Former Latter-day Saints
Encyclopedia
This is a list of well-known Latter Day Saints who have been excommunicated, resigned, or no longer profess to be Latter Day Saints.
See: List of Latter-day Saints for current members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Although The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not regularly disseminate information about the excommunication or resignation of former members, persons who are here identified as having been excommunicated or resigned from the Church have made such information public. In addition to former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are a small number of adherents of related denominations (as labeled). This list may also include former controversial members of the LDS church.See: List of Latter-day Saints for current members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Former members
- Tal BachmanTal BachmanTalmage "Tal" Bachman is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for his late 1999 hit, "She's So High," from his self-titled 1999 album.-Biography and musical career:...
, Canadian musician - Steve Benson, cartoonist and grandson of LDS President Ezra Taft BensonEzra Taft BensonEzra Taft Benson was the thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death and was United States Secretary of Agriculture for both terms of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower.-Biography:Born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho, Benson was the oldest of...
- Dustin Lance BlackDustin Lance BlackDustin Lance Black is an American screenwriter, director, film and television producer, and LGBT rights activist. He has won two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work on the television series Big Love and an Academy Award for the 2008 film Milk.-Early life:Black was born in Sacramento,...
, screenwriter and producer, 2009 Oscar for Best Screenplay for Milk - Wayne C. BoothWayne C. BoothWayne Clayson Booth was an American literary critic. He was the George M. Pullman Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in English Language & Literature and the College at the University of Chicago...
American literary critic and professor of English - Paul D. BoyerPaul D. Boyer- External links :* , from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, United States Department of Energy* * *...
, biochemist, Nobel Laureate - Frank J. Cannon, US Senator from Utah
- Phil CunninghamPhil CunninghamPhil Cunningham may refer to:*Phil Cunningham , Scottish accordionist with the folk group Silly Wizard*Phil Cunningham , English guitarist, member of New Order, Bad Lieutenant and Marion...
, Scottish folk musician - Eliza DushkuEliza DushkuEliza Patricia Dushku is an American actress known for her television roles, including recurring appearances as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel. She starred in two Fox series, Tru Calling and Dollhouse...
, actress - Richard DutcherRichard DutcherRichard Alan Dutcher is an American independent filmmaker who produces, writes, directs, edits, and frequently stars in his films. Well known among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for his early Mormon-themed productions, Dutcher has been called “The Father of Mormon...
, independent filmmaker and actor - James "Bo" GritzBo GritzJames Gordon "Bo" Gritz is a former United States Army Special Forces officer who served in the Vietnam War. His post-war activities notably attempted POW rescues in conjunction with the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue have proven controversial. Gritz lives near Sandy Valley, Nevada with his wife...
, controversial former United States Army Special ForcesUnited States Army Special ForcesThe United States Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force tasked with six primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, hostage rescue, and...
officer - Jessica HolmesJessica HolmesJessica Holmes is a Canadian comedian and actress. She is best known for her work with the Royal Canadian Air Farce, which she joined in 2003. She is married to actor Scott Yaphe....
, Canadian comedian - Carolyn Tanner IrishCarolyn Tanner IrishCarolyn Tanner Irish is the 10th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah. At the time of her election and consecration in 1996 she became the fourth woman in the Episcopal Church to hold the office of bishop.-Education:Irish received a B.A...
, bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America - Kent JamesKent JamesKent Bradley James is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and activist. He is also known as Nick Name.- 1990s :...
, American musician - Jewel KilcherJewel (singer)Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...
, American musician known as Jewel - Walter KirnWalter KirnWalter Kirn is an American novelist, literary critic, and essayist. His latest book is the 2009 memoir Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever.-Overview:...
, literary editor of GQ - Neil LaButeNeil LaButeNeil N. LaBute is an American film director, screenwriter and playwright.-Early life:LaBute was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Marian, a hospital receptionist, and Richard LaBute, a long-haul truck driver. LaBute is of French Canadian, English and Irish ancestry, and was raised in Spokane,...
, playwright - Bert McCrackenBert McCrackenRobert Edward "Bert" McCracken is the lead singer and songwriter of the American alternative rock band The Used.-Biography:McCracken was born in Provo but grew up in Orem, Utah, USA, and was raised in a Mormon family...
