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The 17 Page Document Now Called
The Title Of Liberty For Single Adults
This is the original letter I sent to President Thomas S. Monson almost seven years ago in hopes The First Presidency could get something positive done. No such luck. The deck was stacked against me and the Single Adults from the very beginning.
One thing for certain is this letter proves Brother Jim was extremely respectful to all Church leaders until they prove themselves to be “hypocrites” capable of “pollut[ing] the holy church of God.” I have learned by sad experience Mormon Church leaders will exercise control and compulsion upon anyone who reports to them anything they don’t want to hear (D&C 121:37). 
[At the end of this Page I will post a joint letter from the Cambridge, MA Stake Presidents and Stake Relief Society Presidency as has been circulated on the Internet. Be sure to read this too.]
Here is that letter:
October 13 , 2007
List Of Some Concerns And Suggestions
For The Improvement Of
The Single Adult Program
Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints
Respectfully Offered and Submitted by Brother Jim Kelley
A Single Adult In The Springfield, Mo. Stake
To: Salt Lake City Church Leaders
In Care Of Stake President Thedell, Springfield, Mo. Stake President
In beginning I would like to relate a sweet story about a husband and father who performed a marvelous act of charity and growth and soon afterwards was called, by the Lord, to be a bishop.
There was a wife and mother who felt very unhappy about how her home was. Her husband was not studying the scriptures daily and not observing the Sabbath, among other things. This lovely and worthy wife and mother, went to her husband and expressed her unhappiness and sadness. Her husband was shocked to hear his wife, and the mother of their children, was so unhappy.
What this husband and father did in the next few days was remarkable. He went to a trophy shop and purchased a trophy in the form of a monument and had engraved on the plate, “I Must Do More”. He presented it to his lovely wife and then that brother set out to “do more”.
His wife observed him studying the scriptures every day. His prayers seemed to improve with more real communication with Heavenly Father. The spirituality in their home increased and within one year, this good man was called to be a bishop.
This wife and mother, along with her children, felt so blessed. And perhaps the neighbors and relatives felt blessed too, as a direct result of a good man striving to do better when he was alerted he had been falling short.
[Unfortunately this good bishop was later found out to be a child molester while he was a bishop and perhaps before. He is deceased now or his widow would be filing charges.]
I suppose this letter will be read by many Church Leaders, who have already served as bishops but are unaware the single adults are very unhappy with the way their program is going. I have tried to notify Church leaders about some of these unhappinesses. I apologize if I have offended Church Leaders with my directness pertaining to the matters I have personal knowledge about. I used the word “atrocity” when referring to mismanagement of the Single Adult Program. May I suggest two items to consider in this matter:
My dictionary states that an atrocity is 1. The quality or state of being atrocious. 2. An atrocious act, thing, or circumstance.
My dictionary further states the meaning of atrocious is 1. Extremely wicked or brutal: an atrocious crime. 2. Shockingly bad: atrocious manners.
I stand by my statements, with regard to atrocities, as being accurate and correct. Let me explain just a few of the past examples of atrocities to the single adults and their program.
Example #1
Single Adult Conferences
In the 70s and up to 1983, there was a wonderful yearly single adult conference held every Memorial Day Weekend near Highway 99 and I-70, West of Kansas City. This was a multi-regional single adult conference. Single adults looked forward to this conference all year long. This was the high light of the single adult program for all the regions included. It was wonderful.
Monday of Memorial Day Weekend, 1983, the conference committee went to the dude ranch office, where the conference was held, and paid the final bills. For some reason, that day, the committee was accompanied by a regional president.
The procedure was to reserve the facility for the next year during final check out. Rumor has it that the clerk asked if the Church wanted to reserve the facility for the next Memorial Day Weekend. The committee said yes and was interrupted by the area president who stated, he would take care of that later. The committee had full faith the area president was going to reserve the facility for the next year. Why not have faith in our leaders. Are we not taught to have faith in our leaders and not question them because they will always do the right thing?
Only those present know for sure what happened in that office that day. But here is what I know, saw and heard besides hearing this rumor during the next regional conference, which turned out to be a pathetic single adult conference.
The conference committee, for the next year, found out at the last minute the dude ranch was not available. Another church group had it. It had not been reserved by the area president as he may have alluded he would do. There was a waiting list of other churches wanting that facility on Memorial Day Weekend. A prime location on a prime holiday weekend.
At the last minute, the committee secured the top floor of a dormitory at Kansas University, for the regional conference. This turned out to be an incredibly pathetic single adult conference. We lost our horseback riding, swimming, boating, ball diamonds, really neat family style dining hall, and a lot more.
A high councilman, told me the year before (1982), the area president was “concerned” about the high cost of this singles conference, to those single adults attending, and wanted to eliminate it.
The fact the conference committee was unaware the dude ranch facilities were not available until the eleventh hour before the next conference and the conversation I had with a high councilman, in 1982, relating what a stake president told him, is very convincing proof to me, the rumor about the area president stopping the reservation is true. And I consider any deception like this, could be considered a crime against single adults. And deception would be especially inexcusable for a priesthood leader.
