Understanding RLDS

We will now return to our regularly scheduled programming ... The current Dialogue has a piece entitled "The Remnant Church: An RLDS Schismatic Group Finds a Prophet of Joseph's Seed," by William D. Russell, an RLDS scholar. It is available online here, but you really ought to subscribe and get your own copy (so you can read all the other articles, etc.). There is also a lengthy interview between Russell and Dialogue's editor posted at BCC (which prompted some heated intra-RLDS exchanges in the comments that probably torpedoed a more balanced discussion). Utah LDS know surprisingly little about RLDS thinking. At the same time, RLDS are even less understandable to mainstream Christians, for whom reformed or reorganized Mormonism is simply incomprehensible, so Utah LDS are really the only target audience for RLDS apologetics. We're the only ones who will listen.

Caveat: I use the term "RLDS" because it is understood. The term "Restoration movement" is what RLDS use to discuss the broad movement, and "Community of Christ" is now the official title of the main denomination, formerly named The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (no hyphen) and which I'll refer to as "the RLDS Church" just because it's easier than saying "the church formerly known as the RLDS Church" every time. The article notes two splinter groups as well, The Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ("the Remnant Church") and The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ("the Restoration Church"). Links are to their respective homepages.

Those Who Stayed Behind
The main body of Saints followed Brigham Young across the plains. Those who remained were scattered and grouped in isolated branches, but most eventually joined together under the leadership of Joseph Smith's son, Joseph Smith III, as the RLDS Church. There was a lot of infighting between Utah Mormon and RLDS leadership in the 19th century, but now they are on quite friendly terms, it seems. The article refers to the RLDS doctrine of "the law of lineage," the idea that only a lineal descendant of Joseph Smith, Jr., can lead the (true) Church. Obviously, Brigham Young was against that idea from the beginning. Interestingly, now the RLDS Church is against it as well, given that their present and previous President are not lineal descendants of Joseph Smith, Jr. It is the dissenting conservative splinter groups, such as the Remnant Church that is the focus of the article, that now defend the law of lineage.

The most interesting part of the article for me was understanding how liberal (in religious terms) the RLDS Church has become over the last 30 years. While the Utah Church has steered right and become an increasingly conservative (in religious terms) denomination, the RLDS Church moved left. According to the article, starting in the mid-80s a string of doctrine and policy changes happened: (1) a revelation presented to and accepted by the RLDS membership in 1984 permitted the ordination of women to priesthood office; (2) the new Independence temple was dedicated to "the pursuit of peace," which doesn't tell me much but was a departure from whatever the RLDS Church previously thought about temples; (3) the church moved to "open communion," whereby non-RLDS congregants could partake of the Lord's Supper (i.e., the sacrament) as well as RLDS; (4) in the mid-90s, W. Grant McMurray became the first President of the RLDS Church not from the Smith line; and (5) in 2000, the RLDS Church changed its official name to the Community of Christ. These are significant changes; the only one of these five that have a parallel in the LDS Church was the first, the LDS 1978 revelation on priesthood.

The Department of Religious Education (the RLDS equivalent of CES) was a strong influence in moving the RLDS to the left. Likewise, CES has been a strong influence in moving the LDS Church to the right, at least to the extent it has any independent influence. Because the RLDS Church moved left, the dissenters are conservative, such as the Remnant Church highlighted in the article (composed of roughly 17 branches and a thousand members, as of 2002, and led by a descendant of Joseph Smith, Jr.). By contrast, LDS Church dissenters are from the left (ignoring the fellows who live behind walled compounds and marry their teenage nieces). But the LDS dissenters haven't formed splinter churches. Most aren't even really "dissenters" (another term of convenience), they just wish the Church wasn't so rigidly conservative.

Or course, you can make a good argument that the LDS Church really isn't that conservative and is, in fact, more accommodating and open to "liberal religion" and its values than is generally recognized. Yes, CES culture and rhetoric obscures the issue, and strong personalities who emphasize the conservative side of Mormonism (Elder McConkie comes to mind, but most of the Twelve echo his thinking if not his rhetoric) make it seem like liberal Mormons are considered to be rebellious and even apostate. Conservative Mormon opinion splits between those who agree that liberal Mormons aren't "in harmony with the Brethren" (that's how conservatives talk) and those who assure us that Mormonism is a big-tent religion where liberal views and values are welcome and supported, and that liberal anxiety is entirely misplaced. I really can't say which view is a more accurate description. Things vary by locality, which makes it even more confusing.

Conclusion
The article reveals an RLDS Church in disarray. After the 1984 revelation on women, it lost one-fourth of its membership, according to the article, and now has to fend off organizational and doctrinal challenges from energized conservative dissenting groups. The Utah Church, on the other hand, is the model of organizational efficiency and centralization, with little or no organized internal dissent. Interesting contrast. But disarray is not always a bad thing, and efficiency and growth are not the only or even proper measures of religious quality. A final thought: There is no way from the article to get a sense of how day-to-day church life in an RLDS congregation or one of the conservative congregations differs from llife in a standard correlated Utah LDS congregation of the type that most of us are familiar with. Perhaps a commenter or two can enlighten us.

