On 6/30/2019 Mormon Bishop Jared Lusk attended a Mormon church disciplinary council in the Farmington, New Mexico stake on the charges of apostasy. His “sins” included:

Losing his Mormon faith after reading the Mormon church’s own Gospel Topics essays, which discussed topics such as : a) discrepancies in the multiple accounts of Joseph Smith’s first vision, b) Joseph Smith’s polygamy and polyandry, c) concerns about the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and Book of Abraham, etc.

Writing publicly about his loss of faith on Facebook, and

Supporting Mormon Bishop Sam Young’s efforts to protect Mormon children from sexual abuse.

During the disciplinary council Jared’s Mormon Stake President read the charges of apostasy, including several of Jared’s Facebook statements. Then, Jared’s wife, Gwen, along with two of their daughters (Taylor and Madison) testified on Jared’s behalf. Then Jared provided his own response to the charges.

At the close of the disciplinary council, Jared’s stake president twice asked Jared explicitly if he would agree to stop commenting on social media about his disbelief in fundamental Mormon truth claims. Both times Jared told his stake president that he would NOT stop expressing his disbelief on social media – explicitly defying the counsel of Jared’s priesthood leadership (which in and of itself is ground for apostasy).

In a somewhat unexpected and heretofore unheard of act in the modern area, Jared was informed by his Stake President that he has been Disfellowshipped for Apostasy.

In this Mormon Stories Podcast episode, we will hear from Jared and his family about their experiences with the disciplinary council, and discuss their theories as to why Jared was disfellowshipped (and not excommunicated), in spite of the fact that Jared openly defied the authority of his stake president. We will also discuss why the Lusks are disappointed in the verdict.

Our earlier interview with the Lusks where we hear their Mormon Story may be found here:

1131-1136: Jared, Gwen, & Madison Lusk: A Former Mormon Bishop and His Family from New Mexico Face Excommunication for Apostasy