In 1984, he delivered a controversial sermon in the LDS Church's general conference which he asked to redo to clarify some points.

[2] During his time of service, Poelman has served as a counselor to Hugh W. Pinnock in the general presidency of the Sunday School from 1979 to 1981 and from 1985 to 1986.

A "cough track" was included in the retaping to make it appear that the revised sermon was delivered in front of an audience.

[7] The church spliced the retaped sermon into the tapes of general conference prior to their distribution and archival.

One commentator has criticised the changes to the sermon as a dramatic shift in the meaning of Poelman's address: "The rewriting and refilming of Elder Ronald Poelman's October 1984 Conference address, originally a rare and inspiring defense of free agency, so that it became yet another cry for obedience.