Jeremy Runnells, CES Letter Author, Excommunication Press Conference - Mormon Stories 621
On February 8, 2016, Jeremy Runnells (previously interviewed on Mormon Stories) received notice from his stake president, Mark Ivins, that he would face excommunication (an LDS disciplinary council) on February 14, 2016 for publishing his "Letter to a CES Director."
"CES Letter" represents Jeremy's sincere attempts obtain answers to several questions/doubts he has had over the years regarding LDS church truth claims. Some of the topics dealt with in CES Letter include Joseph Smith's multiple and conflicting accounts of the first vision, Joseph Smith's polygamy (including to 14/15 year olds) and polyandry (marrying other men's wives), Book of Mormon historicity, Book of Abraham historicity, etc.
This press conference was held in support of Jeremy, detailing various problems with President Mark Ivins' handling of the process. The press conference was live-streamed with over 6,000 people viewing.
The morning after this press conference, Jeremy's disciplinary council was inexplicably postponed until late March, 2016 by Mark Ivins.This press conference was held at the Club/Cafe at 50 West in downtown Salt Lake City.
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Timecodes:
00:00 Introduction
06:49 Welcome to Jeremy
07:44 Update on what Jeremy has been working on
10:10 Setting up 501c3
13:02 Getting everyone up to speed on who Jeremy is and what the CES-letter is
20:33 Jeremy further explains his plans after setting up the 501c3. Mobily friendly website
21:53 CES-letter book in print, CES-letter as a living document, other new information
23:48 Technical changes: webreferences, HTML-version, .org domain name, audio version
25:23 Shout out to some people
26:22 Kindle version. All free. For book pay what you want. Translations
27:50 Update section website. Stronger social media presence
28:27 Thanks for the support!
28:47 When available? Where buy the book?
30:25 Interactions with SP since October 2014.
32:20 SP claiming to know Gospel Topics Essays, but hadn't really read them
34:30 SP heard about Jeremy because of the MSP episodes, hadn't read the CES-letter
37:02 2nd interview with SP. Pop quiz!
39:12 Threat with excommunication. Definition of apostasy and going over the criteria.
44:27 No reasons for having a court. End of interview with SP
46:16 1.5 y later phone call for new appointment.
47:43 John reflects on the difference with his own excommunication
48:50 Jeremy reacting to it and discussing it
51:55 E-mail to come earlier, and then suddenly disciplinary council
54:19 Discussing reasons for council
57:34 Letter from SP announcing court with reasons
59:12 Discussing possible criticisms
1:03:40 Why do you even care?
1:06:05 What's it like to have this council?
1:08:39 Feelings about process of disciplinary council itself
1:11:49 How do you want to handle this?
1:12:35 Any ideas about a possible excommunication? Discussing the reasons for the council
1:16:48 SP is also a victim of the system
1:19:16 What do you think of the local media outlets not reaching out?
1:21:36 How can people support you?
1:23:15 Start Q&A
1:23:35 What was it like looking for a venue? Thinking about this event itself as a step in the process?
1:25:08 How do you feel about the call to "closeted exmo's" come out to their family?
1:28:15 Mormon values such as seeking truth get Jeremy in trouble.
1:30:45 Guidelines about sharing the CES-letter?
1:32:03 Where was bishop in the process?
1:33:50 How were higher authorities involved?
1:37:14 How do you think about "Leaving the church alone after you left it?".
1:41:34 Why does the church make the claim that they leave it to local authorities?
1:44:08 Thank you to on line watchers!
1:44:26 Has Jeremys life gone better since the publication of the CES-letter?
1:46:22 Is this a council of love, or is it about what is best for the church?
1:48:02 What were initial cracks in the shelf?
1:51:14 Is it possible to have legal council in the court?
1:54:02 A few words of encouragement for Jeremy
1:55:14 John asking people to explain how Jeremy was a positive note in their life
2:02:22 Closing words by John
