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By Peggy Fletcher Stack. Quinn got hate mail. Dubbed the September Six, the group were mostly left-leaning writers and scholars who had published articles or given talks about the role of women in Mormonism and the way the churchs leaders handle dissent. They never gave me one reason. 2) I would very gladly swap my OSF compensation package with any member of the LDS First Presidency, Quorum of the 12 Apostles, or 1st Quorum of the Seventy. He had become a father figure of sorts, even officiating at Quinns marriage ceremony. 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. He also mentioned reading Quinns long Dialogue article about the politics of Ezra Taft Benson. They were eventually published, without Quinns permission, by two prominent anti-Mormon activists, Jerald and Sandra Tanner. (Quinn is known professionally as D. Michael Quinn; the first name on his birth certificate is Dennis.) 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. He found me outside and was kind and helpful. Excommunication opened the door to a larger cosmos, inside and outside myself.". He froze. The prophet at the time was Ezra Taft Benson, who, at age 94, was mostly incapacitated. 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. sltrib.com 1996-2023 The Salt Lake Tribune. 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. He slept on her futon and had no Internet access or health insurance. Following his excommunication, he finished The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power and turned his attention to another scholarly book with deep personal meaning. In 1975, partly at Packers urging, Leonard Arringtons role at the church historians office was greatly diminished. 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. Lynne Kanavel Whitesides was not. Taylor fled to Canada during the congressional hearings for Reed Smoot, a fellowbut monogamousapostle, who had been elected to the U.S. Senate. Fulton has called Quinn a nothing person.. I had a spiritual prompting that summer staying at my cabin that I wasn't to go. http://www.sunstonemagazine.com/symposium. Sunstone The spiritual journey of Maxine Hanks, one of the "September Six,'" comes full circle. All rights reserved. But 90 percent of the ward has changed since my court. Saturday, February 22, 1997. At Yale, while serving as one of two counselors to the local bishop, he found unanswered letters in the wards files from people who wished to leave the church. The noisy nonsense on-screen felt to Quinn like a rough equivalent of what the church was doing to him. Anderson was photographed at her Salt Lake City home with the work of her late husband, Paul L. Anderson, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019. He also criticized Ezra Taft Benson, then a senior apostle, who had made comments similar to Packers. I accuse that committee, England declared, of undermining our Church.. He put down in words his sincere testimony in the Mormon gospel and in Ezra Taft Bensons status as a true prophet of God. The main target of the statement, issued in August 1991, was the Sunstone Symposium, an annual gathering started by Sunstone magazine 12 years before. Two decades ago, Maxine Hanks could not have imagined where her spiritual journey would take her, but she knew this much: She would not likely be walking into the waters of Mormon baptism. 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. For details, go to http://www.sunstonemagazine.com/symposium. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted. Every morning he worked there was Christmas morning, Quinn says. The book he was finishing, which would be published in 1994, was called The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power. But Robertson is especially pleased with the "Pillars" session. by Peggy Fletcher Stack (Salt Lake Tribune) 06-23-2015. 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 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 . Like Robert Kirby, it would be a shit storm to ex her. She currently serves on the . Lavina Fielding Anderson may have been excommunicated from the LDS Church for apostasy more than 20 years ago, but don't think for a minute that this Utah writer is now an outsider to her faith. He was in a wheelchair. Quinn told friends that he did not want anyone to lobby on his behalf. I now publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land, it says. According the her Wikipedia page: She is a great-granddaughter of Heber J. It sent him down a rabbit hole. For the next year and a half, Quinn spent hours every week in the archives, taking detailed notes on diaries that belonged to 19th-century Mormon leaders, among other documents. It went back to his college years. She won the Cornell Award for Excellence in Religion ReportingMid-sized Newspapers from the Religious News Association in 2004, 2012, 2017, 2018, and 2022. The fact that we keep going to church is a blessing. All rights reserved. The same group of local church leaders who participated in Gileadi's excommunication were present at the baptism service. When they left, they said, "Have a nice day," to which I replied, "You have just assured that I will not.". Not long after that, the bishop met with Anderson and asked her ever so gently if she would like to discuss reinstatement. A page of the so-called Salamander Letter, forged by Mark Hofmann. 