The unintended consequences are as followed:
That regional single adult conference soon went away. Without a fantastic facility, and then having to jump from one place to another, there was not very much interest to keep it going or to attend.
Now there are “mini-single adult conferences” located in stake centers or other church buildings. All pathetic compared to what was taken, from the single adults, in 1983. All of these mini-conferences are nothing more than a stake single adult dinner and dance with a work shop in the morning or afternoon and then a stake fireside attached sometime.
The cost, apparently the “concern” of the area president at the time, of these pathetic mini-conferences are on a par with the dude ranch, considering lodging, meals, and adjusted dollars.
And these mini-conferences are more dangerous, especially for our sisters, since lodging is now at hotels and travel to the hotels is late at night. The dude ranch had segregated housing on site. No traveling across town to a hotel, late at night.
I have a plan to help make up for this “atrocious” loss. A central Missouri location, near a big lake, with accommodations for hundreds, if Church leaders would want to ask me about it.
Example #2
Church Building Calendar
There is a legal term, “implied”. What this means is, when circumstances exist, a reasonable person can expect a certain end result. If a policy sets up circumstances it can be expected or implied those circumstances shall continue and the end result will be the original planned result.
The Church has written policies which include a stake activity calendar and each building has a calendar and a calendar person who sets up who has the building reserved for what activity. A reasonable person would think, when an organization has the stake center reserved, through the stake calendar and the calendar person, they have the rights to the use of the building on the reserved night and time. According to more than one stake president, that is wrong!!!
My very first encounter with this planned confusion was January, 1993. I as the single adult stake committee “chairman” (that is what the single, stake single adult leader was called then, and should never had changed) and I watched all of my “p”s and “q”s. Dotted all of my “i”s and crossed all of my “t”s. I presented a single adult activities calendar, in October, for the approval of the high council and the stake president. It was approved and printed on the paper stake calendar. I published the approved activities, in the form of a single adult newsletter, and delivered it to many single adults. The single adults were so thankful to know what was happening a year in advance.
I got a call from a stake president [President Stan Petersen] asking me to come to his house. When I arrived, we both sat on his couch in his living room. He advised me I had to revise my single adult activities so there was only one activity a quarter. And he emphasized, this included firesides.
What I had submitted was a fireside every 1st Sunday and a dinner-dance every 3rd Friday of the month. Both activities would be at the stake center.
I reminded the president this was all approved by the high council and the stake presidency and printed on the stake calendar. He shook his head and said it didn’t matter. I advised him that this is not what I am getting when I pray about the Single Adult Program. He said that didn’t matter either.
I didn’t give in and I was released (fired). The result was, a zero single adult program for a long time. Our single adults were tossed to and fro to the apostate churches who had an active single adult program. One victim was a former bishop’s wife who met a man at the Methodist single adult program and committed fornication and co-habitated with him.
Many buckets of tears were cried by many single adults. I heard them fall, as they talked to me, those many dark months that followed.
I had developed a very large, good and strong single adult program against much opposition from local church leaders. I knew Satan was trying to destroy the program and in a prayer, in October of 1992, the Spirit told me the program would be destroyed and I would not be able to do anything about it because Satan would use the stake leaders to take the program away and destroy the program.
I knew the stake presidency was not sensitive to the needs of the single adults or their program. Many things happened that are unbelievable but true:
1.On one occasion, I was in the stake offices, placing single adult newsletters, with a written request for the high councilmen to deliver these to the bishops they would be visiting on High Council Sunday. It was Wednesday night and the high council was meeting and I put these letters with the written request attached, in every high councilman’s mail cubby hole.
After the high councilmen came out of their meeting, they went to their cubby holes to get anything left for them. In the presence of many other high councilmen and others, one high councilman took the single adult newsletters and read the attached request. He said in a very loud voice, “If anyone thinks we are going to deliver this stuff to any bishop, they are sadly mistaken”. Then he threw the whole thing in the wastebasket.
I witnessed that crude and “atrocious” remark and also witnessed that no one else said anything in the defense of the single adults. I didn’t say anything because I knew I was in “enemy territory” every time I was in the presence of stake leaders in that stake. I just was astonished, speechless and embarrassed it could be this visible and unveiled. I couldn’t have even imagined the animosity, against single adults, could be this bad and visible.
2.There were other times the single adults were run out of the stake center, when it was reserved for them, without any consideration or conversation with me at all, me being the single adult chairman and contact person for the single adult program.
On one of these occasions, during a stake activities committee meeting, a date was presented for a stake activity. Someone there pointed out the single adults already have an activity scheduled for that night. The stake activity chairman stated, “This is more important than any single adult activity”.
They got the building and there was not even a courtesy call to let me know, from any stake leader, what had happened. The person who pointed out the conflict came to me and told me what had happened. “Atrocious” behavior, “atrocious” manners? I will let the reader decide.
