKay. A year later, David J. McLean, president of the Salt Lake Liberty Stake, reconvened a high council, a body that had excommunicated her 25 years and six months earlier for apostasy, Anderson wrote in a summary of her experience for a forthcoming volume of her essays, Mercy Without End: Toward a More Inclusive Church.. Groundbreaking Emma Smith biographer, a 'giant' in Mormon scholarship, dies at 82. He developed a fervent testimony not only that God exists but that God spoke to Joseph Smith face to face and that the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants are, like the Old and New Testaments, divinely inspired. BYU and Utah State both wanted to hire him. 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. By Peggy Fletcher Stack January 3, 2013. [9] She started the "Faith" column after a discussion with Tribune editor Jay Shelledy. In order to have her blessings fully restored, she had to meet with a general authority at church headquarters. The movie was a live-action adaptation of the Nintendo game Super Mario Bros. Bad marriages had women running to and away from . 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? or. Most memorably, Harris says that the spirit who appeared to Smith and directed him to the golden platesfrom which Smith claimed to have translated Mormonisms founding scriptureappeared as a white salamander and struck Smith three times. By Chris Jorgensen and Peggy Fletcher Stack The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is purging hundreds of Mormon dissidents who church officials say are preoccupied unduly with Armageddon. To this day, I would have made exactly the same decision. Men only become gay in prison, or sometimes in the Navy. It was really important to Paul and me that Christian grow up in a religious community, and the church was the one we chose. Where a skeptic sees convenience, a believer may see Gods hand. [14] Along with five other reporters, she won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017 in the Local Reporting category for a series of stories about sexual assault victims at BYU. By Peggy Fletcher Stack The Salt Lake Tribune. 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. Dallin Oaks speaking at the General Conference in April 1989. 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. The accused is called in, another prayer is offered, and the court proceeds. That higher-ranking leader, James Paramore, had further instructed West to say that the decision was Wests own, and had not come from above. The timing of his career, which once appeared serendipitous, now seems almost cruel. 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. There would be quite a number of people in the Mormon community who would look unfavorably on that. Later that year, Quinn was recommended for a one-year appointment at Arizona State. The essay, Mormon Women Have Had the Priesthood Since 1843, cites writings by Joseph Smith and other early church documents to argue that women already possess much of the spiritual authority granted to men, and that todays LDS leaders simply fail to recognize this. In May 1993, apostle Boyd K. Packer said the church's three greatest threats came from feminists, gays and intellectuals. "We pray that a spirit of clemency will guide the words and actions of everyone especially those who bear the heavy responsibility of ecclesiastical discipline of church members and that the words of President [Dieter F.] Uchtdorf [second counselor in faith's governing First Presidency] will hold sway: "Regardless of your circumstances, your personal history, or the strength of your testimony, there is room for you in this church. A second bomb that first day killed Kathy Sheets, the wife of one of Christensens former business partners. Hanks return predated the Ordain Women movement, which pushed for women to join the faiths priesthood, said Latter-day Saint scholar Matthew Bowman, who heads the Mormon studies program at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California. While LDS leaders can be defensive about media attention, sustained criticism from the outside world seems to have an effect. As a Mormon, he also knew that same-sex attraction was considered unfortunate at bestsomething to be struggled with, and, if possible, overcome. They divorced soon after. Hired in 1991 to cover Utah's various faiths, particularly Mormonism, Peggy has talked forgiveness with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, nearly fainted waiting for the Dalai Lama, fasted with Muslims during Ramadan and has reported on 50 consecutive semiannual LDS General Conferences. 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. Not long before Hofmann sold that forged document, he approached Quinn in the church archives, and asked about the succession crisis and the article. 1897 - First Presidency member George Q. Cannon used the media attention on the 1895 conviction and two-year imprisonment of famed Irish poet Oscar Wilde as an opportunity to pu He was 32; he and his wife, Jan, were expecting their fourth child. That came out in early 1993. He normalized what many call "sinful" behavior, by admitting to looking at nudie mags, drinking, smoking, and intimated other transgressions, yet still going on a mission. SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) After years of tension between Mormons and gay rights activists -- with political action and theological pronouncements on one . The church has control of my membership; I decide whether I'm Mormon or not. sltrib.com 1996-2023 The Salt Lake Tribune. That has been a blessing truly fulfilled. 