Restoration Church of Jesus Christ Newspaper Clippings

The withdrawal of membership by Capital Christian Center and Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church from the Sacramento Interfaith Service Bureau testifies to an unfortunate alignment in priorities

I take strong exception to the Rev. Robert Murphy (“Condemnation, charity clash at service bureau,” Feb. 7) portraying gay, lesbian and bisexual Christians as “handicapped,” genetically defective, as presenters of “troubled or potentially destructive behavior,” or as a people whose sexual orientation is a particularly “unhealthy expression of inward desires or needs.”

The great test of the Christian faith is hearing and obeying the words of Jesus Christ. Our priorities have been set by him. We are to love the Lord with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves.

The work of the ISB is the pure love of Christ manifesting itself to our brothers and sisters, or “the hurting people,” as the Rev. Murphy describes them. His stated desire to share fully and exercise a responsible voice in the work of the ISB. Such a desire is no less the right of River City Metropolitan Community Church. Such a right has been affirmed by the board of ISB.

It is my hope, and the prayer of the congregation I serve, that we will lay down the arguments and pay renewed attention to the great work of the Christian church in the city: the feeding of the hungry and the sheltering of the homeless.

– Rand L. Laurent,
Sacramento Family,
Restoration Church of Jesus Christ

The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ, meeting at the First Unitarian Church, 569 S. 1300 East, will hear from Church President Tony Feliz, who will speak on the topic, “Celestial World, The Holy Temple and Holy Resurrection,” during the 4:30 p.m. Easter service.

For the first time since the founding of “Mormonism” in 1830, a church claiming its origin from Joseph Smith has ordained a Lesbian to the office of Presiding Bishop.

The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ, which serves latter-day saints in the Gay and Lesbian community, approved the ordination of Leanna R. Anderson, of Sacramento, California at its semi-annual general conference on March 18th, 1989.

Although Anderson was ordained a bishop in 1987, her elevation to Presiding Bishop places her in a position to preside over all other bishops in the Church. Prior to this appointment, she served as First Counselor in the Presidency of the Church.

Bishop Anderson will serve with two counselors, Bishop Douglas B. Madrid, also of Sacramento, and Bishop Charlie E. Morgan, of San Diego. The Presiding Bishopric is responsible for all financial matters, physical facilities, welfare, and training of those ordained to the Church’s Aaronic Priesthood.

The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ has members and/or organized church units (called families) throughout Utah, California, Arizona and Texas. It was organized in 1985 in Los Angeles for the purpose of serving the spiritual needs of disenfranchised “Mormons,” including those of the Lesbian and Gay Community.

A Family Group of the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ has been formed in Albuquerque. Missionary work will be aimed toward gay and lesbian people in the Albuquerque area. The group is open to anyone with an awareness of the teachings of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. For information call 1-800-677-7252 or CW Davis at 255-6558

Leanno Anderson didn’t realize she was a lesbian until after she returned from her LDS mission. She was living in Salt Lake City at the time and was ex-communicated from the LDS Church.

“I really felt that God didn’t love me anymore,” Anderson said. “I didn’t want to have anything to do with religion for a long time.”

Now Anderson says she’s come to terms with the LDS Church. “I think they do a fine work within their realm but they’re denying 10 percent of God’s children (who are gay.”

Anderson was attending activities at Gay Pride Day in 1986 in Salt Lake City when she noticed a booth for the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ. Two weeks later she was baptized into the church. Now she serves as its presiding bishop.

Anderson says the church was founded by six men who were ex-communicated from the LDS Church. She said the men felt a need to participate in religion and after prayer decided to organize the Restoration Church. Headquartered in Sacramento, Calif., the church has about 300 members, most of whom are gay.

The church doesn’t have a patriarchal organization, Anderson says, and women are allowed to hold the priesthood.

Carole Dee, second counselor in the church’s first presidency, was in St. George in January to meet with gays about organizing a St. George chapter of the church. Anderson said although the initial meeting was very positive, the person who contacted the church has moved from the area and no group has been established there.

Dee says individual groups in the church are called “families.”

