Community of Christ

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Community of Christ
Independence, MO, 04, AK

The Community of Christ is part of the Latter-Day Saint tradition of churches. After Joseph Smith was murdered by a local mob in Illinois, Brigham Young assumed leadership of the majority of Smith's followers and took the group west. However, some disputed Young's leadership, stayed in Illinois, and eventually formed the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS)-an organization headquartered in Independence and for most of their history guided by direct descendents of Joseph Smith. Aside from disagreement over church leadership, the RLDS grew to differ from its parent body on a number of other points. Unlike the LDS, the RLDS began ordaining women to its priesthood in 1984, rejected the sacraments of baptism and the marriage of the dead by proxy, and made its Independence temple a public house of worship rather than one restricted only to members.
In 2000, delegates at the its World Conference passed legislation to change the name of the church to the Community of Christ. Since that date, it has moved closer to traditional Christian understandings of theology, reinstituted the sacrament of baptism, and made the pursuit of peace and justice for all people a primary social impetus of its teachings. However, the Community of Christ still demonstrates some allegiances with the LDS tradition. For instance, although affirming that the Bible is the authoritative scripture for the church, the Book of Mormon and newer revelations collected in the Doctrine and Covenants, are deemed additional scriptural witnesses of God's love and Christ's ministry. Moreover, Independence, Missouri, remains sacred space for all within the LDS tradition.