There were other problems and situations the stake leaders created for the single adult program and the singles themselves during this time period. Hopefully these two examples will serve to illustrate the single adults were treated like second class members in a first class church, with no recourse.
This calendar problem is an ongoing problem and I will address some more of the problems, under the current stake president, toward the end of this historically factual outline.
Example #3
A Vindictive Stake President
Later, the second councilor in the stake presidency [Stan Petersen], who fired me, became the stake president, with a new second councilor over single adults. Things got even worse for the single adults. The stake president was President Stan Petersen and his second councilor was President Chase Britten.
On one occasion there was a rare single adult meeting at the stake center. President Britten was speaking and he was fielding questions and concerns from all the single adults, who were present, about their disappointment with the single adult program. Many things were discussed and President Britten was sweating bullets.
President Britten stated, about the objections he had heard, “If I were a single adult. I think I would want the program to be…”. I raised my hand and President Britten called on me. I said, “President Britten, did you hear what you just said? ‘If you were a single adult’. President Britten, you are not a single adult. How can you know what you would want”!
I am not making this up. President Britten hung his head in shame and then looked up and said, he had to be obedient to what the stake president, President Petersen, told him to do. And then he closed the meeting.
My immediate thought was, why can’t you stand up for the single adults you are assigned to watch over and protect? What could President Petersen do to you? Fire you? Well I guess so, he fired me. But I would rather take a firing doing what I knew to be right than keep a position I had to hang my head in shame in order to keep.
President Petersen seemed to make sure there was no active single adult program in the stake he was in charge of and then “forbid” the single adults in his stake to travel to any other stakes and participate in any single adult activities. My conversations [and my comment] with these single adults was, “The last time I checked we live in the United States of America and you are free to travel anywhere you want. And on every church meeting house there is a welcome sign for visitors. And would that not include single adults, at a single adult activity going on, in that building?”
I honestly cannot remember anyone who could honestly testify President Petersen was a friend to the single adult program. I can think of many people, single adults and married people associated with the single adult program, who have testified how President Petersen did things to stop the single adult program in his stake and tried to forbid his single adults from participating in other stakes single adult programs.
Honest question: Is this the manor [should have been spelled manner] Church Leaders in Salt Lake City would want a stake president to manage the single adult program? Would Church Leaders call this type of management, “atrocious” behavior or “atrocious” manors? Is this an atrocity?
During the following years, a floundering single adult program existed, if there was any at all. Years later the current Stake Presidency [Stake President Terrance Thedell], in my stake, was called. And I will address some obvious mismanagement at the hands of my very good priesthood holders and stake leaders. A few mismanagement items, during the watch, of my current Stake Presidency:
Example #4
The Rock In The Back Door Policy
From 2000 to November, 2005, apparently the single adult activity leaders were to lazy (or ignorant) to unlock the glass [main entrance] doors during a single adult activity. They would place a rock between the back kitchen door and the threshold, propping the door open. In the Winter time, Janice Nusbaum would experience cold ankles and would kick the rock out and allow the door to close and be locked. Often people were locked outside and couldn’t get inside the building.
One day while home teaching with my home teaching companion, President Sargent, he asked, “Brother Kelley, what can we as a stake presidency do to help the single adult program be better”? I explained the “Rock In The Back Door” situation. President Sargent said that was ridiculous and promised to get that corrected.
It did not get corrected and President Sargent admitted, months later he had forgotten all about it. Well it never did get fixed, even after talking to several other people several times, including President Sargent.
So if talking isn’t going to work, and people are forgetting to correct the problem, I decided to write a letter to President Sargent, reminding him of what he asked about and his promise to get it fixed. Still the situation was ignored. Even after three letters and some scolding from President Sargent to me about the letters, he handed the letters back to me and said he didn’t want to hear about it again.
I took the three letters, as a file, and attached a cover letter to the Legal Department of Church Headquarters. Amazing. On November 17th, 2005, I got a nice phone call from Church Headquarters thanking me for my letters.
The brother’s name who called me was Dan Douglas, He gave me his office phone number and his cell phone number with instructions if there was any more incidents like this again, he wanted me to call him immediately. This brother further stated local leaders were contacted and advised, “Church Headquarters expects church building to be unlocked and well lit during any and all church activities”.
Do you have any idea what it took, all the time, talking, letters, hard feelings, etc., to get the doors unlocked during a single adult activity? And then it didn’t happen until Church Headquarters intervened after I sent them a file proving how pathetic conditions were!
This example actually illustrated the single adults were treated like someone less than an unwanted step child or a slave. This because the step parent or slave owner would at least leave the back door unlocked for them. The back door was locked on the single adults during this time.