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. Then I went away to my cabin for the summer and he called all the temples in Utah, saying he was canceling my recommend. He left it up to local leaders to come up with a reason. Stack has received and been nominated for multiple awards. However, I do not see that eternal equality reflected in the contemporary church.". Truth is, she has never stopped attending her Mormon ward. Hanks rejoined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in February. Late last year, a friend approached LDS officials to say that Hanks was ready to return to the fold. It really hurt my feelings. This was hard on Paul [who works at Brigham Young University]. [4], She won the 2004 Cornell Award for 'Excellence in Religion ReportingMid-sized Newspapers' from the Religion Newswriters Association in 2004, an award she also received in 2012, 2017, and 2018. or. "The issues in Mormon doctrine, history and practice highlighted by those facing church discipline are much larger than any one individual," the statement reads. (Peggy Fletcher Stack writes for The Salt Lake Tribune.) 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. The book opened Quinns teenage eyes to dissent within the highest echelons of LDS leadership, and to the apostles debateand apparent dissemblingabout plural marriage after 1890. In the past, many Mormon officials had a sense, he said, that the church must protect its members from "wolves among them.". [5][6], Fletcher initially attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, for a year,[1] then transferred to the University of Utah, where she earned a BA in English literature. At least, that's how Hall sees it. Knowing her personally (not closely, but we're acquainted) I get the feeling that she is much more culturally LDS than actually LDS. He wrote a short story about two male missionaries in Louisiana who become attracted to each other and are stalked by a religious psychopath. (Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) 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. Dated Oct. 23, 1830, the letter was addressed to an early Mormon convert named W.W. Phelps and signed Martin Harris. "Nobody asked me to disavow my book or stop writing," Hanks told The Salt Lake Tribune that year. At the pinnacle of the Mormon hierarchy is the First Presidencythe churchs prophet and his two counselorsand the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. The handbook doesn't say you can't speak in class, just over the pulpit. 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. Peggy Fletcher Stack. ", 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. . 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. I admire her. In the late 60s, he was called to preside over the churchs missionary efforts in New England, and moved with his family to Cambridge, Mass. That came out in early 1993. Quinn went to Californiahe had another fellowship at the Huntington Librarystaying this time with his mother. [4] During her time there, she has met and interviewed the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Gordon B. Hinckley, among others. The stake president said I was "exed" for apostasy but I didn't really fit the handbook definition. He does not have friends in Rancho Cucamonga. My stake president said in an email, if I [didn't] come forward and tell people that I am not a member in good standing, he would. 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. He was excommunicated in 1911. Stack has been the lead religion writer for The Salt Lake Tribune since 1991. 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. She said hello, but he did not recognize her. Maybe she wants to be, though. And he continued to correspond with Paul Hanks, who had written to express his displeasure at seeing his words quoted in the newspaper. KRE/AMB END STACK Bradley and Hanks are friends who trod a lot of common ground, Robertson said. He, the bishop, and the other counselor held the necessary courts, excommunicating those who wanted out. Some things that are true are not very useful. Its not clear whether Packer read Quinns work before interviewing him, but if he did, it probably would have struck him as less than useful. Why didn't you go to the hearing to defend yourself? There are important aspects of Mormon life, such as temple ceremonies, that are open only to the truly faithful. The Bible and the Book of Mormon, which depict flawed, human prophets, are, Quinn said, an absolute refutation of the kind of history Packer advocated. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Quinn argued against excommunication, he told me, but he did not have the final say. 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 charge stems from Palmer's 2002 book, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, which challenges the traditional explanations of the faith's founding . I found this tl/dr written by Peggy Fletcher Stack in the Salt Lake Tribune:. But he had a caring bishop that first year and decided on his own to serve a mission. 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. Part of what I feel is a calling to be there. My parents never blamed me, but they were heartbroken. By Peggy Fletcher Stack. Peggy Fletcher Fletcher (Peggy Bennett Fletcher) See Photos. Feb 17. ``It was like `We're here to support you, Brother Gileadi,' '' he said of the atmosphere at the . I prayed every article I wrote into print, he said, continually asking God what he should do. 