Opposing Church leadership at the next General Conference

My friend Michael De Groote calls my attention to a plan to oppose the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Church’s upcoming annual General Conference.

Calling themselves “a group of concerned members” of the Church, its organizers seek “to express feedback, opinions, dissent, or dissatisfaction about the current views, positions and teachings of the LDS Church.”

The leadership of the Church, they claim, are “insulated from hearing authentic concerns and feedback of their members.”

For the record, I think this complaint misconceived.  Leaders of the Church come from the general membership — they’re not, say, a professional celibate elite — and aren’t, for the most part, very long removed from it.  They live in ordinary neighborhoods, not in monasteries or convents.  They have spouses, children, grandchildren, and friends.  Moreover, as part of their calling, they’re almost constantly on the road, meeting with local members, leaders, and missionaries.

Of course, communication can always be improved.

But one comment from the group is, to me, very revealing:  “Typically members must be in good standing and enjoy certain levels of trust with their priesthood leaders before a request for tickets [to General Conference] will be granted. As such, it is often difficult for individuals who wish to express concerns to secure Conference tickets.”

That, I think, speaks volumes.

Implicitly, the people they’re seeking to recruit for their protest are, to some substantial degree, those who aren’t in good standing in the Church and who don’t have the trust of their local Church leaders.

It’s always possible to gain admittance to General Conference if one is willing to wait in a standby line.  Probably most Conference attendees do precisely that.  But these folks would prefer higher numbers and easier access than that method would guarantee.

Accordingly, the group has issued a “call for action.”  They’re asking members and local leaders of the Church who might have control over tickets to General Conference, or who might be able to secure them, to give them not to faithful Latter-day Saints in good standing who seek to enjoy the Conference sessions but, rather, to the group itself, for distribution to dissidents.  They encourage “Latter-day Saints who wish to cast a dissenting vote but do not have access to Conference tickets . . . to request tickets” from their leaders in order to stage a protest there.  They also urge dissidents unable to obtain tickets to arrive at the stand-by line early, so as to ensure that they, rather than believing Mormons who support the General Authorities, will gain access to General Conference.

To their credit, the organizers of this protest add that “Participants are to be aware that that this is a peaceful vote and not a disruption of General Conference. Participants are encouraged to dress and behave respectfully due to the sacredness and decorum of the Conference setting. Any indication of violent or malicious intent will be reported to law enforcement authorities.”

However, they also indicate that they “will remain anonymous in the attempt to prevent LDS leadership from singling out and preventing specific individuals from participation,” and in the hope of avoiding “reprisal.”

Posted from Monterey, California