Confused Re: my Church Membership

[martha]

Hi,

I need some advice please about my church membership. I have been inactive for 10years but recently returned.

It seems my name has been removed from the Church list. I vaguely remember writing to the bishop to request that. I went to another religion after that. (My life has been complicated).

My point is, now my current bishop says I need to be baptised again, and then have my other blessings restored to me (ie temple sealing). I understood that , and do not have a problem if that is what is needed. BUt now I am confused. After my meeting with the bishop I read Elder Ballards article ..which explains that even if a member requests his/her names to be removed and goes to another church, and then returns to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints then it is to be considered as an administrative issue. I never denied the truthfulness of the Gospel, nor denied the Holy SPirit, nor said the Book of Mormon is untrue, nor said Joseph Smith was not a prophet, so this means I did not apostatize? In fact I always defended the CHurch whilst away.

I returned to the church about 2months back, my youngest son (13yrs)who lives with his dad then came along and has now been baptised and my ex-husband has also returned to the CHurch.

I am really happy for them both, and I want to see my son progress. THe bishop said I can think about baptism and take the steps to do that...to which I replied that I want to be with my son every step of his progression.

So I am just a bit confused here. My bishop is now away for several weeks. Maybe the Stake President will see me next Sunday when I go...but I am wondering if anyone here with the right authority can help me understand a little better?

[WmLee]

This really is an administrative issue. If you’ve not be excommunicated and simply had your records sent to Salt Lake it is only a matter of getting your records sent to your Ward. If you’ve requested that your name be removed from the church records it is an administrative issue that the Bishop, (in this case the Stake President can start things because it would have to go through him after the bishop submits his request) and he will contact the Area Presidency.

Would you have to be baptized again? Your situation is going to be a little different. Not here, but when you speak with your bishop you’ll have to go into detail about why you chose to leave and what you’ve done in your life during that time. Since you mentioned and ex-husband and a son, there are more things that you don’t need to discuss here that need to be considered. All of this is something you’ll have to be patient about until you speak with local church leaders.

I don’t recall Elder Ballard’s talk, but keep in mind your situation might be a little different than the general rule he may have been referring to.

I’m glad you’re back!!

[sleepless3977]

It depends on if they can find your records or not. If after searching for your records they cannot find anything they need to recreate these and in order to do so the ordinances need to be performed under the proper authority and direction.

I've seen this done several times to correct church records.

[martha]

Hmmm...thankyou WmLee and sleepless.

I guess my next step is to check with the bishop if I was excommunicated or not. But even after I asked for my name to be removed by that letter years back I received no notification of either excommunication or name removal from records. It is a bit confusing

[chitchat]

If a person leaves the Mormon church and attends another denomination for a while, is he excommunicated?

[pam]

That is left up to the local Bishop or Stake President and depends on the circumstances behind it.

[martha]

This is the article I read. ANd has led to confusion. Also I did not attend or know of a disciplinary court when I sent the letter 10years back. I had no acknowledgement at all. It was only last Sunday, after having attended for 2months that I learned I was no longer on the church records.

As I said before ...it is not a problem to be baptised again if that is what is required. I guess I must wait to hear from my bishop

The article btw is really good. :)

LDS.org - Ensign Article - A Chance to Start Over: Church Disciplinary Councils and the Restoration of Blessings

Nor are they held for members who demand that their names be removed from Church records or who have joined another church; that is now an administrative action.

[pam]

That is Church disciplinary council which is different than asking for your name to be taken off the records of the Church.

[hordak]

Hmmm...thankyou WmLee and sleepless.

I guess my next step is to check with the bishop if I was excommunicated or not. But even after I asked for my name to be removed by that letter years back I received no notification of either excommunication or name removal from records. It is a bit confusing

If you received no notification chances are you fell through the cracks. If you fell through, and the Bishop didn't take it up the chain, then your still a member and nothing would come of it.Though your Bishop will probably want to know why you asked to be removed in the first place and why you came back.

If you fell through, the Bishop did the paperwork and sent it up but forgot to notify you, Then you would have to be baptized after a thorough interview. Name removal cancels baptism, confirmation, Priesthood, and temple blessings. It is like excommunication in that regard.

However if you were actually excommunicated you would have received notice to come to a church court and defend yourself. So you were not exed.

My guess is A, bishop didn't send it up. Name removal has serious consequences so Bishops are to make sure the individual knows that.

[sulli]

I know a bit about this and if you really want to know how the process works you can google "resigning from Mormon church" yourself. Once you send in a letter asking for name removal you are basically saying that you no longer want to be a member. It is not the same as excommunication but you do have to be rebaptized. Standard church procedure and policy requires rebaptizm.

So if your letter requested REMOVAL of your name from the records you are not a member. If your letter was just a NO CONTACT letter then you would still be a member. There is a big difference between name removal and just requesting to not be contacted.

[martha]

Hmm..thanks for the replies.

I will google it, sulli.

One thing my Bishop said though was that the temple sealing would be reinstated. But perhaps he needs clarification from Stake President/Area authority. Bishop has started making enquires to Salt Lake church offices for more info.

I will let you know what happens.