Prayers: Request baffles LDS official

SAN ANGELO, Texas — A judge wants to see if local LDS Church members would be willing to help supervise prayer services at the makeshift shelter where Fundamentalist LDS women and children are being housed.

In response, a local official of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said he was baffled by the judge's suggestion.

During a hearing Monday to address issues brought up by lawyers for the mothers and children taken off of the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch, 51st District Judge Barbara Walther made the suggestion to address concerns of privacy when the FLDS gather twice a day to pray.

"The way our clients pray is sacred to them. It becomes less sacred when people not of their faith are monitoring them and their conversations," said Andrea Sloan, an attorney representing four FLDS women who sought a temporary restraining order for the right to pray in private, have phone access to their attorneys, and to stop breast-feeding mothers from being removed from their children.

It is one of a stack of legal motions that Judge Walther has to deal with as the massive custody case involving women and children from the polygamous sect lurches forward. She tackled only three issues during a hearing Monday afternoon here. The judge is the one who made the decision to keep all 437 FLDS children in state custody after allegations surfaced of child abuse on the "Yearning for Zion" Ranch near Eldorado.

Addressing the concerns about prayer privacy, Walther noted that there is a community of Mormons in San Angelo. The judge noted The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not the same group but appeared to be seeking a reasonable compromise to resolving the issue.

"Would it be insensitive to have someone from that church monitor ... ?" she said, asking the guardians ad litem in the courtroom to contact local LDS leaders to see if they would be willing to provide a "buffer."

Child protective services workers denied that they were eavesdropping on the FLDS women involved, but attorneys for Texas child protective services expressed concerns about improper communications between mothers and children that could occur in private prayer times, which could affect pending investigations.

"If they cross the line or coach the child or make any kind of comment on litigation — all bets are off," Walther said.

The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' stake in Abilene, Texas, which oversees San Angelo, was surprised by the judge's request.

"They think we're the same ones because we use the Book of Mormon," Charles L. Webb told the Deseret News. "I'm dumbfounded they would suggest that."

Webb said he plans to contact LDS Church headquarters in Salt Lake City for guidance before responding to the court's request. The judge did say in court that if that fails, she would consider other options.

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