“One of the hardest things about being gay or lesbian is not feeling loved,” Dee says. “We (church members) try to be there for each other. We’re a very close-knit church and we try to be like family.”

She says the church offers an alternative to ex-communicated members of the LDS Church who “Still have beliefs in the gospel but no way to practice their religion. It’s open to all people – anyone who has been estranged from the LDS or RLDS Church. Primarily the members are gay but it’s open to anyone.”

Dee says a lot of the church’s beliefs are similar to LDS beliefs. She said the church is based on the two great commandments – to love thy neighbor as thyself and to love God with all your heart, mind and strength.

“Our view is God loves us and we have a mission here on earth also,” Dee says.

The Sacramento Family of the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ, 2331 K St., will sponsor a Community Service of Remembrance at 7:30 tonight to remember those who have died of AIDS and offer support to those who are living with the disease. For more information: 444-8291

The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ will hold its 2nd annual World AIDS Day service of Remembrance on Sunday at 7 p.m. to remember those who have died from and those who are living with AIDS. For information: 444-8291

Antonio A. Feliz says his faith in the prophet Joseph Smith is stronger than ever – 10 years after he was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

“I feel more committed to Joseph Smith’s teachings,” he says. “I have no desire to be a part of the church now, but I believe the same things Mormons hold dear: love for family, love for friends, being a good citizen.”

Mr. Feliz was in Salt Lake City on Thursday for a bookstore autograph party marking the debut of the paperback edition of his 1988 book Out of the Bishop’s Closet. It recounts his journey as a gay man excommunicated from the church and distanced from his wife and children, but never separated from his faith.

Evidence he says he found in church archives that Joseph Smith performed same-sex sealings, or marriages, has strengthened his faith in Joseph Smith. He says he came across the material while researching church archives as part of his job with the church’s Welfare Services program.

“In the process, I found things relating to Joseph Smith sealing men to men,” Mr. Feliz says. “I was amazed. Over time, I learned that the homophobia in the church didn’t begin with Joseph Smith.”

Historians of Mormonism say there is no indication of homosexual unions in Joseph Smith’s writings.

“I have found no evidence of same-sex marital sealings,” says historian D. Michael Quinn, who has done extensive research of early Mormonism. “Brigham Young in Utah taught that sealing of men to men was the highest ordinance of the church. What he was talking about was the adoption ordinance, whereby a man and his family is sealed as a son to another man and his family.”

Sealings are LDS rituals uniting couples or families for eternity.

Sacrament meeting began and the presiding elder made a few announcements before proceeding with the special Easter Sunday program. A favorite hymn, “How Great Thou Art,” was sung by the congregation, and then came the sacrament.

Had she not known where she was, a visitor might have thought that she was at a typical LDS church service, much like the other Easter services being conducted all around the world. As the first counselor knelt to read the sacrament prayer from the Doctrine and Covenants, however, the visitor might have been a little surprised. The first counselor was a woman.

This wasn’t a meeting of the LDS church. Rather, it was a meeting of the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ. The church, which dates back to 1985, is comprised mainly of homosexuals and is representative of the growing number of people who wish to worship Christ in terms of Mormon theology, but happen to be gay.

“We’re a group of people who grew up with the typical beliefs of the LDS Church,” said Bob McIntier, Public Relations Spokesman for the church as well as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. “When we came to the realization that we were gay, we didn’t feel like it was necessary to give those things up. The fact that there are a lot of people in the LDS church that are very homophobic doesn’t change what we believe.”

“Our church is different from the LDS church in that we’re a lot more accepting of different groups of people,” McIntier said. “Not only gay people, but women as well,” continued McIntier. “Women hold the priesthood.”

“basically, the main message of this church is that it is not only for those who are gay, or lesbian, or anything, but for all those who are estranged from the LDS Church for whatever reason,” Larry Tidwell, presiding elder of the congregation said, “They have a place where they can come and worship the savior in a way that they’ve been thought they should.”

The group meets each Sunday at the Stonewall Center in Salt Lake and conducts Sunday School and Sacrament services very similar to the LDS Church. In addition, the San Jose-based church also conducts Temple ceremonies in a portable temple similar to the tabernacle described in the Old Testament.

