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Bishop interviews with youth
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Contents
Question: Are there benefits to having youth do private, one-on-one interviews with Bishops to determine worthiness for participating in certain Church ordinances and activities?
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Introduction to Question
Sam Young is a former Latter-day Saint bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who started the movement Protect LDS Youth in the summer of 2017.
Young announced that he was excommunicated from the Church on September 16, 2018 based on what his Stake President perceived was conduct considered to be apostate. Apostasy is defined in part by the Church by acting in deliberate, open, frequent opposition to the Church and its mission.
The core message of Young’s movement was that the Church was wrong for allowing one-on-one interviews between youth and local bishops to determine worthiness for participating in the Church’s sacred ordinances and, more specifically, that it was inappropriate for them to ask questions related to a youth’s infractions of the Church’s standards of chastity including practicing masturbation, viewing pornography, and so forth. These interviews, according to Young, are invasive and can sometimes allow for bishops to be sexually abusive.
This core message has struck a chord with many active Latter-day Saints and former Latter-day Saints. They have sought hard to eradicate the Church of this practice.
There may be good reasons for keeping the practice, though, and FAIR wishes to provide resources to people to become informed of those reasons.
Response to Question
Jennifer Roach, a convert to the Church and therapist, explained many great reasons for allowing interviews in her presentation at the 2020 FAIR Conference in Provo, UT.
Roach has also talked about this in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune.[1] She has also published about some of the unique protections offered by the Church against abuse at Public Square Magazine.[2]
We strongly encourage readers to get acquainted with Roach's arguments and experiences. They may prove illuminating and faith-promoting.
Further Reading
For further resources on Sam Young and the Protect LDS Youth movement, we recommend reading from the following.
- Tad Walch, "LDS Church responds to man engaged in hunger strike to protest bishop’s interviews," Deseret News, July 29, 2018.
- Pseudonymous George Rasmussen, "Guest post: what is Sam Young’s true cause?," Millennial Star, July 31, 2018.
- Tad Walch, "Here’s why Sam Young faces discipline from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," Deseret News, August 30, 2018.
- Tad Walch, "Sam Young announces he was excommunicated by local church leaders," Deseret News, September 16, 2018.
Notes
- ↑ Peggy Fletcher Stack, "LDS bishops’ interviews can help teens with sex questions, says therapist who was abused by clergy," Salt Lake Tribune, August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Jennifer Roach, "Better Protecting Children of All Faiths," Public Square Magazine, May 31, 2022, https://publicsquaremag.org/sexuality-family/sexual-abuse/better-protecting-children-of-all-faiths/.