Mormon Activist Expelled for Advocacy On Ordaining Women

A disciplinary council of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Monday excommunicated a human rights attorney who founded an advocacy group that vocally campaigned to end the Mormon ban on female clergy, writes The Washington Post.

Following a hearing Sunday, the all-male panel meeting in Oakton, Va., said Kate Kelly’s membership could be reinstated if she ceases taking “actions that undermine the church.” Ms. Kelly’s organization, Ordain Women, held public protests and training workshops pressing Mormon officials to allow women to serve as priests.

In a letter to Ms. Kelly, Bishop Mark Harrison wrote that the excommunication stemmed not from her position on the issue but from her “aggressive effort to persuade other Church members to your point of view,” which he said “threatened to erode the faith of others.” Mr. Harrison was Ms. Kelly’s bishop until she moved to Utah earlier this month.

Kathleen Flake, a religion historian at the University of Virginia, said Ordain Women’s use of political tools to pursue change within the faith created “a clash of cultures.” As Mormonism becomes more mainstream, there is growing internal discussion of gender issues, Ms. Flake said, adding, “That’s what the church wants—to keep it private.”