[Special Note: This document, Title Of Liberty, was a chapter in a copyrighted manuscript, Second Class Members In A First Class Church. The whole manuscript was sent to President Thomas S. Monson in December of 2008. There were obvious comparisons made in this manuscript about Single Adults being treated as less than Black slaves of the past. Apparently President Monson took this comparison to heart because the very first Black General Authority was called the very next General Conference. In my opinion General Authorities felt the things I was saying about Single Adults could be said about Black people in The Church and decided to do some damage control and call a token Black man as a General Authority in the First Quorum Of Seventy. In my opinion Elder Joseph W. Sitati can be proven a token appointment because soon after being called to the First Quorum Of Seventy he was assigned as a second councilor to a member of the Second Quorum Of Seventy. Assignments don’t normally work backwards in that way. A First Quorum Of Seventy member is suppose to get a Second Quorum Of Seventy member as a second councilor, not the other way around. Compare the Mormonism And The Negro article in the Other Articles section of this website for evidence of how most white General Authorities feel about our Black brothers.]
Why did I have to go through all I had to go through, just to get the doors unlocked during a single adult activity? All that pain, all that scolding from church leaders, all the people who were locked out of the building, why?
Obvious answer: Because Salt Lake City pawns the single adult program off on stake presidents and then doesn’t care enough to hold anyone accountable. If anyone has a better explanation, as to why something like this could happen, I would be very anxious to hear it.
To my knowledge, the single adult program is the only program not monitored by way of monthly reporting, from stake clerks to S.L.C. S.L.C. has monthly reports on home teaching, visiting teaching, every attendance record of every group except one. And that is the single adult program.
Continuation of Example #2
Church Building Calendar
Obviously, because of a lack of written policy and procedure about the scheduling and use of church buildings, the stake presidents can dictate exactly what ever they want with total disregard for anything agreed and written on the stake calendar and arranged by the building calendar person.
Perhaps there needs to be a complaint office and phone number, at Church Headquarters, to handle complaints about calendared activities in church buildings? Because it is just plain rude to kick a church organization out of the building after they have followed procedure and policy and reserved the building and planned for their activity.
Often, no in every case with me, I have found out about a conflict with single adult activities, from another source. Never has any stake leader, wanting or needing the building at a time already reserved for the single adults, ever contacted me and asked if other arrangements would be O.K. Never!
With my current stake president, when a conflict came up, at first I was ignored. But when I complained to S.L.C. and ignored by S.L.C. but “copied to my stake president, I was still not contacted to make arrangements. The only improvement is, at least stake leaders responded to my demands to fix the problem. I still loose and the single adults have never prevailed in keeping the building. But in more recent incidents, I have been given the answer I do not get the building instead of just being ignored.
One incident was in 2005, when a Stake Women’s Conference was scheduled on Saturday. The Saturday right after the 3rd Friday when our single adult dinner-dance was to be. When the time for the single adult dinner-dance came, we found the cultural hall all taken up with tables set and decorations for the Women’s Conference. Obviously someone in the Stake Relief Society Presidency missed the fact, plainly on the calendar, the single adults were scheduled to have a dinner-dance in the cultural hall. The Stake Relief Society set up their things well in advance, totally ignoring the single adults had an activity on Friday. Considering the activity was plainly on the calendar, and President Marie Blackwelder sat on the single adult committee, it is hard to excuse her not knowing about the single adult activity.
Another time was May 21st. I found out from a sister in Joplin, Mo. there was a B.Y.U. Ambassadors Fireside scheduled for the Springfield, Mo. Stake Center the same date and time as our single adult dinner-dance. I contacted President Thedell by letter and was totally ignored. It wasn’t until after I voluntarily moved the single adult activity to another building, because time was running out, and after contacted S.L.C. again, then President Thedell talked with me. He admitted to being the one who told B.Y.U. they could have the building that night. Interestingly enough, to me, he admitted to not even checking the stake calendar and then claimed blame but never apologized.
Other incidents include scheduling Seminary Graduation the same day and time as our firesides. Never contacting me about trying to make accommodations. Actually, in every case with the graduations, they could have been held in the Willard Ward Building and in so doing would not have bothered the Single Adult Program at all.
Example #5
Absentee Chairman For Single Adult Committee
It use to be, a single priesthood holder was called to be the chairman for the stake single adult committee and a single sister was the vise-chairman. This works best and should have not ever been changed.
As it is now, by policy in the priesthood policy manual, the second councilor of the stake presidency is the chairman. Why would anyone give so much control and discretion, of a single adult program, to anyone with no vested interest? Obviously, a single adult should chair that committee.
I am attaching my letter, dated June 28, 2007, to President Steven E. Snow. This letter clearly illustrates the fallacies of having a married person in charge of a single adult program.
For me to have invited my stake presidency, including the Relief Society Stake President, to our single adult dinners and their not attending, this rudeness going on for two years, is an obvious slap in the face of every single adult. And for President Snow to not personally respond to my letter, dated June 28th, is a slap in my face also.
In my letter, to President Snow, I brought up some obvious major concerns, I previously did bring to my stake president’s attention, that obviously could not be resolved by talking to my stake president again. President Snow should have been able to see that and he just ignored me.