“A lot of people’s concept is that homosexuals are depraved spiritually, [and] they can’t have relationships with God because what they’re doing is just so sinful,” Tidwell said. “That’s not true at all. Gays can have relationships with God.”

Tidwell, who was raised in the LDS church, served a mission in Little Rock, Ark. Although he suspected that he was gay, Tidwell refrained from having sex while a missionary. Upon returning from his mission he felt the strain of being gay and a member of the LDS Church.

“[The meetings offer] the opportunity to learn and grow spiritually, to also fellowship with those around me who believe similarly to myself,” Tidwell said. “Its helped me to develop a greater relationship with Jesus Christ. My relationship with the Savior now is better than it ever was in the LDS Church.”

The Restored Church of Jesus Christ is not the only group in Salt Lake that discusses Mormon theology despite being homosexual. Another group, Reconciliation, meets three times a month to discuss spiritual topics.

Unlike the Restored Church, Reconciliation doesn’t attempt to reproduce the ordinances and services which are performed by the LDS Church. “I feel that (the) ordinances’ sole purpose is a metaphor for helping us understand something higher,” Michael King, a member of the study group, said, “I don’t think that ordinances are wrong, but I don’t participate in the ones that I used to.”

Also a returned missionary, King attends the group rather than LDS services because he felt that to attend LDS services would be hypocritical. “I choose to develop my spirituality,” King said, “and this environment supports me in doing so.”

“A lot of people have a lot of pain about the church, “ King continued. “That’s the name of the group [Reconciliation]. People are trying to reconcile their sexuality and their religious upbringing because they don’t match. There’s a conflict there.

Another member of the study group, Richard Edgington, also enjoys the atmosphere of the meetings. “For me it is a place where I can be gay and relaxed and we can have as the center of our discussion, the Savior,” Edgington said.

Although Edgington continues to attend LDS services, he feels his sexuality makes participation in LDS services hard. “There is a fair amount of fear and ignorance with regards to the topic of homosexuality [in the LDS Church,” Edington said. “I feel like it kind of stands in the way. I would like the focus to be centered around Jesus Christ and HEavenly Father.”

Although Edgington believes in the Book of Mormon, he disputes the church’s stance on homosexuality. “I absolutely feel that they are wrong on this point,” he said. “I see it as a lot of ignorance in the world of Christianity.”

“I believe that its men who grew up in situations where homosexuality is very taboo,” Edgington continued. “As a result, their beliefs and teachings regarding the subject reflect an ingrained belief system they have that is really not scripturally based, or based on anything else.”

On October 24, 1994. A resident of Sacramento. Aged 38 years. A native of Artesia, CA. Ms. Calkins was a computer programmer. She was a patriarch of the Restoration Church of Jeuss Christ in Sacramento. She was a national Merit Scholar and was on the debate squad in high school. A 1973 graduate of Excelsior High School in Norwalk and a 1974 Cerertos Jr. College graduate. She also attended Brigham Young University. Ms. Calkins spent 18 months as a missionary in Guatemala. Life partner of Leanna Anderson of Sacramento. Daughter of Glenda Jackson of Gilroy. Stepdaughter of Edward Jackson of Gilroy. Sister of James Calkins of Las Vegas; Michael Calkins of Gilroy; Marilyn Russell and Susuan Twitchell both of Henderson, Nev. Granddaughter of Margaret Sedia of Norwalk. Funeral services will be held Monday, October 31, 1994, 2PM at the BENSALA’S FUNERAL HOME. Internment to follow at Galt Cemetery.

As the annual Gay Pride parade made its way down State Street from the Capitol building Sunday Morning, it swept up nearly all the spectators in its wake.

They swelled the procession to about 3,000, who wound up partying at the City-County Building, where eventually an estimated 15,000 joined the celebration.

Were they lured by the strutting cross-dressers or the leather-clad men from the Uniform Leather Club of Utah or the Utah Gay Rodeo Association members trotting their steeds? All eagerly joined a parade chant, “2-4-6-8, How do you know your bishop’s straight?”

