There is Help for Post Mormons (7th day Adventist) or with Liberal Views or Disenchanted
What's out there for ex-Mormons, and for Mormons who stay with the church but who have unorthodox beliefs they want to explore?
There are six main groups: PostMormon; Exmormon Foundation; Foundation for Reconciliation; Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons; Mormons for Marriage; and Family Fellowship.Support is important for many disaffected and atypical Mormons because Mormonism is not a Sunday-only religion -- the church reaches into almost every section of a member's life. Mormons are expected to attend service every Sunday, but that's just the beginning. They also go to organizational meetings, camps, missionary farewells and missionary homecomings. Plus, there are many activities for women, men, teenagers and kids, and there's seminary, a Mormon-education program for teens that takes place early every morning throughout high school. These activities take anywhere from five hours a week to dozens.
PostMormon
The aptly named PostMormon group is for people who have left or are considering leaving the church. There are 4,608 registered members in the United States, Europe and Australia. However, there are probably thousands more who align with the group but don't feel comfortable registering, said member Steve Curtis, 30, a business analyst who lives in Dublin.
Furthermore, "there are many more out there who have left Mormonism who have not found our group, or who simply didn't need the support system when they left," Curtis said.
The Bay Area chapter has about 50 members, a dozen of whom meet every month. They chat, host potlucks, watch sporting events -- anything that will help them feel the familiar warmth of community.
One anonymous Bay Area member, who was raised Mormon and left the church after divorcing her gay husband, said that many fringe and ex-Mormons fear reprisal that may come from joining groups such as PostMormon.
"We have too much to lose in that our families would reject us, or that our families would be shamed and stigmatized by church members if they did not condemn us for publicly breaking with Mormonism," she said. "This is not a faith system that allows your actions to affect you as an individual only. Everything you do is a direct reflection on your parents and extended family, even if you want no part in it."
The PostMormon website has received about nine million hits since it was launched.
For more information, go to www.postmormon.org.
By Michelle Beaver
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