A British YouTuber and activist, known as “Nemo the Mormon,” announced Tuesday that his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been withdrawn after a Sept. 26 disciplinary council before his local lay leaders.
According to the letter Douglas Stilgoe said he received informing him and which he shared with The Salt Lake Tribune, the decision rested on the belief that his online criticism of church leaders amounted to “actively seeking to lead others” away from the faith — a point the influencer disputes.
“This decision is not taken because you voiced concerns about the actions of the church or disagree with its leaders,” stated the letter, signed by Stilgoe’s stake president (a regional lay leader), but rather for his “persistent efforts to persuade others to your point of view in opposition to the church and its leaders.”
The stake president could not be reached for comment. Church headquarters in Salt Lake City declined to provide a statement.
Stilgoe, who has amassed more than 7 million total views on YouTube and nearly 12,000 Instagram followers, has built a reputation of being outspoken regarding what he views as the hypocrisy and lack of integrity of some of the faith’s most powerful leaders. Specific criticisms have included the church’s handling of and lack of transparency surrounding its wealth, nepotism and an unwillingness of top leaders to acknowledge mistakes and shifts in policy and teachings.
In 2023, he and two other Latter-day Saints, Sara Delaney and Jane Christie, successfully campaigned for a policy requiring background checks for any church volunteers in the United Kingdom who work with children or vulnerable adults. A year later, he appeared at a Fairview, Texas, community meeting in which he pushed back against the church’s assertion that a controversial steeple for a planned temple was inherent to the building’s purpose.
(Courtesy) Jane Christie stressed that the impact of the news in the United Kingdom had extended well beyond Douglas Stilgoe's close friends and family.
Stilgoe described himself in an interview as “an active member” of his congregation “up until the moment my membership was withdrawn.”
Far from trying to lead others astray, he said, he believes that robust debate and the ability to hold Latter-day Saint leaders publicly accountable is critical to a resilient faith capable of retaining its young people in an increasingly online world.
“I look at my nieces and nephews and the church they’re growing up in,” he said, “and I want it to be a healthier and more self-reflective organization than the one I grew up in.”
Stilgoe has appeared at least twice on “Mormon Stories,” a podcast hosted by John Dehlin, who was excommunicated in 2015.
In a 2020 “Mormon Stories” interview, Stilgoe described how he’d gradually lost his faith after he entered a university and began reading more widely about topics such as evolution, the big bang and LGBTQ issues.
“My shelf broke,” he told Dehlin, invoking a metaphor popular with Latter-day Saints with doubts about the church’s truth claims.
Nonetheless, Delaney said she believes Stilgoe “is deeply committed to the church, and seeks to promote honesty and transparency in all interactions.”
Christie, meanwhile, said many Latter-day Saints in and around London have taken the news hard.”I can honestly say that in all my life,” she said, “I have never experienced mourning in our faith community like this.”
Stilgoe said he doesn’t know if he will apply for readmission into the faith, but that he plans to continue attending church, at least for now (“I won’t know how it feels until I go”) — and uploading new content to his social media channels.