(End of President Thedell’s Watch)
Example #6
No Accountability Or Meaningful Reporting
S.L.C. has no idea if a stake has a fully functioning single adult program with a fully staffed single adult committee with monthly activities with attendance approaching 1000 or if a stake has a complete zero program with no one coming to anything. S.L.C. couldn’t know the difference. Church leaders are not asking for any information and by all appearances, that I see, they don’t want to know. I have tried to alert S.L.C. and I have been treated very rudely with the only exception when Brother Douglas contacted me. And that contact was the result of a legal concern and the Church trying to avoid a law suit should someone get hurt, etc.
Until there is a change in the monthly reporting system, to include statistics about the single adult program, I would think any prudent thinking person would come to the same conclusion I have come to. S.L.C. is not interested if any stake has a successful single adult program. A “reporting relationship”, as expressed by President Steven E. Snow, in his letter to me dated June 15, 2007, is obviously not enough.
Many stake presidents report they have a successful single adult program in place and functioning well in their stake when they in fact really don’t. I have personal knowledge of that situation occurring over and over again.
The latest incident was last month. My stake presidency reported to me the Springfield, Mo. South Stake Presidency reported, to them, they have a single adult committee in place and they have a functioning program. When my President Sargent reported that to me I told him, I have personal knowledge the South Stake’s committee has not met in perhaps 10 months, if even then and they have absolutely no activities this year. The only thing they have done was a mini-conference in Branson last February. And Sister Tencha Wilcox did all of that pretty much by herself.
So it is obvious to me, if the subject of single adults does come up, during a “reporting relationship” between a stake president and “a designated member of the Presidency of the Seventy”, the subject is dealt with in the shortest amount of time possible with a statement from the stake president, “Yep, everything is in place and going well”. Even though the exact opposite may be true.
I am sure the Area President doesn’t ask enough questions to get the real story and truth. Perhaps the Area President doesn’t know what to ask. Questions like, when was your last single adult activity and how many were in attendance would be helpful. And then perhaps asking for the name and phone number of the stake single person, in charge of the single adult activities and talking with them to see if the stake president’s report is accurate would be a nice way of checking up.
Example #7
Many More Examples
I want all to realize, I have observed much more than the previous 6 examples. This is just the tip of the ice berg. If I were to outline all that I can remember, that are atrocities against the single adults, this report could easily be 200 pages. [I did write a 168 page manuscript the next year, Second Class Members In A First Class Church, that was sent to President Monson as proof I could write 200 pages. The Mormon Church played games with that too.]
And that is just what I have witnessed and experienced. I am in communication with many other single adults, all over North America, who are having the exact same experiences.
All is not well in Zion concerning the single adult program. When I am observing the end results, and the incredible heart break and tears, I do not have to be The Prophet of God or an Apostle of God to know the single adult program is pathetically mismanaged. By observation and sad experience I know something has to be changed for the benefit of the Single Adult Program. And it has to start with the attitudes of leaders in S.L.C.
Conclusion:
Either Church Leaders are interested in the welfare of the single adults and their program or they are not. I think I have demonstrated I am interested in the single adult program and the single adults the program is supposed to serve. The proof is I would not have done all I have done in the past and my writing this report now.
Obviously, the best church members, even Stake Presidents and Stake Relief Society Presidents, as well as General Authorities, have and are turning a deaf ear and a blind eye towards the single adults and the program.
The single adults, as a group, have more problems than any other group in the church. Most are divorced. The rest have lost their spouse to death or have never been married. All three of these categories bring with it special real life crises that are concentrated in the single adult program.
The single adult program has the greatest need for help and is getting the least amount of help. In reality, the greatest help married Church leaders can give us is to GET OUT OF THE WAY AND LET US HAVE OUR PROGRAM AND RUN IT OURSELVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been a single adult most of my adult life. I have taken 3 pathetic single adult stake programs and turned them into phenomenal successes.
I suppose there is no one better qualified to advise Church Leaders about the single adult program than I am. I am puzzled why Church Leaders are so reluctant to hear me.
The letter President Snow wrote me reeked with don’t bother us in S.L.C. with any single adult concerns. I will attach his letter, dated June 15th, for inspection. But this is what this letter really says:
The first sentence states, “I have been asked to respond…”. What this really means is, I drew the short lot.
The last sentence, of the first paragraph, states, “Along with several other General Authorities, I have read your letter and considered the matters that you asked about”. What this really means, considering the “several other General Authorities” are a good sampling of all the other General Authorities, General Authorities are not interested in hearing about any atrocities against the single adults of the Church. If any of them were interested they could have asked me directly. And none did!
The second paragraph expresses appreciation for my interest and service in the Single Adult Program. I wonder how appreciative any General Authority will be for me trying to sound the warning alarm by just telling the truth contained in this report?
The third paragraph states, “The stake president has a reporting relationship to a designated member of the Presidency of the Seventy. The Presidency of the Seventy report to the Quorum of the Twelve”.
