The Church of Jesus Christ - Who We Are

The Church of Jesus Christ, Springfield Restoration Branch, is one of many restoration branches that formed in the years following changes that took place in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) in 1984. The RLDS church itself was the continuation of the church established in 1830 through the instrumentality of six elders including Joseph Smith, Jr.

Joseph Smith, Jr. was born in 1805 in Sharon, Vermont to a family that made its living as farmers. Due to financial hardships resulting from crop failures, the family moved to Palmyra, New York, where they resumed farming and working at odd jobs.

In about 1819-1820 while the family was searching for a church to join, Joseph made it a point of prayer to ask the Lord which church he should join. What followed was the beginning of a long and difficult journey of faith which included persecutions and times of great and marvelous manifestations of the Spirit of God.

The Lord appeared to Joseph in a vision, instructing him that he should not join any of the churches then present in the land, but told him that he had a great work to perform. After this, an angel sent by the Lord gave Joseph instruction concerning an ancient record that had been kept and preserved by the former inhabitants of the land, stored in a hill not far from where he lived. Joseph was told that he would be given the means to translate this record by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost through the use of interpreters, which were similar to eye glasses, but which would enable him to look through them and read the translated language from the record.

In September, 1827 Joseph was allowed to obtain the record, which was on metal plates having the appearance of gold. On these plates were engraved writings detailing the historical accounts and prophecies of the ancient inhabitants of the land, consisting of three groups of people that traveled from the eastern hemisphere to the western hemisphere over the oceans. Two of these groups came out from Jerusalem in about 600 B.C., and a third group came from Babel many years earlier, where and when the people had been building a great tower. The account details how God worked with these various peoples over the course of many years, both their successes and failures as a people striving to fulfill the Lord's will. It also details the visit of Jesus Christ to them following his resurrection and ascension to the Father. Lastly, it details their fall as a Christian civilization some four hundred years after the birth of Christ, which fall came because of disobedience to the commandments of God.

Joseph was given instruction to complete the translation of this work because it contained the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It would serve as an answer book to many questions about the Gospel that were not answered by the Bible very clearly, and which would bring to light many truths concerning the fulfillment of prophecy in the latter days. It would also serve to provide the modern descendants of those ancient inhabitants with a record of their own history to the intent that they might know that they are known by God and that the promises he has made to them will be fulfilled.

Joseph completed the translation of this work in 1829 and the book was published by Grandin & Sons publishers in 1830 as "The Book of Mormon." The initial printing of this book consisted of 5,000 copies.

During this time Joseph had continued to receive additional revelations and commandments from the Lord, one of which was the need to organize what would be named The Church of Christ. This took place on April 6, 1830, and along with the the message of the Restored Gospel of Christ the church grew rapidly from just a handful of members in 1830 to more than 100,000 within ten years.

The unique doctrines of this church were different from those of other churches because of the authority given by God to confirm the truths of the scriptures as taught in ancient times when Jesus declared it to the people. The message of Jesus and of the scriptures had many times become corrupted by men and churches over the years, necessitating both the reformation movement in the 1500's and ultimately the restoration movement in 1830. Besides the restoration message, the priesthood authority necessary to perform the ordinances of the Gospel were also restored, which enabled many to receive profound gifts of the Holy Spirit, which further aided the growth of the church.

Joseph Smith, Jr. was killed in June, 1844 by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, some of whom were civilians dressed as native Americans, which was a mockery of The Book of Mormon.

Following Joseph's death the church fractured, with approximately one third of the membership eventually following Brigham Young to Utah where they established a new "colony" in what is now Salt Lake City, Utah. Brigham Young, who had been one of the apostles in the church, had been nearly expelled from the church prior to the death of Joseph due to Brigham's promotion of various teachings about polygamy and other erroneous doctrines. Other groups were based in Michigan and in Texas, but the bulk of those who did not join Brigham Young remained largely in the states of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, and Ohio.

The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) was formed in 1853, some nine years after the death of Joseph Smith, Jr. It sought to retain and promote the original doctrines and teachings of the 1830 church. In 1860 the Lord instructed Joseph Smith, Jr,'s son, Joseph Smith III, to accept the leadership role as president of the RLDS church after he had refused to join the Utah-based church, which was now recognized as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), which is often called by the nickname of "The Mormons" today. Joseph Smith III's feelings on this were confirmed by the Lord, who told him he should not join the LDS group because "the light which is in you is greater than the light which is in them."

From 1860 until 1984, leadership of the RLDS church transitioned from father to son, or from brother to brother as occasion required and as the Lord instructed. In 1984 following pressure from some in the church that wanted to change some long-held doctrines, the general church conference voted to accept a "revelation" presented by Wallace B. Smith - then the president of the church - which enabled the ordination of women to the priesthood and introduced the false doctrine of disjunctive revelation. Disjunctive revelation is the belief that new revelation can contradict former revelations and commandments. This doctrine stood in stark contrast to all the teachings promoted by the church up to that time, and it marked the beginning of a great schism in the church that was to take place as a result.

The role of women as priesthood members was likewise a change in doctrine as this has scripturally and historically been a role for men, not because of bias or sexism, but because the model of the church as the body and bride of Christ described in the New Testament demanded it. The New Testament model for the church is the one that Jesus established, and while women serve a vital role in the church in many capacities, priesthood has always been a duty only given to men. Unlike the LDS church doctrine, however, priesthood in the RLDS church had never been considered to be a birthright of men, but a calling of God to those men whom he selects to perform this function. As God is not a changeable being, this is a divine doctrine that has not changed either.

In response to these actions by the general conference of the church, many members of the church that would not accept this new doctrine were expelled from the church by the leadership and many priesthood in good standing had their priesthood licenses revoked.

Following this, members began to meet in homes and in many cases formed new "restoration branches" which again sought to return to the original teachings of the 1830 church. That Restoration Branch Movement remains to this day, and though there have been divergences by some and disagreements, there are still many who believe that the original church doctrines and teachings are true.

The Springfield Restoration Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ is one of these branches which hold to the belief that God is not a changeable being, that his laws are true and eternal, and that his teachings must never deviate from what has been given before.

The Church of Jesus Christ itself is a body of members bound together by the doctrines and teachings of Jesus Christ. The role of the Church is to help in the bringing forth and establishment of the Kingdom of God by broadcasting the message of the Gospel of Christ to any who are willing to hear and obey the Lord. It is not a body of perfect people, but a body of people seeking to become perfect by faithful obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his life as a ransom for us. Eternal life is the promise Jesus gave to those who rely upon him for this salvation and who make this decision of their own free will, regardless of who they are or where they come from.

The commandment is simple and the promise is sure:

Moroni 7:36 And he hath said, Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be saved.