Story highlights New Mormon church policy outlined in guide for lay leaders known as Handbook 1

Policy considers church members in same sex marriage as apostates

(CNN) A new Mormon church policy considers church members in same-sex marriages as apostates whose children will be barred from baptism and church membership unless they disavow same-sex unions.

The policy is outlined in a guide for lay leaders known as Handbook 1, parts of which were posted online by a popular Mormon podcaster who was excommunicated by the church earlier this year on grounds that his public dissents drove others away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , the Mormon church's official name.

In a statement, a Mormon church spokesman, Eric Hawkins, described the document as a "policy and procedural guide" and reaffirmed the church's longstanding opposition to same-sex marriage.

"While it respects the law of the land, and acknowledges the right of others to think and act differently, it does not perform or accept same-sex marriage within its membership," the statement said.

John Dehlin, the excommunicated founder of the podcast "Mormon Stories" and a self-described "unorthodox" Mormon, posted the documents detailing the changes on Facebook Thursday , saying "legally married LGBT Mormons" will likely be "hunted down and threatened with the inhumane and barbaric" church disciplinary procedures.

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