A leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says the change in church policy against same-sex marriage was a revelation from God.
LDS apostle Russell M. Nelson said in a worldwide speech Sunday that President Thomas S. Monson received instruction directly from God regarding child membership of same-sex couples’ in the LDS church.
“We wrestled at length to understand the Lord’s will in this matter. We considered countless permutations and combinations of possible scenarios that could arise. And then when the Lord inspired his prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, to declare the mind of the Lord and the will of the Lord, each of us during that sacred moment felt a spiritual confirmation.”
Nelson, a 91-year-old apostle, described how church leaders arrived at the decision during a live-streamed speech from the campus of church-owned Brigham Young University-Hawaii.
“The First Presidency and Quorum of the 12 Apostles council together and share all the Lord has directed us to understand and to feel individually and collectively. And then, we watched the Lord move upon the president of the church to proclaim the Lord’s will. This prophetic process was followed in 2012 with the change of minimum age for missionaries. And again with the recent additions to the church’s handbook, consequence to the legalization of same-sex marriage in some countries.”
The LDS church considers gay marriage a sin worthy of expulsion and forbids children of such couples from becoming members of the church. Those children can choose to become members of the LDS church once they turn 18 years old.