Obviously, just because a stake president has a reporting relationship with a President of the Seventy, there is no assurance Single Adult Program matters will ever be mentioned. This sentence is obviously designed, with flattering words, to give the impression there is an automatic and guaranteed method to report Single Adult Program matters to the Quorum of Apostles, when in fact, the wording doesn’t say that at all.
Obviously, S.L.C. Church Leaders don’t want to hear about what is going on with the Single Adult Program or they would implement a much better system of reporting. Actions speak much louder than words.
The 4th paragraph addresses the business card. I have showed this paragraph to a few, along with the card, and their response is they can’t believe any Church Leader would say such a thing. That card was a very good tool to help the single adult program. And it was taken away.
The last paragraph is an invitation, for me, to never darken Elder Snows mailbox again with any of my letters. This invitation was reinforced with the advice my current communication and any future communications would be “copied” to my stake president.
Apparently Elder Snow didn’t realize, I didn’t care if my letters would be copied to my stake president. Why would I? I am only telling the truth and only trying to do what is obviously right. And I suppose I am the only one in the entire Church who has enough back bone to stand up to any and all opposition to do what is right to make the Single Adult Program the best it can be. If there is anyone else, anyone is aware of, please let me know. I want to meet them and enlist their help. This would be a lot easier if I had some help!
I think I have a better understanding what many of the great men went through by standing up for the Single Adult Program these many years. Men like Joseph Smith Jr., Martin Luther when he nailed his 95 Theses to the door, Ralph Nader, Jackie Robinson, General Billy Mitchell, our Founding Fathers and many, many more.
What would our country be like without the many great people standing up for what is right? I know what happens when no one stands up for the Single Adult Program! It becomes what we have now.
My stake president will probably receive this on October 16th. By the time he sends it to someone else, that will be the end of that week or the beginning of the week of the 22nd of October. This should have been viewed by many, in the chain of command, by the first week in November.
I will know if those who view this are serious about improving the Single Adult Program because of three things I would expect:
A courtesy letter received by the middle of November, from a General Authority, just advising me they have received this report.
A letter by the end of November, from a General Authority, inviting me to give my suggestions, because of my experience, for the improvement of the Single Adult Program.
Perhaps a meeting, in my stake president’s office, with a General Authority, to discuss the details to fix the Single Adult Program, by the first part of December.
I do not enjoy writing this kind of a report. The same as I suppose the Chief Commander, Moroni, hated to have to raise the Title of Liberty.
Perhaps this report will become the Title of Liberty for the Single Adult Program.
This report is true. I have written it according to my own knowledge and with my own hands. And I make it true so the Holy Ghost can bear record this is all true and also, so the Holy Ghost can bear record, there are many things I have not included which are equally atrocious.
I suppose, if this 17 page report, with the three accompanying letters, doesn’t get the attention of S.L.C. Church Leaders, nothing else will that I can do now.
In closing, I wish to bear my testimony. I know the Book Of Mormon and the Church are true. I know Joseph Smith Jr. was, is and always will be a prophet of God. I love and respect all of my church leaders. They are all the greatest of Saints. I am striving to be even as good as them and know I am falling short. Even those great Saints and leaders this report refers to.
The problem is not bad people trying to destroy the Single Adult Program [I have changed my mind about this. My opinion is there are some really bad people in key leadership positions of The church]. The problem is, really good people, not knowing what to do and being misinformed. And the obvious lack of accountability is a big problem too.
Running a Single Adult Program is not easy. There is hard work involved but it is incredibility simple to organize if basic truths are followed. And I would welcome the opportunity to help S.L.C. Church Leaders fix all the problems and simplify the current management of the Single Adult Program.
I think a conservative estimate of how many single adults, in North America, are falling through the cracks, because of a dysfunctional program, would be 200,000. 200,000 single adults who would probably be active if the Single Adult Program were functioning for them. Add to that, their children, other relatives, and their posterity. In a few short years, 200,000 single adult inactives could grow to 2 million inactives. And in many more years, the affected souls, for the worst, could be 20 million. And every one a child of God.
Did not our King and Savior say, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”.
I know the Spirit was with me when I wrote the two attached letters to S.L.C. I know the Spirit was with me when I wrote this report. The Spirit even tells me now He is with me in this mission to help and better the Single Adult Program.
And I respectfully give this report in the name of Jesus Christ, A-men.
Brother Jim Kelley
P.O. Box 609
Bolivar, Mo. 65613
(417) 894-XXXX
Cc Letters dated May 23, 2007, June 15, 2007 and June 28, 2007
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Commentary About The Title Of Liberty
Is this NOT proof positive Brother Jim has been making an honest and righteous attempt to work with Church leaders at all levels for years? This letter was sent almost seven years ago.
Are there NOT several examples of a real need for a General Church Complaint Department contained in this document alone?