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. We had stake [regional] conference in September. Following the wave of media attention that greeted the September excommunications, the First Presidency defended what had taken place. How have the members of your ward treated you? By Peggy Fletcher Stack After an exhausting six-hour disciplinary hearing Sunday, Mormon leaders temporarily suspended Grant H. Palmer's membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In both forms of LDS courts, the accused is typically allowed to bring in character witnesses. I don't think I could have done that graciously. I was not surprised or angry about the outcome, Anderson said Wednesday, and she has no plans to try to open that door again. 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. She was also the only one whose disciplinary council was overseen by her bishop, rather than her stake president. 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. This new knowledge sent Quinn to the Journal of Discourses, a 26-volume collection of Mormon sermons. Not long before Hofmann sold that forged document, he approached Quinn in the church archives, and asked about the succession crisis and the article. Quinn, who later assisted the police in their investigation, did not go home for several days. Daryl Peveto/Luceo Images for Slate. Mormon author Grant H. Palmer has been summoned to an LDS Church disciplinary hearing on Sunday, facing possible excommunication for apostasy. 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. When I make comments in Sunday school and Relief Society, they are accepted as anyone else's. 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. Grant, a President of the LDS Church and is the granddaughter of United States Senator from Utah Wallace F. Bennett. That bright line is one of the reasons Mormons still sometimes seem separate from the mainstream of American life even after a century of assimilation. And he based at least one of his forgeries on the work of Michael Quinn. That higher-ranking leader, James Paramore, had further instructed West to say that the decision was Wests own, and had not come from above. 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. I assured him I did not. By Peggy Fletcher Stack | Sep. 5, 2019, 1:20 p.m. | Updated: 11:59 p.m. . According the her Wikipedia page: She is a great-granddaughter of Heber J. 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. So she met with local and high Mormon leaders and, after several months, they set a baptismal date. The regional council forwarded her request to church headquarters, with the recommendation that she be approved for rebaptism. I feel like I am going by proxy for others who feel too damaged, too hurt and afraid to go. 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. 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. That last comment became the caption for a Newsweek photo three months later, when the magazines religion reporter, Kenneth L. Woodward, wrote a 1,000-word story about Quinns talk and the controversy it prompted. The Mormon intellectual community far and wide is mourning the loss of Linda King Newell. See Photos. [5], The Stacks traveled in Africa for a year,[5] then settled in New York City for five years,[1] where she worked as the editor of the Hastings Center Report while her husband attended film school. LDS officials disciplined Anderson and five other Mormon intellectuals in and around the fall of 1993. Elder Packer, he told Quinn, will never get over this.. Hed been told it was an unusually accepting congregation. Quinn was already on the alert for such wrinkles in the churchs history. When the men from the stake presidency came to his door in February, Quinn was living three blocks from the Salt Lake Temple and the worldwide headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Right next to Pauls was Lavinas description of her beliefs in Jesus Christ, Mormon founder Joseph Smith, the scriptural text he produced, The Book of Mormon, and the role of prophets. 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. 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. 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. He asked Quinn to come see him in his office after work one day, Quinn says. Peggy Fletcher Stack is an American journalist, editor, and author. By then an assistant district attorney, Lambert later helped prosecute the case against Hofmann. This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. People named Peggy Fletcher. He decided that only 16 of the changes were significant. These are very sensitive and highly confidential and this is why I have not mentioned them before in writing. Hanks alluded to these matters in subsequent letters, but never explicitly said that he had Quinns sexuality in mind. "But when I got to the point of priestly ordination, I pulled back. That night, we went over to our neighbors' house and watched "A Man for All Seasons" and ate popcorn. Down in Provo, Avraham Gileadi met more quietly with his local leaders. The intellectual climate had improved under Oaks, people said. They dont acquire these positions by filling out an application and sending in a rsum. I imagine she walks a careful, thin line to avoid being exed. 