I have always been bothered by the way the Church handles resignations. As you probably know, if you send a resignation letter to the Church in Salt Lake, they punt it back to "local priesthood leaders" to handle. The Church sends the former member a form letter telling them this. The process sometimes takes quite sometime. Recently, a friend of mine resigned and received the form letter. I wrote this letter for him to send in. I now want to make it available publicly. Use of this letter does not create an attorney-client relationship. Use at your own risk. If you need legal advice, you should seek the counsel of a competent attorney.

Dear Confidential Records,

I am in receipt of your letter dated [DATE], in response to my correspondence dated [DATE] wherein I terminated my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Though I am legally no longer a member of the LDS Church, your [DATE] letter strangely takes the position that, “the Church considers [my] request to be an ecclesiastical matter that must be handled by local priesthood leaders before being processed by Church employees.”

It is clear that the LDS Church does not understand the effect of my [DATE] letter, nor my rights under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. My letter was not a “request.” My letter was a formal and final termination of my membership, effective the moment I sent it. My resignation is now effective and does not require the consent or “handling” of any Church official or “local priesthood leaders.”

As you are aware, the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States guarantees my right to “peaceably...assemble” with those that I choose as well as my freedom of religion. The Supreme Court has recognized the right of citizens “to pursue their lawful private interests privately and to associate freely with others....” NAACP v. Ala. ex rel. Patterson, 357 U.S. 449, 466 (U.S. 1958). Other courts have held that right of freedom of association applies not only to government actors, but private organizations as well.

In Guinn v. Church of Christ Collinsville, 1989 OK 8 (Okla. 1989) a member of a Church terminated her membership in the Church. In spite of severing the association, the Church refused to acknowledge the resignation and proceeded with disciplinary action against her, continuing to treat her as a member. The former Church member brought suit. The Supreme Court of Oklahoma held that, “Just as freedom to worship is protected by the First Amendment, so also is the liberty to recede from one's religious allegiance.” Id. Even the scriptures of the LDS Church acknowledge my “sacred...freedom of conscience. “ Doctrine & Covenants 134:5. “A church clearly is constitutionally free to exclude people without first obtaining their consent. But the First Amendment will not shield a church from civil liability for imposing its will, as manifested through a disciplinary scheme, upon an individual who has not consented to undergo ecclesiastical discipline.” Guinn. The purpose of this letter is to provide the LDS Church formal notice that, as a former member, I do not consent to “local priesthood leaders” “handling” my “request” nor do I consent to being treated as a member of the LDS Church in any way. Please be advised that if the LDS Church takes any action that treats me as a member, in any way, I reserve my right to bring suit and to bring this matter to the attention of the media. I am deeply offended that the LDS Church refuses to recognize and respect my rights of freedom of religion and association under the First Amendment.

Providing confirmation that my records have been removed is a simple matter. It does not require intervention of “local priesthood leaders.” As an international organization, the LDS Church should have the maturity to handle this matter timely and discreetly. After all, if an individual’s tithing donations can be delivered to the headquarters of the LDS Church, then surely the same headquarters of the Church ought to be able to acknowledge a simple resignation without punting anything back to “local priesthood leaders.”

This letter also provides the LDS Church notice that should any “local priesthood leaders” make any defamatory comments regarding my termination of membership, including during so-called “correlation” meetings, I reserve my right to file suit. In fact, there is no reason why my resignation needs to be discussed by “local priesthood leaders” at all. “Under the banner of the First Amendment provisions on religion, a clergyman may not with impunity defame a person, intentionally inflict serious emotional harm on a parishioner, or commit other torts.” Madsen v. Erwin, 481 N.E.2d 1160, 1167 (Mass. 1985).

After I receive confirmation that my membership records have been removed, I want no further contact from the LDS Church or its members.

Sincerely,

to the morg's law firm:

Kirton McConkie
60 E South Temple St
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 328-3600

Any attorney out there care to weigh in?

Actually the best way to send this would be to send it to the registered agent for the Church in your respective state. To find who that is, go to your state's Secretary of State website and find the business entity search. Search for 'Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.'

So, for example, if you were in Kansas, your result would be this:

https://www.kansas.gov/bess/flow/main?execution=e1s5

You would then address the letter as follows

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
c/o Corporation Service Company, Registered Agent
2900 SW WANAMAKER DRIVE SUITE 204, TOPEKA, KS 66614

Every out-of-state corporation that does business in another state must register with the Secretary of State and designate a registered agent in that state to receive service of process. The Church has a registered agent in all 50 states. You should also send the letter by certified mail. CC: the records department in Salt Lake and Kirton McConkie. I would recommend this process not only for the follow-up letter, but also for the original resignation.

My feeling is that if enough people push back against the current process, the Church will begin to timely and efficiently process resignations, which ethically and legally they should be doing anyway. I hope this letter goes viral and I hope you'll help that happen.

In California's Secretary of State site I found the following address listed for the entity ( entity # C0083164)

Lawyers Incorporating Service

2710 Gateway Oaks Dr. Ste. 150N

Sacramento CA 95833

I think I should have followed your example a little more closely:

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
c/o Corporation Service Company-Lawyers Incorporating Service
2710 Gateway Oaks Dr. Suite 150N
Sacramento, CA 95833

and there was no listing. Strange.

Mind if I use this? Excellent work...

This is why I have made the letter public.

Have any readers done the resignation thing in Canada?

Just wondering if the same process applies here.

I'm in Alberta, and resigned a few years ago. I sent my letter directly to member records in SLC, and made sure to reference the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in my letter. The whole process seemed to go pretty much the same way as the American posters here have described.

wow. that was powerful. I well remember my own resignation letter and the letter I received weeks afterward from some guy who I didn't know and who had never met me, but he was my so-called bishop. It was rather funny as he stated in his letter that he would "allow" me to resign. It was a WTF moment for me, for sure.

