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Lorie Winder

LDS Church leaders deny appeal of Ordain Women co-founder

Salt Lake City, UT – Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a second disciplinary council and have denied Kate Kelly’s appeal of the decision to excommunicate her. Kelly, one of the founders of Ordain Women, was disciplined in June after a trial was held, in her absence, in the Vienna Ward of the Oakton Virginia Stake near Washington, D.C. Excommunication is the most extreme action that can be taken in the LDS Church: A person is no longer considered a member of record, is denied all privileges related to membership, and must be re-baptized to regain those privileges.

According to Kelly, “I maintain to this day that I am not guilty of apostasy. I intend to pursue an appeal to the First Presidency of the Church and hope that they will be able to rectify this egregious error. I have love for the gospel and its people. I have encouraged others to stay inside the Church, if they are able. As provided for in the Church’s own appeals process, it is not too late for my leaders to declare my innocence and restore me to full fellowship.”

In a letter, Scott M. Wheatley, President of the Oakton Virginia Stake, informed Ms. Kelly that she has the right to appeal the decision further to the First Presidency of the LDS Church. Wheatley stated that any appeal should specify errors or unfairness in the procedures, though Ms. Kelly–nor any other woman–was allowed to attend the council hearing the appeal. The letter further revealed that while Ms. Kelly had originally been charged and convicted of “conduct unbecoming a member” in June, she was now being convicted of apostasy.

Inside the LDS Church, formal disciplinary actions are conducted entirely by male ecclesiastical leaders. For women, trials, sometimes referred to as “courts of love,” can be organized and judged by leaders at the local, or ward, level; while trials for men must be judged by leaders at the regional, or stake, level. Because only male members of the LDS Church are ordained to the priesthood, only men serve in these leadership positions. Consequently, anyone called before a court is questioned and judged by an all-male panel.

Ordain Women Chairwoman, Debra Jenson, said, “We continue to stand by Kate. We call on our leaders to send a message to women throughout the Church, reassuring them that asking questions and participating in faith-affirming direct actions are not grounds for punishment.” The group, run by an eight-member Executive Board, will continue its work addressing religious gender inequality. “Ordain Women’s goals and message remain the same,”Jenson declared.

Ordain Women, founded in March 2013, believes full spiritual and operational equality is fundamental to Mormon teachings and hopes priesthood ordination will be made available to every adult member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regardless of gender. Its efforts are part of a decades-long plea for women’s ordination inside the Utah-based faith. Ordain Women’s home page (www.ordainwomen.org) features the profiles of hundreds of men and women who pray the ban on female ordination in the LDS Church will be lifted.

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