Ananova:

The creator of a calendar featuring buff male Mormon missionaries has been excommunicated.

Chad Hardy, 31, said he bore no ill will toward the council of elders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over his punishment.

"I felt like I spoke my truth,'' the entertainment entrepreneur said after the disciplinary meeting in Las Vegas.

"Bottom-line, they still felt the calendar is inappropriate and not the image that the church wants to have."

Men on a Mission, which has sold nearly 10,000 copies via the www.mormonsexposed.com website, features pictures of 12 returned missionaries wearing trousers but not their usual white shirts.

Some of the 12 featured have also been called to disciplinary meetings but have been punished, reports the Salt Lake Tribune.

Mr Hardy said the purpose of the 2008 calendar was not to damage the church or its 13 million members.

"The project is about stepping outside the stereotypes and stepping outside of the image,'' he said. "Not everybody fits the image and I let them know we're not trying to portray an image for the entire church.''

He said he considered resigning his membership to avoid the hearing, but decided against it out of respect for his family. Hardy is a sixth-generation Mormon. His parents live in Utah.

''I really feel sorry for my family," Hardy said. ''They are going to be so sad. But I feel empowered and free and I feel like I no longer have to apologise for anything."