Mormon Church Disfellowships the Lusk Family | Ep. 1143

When Church Discipline Becomes Public: The Lusk Family Disfellowshipment and Questions About LDS Accountability

The Latter-day Saint Church's practice of formal discipline, disfellowshipment and excommunication, has historically remained shrouded in confidentiality. But when the Mormon Church disfellowships the Lusk family, a longtime faithful household that decided to share their disciplinary council experience publicly, it raises difficult questions about how the institution handles members who lose faith or openly critique its practices. According to coverage from the Mormon Stories Podcast, the case reveals potential contradictions between the stated charges against members and the actual reasons for discipline, alongside broader concerns about how the church processes faith transitions in the modern era.

For families navigating faith crises together, the Lusk case offers a window into institutional power dynamics that few members witness from the inside. Understanding what happened in their disciplinary council, and why they chose to make it public, matters for anyone concerned with transparency, ecclesiastical fairness, or the human cost of religious discipline in 2019 and beyond.

Background: A Family's Faithful Decades and Unexpected Faith Crisis

Jared and Gwen Lusk spent decades embedded in Latter-day Saint life. Jared held various callings and served faithfully in Farmington, New Mexico, while the family maintained the commitments expected of temple-recommend-holding members. Their situation mirrors that of many mid-to-late-career church members who experience a crisis of faith, often triggered by encounters with church history that contradicts what they were taught in Sunday School.

Like numerous other LDS members who have publicly shared their faith transitions, the Lusks eventually concluded they could no longer sustain belief in the church's foundational truth claims. Rather than quietly resigning or remaining nominally inactive, they began discussing their concerns online, particularly through social media posts that critiqued church practices and raised historical questions.