President Thedell promised to send this to Church H.Q. but failed in his promise. The Holy Ghost told me about this and I sent this document with a cover letter straight to President Thomas S. Monson.
This resulted in a telephone conference with myself, President Thedell and President Sargent (President Allphin became a non-involved witness) and Elder John M. Madsen of The First Quorum Of Seventy.
Elder Madsen stated to me President Monson personally handed this document with the attachments to him to take care of.
This telephone conference call lasted about 45 minutes. The first 10 minutes was taken up with President Thedell and Elder Madsen stroking each other with formal pleasantries. Then Elder Madsen addressed us and soon addressed me about my being divorced. Obviously President Thedell has told Elder Madsen about me and the subject of the telephone conference call became me being divorced instead of problems with The Single Adult Program.
Elder Madsen was late for another G.A. meeting and had to leave us without really addressing anything in the 17 page document or the attachments. I was disappointed and President Thedell was gloating.
Question: After reading The Title Of Liberty can anyone think of any reason SLC Church H.Q. should NOT have thoroughly investigated all of this? What on earth could President Thedell have said, and to whom, to nullify the complaints in this document?
I left this telephone conference thinking I would leave all of this behind because I had appealed to The First Presidency, even President Thomas S. Monson and I could NOT go any further up than this on earth in The Church. I even called a girlfriend on the phone and told her this is it, I can’t do any more. After talking to this girlfriend on the phone The Holy Ghost came over me and stated, “You dare not give up! Because of this telephone conference call you have more information now to go on, so use it!” Darn, I wanted to leave this all behind me and now I could NOT or I would be going against a direct revelation from God and standing in jeopardy of sinning against The Holy Ghost.
I got married, not to the girlfriend I called on the phone, a few months later. Then I spent the better part of the year 2008, authoring the manuscript Second Class Members In A First Class Church. That manuscript was mailed to President Monson, late in 2008,. who did NOT respond to me. I sent a follow-up letter a month later. That follow-up letter, President Thedell had a copy of it, was answered by Stake President Thedell with a chewing out and a statement, President Monson’s Office says they never got that manuscript. I advise President Thedell I know they did because I have a notification from USPS giving me the time and date it was delivered and they received it.
I got scared that manuscript was stolen out of President Monson’s Office and I knew what damage it could cause The Church if in the wrong hands. In an effort to protect The Church I copyrighted that manuscript.
Interesting side note: About a year later President Thedell had a slip of the lip and admitted to me President Monson’s Office had mailed him the manuscript after they had received it. I immediately stated to President Thedell, “This is revelation to me. You told me President Monson’s Office said they never got it.” Then President Thedell asked me, “How would I have known to talk to you about it before if I didn’t have a copy?” I immediately responded, “Because you had a copy of the follow-up letter mentioning the manuscript. I have caught you in a lie!” When you catch a Mormon Church leader in a bold face lie it doesn’t even phase them.
After reading about my catching President Thedell in a lie (just one of many) and calling him on it and also reading The Title Of Liberty in this section, most of which is a Formal Complaint against President Thedell, is there anyone with even an ounce of sense that would think President Thedell should have disqualify himself as a Judge in Israel for any Church Court where I am the defendant? What happened is President Thedell hastily called a Church Court and made sure he presided so he could make sure he would have opportunity to talk to the High Council, before I entered the Court Room, so he could make sure he tainted or tampered with the “jury,” sort of speak, and get an unanimous vote to convict me. Just before I entered the Court Room was when President Thedell used secret combinations by secretly (to Brother Jim) handing the High Council the stupid letter, The Letter With No Name, further fulfilling the words “Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ?” because that official letter was NOT on Church letterhead or even signed by the cowardly authors. If President Thedell was not ashamed of that letter then why did he hand it out in secret before I entered the Court Room? IF The Book Of Mormon is to be believed, Moroni, the same author of Jesus Christ’s Warning, stated, “For the Lord worketh not in secret combinations.” Ether 8:19. So if the Lord worketh not in secret then why would a Stake President, who pretends to be a servant of the Lord, work in secret and lie a lot? Good question!
The Title Of Liberty was a part of the manuscript, Second Class Members In A First Class Church, so it was copyrighted with that work in the year 2008.
Anyone really wanting a copy of that manuscript can electronically download it from the U.S. Copyright Office. The Registration Number is TXu 1-706-432. I don’t know why the TX is capitalized and the u is not but that is exactly the way it is on the Certificate Of Registration. The author is James William Kelley and the effective date is March 20, 2009, just before the General Conference where the Black Elder Joseph W. Sitati was called.
It would seem the tail is wagging the dog a lot when I write to SLC. The manuscript, Second Class Members In A First Class Church, mentioned some of the conditions of Black slaves in the U.S. and how this compared to Mormon single Adults right now. I wondered if The Church would make the connection about how Black people have been second class members too and a similar book with the exact same name could be written. Apparently The Church did make that connection and that manuscript no doubt was the catalyst for calling the first Black man as a General Authority in the Mormon Church. 
