Mormon missionary calendar-maker facing discipline

A Las Vegas man who was the creative brains behind a calendar that features shirtless Mormon missionaries is facing a disciplinary hearing and possible excommunication for the project.

A lifetime member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Chad Hardy was summoned by letter to a Sunday meeting in Las Vegas with a council of elders to discuss his "conduct unbecoming a member of the church."

A copy of the letter from Stake President Frank E. Davie, the senior leader over a group of LDS Church congregations in the Las Vegas area was provided to The Associated Press. It was sent July 6, just days before the 2009 version of the "Men on a Mission" calendar went to press, Hardy said in a telephone interview.

A takeoff on calendars of firefighters and returned U.S. servicemen, Hardy's project debuted in 2008, featuring 12 returned church missionaries in mostly modest poses, minus their trademark white shirts, ties and black plastic name badges. So far, it's sold nearly 10,000 copies.

"You see more in a JC Penney catalog," said Hardy, 31, who once worked for Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller and now has his own entertainment company. "I just feel like my right to free speech is being violated."

Davie on Friday confirmed sending the letter and the plans for the meeting. He said the calendar was the primary concern.

"I prefer not to say anything else about it," he said. "There is more involved, and he and I will have our meeting."

The outcome of a council meeting could include disfellowship, excommunication, probation, "or exoneration," Davie said.

Hardy acknowledged he's not been an active member of the church since 2002. A returned missionary who served in southern California, he said he no longer pays church tithing or wears the religious undergarments considered sacred. In six years, Hardy said he's never been contacted by anyone from the church encouraging his return to the fold and he suspects the current inquiry was driven by the church's Salt Lake City headquarters.

"I'm still a good Mormon boy in many ways," said Hardy, who says he bears no animosity toward Latter-day Saints, but never felt he fit in. "I still want to hold onto my heritage."

The calendar was designed to shake up the Mormon stereotypes, Hardy said. The pages include photos of the men dressed in standard missionary garb. In biographical sketches each missionary talks about his beliefs.

"It's not tearing anybody down," Hardy said. "I wondered what would happen if we took that perfect Disneyland image that the church spends millions of dollars cultivating each year and shook it up a little bit."

Blog entries on the social networking sites MySpace and Facebook show a range of reactions to Hardy's work. Some find it offensive and say it degrades the church by displaying missionaries as "sex symbols," and contradicting church teachings about modest dress for all members.

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