Gay Marriage Support Leaves Mormon Podcaster Facing Excommunication From Church

A Mormon podcaster in North Logan, Utah, is facing the possibility of excommunication from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for supporting same-sex marriage, ordination of women and other views that contradict the Church's teachings.

John Dehlin, founder of the Mormon Stories Podcast, attended on Sunday an L.D.S. disciplinary council meeting with Church officials. No decision was made yet in the meeting about his fate. He will receive the decision from North Logan Stake President Bryan King through mail, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

In a press statement, Dehlin claimed the apostasy charges against him were based on his public expression of doubts about some L.D.S. teachings, his unwillingness to remove or censor contents in his podcast, public advocacy for the ordination of women in the L.D.S. and same-sex marriage, and disagreements with church leader over the rights of people grouped as lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders and queers, or LGBTQ.

"Church discipline may be required for someone guilty of serious criminal offenses. It is also used to address apostasy — the repeated, clear and open public opposition to the Church, its leaders and its doctrine," according to a post on the L.D.S. newsroom about the disciplinary council hearing.

A person who undergoes Church discipline may be exonerated, held under "formal probation," where the member "may be asked to refrain from taking the sacrament, holding Church positions, participating in meetings or engaging in temple worship."

The member may also be punished with disfellowshipment, which will last at least one year, or excommunication or loss of membership in the Church.

Dehlin claimed that last August, he was told by King that he should remove past episodes of the podcast that are controversial to avoid the disciplinary council. He said King also told him that his support to the group Ordain Women, which seeks to ordain Mormon women into priesthood, was also a reason for apostasy.

The group's founder, Kate Kelly, was excommunicated from L.D.S. last June.

Before the Feb. 8 disciplinary council hearing, Dehlin got a letter from King telling him that he could neither make an audio recording of the hearing nor bring a note-taker.

In the letter, King said disciplinary councils are "sacred ecclesiastical proceedings and are intended to be strictly confidential."

Dehlin said he does not want to leave the L.D.S. because "the Church is also the hub for family and community, the place where we raise our children and meet new friends and colleagues."

He described excommunication as a "form of exile" and "barbaric practice that inflicts unnecessary damage on all involved."

He said he hopes that L.D.S. "stop the disciplinary council, and cease to punish members who express sincere doubt or disagreement with its teachings and policies."