2 – What Happened at The Council? – Part 1featured

MY COUNCIL

I don’t know how this moment felt to you, but as I closed the door and sat down I felt numb, hurt, scared and drained. It was not lost on me that I was sitting in the same chair that for decades I had sat as I waited for temple recommend interviews or Personal Priesthood interviews in my callings as elders quorum president or bishop – but now I am here awaiting the decision on a membership council to know if I can even be a member.

Around the corner from me was the door to the stake clerks office. I could hear someone working there and was pretty certain I knew who it was. I hoped he wouldn’t come around the corner and find me. I was embarrassed to be there that night. Church policy is such that whomever it was in that office would not know what I was there for, but I still was in no mood for a chat with him. I wanted to cry, I even tried to cry, but there was nothing left in me.

On the other side of the door I had just closed was the stake presidency, including the stake clerk. I know three of them quite well, having served as bishop for two of them. If this were just months earlier there would have been the entire stake high council in that room along with them, but recent changes in the policy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints allow for it to just be the 4 now. I was not certain how the recent changes affected tonight’s council, but I reflected on my experiences with how it was not long ago.

In my callings, I have attended several stake disciplinary councils (the former name of a membership council). I have sat as a bishop beside people wanting support for their own council, and as a member of the high council, I have been a part of the discussion that happens once the member is alone on the other side of the door, sitting in the chair I now occupy. 

COUNCILS AT THE WARD LEVEL

Some membership councils are held at the ward level and presided over by the bishop. These are under the approval of the stake president, and loss of membership is not a possible outcome at the ward level. If The bishop feels the Lord’s will is excommunication, he is to end that council and refer it to the stake. 

The first membership council I attended was at the ward level and I was a counsellor to the bishop. It became clear to us the individual had paid a sufficient price, had a broken heart and contrite spirit, and the Lord required nothing more. When it was all over the bishop commented that the outcome surprised him. It was there I learned each council is to be unique to the individual, and outcomes are not to be predetermined.

It was in those ward membership councils I saw one of the blessings of a council is that the individual can finally learn where they stand with the Church. After they have willingly – and very humbly – walked into their council, I have seen several individuals walk out knowing they have done all that is required, and they are forgiven! They can drop the weight they carry and move forward! Repentance truly is a gift, and every who has taken on the covenant of baptism should feel nothing but joy and admiration toward others working out their salvation – whether they are finished with the current repentance or in the middle of it and need the support. Alma taught of this covenant responsibility at the Waters of Mormon;

“… and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light  Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death…                                                                                            Mosiah 18:8-9

As the presiding officer in those councils, I prepared for and clearly felt the will of the Lord concerning the individual in each council. Done properly, a membership council is a very spiritual experience for everyone in attendance.

WHAT I HAVE SEEN BEHIND THE DOOR

My experiences in stake disciplinary councils have been very spiritual and positive overall. Certainly there is a human element that can affect the meeting, and I will address that later, but generally they have been wonderful experiences. 

As council members arrive, they have no idea who the meeting is for, or what the accusations against the individual are. At least they have not heard the accusations from whoever asked them to attend. There is no agenda sent out in advance, no hint of what the accusation is, or previous decisions to acquaint oneself with precedence. One is simply asked to prayerfully attend a disciplinary council in the stake high council room at a certain time.

As they arrive, there grow to be 12 high councillors (possibly one or more carefully selected substitutes if a high councillor is unavailable) who mingle with a little different feeling than at a usual meeting. None of them have anything to report on pertaining to their assignments. They have no idea what they are about to hear, or how long the evening may last. Will they know the individual? Will they know what they should say once the meeting gets going? It is not a fun thing to watch an individual sit and be questioned on their actions and motives, and I believe almost every member of those councils have a strong measure of compassion for the soul who is about to go through the meeting. One thing is certain, they will be more comfortable than the one on whom all attention is focussed, for however long it takes that night.

This is not a court of the law of the land, this is a council in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and He has set out the guidelines and policies to be followed. The pattern follows as laid out in the Doctrine and Covenants section 102 for the early Church leaders to seek the will of the Lord. Although a stake does not seek guidance for the whole Church, they follow this pattern in seeking guidance for the individual who resides in that stake boundary. 

As I sat on that chair alone, I reflected on my experiences as a member of the high council pertaining to disciplinary meetings. The stake presidency greeted us and we all took our seats. There were 16 of us in the room, consisting of the 3 members of the stake presidency, the stake clerk (whose only role is to record the minutes of the meeting), and the 12 members of the high council. There was an opening prayer, and one of the counsellors in the stake presidency then reviewed with us the guidelines on how the council was to function from the Handbook of Instruction of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The ultimate goal is to determine the will of the Lord regarding the membership status of the individual.

I had taught this process as a seminary teacher 25 years prior, and as such, I was not surprised when we were all to draw pieces of paper, though I finally realized that the beautiful wooden bowl in the high council room was not there just to look pretty. We all drew numbers from 1 through 12, those drawing odd numbers were to stand for the protection of the Church while those drawing even numbers “…are to stand up on behalf of the accused, and prevent insult and injustice” (D&C 102:17).  It is a strong message from the Lord when He calls for 6 to stand up for the individual!

The stake president would then reveal who the council was for, and what the purpose of the council was. I have attended councils where individuals were there under accusation sufficient that the president felt there was a possibility they would need to be disfellowshipped, or even excommunicated. I have also attended councils where the individual has been under Church discipline for a time, and the president is bringing the individual forward to consider if the Lord is ready to reinstate full membership privileges. The Council can fully reinstate privileges for a disfellowshipped person. When it comes to rebaptism, some things need to be approved by the First Presidency after the stake has held a council at feels it is time. Some of these circumstances include but are not limited to sexual abuse of a child, child pornography, murder, and incest.

Once the information was shared, the president brought the individual into the room. He reviewed the matter with us all a second time, with the individual present, and asked the individual if that information was correct. At that point, the members of the council were invited to ask questions of the individual who sat there – unintentionally testing the strength of their underarm deodorant. 

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