I used a PO Box on my resignation and the church returned it.

They said they require a street address in order to identify my membership record as well as the bishop in my area and then they will forward the letter to him with instructions to remove my name.

I do not want them to have my street address. My membership would not be in my local area, I just moved here. The last address I never went to church and if I used that address it would be forwarded to my PO Box (and possibly returned to the church if it needs to be forwarded).

Advice?

When you sent your letter, you were out of the church. At least that's what everybody here says.

threaten legal action, it worked like a charm for me:)

+100

also worked for me

Waaaay back in the day, Kathy Worthington gave me a name and phone number for someone in member records. It wasn't Greg Dodge, but she said to ask for this person and tell them Kathy Worthington said he would take care of it for me (this was after bishop and SP dragging their feet and playing games for months and then finally telling me they had sent the letter in).

I called and said exactly that. The guy put me on hold, came back and said, "Oh, your letter got burried under a stack (yeah, right), but I have it right here in my hand and a reply will go out today." Which it did. Just another reason to miss that wonderful woman.

You might have to call Headquarters and talk to a live person. Let them know that they're not getting your address and you want your letter processed.

The Church had no idea where I was either and my records were archived in Salt Lake. As soon as they knew my address, from my resignation letter, they immediately forwarded my records to the local ward, which I'd never been to.

The Bishop I dealt with was someone I'd never met, who'd no idea who I was either.

Send it back notarized and that is proof you are who you say you are.

And then threaten legal action and be sure to send it delivery confirmation.

Also put on the outside of the evelope "Once the church receives this I am not longer a member legally" :)

I like this option.

I used a p.o.box because my community has no street addresses. All they need is your record number, your full name, and birth date. The notarized letter is what I did and it worked fine. But as long as they have your original letter you should be out unless there is some confusion over who you are. They didn't mention not knowing your identity. The notarized letter ends any confusion. The COB has authority enough to accept your resignation. They can assign you to any stupid bishop or stake president they want in the world and have him send the letter or do whatever they want. However, you will be out as long as they can identify you and receive the letter. You don't have to meet with anyone. Let them jump through any hoops they want but technically the only thing they should be asking you is your birth date and record number.

I also copied my lawyer on my letter and I can't help but think that moved things along considerably.

They should send confirmation anyway.
I dont think the legal precedent lets them off just for a PO Box.
If your resignation is otherwise self-identifying, I wouldnt give them a street address because then they can send a local bishop to harrass you. They use the 60 days allowed by court precedent to give a local bishop a swipe at you...but church HQ reportedly knows and follows court precedent afterall. Just wait.

If you sent it to member records, they don't need to send it back down to a bishop. They are planning on hassling you.

There is a wealth of info here:
http://www.mormonnomore.com/

They don't *need* to send it to a local Bishop to process a resignation though. They just want to have a local Bishop arrange for "interviews" and VTs/HTs to dissuade leave-takers. And maybe even rope in family and friends to add to the pressure.

It should be enough to advise what the last ward attended was, and request no further contact.

Easiest no hassle solution, I would give them your old address, it will get to a bishop, they will be happy, everyone will be happy, you get to resign without giving them your info. Then follow up with an email to the bishop saying that you understand that you are damned, and that you are waiving your right to the 30 day wait period. Should go through quickly, if your bishop isn't a douche tool.

Did you include a membership number or other piece of unique identifying information? If all you gave was a first name, last name, and DOB, that may not be enough to identify you in their records. There could theoretically be two John Smiths born on the same date.

I'd just re-send it with your old address. The confirmation letter will be forwarded to your new PO Box, and meanwhile the Bishop will contact an old address. What's the harm in that? Be proactive and mail the bishop a copy of the resignation letter, with clear instructions that you do not wish to be contacted.

Generally speaking, just a name is not enough to get you off the records. Were that the case, it'd be pretty easy for somebody to resign other people, which is not acceptable.

As suggested upstream, you can:

1) Get it notarized
2) Provide membership record information
3) Provide an address
4) Take it directly to your bishop

Just think of it like a bureaucracy like any other.