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. In the field of Mormon history the changes are particularly pronounced. 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. By Peggy Fletcher Stack The Salt Lake Tribune. Lavina Fielding Anderson may have been excommunicated from the LDS Church for apostasy more than 20 years ago, but don't think for a minute that this Utah writer is now an outsider to her faith. Did the Utah Legislature do enough to save the Great Salt Lake? Using the familiar Christian metaphor of a lost sheep who listens for the one voice that can guide it back home, Oaks said Mormons should beware of alternate voices whose avowed or secret object is to deceive and devour the flock. Among the voices Oaks warned about were the ones heard in magazines, journals, and newspapers and at lectures, symposia, and conferences. At the same General Conference, another apostle said that a true stalwart of the church would not lend his or her good name to periodicals, programs, or forums that feature offenders who do sow discord among brethren. , When the Sunstone Symposium next convened, in the summer of 92, Lavina Fielding Anderson presented a paper on this growing conflict between leaders and intellectuals. A beaming Bishop Madrigal said I should expect very soon to get a telephone call scheduling an interview with a general authority, she wrote. P The Sunstone Symposium runs July 25-28 at the University of Utah's Olpin Student Union. 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. Peggy Fletcher. Hanks became less diplomatic. The book won an award from the American Historical Association, but it brought Quinn more grief in Utah. He has occasionally attended other churches. We embedded him as thoroughly in the church as we ourselves had been. While LDS leaders can be defensive about media attention, sustained criticism from the outside world seems to have an effect. But he could no longer go to the temple. Hi, Peggy. disciplined Anderson and five other Mormon intellectuals, church disciplinary actions threatening Mormon feminist Kate Kelly and blogger John Dehlin. (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.) They can't ex someone with that king of lineage. Quinns polygamy essay, meanwhile, produced more trouble for him with LDS leaders. Two years later, he was called as an apostle. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Laurie Lee Hall was excommunicated from the Mormon church for being a woman. Stack has been the lead religion writer for The Salt Lake Tribune since 1991. Dave: We remind our listeners about a new way to support Mormon Land. The latter, a smaller school, offered less money, but BYU had its own drawbacks: It was and is a conservative place, politically as well as religiously. With no regular income to speak of, Quinn moved into his mothers condo in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Quinn was an ordinance worker, meaning he went to the temple regularly and helped others perform those rites. She declined. One Sunday in February of 1993, Michael Quinn was home sick with a fever when his doorbell rang. 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. After the church court, when I walked into the chapel, it took about three times longer to get to my seat because so many people hugged me. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax 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. The church has control of my membership; I decide whether I'm Mormon or not. Unresolved: Release in which this issue/RFE will be addressed. By Peggy Fletcher Stack June 23, 2015 Many Mormon feminists experienced Kate Kelly's excommunication as a harsh slap felt around the world. Since then, only one Avraham Gileadi, an Old Testament scholar who has spent his life researching and . After the Newsweek article ran, Quinn got a phone call from Marion D. Hanks. The four-day symposium, which begins Wednesday evening, also will include dozens of sessions about Mormonism and politics, about how members grapple with contemporary issues such as gay rights and feminism, building online LDS communities, Mormon Latino views of the church's immigration stance and how the Utah-based faith has developed its "brand" in the past several decades. BYU and Utah State both wanted to hire him. No way. 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. West said hed been told by a higher authority to take further action to remedy the situation, Quinn says. deductible, 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. A church spokesman told him that it did exist, and the First Presidency issued a formal statement about it the following week. 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. Paul's mother was great. The Strengthening Church Members Committee almost certainly passed along notes about Quinn to his new stake president, Paul Hanks, in early 1993. Still, he sought out the scriptures first edition himself, and did his own comparison. 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. 1) I am very proud that, unlike the LDS Church, I have been transparent regarding OSF finances and my own compensation. Earlier this year, Maxine Hanks became the first of the September Six to fully return to the Mormon Church since the conservative outlier Avraham Gileadi was quietly rebaptized almost two decades ago.

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