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In my fairly recently published Power of Godliness, I have a chapter on the blessing of babies (and children) in the church. This was a surprising chapter for me to research and write, and it turned into a very useful lens to analyze many important aspects of church belief, practice, and teaching. Near the end of this chapter, I also have a brief section on the 2015 exclusion of children of LGBTQ parents from the liturgies of the church. I mention in passing the similarity in restriction to the children of polygamist schismatics, but didn’t take the time or space to elucidate that history. Here I’d like to flesh out that earlier restriction a bit.



Schismatic polygamists and the rise of Mormon Fundamentalism was a very serious concern for Heber J. Grant and subsequent church leaders. [n1] In 1935 the church made a major push against individuals who began settling in the Short Creek area. That same year the First Presidency released a statement that the children of parents who had been excommunicated for “having entered into illicit relations under the guise of plural marriage” were not to be baptized until they had sufficient understanding to assure an acceptance of church teachings and “express regret” for their parents’ opposition to the “rules of the church.” Giving the basis of the policy, the statement concluded: “There is no consistency in baptizing a child and having him re-enter a home, the spirit of which is antagonistic to the authorities of the Church, and out of harmony with its principles.” [n2] This was quoted directly in the 1940 and 1944 handbooks, and the 1946 revised edition of The Missionary’s Hand Book. [n3] The policy was then summarized in the 1963, 1968, and 1976 editions of the general handbook.

The Presiding Bishopric wrote to ward leaders in 1957 instructing that while “children should never be disfellowshipped or excommunicated from the Church because such action has been taken against their parents,” and that “unbaptized children cannot be excommunicated,” children of parents who had been excommunicated “for practicing plural marriage” were not to be baptized until they were adults and “then only when they are willing to obey the teachings of the Church.” [n4]

On December 7, 1967 the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency met in their regular meeting and discussed a query from leaders in Southern Utah on the propriety of enrolling children of polygamists in Primary, MIA, and other church organizations. A statement which President McKay had previously delivered at a 1954 St. George Solemn Assembly was read to the council and approved for distribution among the Twelve for the purpose of responding to similar questions:

The Authorities of the Church felt the necessity years ago of depriving these offspring of these Cultists of the blessings of the Priesthood, and, therefore, when they are eight years of age or when they are twelve, they are not entitled to the blessings of the Church, and you Bishops should not accept them. That instruction has been given out. Now there is another question coming up and you are meeting it in this area. These little children are being enrolled in Primary and their mothers are taking part and some of your Mutuals are inviting these seemingly good women to come and speak to them and their children are invited to participate in the exercises. Well now, that shouldn’t be done, and some of your members in the wards say, ‘Well, you will let non-members come.’ Yes, we do because non-members are earnestly seeking the truth, but here you are dealing with an apostate group who deliberately charge the Authorities of the Church with having apostatized and that the Church is an apostate church. Now we suggest, and this is in keeping I am sure with the views of all the General Authorities, that not only do you deprive these boys of having the priesthood until they arrive at the years of accountability so that they may choose between the truth of the Church and the teachings of their parents. We do that, and some of them are on missions now. They have found the light and are serving, but until they do they are no treated as members of the Church, and the children should not be enrolled in our Primary departments. Now if we leave it just at that point, you bishops are going to meet some of our own members who will say that is uncharitable and we do not want the Church to carry that responsibility. So here is one condition which you may note: If the father and the mother come to you and acknowledge the parentage of that child in the presence of the Primary teacher or other witnesses, you may enroll that child, but let them own the offspring in honor and not teach the offspring to lie. Tell the father to come with the mother of the child and say, ‘I am the father of this child and she is the mother’, and you may enroll that child in the Primary, but not until that is done, even though he be an excommunicant. That is as far as the Church can go in dealing with these apostates. The law of the land should pick them up then for they are violating the law of the land, but seemingly some of our officials up north are not eager at least to arrest these violators. If they are so heroic in defending the truth, let them come and acknowledge their parentage. [n5]

In 1983 the handbook was revised to include a requirement that the baptismal candidates must “repudiate the doctrinal teachings of their parents” and that specific questions on cases should be elevated to the First Presidency. [n6] These instructions were included in the 1985 and 1989 editions. The 1998 Handbook revision stated that all children of polygamist excommunicants required First Presidency approval for baptism, then only after the stake president had verified the child’s commitment and repudiation of polygamy. [n7] This policy was reiterated in the 2006 and 2010 handbooks, the latter of which is currently in force. The 2010 edition also added the requirement that candidates must not be “living in a home where polygamy is being taught or practiced.” Moreover it categorizes people living in unlawful plural marriage as being in “apostasy.” [n8]

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