I am now glad I copyrighted this manuscript because it establishes, through a reliable third party, what was written and when and to whom. In other words, proof positive!!!
Question: My current Stake Presidents think I should just forget everything like the “atrocities” against the Single Adults mentioned in this letter. You be the judge, what do you think I should do?
Brother Jim
Originally Posted May 31, 2013, Reposted June 14, 2014
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This is a copy of a letter as it appears and was represented on the Internet:
“Letter sent recently to all members of the Cambridge, MA LDS Stake. Perhaps other LDS stakes could be encouraged to follow suit?”
“Dear Brothers and Sisters,
“In recent years, and particularly in the last few months, some issues have been raised which challenge Church doctrine, policy, and practices. As most of you know, these have been broadly discussed and debated on the web and in social media, in our homes and workplaces, and at times in our own church meetings and classes.
“As your stake leaders, we know there are as many views on these topics as there are members of the stake. We want every church member, regardless of his or her perspective, to feel welcome and wanted in the church.
“We think there are things that we can do in order to be more welcoming and inclusive to all, as we “meet together” (see 3 Nephi 18:22) to support each other in living the gospel (see Mormon 6:5). Determining what we can do probably begins with developing a clear understanding of the issues and concerns from the members of the stake, relative to these topics. With a clear understanding of the issues, we will then be in a position to solicit input from members of the stake to find ways we can help and support each other, as we work as Latter-day Saints to be of one heart and mind in building Zion (Moses 7:18).
“To that end, we are planning that for an open discussion later this month to understand the issues that stake members face as a prelude to a subsequent discussion for developing practical steps our stake and ward leaders and members can take to address the issues in productive ways.
“We will send you the date and time for this first open discussion, focused on understanding the issues, as they firm up over the next few days.
“Sincerely,
“Cambridge Stake Presidency
“Cambridge Stake Relief Society Presidency”
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Brother Jim’s Commentary
1. Comparing the Title Of Liberty For Single Adults letter and this letter from the Cambridge Stake Presidents there seems to be a world of differences between some stake presidents and stakes in the Mormon Church. Apparently some stake presidents are open to questions, discussion, solving problems and some are NOT!
2. For the Cambridge Stake to send a letter like this to every member home is monumental. That would be several thousand letters. This is a good indication the Cambridge Stake Presidents care about the general welfare of their members.
3. Open meetings like this can go two different ways. A. They can be good open platforms for discussion that will help with problems or B. They can be platforms for members to air their problems and then the leaders pretend to listen and just ignore the discussion and business goes on as usual later.
4. Obviously there is a lot of unrest and discord in The Church all over the world right now or there would be NO need for a letter like this to go out, if in fact this letter did actually go out, in the Cambridge Stake.
5. Obviously the signing of the Stake Presidents and the Relief Society Presidency together is a clear attempt to show harmony with the brethren and sisters of The Church. This is a bit unusual for the Relief Society to sign with the Priesthood in a letter like this and most probably is a direct result of The Kate Kelly Story. No matter what the reason for both the Priesthood and Relief Society to sign together for this letter it is a good Public Relations tactic.
6. Considering the date and time for the first open meeting had NOT been determined when this letter was mailed out gives Brother Jim reason to believe this letter was a reaction to The Kate Kelly Story and is no more than a shot from the hip, without any real clear and accurate aim, to address an urgent P.R. problem. Action with well thought out direction and intentions is always better than careless shooting from the hip reactions. For this cause Brother Jim would be concerned about the intentions of the authors of this letter no matter how well meaning this letter may appear.
Brother Jim Kelley
Posted July 9, 2014
In an effort to be honest and fair I sent an inquiry to the Cambridge Mass. Stake President. Here is that letter:
July 9, 2014
Cambridge Stake Office
65 Binney Street
Cambridge, MA 02142
Dear Cambridge MA Stake President,
There is a letter circulating on the Internet supposedly written by you. I have a copy of that letter, off of the Internet, on my website, mormon8-38.com. Go to the Title Of Liberty button at the top and the letter is at the bottom of that page.
Sometimes things on the Internet can be false and/or distorted so it does not represent the truth. If you wish you may make any additional comments I will post next to this letter or if you say this letter is not authentic I will remove it.
Most respectfully,
Brother Jim
[Hopefully the Stake President will respond and give further light and knowledge.]
Brother Jim Kelley
Posted July 9, 2014
General Legal Disclaimer
The general nature of “secret combinations” and “secret abominations” is in their secrecy. Obviously it is hard to prove secrets, lies and stealing. Sometimes the fruits of secrets, lies and stealing do surface but to present absolute proof is difficult unless someone from the inside comes forward as a witness or documentation from the inside can be produced.
For these reasons what is on this website, unless presented with absolute proof, has to be considered to be Brother Jim’s “opinion.”
I hope this satisfies the lawyers of the world.
Brother Jim
Posted July 20, 2014
The contents of this website copyrighted 2013 and 2014.
