A Utah podcaster known for criticizing the leaders, policies and beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced this week that he received a letter notifying him that he had been removed from the faith’s rolls for apostasy.

Landon Brophy, co-host of “Mormon.ish,” said the move surprised him — not only because work had prevented him from regularly appearing on the show for the past 18 months but also due to the fact that he hadn’t attended weekly church services in years.

Nevertheless, Brophy, who lives in Syracuse, did not contest the letter’s accusations, which stated that the church’s local “[membership] council was convened due to concerns of apostasy related to multiple podcast episodes in direct contradiction to the principles and doctrines” of the faith.

“Notice they didn’t say that it was in direct contradiction to the teachings of Christ or the scriptures or contrary to historical data,” he said in a podcast episode announcing the news. “They say, ‘You disagree with the church.’”

That much, he said, is true.

A onetime member of multiple lay bishoprics, Brophy said he effectively left the church seven years ago after questions about many of the faith’s truth claims went unanswered. He opted against attending the disciplinary council in which local church leaders made their final decision to withdraw his name (formerly called excommunication), calling it a “kangaroo court.”

The Utah-based church has repeatedly emphasized that disciplinary actions against members are left to local leaders.

The podcast’s audience

“Mormon.ish,” which claims more than 13,000 subscribers on YouTube, advertises itself as a podcast “for post- and nuanced Mormons seeking a joyful life as they navigate their faith journey outside of orthodox Mormonism.”

Brophy and his co-host, known only by her pseudonym, Rebecca Bibliotheca, started the podcast 3½ years ago. Frequent topics include challenging the historicity of the faith’s foundational text, the Book of Mormon, membership trends and grassroots resistance to the faith’s historic temple-building spree.

Rebecca told The Salt Lake Tribune she had yet to receive a similar notice regarding her membership, theorizing that her use of a pseudonym has hindered leaders’ efforts to locate and contact her.

“That’s one reason,” she said, “I don’t share my full name. I prefer flying under the radar.”

She and Brophy expressed surprise that the church would target someone who remained a member in name only.

“Typically, what we’ve seen,” Brophy said in an interview, “is they don’t bother with people who don’t go to church.”

Other church departures

Julie de Azevedo, a therapist and frequent critic on social media of the church’s patriarchy, said the same.

“How would [his local leaders] even know who he is?” wondered the influencer, a self-identified Mormon whose name remains on the books although she said she no longer attends church.

In Wednesday’s episode and in interviews, Brophy and Rebecca framed the development as one in a string of actions by the church to silence online critics. Other examples they pointed to included the church’s recent lawsuit against John Dehlin’s “Mormon Stories” for alleged trademark infringement and the membership withdrawal of British podcaster Douglas Stilgoe, known as “Nemo the Mormon,” in late 2024.

In March 2025, husband-and-wife podcasters Nathan and Valerie Hamaker dropped a bombshell on followers of their show, “Latter Day Struggles,” when they announced they had resigned their membership ahead of a disciplinary council they anticipated would have ended in their ouster. Their show focuses on helping those “who are struggling with a faith crisis” and who say they have been “harmed” by the church.

In a February devotional at church-owned Brigham Young University, church President Dallin H. Oaks warned students against “speculation and false information” in podcasts and on social media, saying some individuals protest or question church doctrines without fully understanding them.

Correction • May 1, 1:12 p.m.: The story has been updated to correct Landon Brophy’s former leadership roles in the church.