Possible Church Discipline for Gay Marriage

Newswires have gone loco this afternoon with an AP report that a LDS man face church disciplibe because he and another man were married in Canada in 2004.

It is believed that if Jeppson is excommunicated, it would be the first time a Mormon in a legal, same-sex marriage was punished by the church, said Olin Thomas, executive director of Affirmation, an advocacy and education group for gay Mormons.

Jeppson said that over the past five months Nolan Archibald, the senior leader – or president – of a group of Mormon congregations in the Washington area, has encouraged Jeppson to resign his church membership, which would avoid disciplinary action.

Jeppson is unwilling to do that.

“It’s not going to be my choice to deny my heritage and my faith,” Jeppson said in a telephone interview from his home.

Contacted by The Associated Press, Archibald declined specific comment, saying he has a sacred duty to keep matters involving church members confidential. “I would like to say, it’s a total misrepresentation of the conversation we had,” Archibald said.

President Archibald is president of Washington, D.C. Stake which actually covers mostly suburban Maryland including the Washington, D.C. temple, and just recently part of the District as well.

It’s must be a difficult situation for a lifelong member but a Church spokeswoman explains that the Church also is in hard position if it wants to true to its beliefs:

Baptized church members promise to live the principles of the Gospel, Farah said.

“If the person later decides to reject these core principles, they have the right and freedom to do so,” she said. “However, they cannot reasonably expect to reject the most fundamental teachings of the church and still wrap themselves in the cloak of church membership. Of course, they would be welcome to continue to attend church services.”

Brother Jeppson and his partner have a website where he details his personal history.

Towards the end of the AP report, Brother Jeppson says he just wishes he could be left alone.

Jeppson does not expect to prevail in any disciplinary action, nor does he expect the church to accept same-sex marriage. Given the choice, Jeppson said his preference would be for the church to ignore him.

“I’m not attending in a dress or wearing a boa or anything,” Jeppson said. “I show up in my suit and white shirt and split after sacrament meeting. I just want to participate and I want to worship quietly in a safe place.”

It’s hard to see how he can expect this when he is quite public with his situation and goes to the AP with his story.

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