personally written statement? I am currently writing my resignation email and I don't want to bother listing all the reasons why I no longer believe. I do like Richard Pakham's letter.
I'd appreciate any input.

IMO it's none of their business why you no longer believe. You just don't. I would leave it at that. It's bad enough you have to write them a letter at all.

I used a sample letter to start with, but made changes. I did not go into detail about why I no longer believed. It was my search for an exit letter that brought me to RfM. I had not been reading "anti" stuff prior to deciding to resign.

My bishop came to our house the day after he received the letter. He stated that I had covered everything in the letter that he needed to review. He stated I had obviously done my homework as it contained quotes from his manual.

I wrote a long, personalized letter - not because I thought they would bother to read it, but because I needed to write it. It was cathartic. And kind of fun.

They won't care what your reasons are, so if you just want out you don't need to say anything more than that.

I just know that if I list the main reasons why I want nothing to do with the Church, they will attempt to argue and debate, which I have no desire for.

Using RPs letter as a template, here's a possible letter:

Please consider this my immediate resignation from membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Please make the necessary changes in the church membership records to indicate that I am no longer a member.

I am firm and unalterable in my decision to end my membership. I do not believe in the Church and I have no desire, interest, or need to discuss my beliefs or reasons for those beliefs with you. I simply ask that you honor the 11th article of faith and respect my rights to believe as I choose.

I am aware that according to church doctrine this cancels all blessings, baptisms, ordinations, promises, and covenants. I understand that I would need to wait at least one year to be re-baptized if I were to seek re-admittance.

Please inform the stake president that I waive the thirty-day waiting period during which the stake president may hold the request in order to give me the opportunity to rescind. Rather, I request him to process it without delay.

Thank you for your courtesy in honoring my request without delay.

Sincerely,
[Signature] [Date]

Not being polite to authority figures you no longer recognize is one more step toward recovery.

Furthermore, don't address it to Bishop _______________. Use Mr. _____________ instead.

I used Richard Packham's letter and added something along the lines of "any attempts to contact me will be considered harassment and will be dealt with accordingly."

Legally, once they get notification that you no longer want to be a member, you are no longer a member. I liked Richard's letter because it covered everything and made totally clear I knew exactly what I was doing.

I agree that if you list reasons for resigning you're just giving the bishop a list of talking points to argue over with you. But resignation means something different for everyone. If you feel like you need to call out all the problems you see, go for it. Post your 95 thesis, as it were. If not, Richard's letter gets the job done.

Your letter is for you; I doubt that anybody at the membership department even reads the letters beyond the information they need to process the resignation.

In Angelina's case she was recently active. This means she knows her bishop and he knows her so you can nearly guarantee that he will make a significant attempt to contact her.

If Angelina is planning to talk to her bishop (vs the option of hide from him and wait for the 60 day time-out), then the wording of her letter may make the discussion with her bishop easier or harder.

If she leaves an opening for him to discuss concerns and attempt to reactivate her it may make the discussion with the bishop more uncomfortable. If on the other hand she addresses all the things he needs to go over with her, and makes it very clear that she doesn't want to go into details about her beliefs it may make that conversation easier.

There is nothing he could tell me that would make me change my mind about the falsehood of the Church. While it might still be a decent religion for certain individuals, it is irrevocably NOT what it claims to be. Hence, my refusal to discuss it with a bishop or stake president. That would be a waste of their time and mine :)

Glad you are writing it!

I'm on the "short and sweet" side of the fence. You do not have to specify a reason why you are doing it. You are an adult making your own decisions, no need to justify them. That's my opinion but I understand some have the need to write a personal letter with all explanation.

I wrote it as a Family Proclamation.

Not that it was published far and wide, but it was cathartic to write and it has proven useful to send to various people, and very helpful to several of them.

Also, like a good mormon, I want my own reasons forever bound in my family history records, ha ha.

CAN YOU SHARE??? Please

Just use Richard Packham's letter.

They won't read it anyway.

The letter will be processed by clerk/typists - who two weeks into the job will have learned to ignore the content.

I used RP's letter and added a demand that they never rebaptize me or do any sort of rites for me even after my death.

I don't think that will stop them, but if at some time in the future the laws change, maybe it will help a lawyer make a case. At the very least, it will prove to anyone who cares that TSCC doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone's wishes but their own.

Whatever thoughts you choose, Have someone translate it into 'Reformed Egyptian', and send it in to them in that version...