FLDS Church Gives Up Arizona Worship Center in Government-Ordered Eviction

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, is giving up its large meetinghouse in Colorado City, Arizona, leaving the group without a place to gather for worship. The nearly 53,000-square-foot building was taken over last week as part of government-ordered evictions. Those evictions have taken about 200 homes and buildings from members who refuse to pay property taxes and $100-a-month occupancy fees.

The meetinghouse can hold several thousand people. It is valued at $2.8 million and sits on about 7 acres in the remote red rock community on the Arizona side of the Utah-Arizona border. It has a stage, a church-like setup for services and classrooms for religious education, but it has not been used for at least six months, according to Jeff Barlow. He is executive director of a government-appointed organization that oversees a former church trust with properties in the sister cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona.

The Associated Press describes the building’s loss as the latest sign that the sect led by imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs is weakening and losing control of the community it ruled for a century. The group has a major leadership vacancy. Warren Jeffs is serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting underage girls he considered brides. His brother, Lyle Jeffs, is serving nearly a five-year sentence for his role in an elaborate food stamp fraud scheme and for escaping home confinement while awaiting trial.

Christine Katas, who lives in the community and serves as an intermediary between Barlow’s organization and the FLDS, said the lack of local leaders meant no one took responsibility for the building when the eviction was declared imminent. Rank-and-file members do not believe they have the authority to act, she said. “It’s very sad for the FLDS. I’ve seen people cry over it,” Katas said. “Both sides are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Everybody wishes there was a different outcome.” The loss of a shared place of worship calls for compassion toward those grieving it (Psalm 34:18).

The evictions have led many FLDS members to move into trailers around town or leave the area entirely. Former members have bought some of the homes and buildings and moved back. Group members do not believe they should have to pay for property that belonged to a communal church trust. The state of Utah took over that trust more than a decade ago amid mismanagement.

The evictions are part of a shift in the population of the sister cities, which have about 7,700 residents. Non-sect members won control of the mayor’s office and town council in Hildale last year and nearly did the same in Colorado City’s municipal elections. A jury found past town and police leaders guilty of civil rights violations, and court-appointed monitors now watch the town government and police closely. Sprawling homes that once belonged to Warren Jeffs have been converted into bed and breakfasts and sober living centers. Members still consider Warren Jeffs their leader and prophet, though he has been in jail in Utah or Texas continuously since 2006.

Barlow said the board of the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust, the organization he runs, will meet in a public meeting on Jan. 5 to discuss what to do with the building, which was constructed in 1986. One possibility is converting it into a civic center, though that would likely require seeking grant funds. The UEP board will make the final decision.

Source: Read the original report