The LDS Church's Membership Removal Process: Understanding the Reality and Reliability

Highly likely that you've been duped. If they do require a signature, it's coercion. It is doubtful that the institution would request your denial of the Christ, but rather an errant, puffed up with pride individual who was trying to force you to deny the Christ as Simon Peter had.

Why No Signing Required for US Citizens

Assuming you are a US citizen, you don't need to sign anything. Just take a stance against it. No one can force you to sign anything. If you are in another country or have other concerns, the situation may vary.

More Religious Nonsense

It's more religious crap. Who cares other than the church? They can’t make you do anything...leave them alone, be a good person, respectful, kind to others, and charitable to those in 's all you need to get into heaven...

Understanding the Membership Removal Process

I'm very curious to hear just exactly how you believe they would make you sign this paper. Would they threaten you with a baseball bat? That would be scary. Could they have some pictures of you doing something that might humiliate you if they were made public? Been there, done that. Or might they glare at you while quoting the Bible? I’m really trying not to make fun of this but the circumstances you are positing are seriously pathetic.

Typical Membership Removal Experience

I've never heard of such a thing, but it may be possible. In my opinion and observation, it really comes down to the degree of separation you want and the trouble you are willing to go to get it and the social context of church culture you live in. First off, understand that my wife left the Church 30 years ago, and membership removal has become much more common.

The closest thing to what was suggested in the question was when at Bishop's court, the Bishop listed all the things my wife was losing by leaving the Church. They laid it on pretty thick, and then asked her if she understood. They did ask her to sign something which she refused and never read. They also did ask her to write a letter to the Stake President but, since she had already written two for the Bishop, she refused. She received her removal of membership letter in the mail about 6 months later.

Detail of Removal Experience

For the curious, here is a little more detail of events. We have found it is important to some members to find blame or a rational reason why anyone would leave the Church. My wife had been dealing with abuse issues from childhood. These included different events over the years, such as a missionary and a Bishop. A few years into our marriage, my wife made the mistake of sharing this with a family member and this got back to her parents, who then contacted a Stake President. Turns out the Bishop in question was related to a member of the Twelve, and the next thing we knew, my wife was threatened with excommunication if she didn't stop "spreading rumors." On top of that, the Church said that my wife, after an investigation, had been accused of abusing someone when she was a teenager. Stop talking and this will all go away.

In the 1990s, we moved to Salt Lake City and settled into a new Ward. My wife found for the first time a therapist that actually seemed to be working for her. Unfortunately, the therapist was not a member, and my wife made the mistake of telling the Bishop's wife. Next thing we knew, the Bishop was telling my wife she needed to stop seeing her therapist and start going to a Church-approved therapist. It was also about this time that a General Conference talk was given that stated that some of the fault for abuse often lies with the abused and they may need to find that they need to repent for their involvement in being abused. That was basically the final straw, and my wife decided it was time to separate herself from the Church.

Consequences and Separation

This started a quick chain of events. My wife, 32 years old at the time, wrote a letter to the Bishop and called the Bishop to have her name removed from the Church records. The Bishop then called her father to ask what he thought. My father-in-law said he felt this was just a phase and to ignore the letter. Time passed. The Visiting Teachers came by as usual. The deacons came by to collect the fast offering. My wife called the Bishop to check on her removal request. The Bishop told her what had happened and requested that she send a second letter since he had thrown away the first one. She did, and was asked to come to the Bishop's office to discuss on Sunday. I went with her since she was nervous about being alone with the Bishop. When we arrived, we found out that this was in fact a Bishop’s court and would include the Bishop and his counselors. At first, they refused to let me sit in, but my wife stood her ground, and after a heated exchange, I was allowed to be with her. It was pretty simple. The Bishop read an explanation of why we were there. My wife was asked if she wanted to say anything, if she wished to move forward or if she wanted to repent. They explained the "eternal" consequences to her decision and gave her a statement to sign, which she refused. They also instructed her to write a letter to the Stake President to officially have her name removed, which she refused to do and instructed the Bishop to simply forward her previous letter.

After the removal "officially" became known, my wife was basically ostracized in the neighborhood. My kids lost all their LDS friends. My wife’s family were upset but understanding. The Visiting Teachers called to see if we still wanted them to come by. The deacons showed up a few times to collect the fast offering. I started getting calls from male church members inviting me to activities, which had never happened before. After the removal was official, we must have ended up on a list because the missionaries started to call or come by about once a month. My 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son, who were still considered members, started getting calls from the missionaries as well, which we considered highly inappropriate and asked to stop.

Neither of them attend the LDS church and do not consider themselves members. But because they have not had their names removed from the Church roles to this day, they still get contacted every now and then. We found out that the Church was getting updated from my mother-in-law as to their address each time one of them moved.

Every story is different, which I said it comes down to the culture of the Ward you live in. Today, to my understanding, the removal process is much easier and less dramatic.