[Note to new visitors: There's a comment queue in place, so it will be a few hours until your comment posts. See my Comments FAQ for more details.]

Comments

[Evan]

Dave-

First of all great blog! You can add me to your list of fellow LDS bloggers. I just started my own blog at www.trainersworld.blogspot.com

Second, great blog on the RLDS. I have had a passion for studying the RLDS and the Restoration Movement now for about 15 yrs. Interesting to see the decline and apostasy take over.

I am a Gospel Doctrine Teacher as well and a professional corporate trainer.

I'll visit often.

Thanks

Evan

[graham]

I've been fascinated by The Community of Christ since I first heard about them; not sure why.

I don't think there's any chance of non-Mormons taking them seriously however, as they're just lumped together with LDS. Even if mainstream Christians and RLDS had identical views the scripture issue will never be softened by Christians.

That, to me, is a great shame.

[don]

Interesting Post. The RLDS own some of the best property, but not the best doctrine.

[David A. Swanstrom]

I am somewhat an expert on LDS, RLDS doctrine and theology. You might say 50 years experience. I believe God speaks today and that Joseph Smith was a prophet, for a while. I have had some prophetic experiences I would be glad to share if you are into that sort of thing.

[Dave]

David, I'll post your comment along with your email address so anyone who wants to inquire further may do so.

[JWL]

Does anyone know if there is an RLDS equivalent to the Bloggernacle? It might be interesting to open contact.

[Lyle]

Dave,
After reading your post there is one thing I would like to say. The comment about the Temple in Community of Christ, I would say is incorrect.
I am a member of Community of Christ. I am also a historian and theologian of Community of Christ history and theology with a particular interest in theology of Temple in Community of Christ.
The Independence Temple ministry and use reflect greatly on use of the Kirtland Temple in the 1830s. Different words may be use, but language has evolved and changed over the years. The underlying understanding and base theology of Temple has not truly "changed" though our understanding has probably expanded over the years.

Peace be with you,
Lyle II

[Joel]

A mainstream LDS friend told me a while back that the Community of Christ had merged in some way with a Methodist denomination and had to give up certain LDS tenets as part of the deal. I haven't been able to find anything about that, and frankly, I don't understand what he was talking about. Does anybody here know what he might have been referring to?

[Andy]

Just a few comments. First, I'd like to point out that there is a difference between the Restoration Church and the Restoration movement. The mass exodus from the RLDS church in 1984 resulted in the restoration movement, a movement dedicated to upholdong the original doctines of the church as it was restored through Joseph Smith Jr. in 1830. Other groups such as the Remnant Church and (I assume) the Restoration Church came out of the restoration movement ostensibly from a need for organization.

That said, I would also like to point out that the Remnant Church traces their leader's lineage to Joseph Smith Jr. maternally. This goes against the law of lineage which is traced father to son.

Each faction that shot out from the Restoration movement has done so at the expense of the original doctrines of the church that said movement claims to uphold.

[Mike]

Hi, former RLDS member here, tossing in my two cents on a couple matters mentioned above.

The RLDS Church/Community of Christ has not merged with any other religious body. Since the 1920's there has been urban legends about them merging with somebody else - never has happened. No outside entity is feeding money into the church in exchange for them watering down their beliefs. The doctrinal changes of the last forty or so years took place internally and for many reasons, but none of them to get outside funding.

The Remnant LDS Church and the Restoration LDS Church both arose out of the chaos after 1984, but not quite in the same way. The folks who came together as the Restoration Church never participated in the Restoration Branches movement per se - they emerged from a study group that began in an RLDS stake in the early 1980's. They officially held a conference in 1991, declared the RLDS Church out of order and identified themselves as the church in succession. Things have not been easy for the Restoration Church. At one point, they were closing in on 10,000 members in the States and abroad - last I knew, they were down to a dozen groups around the country and roughly 400 members.

3. The Remnant Church, by contrast, did grow out of the independent branches; one of the cooperative organizations that the Restoration Branches use to commmunicate with one another - the Conference of Restoration Elders - was where the first signs of what was to become the foundation of the Remnant Church arose.

The Remnant Church, I understand now has close to two dozen congregations in the US and Canada and is moving in on a couple thousand members.

Note that both the Restoration Church and the Remnant Church understand themselves as the legal and spiritual successor to the RLDS/Community of Christ.

The Restoration Branches, by contrast, have operated under the assumption that they are the legitimate RLDS Church and that the Lord will one day cleanse the church so the faithful may once again assume temporal control. However, there are some that are beginning to think in terms of organizating above branch level and that may some day lead them to organize sufficiently enough to try to get control of the RLDS moniker from the Community of Christ.

The Restoration branches collectively have more former RLDS folks than anyone - there are roughly 200 independent branches with membership somewhere in the 25,000-30,000 member range. If they were ever to effect a central organization, they would very quickly become the third largest Latter Day Saint denomination. Going by what I hear about their missionary efforts abroad through their cooperative organizations, they could possibly surpass the Community of Christ and be the second largest within a decade of forming that central organization. They certainly have the zeal.

[Ben McLean]

I have started a wikia project to document the beliefs of the independent RLDS Restoration Branches movement.