By Sandra Tanner
John W. Taylor: Ordained apostle, age 25, 1884, resigned 1905, excommunicated 1911, died 1916, blessings restored posthumously 1965.1 Taylor was the son of LDS President John Taylor, third president of the LDS Church.
Both Taylor and Matthias F. Cowley were forced to resign in 1905 due to their continued practice and support of polygamy. “From 1900 until the disposition of the Smoot case in 1907, the Mormon question was again before the nation’s eyes. This burst of renewed inquiry was to reveal that not only had polygamous cohabitation continued but, more disturbing, the performance of new polygamous marriages, including some by apostles, had taken place as well.”2
Matthias F. Cowley: Ordained apostle, age 39, 1897, resigned 1905, priesthood suspended 1911, restored 1936, died 1940.3 His son, Matthew Cowley, became an apostle in 1945. (See John W. Taylor entry.)
Richard R. Lyman: Ordained apostle, age 47, 1918, excommunicated 1943, rebaptized 1954, died 1963.4
Lyman evidently entered into a secret plural marriage. “This is first plural marriage of current general authority since 1905.”5 Son of Apostle Frances M. Lyman and his polygamist wife, Clara C. Callister.
George P. Lee: Sustained First Quorum of Seventy, age 32, 1975, excommunicated 1989, died 2010.6
He was the first Native American to be made a Seventy. Lee charged the LDS authorities with being “vain men bent on dislodging Indians from their rightful place in Mormon theology.”7 He was later charged with sexual abuse of a minor.8 He also taught the doctrine of polygamy.
Paul H. Dunn: Sustained in Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy, age 52, 1976-1980, named emeritus General Authority in 1989 after being censured for telling false/exaggerated stories in his sermons.9
According to the Deseret News: “In his open letter, Dunn, 67, said . . . ‘They have censured me and placed a heavy penalty upon me. I accept their censure and the imposed penalty, and pledge to conduct my life in such a way as to merit their confidence and full fellowship.’ Church spokesman Don LeFevre said Saturday that the nature of the penalty is ‘an internal matter, and we don’t discuss such matters’ publicly.”10
James J. Hamula: Sustained First Quorum of Seventy, age 51, 2008, excommunicated 2017.
While the LDS Church does not generally discuss the reasons for excommunication, according to the Deseret News it was made clear that “Tuesday’s action was not due to disillusionment or apostasy on the part of Hamula.”11 This would mean that it was for some form of moral lapse. In time, after sufficient repentance, Hamula would be able to rejoin the church.
Footnotes:
- 2009 Church Almanac, Deseret News, p. 92. ↩︎
- “The Taylor-Cowley Affair and the Watershed of Mormon History,” Utah State Historical Quarterly (Winter 1980), vol. 48, no. 1. ↩︎
- 2009 Church Almanac, Deseret News, p. 92 ↩︎
- Ibid., p. 93. ↩︎
- D. Michael Quinn, Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power, (Signature Books, Salt Lake City: 1997) p. 819. ↩︎
- 2009 Church Almanac, Deseret News, p. 110. ↩︎
- Deseret News, (Sept. 10, 1989). See also: “Excommunication: Mormon Leader Expelled After Charging Church with Racism.” ↩︎
- “Mormonism’s Problem With Child Sexual Abuse,” Salt Lake City Messenger, no. 91 (November 1996). ↩︎
- “Dunn in the Name of God! — Confession by Emeritus General Authority of the Mormon Church Raises New Questions About the Origins of Mormonism,” Salt Lake City Messenger, no. 78 (June 1991). ↩︎
- “Elder Dunn Offers Apology for Errors, Admits Censure,” Deseret News, (Oct. 27, 1991). ↩︎
- “LDS Church leaders release, excommunicate Elder James J. Hamula,” Deseret News (Aug. 8, 2017). ↩︎
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