Alpiner Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Generally speaking, just a name is not enough to
> get you off the records. Were that the case, it'd
> be pretty easy for somebody to resign other
> people, which is not acceptable.

Exactly. You have to give them at least something. Otherwise, for all they know, anyone could be trying to resign you without your knowledge.

The post office now offers a street address. Talk with your post master.

Catcher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I used a PO Box on my resignation and the church
> returned it.
>
> They said they require a street address in order
> to identify my membership record as well as the
> bishop in my area and then they will forward the
> letter to him with instructions to remove my
> name.
>
> I do not want them to have my street address. My
> membership would not be in my local area, I just
> moved here. The last address I never went to
> church and if I used that address it would be
> forwarded to my PO Box (and possibly returned to
> the church if it needs to be forwarded).
>
> Advice?

They pulled that crap on us.

They told us they needed our street address and not a PO Box to check our records and we told them we don't have a ward here in the US and if they need our records they can contact our last ward of record in Germany.

We wrote them and said that any correspondence they needed to have with us could be through our PO Box and we would not give them our street address.

They wanted to know what ward we were in here in Florida and wanted us to contact our Bishop. We told them we don't have a ward or a Bishop and reminded them our last ward was in Germany and that we hadn't set foot in a Mormon chapel for the past 17 years. We told them they could contact a Florida Bishop if they needed to but we weren't going to be contacting any Bishop.

What's interesting is they had a record of us all the time because when they addressed me they also included my middle name which I had not used in any correspondence with them in requesting our names be removed. We let them know they obviously had my records or else they couldn't possibly know my middle name.

They removed our names.

Thanks for all the quick information everyone, I'll try again and see how it goes.

I feel requiring a street address is just a ploy to find out where you live so they can show up at your home and bug you.

It is not a ploy. That is precisely why they do it. They also want to make sure you are not already excommunicated, so they can gloat and say you can't quite, we already fired you.

Seriously. Junior high school mentality.

Get a redirection from your old address to your current address and give them your old address.Any correspondence will be redirected by the post office and they can harass whoever now lives in your old house - hopefully a pissed off hillbilly.

When the church contacts this person, he could say casually, "Yeah, I collect his mail for him. The job keeps him hopping. He's very seldom in one place for long, know what I mean?" And refuse to say anything else. Polite, pleasant, and utterly unhelpful.

include your Date of Birth and/or something else; do U remem your date of baptism? certainly the place, maybe the name of the ward or branch.

Don't get your knickers in a twist, they should be certain as to identity...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2013 12:23AM by guynoirprivateeye.

Tell them to use the street address of your attorney, and enclose an attorney's business card.

or verbally say, "I resign."

The bish wrote me a letter and claimed I'd verbally told some RS who wanted a hot dish that I'd requested "to have my name removed."

That was a lie. At that time I had not heard of that option and thought the only official way out was excommunication.

I didn't give the bish any information. He had to find it himself. He was simply tired of having me reject the visits and invitations for years and decided to grant a resignation.

There are instructions here on exmormon.org about how to E-mail your resignation instead of sending the letter. Just do that.

For anyone here in the Atlanta area who wants their resignation letter notarized, if you'll drop me a note, I'll be happy to do the notarization.

Don't give them your address. The local ward might contact you and be a jerk about it.

You see, I had not been in contact with the Mormon Church for several years when I sent my letter in. They did not have my current address as I had lived in three different countries and did not share my mailing address with Mormon family or associates. But they got my latest address when they processed my resignation letter. And you know what happened next? I started getting mail from the local Relief Society in my ex-wife's name, was hounded by home teachers, and had missionaries knocking on my door every week. Jesus F. Christ!!!!

Your full name and maybe birthday should be enough for them to process it. I recommend getting a notarized letter with your name and information. Oh, and make sure to threaten legal action in the letter and instruct that you do not desire any local contact.

The point here is that they are asking for a current physical contact address. That is not going to aid identification. Since resignation can be processed centrally, the only reason is to make physical contact.

Either central records have the OP on a ward list somewhere or they don't. If they do, then they take you off that list - easy! If they don't then the only reason to get a current address it to put you ON some bishop's list. Sounds like stalking to me.