Letter to the Presidency and High Council of the Salt Lake Stake of Zion, 9 December 1893
P. O. Box, B. Salt Lake City, Utah. .
To the Presidency and High Council of
The Salt Lake Stake of Zion.
Dear Brethren:
We have considered the appeal of Brother Chas.
M. Plant from the decision of the High Council of the Salt Lake Stake of
Zion wherein he makes the point that neither the Bishop's Court nor the
High Council has jurisdiction in his case, for the reason, as he alleges,
that the sins of the people were forgiven at the dedication services of
the Temple in this City, as then announced by President Wilford Woodruff.
Our decision is that both the High Council and the Bishop's
Court have jurisdiction in a case where a charge is made of the character
that has been preferred against Brother Plant. It is true that President
Woodruff did promise the people that their sins should be forgiven; but
this forgiveness was not designed to extend to transgressions of so
grave a character as it is charged that Brother Plant has been guilty
of, unless the sins have been confessed and the law of the Lord on that
subject complied with. There is a law of the Church which requires
that sins of this character must be confessed, not necessarily to the
whole church, but the confession should be as widely made as the offence
was known, and forgiveness should be sought for from the individuals or
from that portion of the Church that is cognizant of the transgression.
