1. What Happened
On September 28th, 2026, Community of Christ published an announcement titled “Actions Related to Priesthood Status”, stating that Adam Wade had been released for cause from the Council of Twelve Apostles effective September 24th. The news went out in a church-employee-wide email before appearing on the church’s website and social media; I myself learned about it through a Facebook reel.
What shocked me was how much personal information the church included. It described that there was misconduct on Adam’s part, that he feels remorse, his efforts at reconciliation, his plans for professional counseling, and his hopes for reinstatement. It also brought his family into the announcement by asking readers to respect their privacy.
Taken together, those details invited me to wonder whether he had an affair. The church did not say that he did, and I do not know that he did. But its wording led me (and others) toward that suspicion.
2. What the Church Disclosed
The announcement names two disciplinary documents: “Priesthood Status Categories” and “World Conference Resolution 1316: Priesthood Release for Cause“. It does not link to them or explain their contents, so I located them and have linked to them, along with the related “Procedures for Priesthood Release for Cause” and “Covenant Principles for Faithful Priesthood Ministry” so readers can examine the policies themselves.
World Conference Resolution #1316 lists 7 reasons that Community of Christ will formally release someone from priesthood “for cause”:
- Conviction of a serious crime.
- Deliberate disregard of church law, policies, or established practices.
- Deliberate disregard of a presiding officer’s properly exercised authority.
- False, misleading, or malicious statements intended to harm the church.
- Deliberate violation of ministerial confidentiality, subject to specified reporting exceptions.
- Other disregard for ministerial conduct that undermines the ability to minister effectively.
- At least three years of inactive priesthood status.
While the Resolution explicitly says this is not an exhaustive list, the announcement nevertheless gives readers a series of details of the situation to interpret. It places misconduct on Adam’s part as far back as October 2024, reports a suspension in May 2026, describes an investigation, and states that no conduct required reporting to legal authorities. It then moves into remorse, reconciliation, counseling, family privacy, and possible reinstatement.
3. Implications
(An important note: I am describing the impressions the announcement created rather than reporting facts about Adam.)
For me, the fact that legal authorities didn’t need to get involved indicates that it likely wasn’t an abusive situation.
References to reconciliation, professional counseling, and family privacy suggest a private relationship crisis, potentially an affair. I have talked to several other people, and they all came to the same conclusion that I did.
Another reading of the announced details is that Adam broke ministerial confidence that hurt people, and trust in Adam’s ability to lead was eroded to the point of him needing to be removed. As part of this Adam could have committed to learning not to make the same mistakes again and in the process he and his family would want privacy.
From everyone I’ve talked to about this situation, everyone seems to be under the impression that it was an affair.
4. Institutional Human and Public Relations Failure
Community of Christ’s human resources, public relations, and, frankly, legal team should have recognized the implication this announcement would create. Everyone responsible for preparing or reviewing this statement should have considered how its details would be interpreted and whose privacy may be compromised. Whatever review process this announcement went through, it failed to prevent the church from publishing personal details that invited speculation.
In the announcement the church also published that the family asked for privacy. However, the church’s own announcement undermined the family’s very request for privacy through the details it released. How the church wrote the announcement places responsibility upon the reader and the public to respect privacy, while the church itself washes its hands of any wrongdoing.
World Conference Resolution 1316, section I(g), directs administrative officers to uphold the “worth and giftedness” of all people affected by administrative actions and to “protect the most vulnerable”. This announcement put Adam, his wife, his kids, and potentially others in an extremely vulnerable position where they may now find themselves facing questions, suspicion, or attempts to identify their involvement. A church claiming to protect those people should consider whether its own communication exposes them to further scrutiny.
5. What The Announcement Could Have Been
There was no reason that the announcement couldn’t have been brief and extremely light on details. In fact, I took the liberty of writing an example of how it could have looked:
“Adam Wade has been released from the Council of Twelve Apostles effective September 24th, 2026. Arrangements for oversight of his mission fields will be communicated separately.”
Literally no more information was needed to be made public.
6. Conclusion
IF Adam engaged in an affair, he should be deeply ashamed of himself, as cheating on a spouse is one of the biggest betrayals of trust a person can commit. IF this was the case, Community of Christ was absolutely in the right to remove him from his office of Apostle, because people (and especially men) in positions of power should be held accountable for these violations of trust.
However, I hope that the people that may have been harmed the most had a substantial voice in how their experiences were represented and what personal information became public. If they wanted this much divulged, I have far fewer problems with the announcement. However, if the victims didn’t get a voice in what the final announcement looked like, Community of Christ would have essentially taken the narrative away from the victims, which isn’t right. I don’t know whether those affected meaningfully approved this announcement, but its attention to Adam’s possible reinstatement leaves me uneasy about whose needs shaped the public account.
Either way, I also have complicated feelings about if its even the church’s place to be broadcasting these sorts of details.