LDS Church calls request 'erroneous'

SAN ANGELO, Texas — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said a request to help monitor prayer services for women and children in the Fundamentalist LDS Church would be "erroneous."

A judge here sought the help of the local LDS congregations to help resolve a dispute about prayer services for FLDS women and children being sheltered at the San Angelo Coliseum. She was trying to find a solution to the women's claims that child protective services workers were disrupting or eavesdropping on the services, which were being held twice a day.

Lawyers for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services was concerned that the women may be coaching children on what to say or in some way interfere with an ongoing investigation.

In a statement to the Deseret News, LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter said they had only been made aware of it through news reports and have "no clear understanding of what, if anything, we are being invited to do."

"It would be erroneous to base any request for assistance from members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the basis that our beliefs and practices are close to those of this polygamous group because they are not," Trotter said.

Trotter also said the request may not be fair to the Fundamentalist LDS Church.

"Neither would such a request necessarily be fair to those of this polygamous community, which long ago chose a different path from ours. In fact, many in these isolated communities view us with some hostility as part of the outside world they have rejected," he said.

The LDS Church no longer practices polygamy and excommunicates those who do. The judge had said that if the local LDS congregations declined, she would consider another option.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com