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. (He took the surname from actor Anthony Quinn, whom he knew growing up in the Los Angeles barrio.) LDS officials disciplined Anderson and five other Mormon intellectuals in and around the fall of 1993. At its worst, such talk is sometimes called speaking evil of the Lords anointed.. "All they asked me about was my relationship to Jesus Christ. He found me outside and was kind and helpful. They dont acquire these positions by filling out an application and sending in a rsum. sltrib.com 1996-2023 The Salt Lake Tribune. And the Tribune is changing with it. We appreciate the search for knowledge and the discussion of gospel subjects, the First Presidency said. The general authority assigned to interview Quinn in the spring of 1976 was Boyd K. Packer. Peggy Fletcher. I moved into recognizing the value and power of a lay priesthood in the body of Christ and Christian community. Packer, the second-most senior among the 12, was the substitute president of the Quorum of the Twelve whenever Hunter was sidelined for medical reasons. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Vern Anderson, the AP reporter, wrote an 800-word story about the essay in January, just before Hanks showed up at Quinns apartment. In 1975, partly at Packers urging, Leonard Arringtons role at the church historians office was greatly diminished. 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. Neither Paul nor I nor Christian had to field a single negative comment the next week, when we went to church in our ward. I didn't have any doubts. One theory on that first day of panic was that the bombings were connected with the business, an investment company called CFS. Years ago, Don Bradley, a longtime scholar of Mormon history, asked to have his name removed from LDS membership rolls when participation became uncomfortable. I used to think Steve Benson was a bad person. 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. He went to stay instead with an old college friend, Richard Lambert. 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. Log In. disciplined Anderson and five other Mormon intellectuals, church disciplinary actions threatening Mormon feminist Kate Kelly and blogger John Dehlin. The LDS archives became more open to scholars than ever before, and Arrington oversaw research and writing by fellow academics and graduate studentsincluding Quinn, then 28, whom he hired as an assistant. 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. Some, perhaps, simply regretted the bad press. The former LDS stake president, who oversaw a group of congregations in Tooele for eight years and worked as an architect on her faith's most sacred spaces, faced, in her mind, an . The truth is not uplifting. Thats according to Quinnmy request to speak with Packer, whose health has badly deteriorated in recent years, was declined. Denver Snuffer . 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. Anderson was excommunicated for an article she wrote in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought that described episodes of what she called ecclesiastical abuse of Latter-day Saint intellectuals. Grant, a President of the LDS Church and is the granddaughter of United States Senator from Utah Wallace F. Bennett. 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. Peggy Fletcher-Stack: Hi Dave. Two of the so-called "September Six" have found their way back into the LDS fold while Anderson though never rebaptized in some ways has never left. I know how to avoid people I didnt want to be in contact with, he says. Mormon higher-ups hold keys to excommunication process against two activists. 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. 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. . Taking the sacrament because it's an exclusion I feel every single week. Peggy Fletcher Stack has been reporting on faith and religion since 1991. 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. Crucially, much of that project is onlinemore than anything, the Internet has revolutionized the field. A member of that sect told Quinn about a since renounced bit of theology once preached by Brigham Young, referred to as the Adam-God doctrine. Youngs notion, roughly speaking, was that God and Adam are one and the same. He also criticized Ezra Taft Benson, then a senior apostle, who had made comments similar to Packers. I said I didn't think members believe general authorities don't make mistakes. Devout Mormons consider these callings divinely inspired. I accuse that committee, England declared, of undermining our Church.. Today my story was picked up by the Salt Lake Tribune in Peggy Fletcher Stack's thoughtful article about excommunication. Lynne Kanavel Whitesides was not. I had never been treated as a liar before. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted. By Peggy Fletcher Stack. Quinns polygamy essay, meanwhile, produced more trouble for him with LDS leaders. Would love to hear your stories about her. The symposium's "Pillars of My Faith" session will showcase a similar path, said Mary Ellen Robertson, Sunstone's interim executive director. Excommunication has played a significant role throughout the churchs history. He has continued to publish articles about Mormon history and to participate in the Sunstone Symposium. Feb 17. He, the bishop, and the other counselor held the necessary courts, excommunicating those who wanted out. Even in the novels, he noticed, the gay characters came to terrible ends. My parents never blamed me, but they were heartbroken. TV and newspaper reporters came. 