A follow-up - Michael Crook: The Official Website

I am angrier than a kid whose tongue is frozen to a flagpole in the middle of summer over this, but I feel it’s my duty to follow up. As my frequent readers know, last month, after more than thirty years in, I voluntarily and officially withdrew my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the “Mormon” or LDS church.

Apparently, the church’s procedure regarding those who leave the faith has changed. Under the old rules, a resignation would be processed after thirty days, to give the person a chance to have a change of mind. A letter would then be sent out, advising the former member that their request has been carried out. Well, apparently that’s changed.

I reached out to my former bishop (think Catholic priest) for some clarification. He told me that once I resign, “that’s it.” I took that to mean that the church no longer has a policy of letting former members begin the process of coming back after one year.

I reached out to Bishop Dan Bolke for clarification. He did not respond to either of my requests. I therefore had to move up the chain to the stake president (think Catholic bishop). Early this morning, I got a response:

“The procedures involving Name Removal [sic] have changed. I no longer receive a letter stating that the action has been completed. Instead, I process the request from your [b]ishop and submit it to Church Headquarters.

Upon my submission [sic] I am given an immediate response as to whether the application was successfully submitted or not, which in your case it was. Your case status is listed as [h]eadquarters, meaning that it is now out of my hands and at [c]hurch [h]eadquarters. Your name and records no longer appear in the [m]embership [d]irectory, indicating that your name has been removed from Church records.

I hope this answers your question. Good luck and best wishes in all that you do.”

And while I had him, asked for clarification on Bolke’s comments. He stated that:

“That portion of the policy has not changed. A person may have a change of heart and be rebaptized. Where you personally will run into a delay is in light of you having your name removed and then being baptized more than once.”

I did leave the church once, but came back after a year. Now, it seems, I would not be welcomed back. It’s a moot point as Catholicism is where I’m meant and where I want to be. But it seems like the seventy times seven principle has gone out the window.

The stake president’s confirmation and clarification is good enough for me, but it would have been nice to get that letter. I like the fact that he got an “immediate response.” Was the church really that eager to get rid of me? No matter. I am much happier as a Catholic, because our Church is the only one that Jesus Christ Himself founded in AD 33. Mormonism came about because a man claimed to be visited by both God and our Savior.

Joseph Smith was a known criminal and he would go on to use his self-declared status as a “prophet” convince multiple women to marry him, including a 14-year-old girl. That means that, yes, the founder of the Mormon church was a pervert and a pedophile. He would go on to be assassinated by a mob at a jail where he was confined.

Anyway, the purpose of this article is to follow up and say that, after all is said and done, I am truly no longer a member of an untrue, but well-intentioned church.

This article has been edited to include comments from Bolke’s boss, the stake president.