RLDS

The Moral Panic Causes Trouble in Zion

July 27, 2010
By
The Moral Panic Causes Trouble in Zion

Kenny Ballantine is in the process of producing a documentary called Trouble in Zion.  The documentary discusses the events leading up to the 1838 Mormon War in Missouri.  It highlights the Extermination Order and Haun’s Mill Massacre, as well as events leading up to these terrible events.  Kenny showed a pre-release version of the film at the Mormon History Association in Independence, Missouri in May, and he is also showing the film at Sunstone here in Salt Lake City in August.  I really enjoyed the film, and highly recommend it.  I thought Kenny was pretty even-handed, and had experts discuss reactions...

Read more »

A Schismatic End to the Mormon History Association meetings.

June 1, 2010
By
A Schismatic End to the Mormon History Association meetings.

I attended the Mormon History Association meetings in Independence, Missouri this past week.  I thought I’d share some pictures.  If you’d like to read more about the conference, here are some links to my posts from Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. CoC Independence Temple at Sunset

Read more »

After Action Report: The Community of Christ Did WHAT?

April 21, 2010
By

Headline in the Independence Examiner for Thursday, April 15, 2010: “Delegation Takes No Action on Human Sexuality Issues: Church Will Continue Dialogue.” Headline  by John Hamer on BCC on Thursday, April 15, 2010: “Gay Rights Revelation Added to The Community of Christ D&C” ———- The two headlines above generally cover the spectrum of opinion about what happened at the Community of Christ World Conference as it completed the process of canonization of a new Section 164 for its D&C. The spectrum of opinions about whether what happened was a good thing or bad thing, of course, runs even more...

Read more »

The Fourth Purpose: Haiti, and Who is My Brother?

January 26, 2010
By

An article from the Salt Lake Tribune listed in the Mormon Matters sidebar sometime ago noted the official elevation of “care of the poor and needy” to the status of a “purpose” of the Mormon (LDS) church. Church news sources are noting how LDS resources are being mobilized from both the United States and the Dominican Republic, in coordination with partners such as Islamic Relief, CARE, Food for the Poor, and Healing Hands for Haiti. All of its missionaries are reported to be safe, and the church is using nine meeting houses to provide shelter for members and an...

Read more »

CoC to tackle Major Issues at April Conference: Gay Marriage & Baptism

January 20, 2010
By

This is the second guest Post from FireTag, a member of the Community of Christ (formerly known as RLDS).  As he mentioned in his previous post, the Community of Christ is going through the process of canonization of a new revelation.  Here’s his latest installment of the process. CofChrist Prophet: Baptism in Christ Transcends Culture “5 It is imperative to understand that when you are truly baptized into Christ you become part of a new creation. By taking on the life and mind of Christ, you increasingly view yourselves and others from a changed perspective. Former ways of defining...

Read more »

Canonizing Modern Revelation – A Tourist Guide

January 5, 2010
By

Over the past year or so, I’ve become blogging buddies with FireTag, a member of the Community of Christ.  He has his own blog at The Fire Still Burning.  Many of you should recognize FireTag, as he frequently comments here at Mormon Matters.  He was part of my panel for the Interview with the Community of Christ. As some of you may know, the Community of Christ (formerly known as RLDS), canonizes revelations in their edition of the Doctrine and Covenants much more frequently than the LDS church does.  There is an upcoming World Conference (similar to General Conference)...

Read more »

Big Love -Big News

March 10, 2009
By
Big Love -Big News

Read more »

Where would you go?

February 11, 2009
By

A few posts on MormonMatters got me thinking once about my relationship with other faith groups.  For instance, a recent post on why it seems that ex-Mormons have a hard time joining other denominations.  Valoel wrote a blog post on what you’d do if you found out that the Church weren’t true through some sort of revelation (from God or otherwise), however the post had the caveat:  “For simplicity, the assumption for this topic is that no other church is a true alternative.” For me, I’ve found that if, for some reason, I discovered that if the Church isn’t...

Read more »

5 Cool Things About the Community of Christ

October 29, 2008
By
5 Cool Things About the Community of Christ

This post is another installment in my “5 Cool Things” series. Today I’m giving a list, again in no particular order, of some things I think are really cool about our prairie cousins, the Community of Christ (formerly RLDS Church).

Read more »

President looks at church history with fresh eyes

October 26, 2008
By
President looks at church history with fresh eyes

While I was much more than casually aware of church history previously, since becoming president of the church I have engaged in an extensive study of our story. I have explored books and articles from a wide spectrum of scholars, authors, and publishers, ranging from the faithful to the skeptical and in between. Truth has nothing to fear from scrutiny.

Read more »

A California Mormon visits the other Zion

April 17, 2008
By
A California Mormon visits the other Zion

By Joe Geisner (guest blogger) No I am not talking about Utah. I left Sam Brannan’s Zion for Joseph Smith’s Zion on April 11, 2008. I arrived at about 4 pm in Kansas City airport and almost froze to death waiting for the rental car shuttle. I had left 80 degree weather for 40 degree weather and began to wonder who really was the prophet? Obviously it was Brannan. The temperature never rose above 45 degrees, and we had snow in April!

Read more »

The End of Polygamy (Again)?

April 17, 2008
By

The raid in Texas is interesting (and differs from AZ and UT prosecutorial efforts) in that polygamy is being attacked directly.  So, will this shift in approach result in the end of polygamy (again)?

Read more »

Mark Your Calendars — 2 Upcoming Conferences IRL

March 18, 2008
By

Meeting together in person to exchange ideas, you ask? Haven’t you heard of the “internets” John Hamer? Hasn’t the awesome nature of the MormonMatters Blog made attending a Mormon studies conference IRL (in real life) as obsolete as reading a printed book?! As incredible as online connections can be, you can’t imagine the fun you’re missing at a real life Mormon studies conference until you’ve been to one in person. I went to my first Mormon History Association conference in May of 2003 and I got hooked. Like the guy in the old Gillette commercials, “I love these things...

Read more »

Clinton Comes to Kirtland

March 3, 2008
By
Clinton Comes to Kirtland

I was in the offices of the new Kirtland Temple Visitor Center last Thursday when the call came through. According to the mayor’s office, Bill Clinton was coming to Kirtland on Saturday — to hold a rally and to tour the Temple. This would make Clinton the first US President to tour the Temple since James Garfield. The Temple staffmembers were excited, but skeptical. If Clinton were coming, wouldn’t they have heard from the secret service directly?

Read more »

LDS Myths about Reorganized Latter Day Saints

January 27, 2008
By

My uncle emailed me the other day. The bishop in his ward gave a talk about the Kirtland Temple and explained how the LDS church donated $100,000.00 per year to the Community of Christ for its upkeep. My uncle wanted to know, “is that true?” I knew it wasn’t. My work with the John Whitmer Historical Association for the last few years has allowed me to form close connections with a number of Community of Christ leaders. But since this had been preached from the pulpit as a fact, I wanted to respond with definitive facts. So I talked...

Read more »