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. She said hello, but he did not recognize her. A history full of benignly angelic church leaders apparently advocated by Elders Benson and Packer would, he said, border on idolatry.. They can't ex someone with that king of lineage. Quinn showed that Brigham Young had a legitimate claim to the calling, though he was not the only one who did. Peggy Fletcher Fletcher (Peggy Bennett Fletcher) See Photos. My own name remains on the rolls of the church, and I plan to leave it there, though I stopped believing in the Mormon gospel 15 years ago. Quinn had been avoiding this confrontation for nearly five years. Quinn read Hanks letter that night and wrote a detailed response. Stack has received and been nominated for multiple awards. He himself did not even stay in town. >Two years after an excommunicated Kate Kelly sought a giant leap, Mormon feminists keep making small steps toward equity . Quinn was shocked that it took that long. Quinn went to Californiahe had another fellowship at the Huntington Librarystaying this time with his mother. Quinn was an ordinance worker, meaning he went to the temple regularly and helped others perform those rites. Oaks said Packer had met with Toscanos stake president, and acknowledged that this was a mistake. 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. He makes fun of the church by making fun of himself and stodgy rank and file, as well as cultural absurdities. 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. Peggy Fletcher Stack / Salt Lake Tribune: High-ranking Mormon official, who twice spoke in General Conference, is excommunicated Check out Mini-memeorandum for simple mobiles or memeorandum Mobile for modern smartphones. 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. He visited these homes with his missionary companion and asked the boys if they still wanted to be Mormons. The intellectual climate had improved under Oaks, people said. Quinn was convinced, in any case, that his fate in any disciplinary council was predetermined, that Boyd K. Packer wanted him out of the church and Hanks was going to make it happen. He looked in the card catalog under pervert, which was the word his grandmother had used after he told her that another kid at church had been groping him. 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. So she met with local and high Mormon leaders and, after several months, they set a baptismal date. Despite his productivity, though, hes never broken back into academia. 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. But 90 percent of the ward has changed since my court. 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. 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. Peggy Fletcher. Stack has been the lead religion writer for The Salt Lake Tribune since 1991. Gileadi was not part of the Sunstone and Dialogue circles that the others moved in; he had been writing and teaching popular workshops about biblical and Book of Mormon prophecies, which appear to have been deemed false doctrine by LDS leaders. Where else would I be but in the church? Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example, published in 1996, argues that same-sex intimacy was much more accepted by early Mormonsincluding Joseph Smiththan it is today. Lavina Fielding Anderson decided not to appear at her court, either, which took place at another Salt Lake meetinghouse a few days afterward. While serving it in England, he was tasked with cleaning up the results of the Baseball Baptism Program, in which missionaries used sports to attract young converts. In both forms of LDS courts, the accused is typically allowed to bring in character witnesses. All rights reserved. This is maybe where John and I are very different. Knowing that our Heavenly Parents are both male and female teaches me that our potential as women is limitless. 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. I admire her. 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. The kindness of my ward members has been really important. Anderson was photographed at her Salt Lake City home with the work of her late husband, Paul L. Anderson, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019. There are important aspects of Mormon life, such as temple ceremonies, that are open only to the truly faithful. He then expressed his gratitude to the church for providing, throughout his life, a vehicle for service. 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 term "September Six" was coined by The Salt Lake Tribune and was used in the media and subsequent discussion. If there is unfinished business, its the First Presidencys, not mine.. Stack has been the lead religion writer for The Salt Lake Tribune since 1991. 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.. 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 great one, if possible: Since childhood, Quinn had been told by his grandmother that someday he would be an apostle of the church. 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. The Mormon intellectual community far and wide is mourning the loss of Linda King Newell. It was a long time coming: Quinn had known he was gay since he was 12 years old. He has occasionally attended other churches. The nature of religion reporting in Utah is changing. It was his death and funeral that prompted the couples current bishop to bring up the possibility of her rejoining the church. It had since become the premier event for the so-called scholars and intellectuals of Mormonism to gather and exchange ideas. I did. According the her Wikipedia page: She is a great-granddaughter of Heber J. Quinns status in the church remained unchanged. During the hiring process, a college dean offered to protect him, Quinn says, from those peoplethe LDS leadersup in Salt Lake., Before he could be hired, though, he had to visit LDS headquarters at 47 East South Temple in downtown Salt Lake and sit for an interview with one of those peoplespecifically, a general authority, one of the 100 or so men who run the church. Hed been told it was an unusually accepting congregation. 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. 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.