The Church was the Gospel Restored

This posting is about the church my family belonged to - the RLDS church.

I grew up in it, but then left it, when I went to the U of Illinois, in 1959. I am the only one of my extended family who has ever done this.

Being an outsider, gives me the ability to see it more objectively, than they can.

The RLDS church was formed by rich farmers in Northern Illinois, who had been members of the LDS church - and wanted their church back. And once they had this church, they wanted another Joseph Smith to lead it. This was not a smart decision, but it seemed necessary to them, at the time.

The obvious choice was Joseph Smith's oldest son, Joseph Smith III. But he was not interested. He, and his mother, were living in the wreckage of a town left by his father - in Nauvoo, Illinois. His mother had remarried, and was not interesting in any kind of religious activity.

Joseph Smith III, and his two brothers, also living in Nauvoo, had a big problem - no income! And no prospects of getting any in Nauvoo. To become successful, they would have to move, as plenty of people had done before them - but they did not!

Perhaps their mother decided to act for them - but for whatever the reason, they became employed by the RLDS church, with Joseph Smith III - as their leader. And their mother never had any interest in the RLDS church after that.

JS III was expected to act like his father - a role he was not interested in. But he was interested in making the church his own - and proceeded to do so, with a strong missionary effort. His missionaries, were instructed to present the church as the gospel restored - quoting passages from the Bible, to prove this.

This strategy worked, and many new members were acquired this way. Including members on both sides of my family, early in the 20th Century. Mormonism was not abandoned - but these new teachings were added to it.

The church had some serious difficulties, in the Seventies, that I have never understood. But the results were clear enough, it became divided into many churches - each claiming to be the restored gospel.

The largest group inherited its members, and its property, from the RLDS church - but changed its name to The Community of Christ.

Meanwhile the LDS church gained strength, purchased most of the property in Nauvoo and are turning it into a historical museum.