When representatives of the Utah AIDS Foundation handed out “ife saver” packages, more left the curb to join the parade. The gift contained a condom, a tube of lubricant, and a pamphlet, Safer Sex Can Be Fun, with graphic depictions of how sexual activities among gays can be fun and safe.

“Who knows, you might get lucky,” said the man passing them out.

One young threesome, and man and two women, joined in behind the “Utah Beagle Forum” float with “Sheemayle Ruzicka.” On it, waving furiously, was a man in drag spoofing Gayle Ruzicka of the conservative Utah Eagle Forum. The float’s legend read: Appointed T o Guard and Legislate Your Morals.

The floats, the playful nature of the paraders and beautiful, cool weather all contributed to a day to share messages from hope to satire and spiritual matters.

Theme for this year’s celebration was “diversity and acceptance.” Two motorcycle Officers from the Salt Lake City Police Department said those words held true.

“Six years ago it was about 50 people and it was called a march, not a parade,” said one officer. Their only complaint came from an upset motorist trying to find a way to cross State Street.

The party at the City-County Building got into full swing and officials estimated some 15,000 from throughout Utah, Idaho, and Nevada attended.

“As time passes, more people come out,” said Carrie Gayler, co-chair of the Gay Pride Committee.

A man who carried an American Flag with rainbow stripes on its field remarked the event has grown over the years but attitudes of most Utahns toward gays have not improved.

“Actually, things have gotten worse in the last couple of years,” he said. He declined to identify himself, saying “My company is all Mormon.”

He might have checked out a different faith. A variety of alternative-lifestyle churches were in evidence, including the Christian Gay Pride and the soon-to-be established Unitarian Universalist churches. The Salt Lake Pagan Community, Coven of the Rain Moon, would welcome him, too.

No way he could have missed the man dressed as the Angel Moroni who waved a golden horn and cheered to the crowd from a float sponsored by the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ.

In response to letters by Michael Dunn (Forum, July 3) and Jonathan Tufts (Forum, July 16), regarding Gay Pride Day: Dunn seems to think the purpose of this event is to ridicule and demean religion. This is simply not true. There are many reasons for the gay community to  have this event. Some of these reasons are to give gays and lesbians a chance to gather publicly and express themselves with pride; to provide organizations the opportunity to coordinate their efforts and provide information; to give gay and gay-friendly businesses the opportunity to promote their goods and services; to raise awareness and educate others about the gay community, its struggles and history, to celebrate diversity. As you can see, ridiculing or demeaning religion is something that most people aren’t thinking about.

Although I agree with Tufts about the LDS Church being intolerant toward gays and lesbians, I do not believe their intolerance should be an excuse to ridicule or demean any religion. The theology of The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ is somewhat similar to that of both the LDS and Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Hence, “We also believe The Book of Mormon to be the word of God.”

Our purpose in having such a widely recognized symbol as the Angel Moroni on our float is twofold: First, to convey the idea to gay Latter-day Saints and those who are outcast and alone, “you don’t have to give up your religion just for being who you are!” Second, to convey to the community at large that in spite of excommunication, legislation, judgment, and persecution, “we will not give up our religion just for being who we are!” I have been privileged to play the part of the Angel Moroni for the last two years. Each time I wonder how Moroni must feel (in light of seeing the destruction of his people through intolerance and hatred) about being a symbol of a church that likewise has been so intolerant and hateful toward homosexuals.

I invite Dunn and those who agree with this letter to practice what you preach. It is not just the duty of the gay community to build bridges, promote understanding and respect or douse the flames of hatred, but is everyone’s responsibility. You can help by getting to know the gay community as individuals, as people. Also, you can express your displeasure when you hear others being demeaned in sermons in churches, synagogues, and mosques. Another way would be to express your outrage when lawmakers create laws that are unfair and unjust, or simply speaking up when you hear a joke that demeans and ridicules others.

Instead of relying on The Tribune, or anyone else, to tell you about Gay Pride Day, I invite Dunn and others to attend next year’s activities. I promise we won’t “recruit” you to our “lifestyle.” Who knows, maybe you might just learn something.

Larry Tidwell
Salt Lake City