A few weeks ago, I sent a letter to Salt Lake City, asking that my name be removed from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was pretty much the form letter from the site Mormon No More, although I did add special emphasis that my family NOT be told about this. I didn’t want to cause them any more heartache than I had already done.
In a surprisingly short time, I received a reply. Their letter said that “The Church considers this an ecclesiastical matter,” and that they would inform have my bishop come talk to me. I had never met this bishop, nor have I since then. Three weeks later, and I haven’t heard from anyone. I’ll be sending them another letter soon, asking exactly what the hell they think they are doing.
I find it frustrating that they will not do what I ask. It can not be an ecclesiastical issue if I don’t say it is. The only authority they have over me is the authority I give them. I don’t have to play along. Although, I do think it would be rather fun to sit through an ex-communication ceremony, just to see what it’s like, and to try to drop some jaws with my heathen ways. From what I’ve heard, though, they don’t really let you get a word in edgewise.
As for the letter you sent to SLC to be removed from the LDS records. I would highly suggest that you send a letter directly to the bishop of the ward where you reside. Make sure the letter spells out that you do not need to attend any meeting with him or any other church officials and that if they delay taking your name off their records that you will go public with it to the local newspaper and cause them much grief. Also in your letter make sure that you are addressing explicitly how much you do not believe their doctrine, principals, or for that matter, your belief in a god.
When I did this I explicitly told them that Joseph Smith was a fraud and not a prophet, god did not exist, jesus christ was not the savior of the world and possibly never existed, and that their stance on homosexuality was extremely immoral.
A strongly worded letter is the only way you can get your true motives across to them.
Good luck!
They *do* have one hold over you . . . they can tell your family, and I wouldn’t put it past them. If that was important to you, you should have simply stopped attending. As things stand now, you need to decide how your family is going to hear this news.
As painful as it might be for you to do the talking, do you trust the Mormon church to speak for you?
Yes… What Stephen said. Don’t let it bother you. They send the paperwork to your local bishop, who in turn, must complete his forms and forward that to the Stake President, and then back to the records dept. for final eraser marks. Corporations and dictatorships always have to mire the process down with paperwork. Mostly it makes them look stupid. So, just sit back and wait for your next letter (the good one). If it takes longer than two or three more weeks, post here again and I will give you Greg Dodge’s direct number in the records department.
Thank you for the advice. My next letter is going to be a lot stronger, and probably a bit less polite.
I am not too worried about them telling my family. I already let my parents know I intended to put in my letter. They obviously weren’t happy, but they were still really good to support me. I am really lucky to have such an understanding family. The thing is, I don’t like the idea of some church official in a pressed suit and a fake smile calling up my poor mom and reminding her of what I have “done to the family”. And I never want to see her cry over my soul again.