A couple years ago, I began assisting as a moderator for the Finding Heavenly Mother Project, a Facebook group devoted to seeking out Heavenly Mother. It was an honor to have this special “calling” extended to me by my friend who founded the group.

Over time, however, I noticed my friend (who will remain anonymous) began distancing herself from the group. We brought on an extra person to assist us, but I felt like I was now unofficially running the group. I just chalked it up to the busyness of being a full-time student, as we are both now back in school trying to further our educations. I guess you could say I have  been distancing myself some too over the past year as I have been working steadily on my doctorate. School can be demanding!

Just last week, I found out some sad news, which explained a lot about the situation. My friend had not only distanced herself from the Finding Heavenly Mother Project, but also from the LDS Church. The reason being she had lost her Temple Recommend for starting our Heavenly Mother group. This whole time, I had no idea because she had never told me. For her this was “the last straw,” as she explained to me last week. No wonder!

I had heard of others losing Temple Recommends for supporting Ordain Women, and I myself do not hold a Temple Recommend because of my feminist views. But now?

Yes folks, you heard it here first…. Heavenly Mother has lost Her Temple Recommend.

Or at least that’s how it felt to me when I heard the news.

I guess the rest of us are in good company.

Dr. Michelle Wiener holds a Master of Arts in Theology from Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky and a Master of Ecumenical Studies from the University of Geneva in Switzerland where she studied for a year with the World Council of Churches. A convert from the Bible Belt, she loves genealogy and serves as Temple & Family History Consultant. A devotee of Heavenly Mother, she also runs the Finding Heavenly Mother Project. Michelle just completed her PhD in comparative theology through Euclid University.

All posts by