XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.religion.mormon, soc.women   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: arohde@shaw.ca   
      
   SALT LAKE CITY –  The Mormon church excommunicated the founder   
   of a prominent women's group Monday, a rare move that brings   
   down the harshest punishment available on an adherent who   
   created an organization and staged demonstrations in a push for   
   women to join the faith's priesthood.   
      
   The ousting of Kate Kelly marks one of the most significant   
   excommunications in recent church history and sends a stern   
   warning to others publicly challenging church practice and   
   forming groups around their cause, scholars who study Mormonism   
   say.   
      
   Excommunication is not common in the Mormon faith. Nobody has   
   solid numbers on how many church members are ousted each year,   
   but it is probably between 10,000 to 20,000, a fraction of the   
   15 million members worldwide, said Matt Martinich, a church   
   member who analyzes membership numbers with the nonprofit   
   Cumorah Foundation.   
      
   Kelly's former church leaders in Virginia notified her by email   
   after holding a disciplinary hearing Sunday and weighing the   
   matter overnight. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day   
   Saints found her guilty of apostasy, defined as repeated and   
   public advocacy of positions that oppose church teachings.   
      
   Kelly called the decision "exceptionally painful."   
      
   "Today is a tragic day for my family and me as we process the   
   many ways this will impact us, both in this life and in the   
   eternities," she said in a statement.   
      
   Church officials had no immediate comment Monday. Kelly's group,   
   Ordain Women, announced the decision Monday.   
      
   Debra Jenson, a spokeswoman for Ordain Women, said the group is   
   saddened but will continue to advocate.   
      
   Kelly did not attend the disciplinary hearing but sent about   
   1,000 letters on her behalf and held a vigil Sunday with about   
   200 supporters in Salt Lake City.   
      
   Kelly was one of two well-known Mormons facing excommunication.   
   John Dehlin, an outspoken advocate for gays and the creator of a   
   website that provides a forum for church members questioning   
   their faith, has a meeting with his stake president in Logan on   
   June 29 to discuss his case.   
      
   Scholars who study the religion say they are the most high-   
   profile examples of excommunication proceedings since 1993. That   
   year, the church disciplined six Mormon writers who questioned   
   church doctrine, ousting five and kicking out a sixth   
   temporarily.   
      
   Jan Shipps, a retired religion professor from Indiana who is a   
   non-Mormon expert on the church, said church leaders are   
   practicing "boundary maintenance," using Kelly and Dehlin as   
   examples to show people how far they can go in questioning   
   church practices.   
      
   Shipps said she wasn't surprised that Kelly was ousted,   
   considering Kelly chose not to attend the hearing or show   
   contriteness.   
      
   "It does more than excommunicate Kelly," Shipps said of the   
   decision. "It warns everybody."   
      
   Kelly said she stands behind everything she has done since   
   forming Ordain Women in 2013. The group advocates for gender   
   equality in the faith, with the ultimate goal of allowing women   
   in the lay clergy. Kelly insists that she has not spoken out   
   against church leaders or church doctrine.   
      
   Women can hold many leadership positions in church, but aren't   
   allowed to be bishops of congregations or presidents of stakes.   
   Stakes are made up of up to a dozen congregations, known as   
   wards. The church's highest leaders, called the Quorum of the   
   Twelve Apostles, are also all men.   
      
   The church says only men serve in the lay clergy as prescribed   
   in "the pattern set by the Savior when it comes to priesthood   
   ordination."   
      
   Mormon officials haven't discussed Kelly's case specifically.   
   They have said they are open to questions and sincere   
   conversations about the faith, but that some members' actions   
   "contradict church doctrine and lead others astray."   
      
   "In the Church, we want everyone to feel welcome, safe and   
   valued, and of course, there is room to ask questions," church   
   spokeswoman Ally Isom said. "But how we ask is just as important   
   as what we ask. We should not try to dictate to God what is   
   right for his Church."   
      
   Kelly's group drew rebukes from church leaders in April when   
   they marched on church property in downtown Salt Lake City's   
   Temple Square. The women asked to be allowed in a meeting   
   reserved for members of the priesthood, which includes most   
   males in the church who are 12 and older. Church leaders had   
   previously told the group they wouldn't be let in and warned   
   them not to disturb the faith's biannual general conference that   
   weekend.   
      
   http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/23/mormon-church-   
   excommunicates-founder-women-group/   
      
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