, of the rock band The UsedThe UsedThe Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah. The band was founded in 2001 and signed to Reprise Records the same year. They rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their self-titled debut album. They followed up with their second album, In Love and Death, in September 2004 and their third... - Culbert OlsonCulbert OlsonCulbert Levy Olson was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, Olson was involved in Utah and California politics and was elected as the 29th Governor of California from 1939 to 1943.-Personal background:...
, twenty-ninth governor of California - Sue-Ann PostSue-Ann PostSue-Ann Post is an Australian comedienne and writer.Self described as "Australia’s favourite six foot, lesbian, ex-Mormon, diabetic, comedian and writer", Post has performed as a stand up comedian internationally and throughout Australia since 1991.She has written an autobiography A Bit of a...
, Australian comedian who wrote The Confessions of an Unrepentant Lesbian Ex-Mormon - Arthur Pratt, tenth child of LDS Apostle Orson PrattOrson PrattOrson Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles...
and Sarah Pratt, deputy U.S. marshall - Sarah M. Pratt, outspoken critic of plural marriagePlural marriagePolygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
, first wife of Apostle Orson Pratt - Michelle Anne Sinclair, a multi-awarded American pornographic actress
- William ShunnWilliam ShunnWilliam Shunn is a science fiction writer and computer programmer. He was raised in a Latter-day Saint household, the oldest of eight children. He attended the Clarion Workshop in 1985...
, science fiction writer - Jerald and Sandra TannerJerald and Sandra TannerJerald Dee Tanner was an American writer and researcher who, with his wife Sandra McGee Tanner spent nearly fifty years annotating and publishing archival and evidential materials which, the Tanners claim, accurately portrayed the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
, writers, researchers and critics of the LDS Church - Brendon UrieBrendon UrieBrendon Boyd Urie is an American musician and the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, pianist and singer-songwriter of Panic! at the Disco. He also plays drums, bass guitar, accordion, organ, cello, violin, and trumpet.-Early life:...
, of the rock band Panic! at the DiscoPanic! at the DiscoPanic! at the Disco is an American alternative rock duo, formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2005. Since its split, the band's line-up includes Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith . Former members Ryan Ross and Jon Walker left the group in 2009... - Lynne Kanavel Whitesides, feminist
- Ann Eliza YoungAnn Eliza YoungAnn Eliza Young also known as Ann Eliza Webb Dee Young Denning was one of Brigham Young's fifty-five wives and later a critic of polygamy...
, ex-wife of Brigham YoungBrigham YoungBrigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah... - Warren ZevonWarren ZevonWarren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
, singer/songwriter
Excommunicated members
- Lavina Fielding AndersonLavina Fielding AndersonLavina Fielding Anderson is a Latter Day Saint scholar, writer, editor, and feminist. Anderson holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington...
, scholar, writer, editor, and feminist - Arthur Gary BishopArthur Gary BishopArthur Gary Bishop was a convicted American child molester and serial killer. He confessed to the murders of five young boys in 1983, as a result of a routine police investigation.-Early life:...
, serial-killer and child-molester - Jason Derek BrownJason Derek BrownJason Derek Brown is an American fugitive wanted for first degree murder and armed robbery in Phoenix, Arizona on November 29, 2004. On December 8, 2007 he was named by the FBI as the 489th fugitive to be placed on the Ten Most Wanted list....
, the 489th fugitive to be placedFBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 2000s-FBI Headlines in the 2000s:The 2000s started out badly for the FBI's much needed attempts to upgrade technology. First, the Trilogy project went far over the $380 million budget, and behind its three-year schedule. Then, Virtual Case File, or VCF, planned for completion in 2003, was officially...
on the FBI Ten Most WantedFBI Ten Most Wanted FugitivesThe FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and William Kinsey Hutchinson, International News Service Editor-in-Chief, who were discussing ways to promote capture of the...
list - Butch CassidyButch CassidyRobert LeRoy Parker , better known as Butch Cassidy, was a notorious American train robber, bank robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang in the American Old West...
