The Strengthening Church Members Committee is a committee of general authorities of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) who monitor the publications of its members for possible criticism of general and local church leaders. If criticism is found, the committee may forward information to local church leaders, who may bring charges of

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...

, which can result in

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

Creation

The committee was formed during the administration of church president

Ezra Taft Benson Ezra Taft Benson (August 4, 1899 – May 30, 1994) was an American farmer, government official, and religious leader who served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture during both presidential terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower and ...

, soon after he became president in 1985.

Discovery

The existence of the committee became known in 1991, when a 1990 church memo from general authority Glenn L. Pace referencing the committee was published. The committee was one of the subjects discussed in the 1992 Sunstone Symposium in talks by

Lavina Fielding Anderson Lavina Fielding Anderson (born 13 April 1944 in Shelley, Idaho) is a Latter-day Saint scholar, writer, editor, and feminist. Anderson holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington. Her editing credits include ''Sisters in Spirit: Mo ...

and

Eugene England George Eugene England, Jr. (22 July 1933 – 17 August 2001), usually credited as Eugene England, was a Mormon writer, teacher, and scholar. He founded '' Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'', the oldest independent journal in Mormon Studi ...

(then a

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

(BYU) professor) on August 6, 1992. Soon thereafter, the ''

Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History A ...

'' published news stories on the subject (Tribune, August 8, 1992, and August 15, 1992). England came to regret his comments and apologized to all parties individually. In response to this public discourse, the LDS Church spokesman, Don LeFevre, acknowledged the committee's existence. LeFevre said that the committee "receives complaints from church members about other members who have made statements that 'conceivably could do harm to the church, then the committee will "pass the information along to the person's ecclesiastical leader." According to LeFevre, however, "the committee neither makes judgments nor imposes penalties." Discipline is "entirely up to the discretion of the local leaders."

Church response

The existence of the committee became national news. Speaking to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', LeFevre stated that the committee "provides local church leadership with information designed to help them counsel with members who, however well-meaning, may hinder the progress of the church through public criticism.". He denied that such referrals were intended to intimidate scholars. The

First Presidency Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...

then issued a statement on August 22, 1992, defending the committee based on an 1839 letter from

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

. The letter came while Smith was in prison after a period of intense persecution (see 1838 Mormon War), now canonized by the church ( D&C 123), that directed church leaders to establish a committee for "gathering up a knowledge of all the facts, and sufferings and abuses put on" church members, and the "names of all persons that have had a hand in their oppressions". The statement indicated that the members were then James E. Faust and

Russell M. Nelson Russell Marion Nelson Sr. (born September 9, 1924) is an American religious leader and retired surgeon who is the 17th and current president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Nelson was a member of the LDS Church ...

of the

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

. In 1993,

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

Dallin H. Oaks Dallin Harris Oaks (born August 12, 1932) is an American religious leader and former jurist and academic who since 2018 has been the first counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was ...

characterized the committee as a "clipping service" that "may have monitored speeches, writings and activities of those suspected of apostasy and passed on material to church officials".

Activities

According to Eugene England, BYU academic vice-president

Stan Albrecht Stan LeRoy Albrecht (born July 13, 1942) is an American educator, university administrator, and scholar. He served as the president of Utah State University from 2005 to 2016. Early life and education Albrecht was raised on a farm near Fremont ...

resigned in 1992 partly due to "difficulty carrying out university business because of complaints from BYU religion faculty about other faculty members' writings, made to the Strengthening Church Members Committee". England had known others affected by the committee's activities, some seeing their files, which in one case contained newspaper clippings about being a Young Democrat in college. The committee is understood to still be in operation, and was mentioned during the 2004 church discipline of Grant H. Palmer in which it reportedly sent a dossier on Palmer to his

stake president A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in certain denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. The name "stake" derives from the Book of Isaiah: "enlarge the place of thy tent; stretch forth the curtains of thine h ...

. In June 2014,

KUTV KUTV (channel 2) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside independent station KJZZ-TV (channel 14) and St. George–licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate K ...

, the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

affiliate for Salt Lake City, investigated whether the committee was involved when several LDS bloggers and activists were summoned for church discipline.

John Dehlin John Parkinson Dehlin is an American podcast host and excommunicated member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He holds a PhD in psychology. Dehlin founded the Mormon Stories Podcast, as well as several other Morm ...

's former stake president had news clippings and a lengthy podcast transcription, which Dehlin believed had been provided by another source, though he did not see a file on himself from the committee. Rock Waterman reported that his

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

became involved at the direction of an area authority. The church declined to comment, though an earlier press release had stated, "Decisions are made by local leaders and not directed or coordinated by Church headquarters." Several blogs also suggested the committee's involvement. ''The New York Times'' described this as a "crackdown" involving "more than a dozen Mormons", but quoted Michael Otterson of church public affairs saying, "There is no coordinated effort to tell local leaders to keep their members from blogging or discussing their questions online."

Notes

References

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