As I posted before, I sent in my resignation two weeks ago by email to church membership records. I received a letter on Friday that stated they acknowledged my email and are informing me that the church considers such a request to be an ecclesiastical matter that must be handled by local priesthood members. Further the letter stated that the bishop and or stake president will be contacting me concerning the fulfillment of my request. I stated politely that I wished no further contact with the church. Do I need to meet with these guys to get things wrapped up? What do I need to do next? I simply want to sever my ties once and for all.

You don't have to talk to anyone. Once they receive your email, they have to remove your name.

But how do I know that they have actually removed my name? Do I get a receipt??

you are out.
The rest of it is just TSCC mental masturbation.

Ecclesiastical:

1. Of or relating to a church, especially as an organized institution.
2. Appropriate to a church or to use in a church: ecclesiastical architecture; ecclesiastical robes.

I don't understand why that means it has to be a local matter.

It (The Church) is no longer a Christian/Secular organization. It's a Corporation. Just like if you were quitting "Intel"; A letter to the Home Office or to the CEO means nothing to them.

They simply have to send the information back to your local manager and H.R. This is so that if you had a calling (i.e. Sunday School, VT, etc...) they could also get a replacement. It is also a common courtesy, that if you asked for "no contact" that local R.S. or Quorum leaders don't send out Visiting Teachers or Home Teachers or local bishopric to try to fellowship you back into activity.

If the church is true, you'd want to hope they don't really remove your name. If the church isn't true, it doesn't matter.

Many of us figure that the church massages membership numbers to suit their needs. All they have to do to counteract resignation losses is to change the 110 years old number to 115 years old, and they're looking good again.

In case you weren't aware, the names of members who the church cannot contact are removed from the records when they reach the age of 110.

Really? Where do I go to confirm that? That's very interesting.

It does matter, even if you don't believe, because you might be stuck on the local membership records. As long as you are still in the ward's membership records, you are gonna get annoying and invasive contact by local members trying to reactivate you.

So making sure your name is "removed" really DOES matter.

When the bishop or stake president contacts you to make an appointment to meet, make it at you house.

When they show up, give them your garments, your BOM, WOW, etc., and tell them you don't have any need for them any longer.

They might get the idea you are serious.

and have him watch you put each item in fire, one-by-one very deliberately

First of all, they don't remove your name. They do, however, indicate on your record that you are no longer a member, and your name is removed from the local Ward roster.

After you get the Please Come Back letter, you will get a final letter essentially stating that they have finished processing your resignation. This typically takes 2 to 6 more weeks. If you haven't received the letter after 6 weeks, call the SLC membership records office to see what the problem is.

The bishop may or may not contact you. You can speak to him, or not, as you wish. Either way, your resignation is already in effect, and the final letter will come to you.

They never take your name off their rolls?

Cold-Dodger Wrote:
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> They never take your name off their rolls?

You are removed from the rolls of the local ward. However, you are probably still in some computer database in SLC headquarters as a former member.

Its no different from some business removing you from their mailing list. It doesn't mean they deleted your record. You just aren't gonna be harassed anymore.

I think I'd call and leave each one a message saying your mind is made up. Your resignation is complete. Please don't bother to call or come to your door.

The only reason they want to meet is to try to talk you out of it.

Resignations are final as soon they receive your request.

You can call member records in SLC to check the progress, and you don't need to meet with local leaders unless you want to.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2015 08:35PM by archytas.

If the church leaders are people I know, I would give them some courtesy while setting firm boundaries. Maybe they really care about you as a person. If you don't know them, then simply give them the choice of revoving your membership and confirming when it's done, or facing a lawsuit. Tell them something like "either way works for me. Do you prefer an order from a real judge or to just handle this directly yourself?".

The letter your received is the first of two letters you will receive to complete your name removal form the church membership records. Your bishop (possibly stake president) will likely call, if not call him which I had to do. When I talked to my bishop he did not pressure me to meet or talk me out of my decision, I told him to go ahead and process my request which required him to send the paperwork to the stake president who is the person who sends it in to the records department. Eventually you will get a second letter from confidential records confirming your name has been removed from the membership records of the church. Definitely well worth the small effort and time to have your name removed from the membership records even if all that really happens is they indicate on your record that you are no longer a member.

I really wish everyone that is no longer a believing Mormon would take the small amount of time and minimal effort to remove their name from the church membership records. If everyone was to do this it would be a major hassle for the records department which would help the church realize how big of a problem they have on their hands.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2015 11:23PM by scotchipman.

I'm in the UK and I got a letter from my bishop to confirm mine and my daughter's names had been removed, and he said that it had to be done locally, that I wouldn't receive anything from salt lake. It has always struck me that I have no real proof that our names are gone. I would have really preferred a letter from HQ to confirm it all. It's like they're making it as unimportant as possible, but in my mind I really don't want to associated with the Corp. at all and hate the idea our names are still on records somewhere. However this was 6 years ago.
Does anyone know if this is def as far as any of us will get with it?

Your names are not "gone" but simply noted as no longer members. Your name has only been removed from the local ward membership list. Most large corporations do the same thing. Credit card companies, banks, etc. all keep their database information forever. Hence the enormous problem with hacking. You may not have spent money at Wal-Mart for ages but they still have your credit card number and whatever personal data they can get their hands on. Since the Mormon church is simply another corporation with a giant database, you will always be in it. You are no longer a card carrying member but you are still a statistic to them. They will use it to satisfy whatever purpose they have in mind.

This is why I always refer to the Mormon church as LDS, Inc. It is far more accurate a title. Shorter too.

When I resigned ten years ago, I sent in my request to Salt Lake City. I followed their instructions at the time. But then I let them know I had no interest whatsoever in going through my local ward or stake leadership.

I called ahead, (Salt Lake records) and asked how to do that without going through local channels. They gave me their mailing address, told me how to phrase it, and they took care of the rest.

I had my letter confirming I'd withdrawn several weeks later, back from Salt Lake.

Call (not email) the central church membership, speak to someone there, and explain your wishes. They should be able to direct you, like they did me. Can't imagine their procedures have become more difficult since ten years ago. The local church authorities are lame. They just go according to the manual.

Wanting to circumvent them altogether, you should be able to, just let SLC know clearly what it is you want to have done.

So, in the ten years since I resigned by snail mail, they are still calling it an ecclesiastical matter. What a joke. Everything connected to LDS, Inc. is a legal matter and they know it. Calling it ecclesiastical just gives them the excuse to delay and pretend they are somehow a religion with clerical standing. Real churches don't need to play this game. It is necessary for them to appear to be a legitimate religious entity in order to get tax free status. That's why they play the game.

They played the same game with me. I ignored everything they said once I got their letter and within about three weeks got the letter that I was out. They didn't even bother with the pamphlet and invitation to come back. My phone number was unlisted and my address was a P.O. box so I didn't get any contact from any local Mormon priesthood. Just got the exit letter from some bishop I never met.

You are out. Once they acknowledge they received your email and they know exactly who you are, you are no longer Mormon. Keep the letter as proof. Congrats!

Although you are "on record" as no longer being a member, the info is submitted to SL just in case at some point of you wish to come back.

"I sent in my resignation two weeks ago by email to church membership records."

Maybe this has already been mentioned but anyone could fake an email and claim that a person wants to resign, when in fact the named person does not really want it. So they refer it back to the local leaders to be sure you are who your email said you are.

Very good point jojo. I don't mind meeting with them and telling them why I left. It might be therapeutic.