, notorious trainTrain robberyTrain robbery is a type of robbery, in which the goal is to steal money or other valuables being carried aboard trains.-History:Train robberies were more common in the past than today, and often occurred in the American Old West. Trains carrying payroll shipments were a major target...
and bank robber - Ed DeckerEd DeckerEd Decker , also known as John Edward Decker, is an American counterculture apologist and evangelist known for his studies, books, and public presentations of the perceived negative aspects of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Freemasonry...
, author and filmmaker - Avraham GileadiAvraham GileadiAvraham Gileadi is a religious historian and former university professor. A Latter-day Saint Hebrew scholar and literary analyst, Gileadi specializes in the Book of Isaiah. He is also one of the September Six, who were excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1993...
, Hebrew scholar and literary analyst; later came back to the Church and rebaptized - Maxine Hanks, feminist theologian
- Chad Hardy, “Men on a Mission” calendar publisher
- Mark HofmannMark HofmannMark William Hofmann is an American counterfeiter, forger and convicted murderer. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished forgers in history, Hofmann is especially noted for his creation of documents related to the history of the Latter Day Saint movement...
, a double murderer and an expert forger—"considered by forensic experts to be the best forger yet caught" - Sonia JohnsonSonia JohnsonSonia Johnson is an American feminist activist and writer. She was an outspoken supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment and in the late 1970s was publicly critical of the position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , of which she was a member, against the proposed amendment...
, feminist and a Peace and Freedom Party Presidential nominee - Richard McCoy, Jr.Richard McCoy, Jr.Richard Floyd McCoy, Jr. was an American aircraft hijacker.McCoy hijacked a United Airlines passenger jet for ransom in 1972. Due to a similar modus operandi, law enforcement officials named McCoy as a suspect for the still-unidentified "D. B...
, hijacker of a United Airliner passenger jet for ransom in 1972 and suspect for the still-unidentified D. B. CooperD. B. CooperD. B. Cooper is the name popularly used to refer to an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in the airspace between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington on November 24, 1971. He extorted $200,000 in ransom and parachuted to an uncertain fate...
hijacking - Teresa Nielsen HaydenTeresa Nielsen HaydenTeresa Nielsen Hayden is an American science fiction editor, fanzine writer, essayist, and teacher. She is a consulting editor for Tor Books. She has also worked for Federated Media Publishing, where in 2007 she revived the comment section for the blog Boing Boing...
, science fiction editor, lapsed at time of excommunication - Orson Pratt, Jr., first son Apostle Orson Pratt
- D. Michael QuinnD. Michael QuinnDennis Michael Quinn is a historian who has focused on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a professor at Brigham Young University from 1976 until his resignation in 1988. At the time, his work concerned church involvement with plural marriage after the 1890 Manifesto, in which...
, LDS (Mormon) historian - Simon SouthertonSimon SouthertonSimon Southerton is an Australian plant geneticist. Southerton published the book Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church. The book uses genetic evidence to examine the historical accuracy of The Book of Mormon. The book received heavy criticism from members of The...
, molecular biologist lapsed at time of excommunication - Paul Toscano, attorney and author.
Excommunicated members
- Jeffrey Don Lundgren, self-proclaimed prophet and leader of a cult group after excommunication. Executed for murder.
- Richard PriceRichard PriceRichard Price was a British moral philosopher and preacher in the tradition of English Dissenters, and a political pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the American Revolution. He fostered connections between a large number of people, including writers of the...
, opponent of the church's planned entry into the National Council of Churches and of women's ordination. Excommunicated in the late 1980's. He is owner of Price Publishing Company in Independence, MO, and reprints old RLDS publications that teach the original doctrines of the RLDS Church. Consult Price Publishing for details.
Former members
- Alice CooperAlice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, rock star The young Vincent Furnier was active in the Church of Jesus ChristChurch of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)The Church of Jesus Christ is a Christian religious denomination headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, United States. The Church of Jesus Christ is a Restorationist church and is historically part of the Latter Day Saint movement...
at the ages of 11 and 12.
See also
- Ex-MormonEx-MormonEx-Mormon refers to a disaffiliate of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or any of its schismatic breakoffs, collectively called "Mormonism". Ex-Mormons, sometimes referred to as Exmo, typically neither believe in nor affiliate with the LDS church. In contrast, Jack Mormons may believe...
- List of former atheists and agnostics
- List of former Protestants
- List of former Roman Catholics
- List of former Muslims
- List of former Christians