Me too! The local BP phoned me and at the end of our very uncomfortable conversation he stated that he would pass my "request" on to the stake president who would "decide". BTW, I deliberately avoided any wording that could be misinterpreted as a request in my letter, rather I stated I was notifying them that I had resigned my membership.

THWACK! I love it. This letter needs to be added to the "Resigning/Resignation" area of the board. How fun would it be to see the reaction of the COB's law firm...

Excellent! It is annoying that they have to attempt strong-arming people back in with personal contact after receiving written resignation.

Does a member have any legal relationship with the morg? I just don't remember signing a contract when I was baptized, and furthermore doubt that an 8 year-old can enter a legal contract in most places. I consider my relationship with them to be whatever I want it to be.. At Will. I am proceeding as if that were so. Contact with them doesn't really bother me for now, as I am amused by their feigned distress at my "inactivity" anyway. If they attempt to defame me, things will change quickly though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2013 06:04PM by rationalguy.

I posted a copy of your letter at the Salamander:

http://www.salamandersociety.com/blacksheep/

It's at the bottom of the page in the example correspondence section. Thank you Korihoresq. If I ever employ your legal services will you take payment in Nephite coins?

Let us know what response you get.

Looking forward to following this story! Keep us posted!

Once again we are reminded that the Morg is chalk full of pompous asses.

This thread should be archived, or stickied, or otherwise preserved near the general instructions for resigning!
Great letter, and great follow on guidance!

Push Back for bullies! They've had their way long enough.

This is great. It should be used by everyone who resigns. I wish I would have had it to tuck into my resignation.

Great letter. This needs to be archived for future use by those who choose to resign!

+1

Once you submit your resignation, you are legally out.

No additional action is required. What the church does is irrelevant. Ignore their requests to meet and discuss. You have no legal obligation.

Does that suit cover children under 18? Can they resign their religious affiliation?

"The Supreme Court of Oklahoma held that, “Just as freedom to worship is protected by the First Amendment, so also is the liberty to recede from one's religious allegiance.”

I don't know and I am glad you asked the question.

Emancipated minors on here that are leaving the Church, please let us know.

Mormonism has primarily grown through BIC parents passing down the lies and deceptions of Mormonism, often unknowingly, to their children and then whispering in their ears since birth that they must remain trut to Mormonism.

With the Hans Mattson article in the NY Times I have seen a lot of discussion about when someone should figure out that the Church is ridiculous and deceptive.

What we have is an organization, the Mormon church, exploiting the love and trust of a parent child relationship. With the Internet it will be much harder for them, especially once parents decide to protect their children from cult behaviors and provide them with healthy alternatives.

When a minor finds themselves in a situation where they have learned the Mormon church to be deceptive and fraudulent in its' representations, a minor needs to be confident that he or he is no longer compelled to participate in this organization even if their parents require them to do so.

I don't know how this plays out in the short run, easy or hard, but we need this to begin to happen. Are 16 year-olds allowed to leave the religion of their parents without parental consent in the United States of America. What are the rights of a minor in religious association?

"When a minor finds themselves in a situation where they have learned the Mormon church to be deceptive and fraudulent in its' representations, a minor needs to be confident that he or he is no longer compelled to participate in this organization even if their parents require them to do so."

The issue with this is that the PARENTS get to chose, and enforce what religion, if any, for their kids.

With the exceptions of major abuse/neglect and the minor can be emancipated from his/her parents, in most cases, the minor will have to suck it up and go thru the motions until he/she is 18.

Church Headquarters will take your money, but not your resignation. Funny how it always comes back to money. Nice point.

And besides... all member records are centrally located in a big database in Salt Lake. Sending the request back to the local bishop is actually the inefficient way of doing it. A person at member records can enter your info, your record pops up, s/he enters a check in the resigned field, and voila, done!

It's all about being the power person in control to them.

Thank you korihoresq for sharing this. I will be taking a copy of this letter and my resignation letter to the bishop later today. After reading how resignation letters just get sent back to the local level I asked for an appointment.

Copies of the resignation letter will be sent to the stake and regional presidents along with slc. Perhaps I should include a copy of this letter in hopes of preventing further discussion.

One minor legal technicality (please correct me if I am wrong):

The letter says:
"My letter was a formal and final termination of my membership, effective the moment I sent it."

If I remember my first-year lawschool training correctly, the letter is not effective until it is received.

Of course, by the time this response letter is sent, it is obvious that the original resignation letter was received.

This letter is an excellent start, but I see a couple areas where I think stronger arguments exist. In particular, I think it would be useful to place "time, place, and manner" restrictions on how local leaders can contact you, including "my identity has been verified by a notary public, so you have no need to contact me to verify identity. I will consider any personal contact harassment and will treat it as such. You may contact me by letter to inform me when you have completed processing my resignation."

I'd like to explore ideas like that. I don't think huffing and puffing and demanding no contact is really effective. Though I will concede the OP letter is some pretty good quality huffing and puffing.

I'll post my thoughts on this tomorrow. Got errands to run today.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2013 04:43PM by Brother Of Jerry.

Agree, great start and other good ideas here. One of my law school buddy's father worked for K&M. He told me some interesting things about church settlements. I think looping them in is a great idea. I would even suggest having your local attorney send it so they know you've already "lawyered up". There are some things I would trim or finesse, but if you are in Texas, I'd be willing to try this out for free or just expenses. Susan I/S has my email. I have a resigned atty friend who is also in Texas who wrote a strict first letter then a harsher second letter when his first was not followed. I'll try to find his letters and get his story straight then return and report.