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A: Hello
Marina,
Thanks for visiting our website. And thanks for writing. The Church of Jesus
Christ headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania is not an RLDS church, but it
is most definitely a branch of Mormonism. There are well over 100 different
church organizations which sprang from Joseph Smith original church. Since the
term "Mormon" has come to identify the largest of these groups,
headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, none of these other groups likes to be
called "Mormon," since they disagree with certain aspects of Salt Lake
City Mormonism. But there are certain elements of faith which knit these groups
together, nonetheless.
The Church of Jesus Christ (Monongahela) originated under the leadership of
William Bickerton in 1862. Joseph Smith's murder in 1844 left his church in
tremendous turmoil, and an intense power struggle ensued. As a result, the
church broke into factions, as powerful leaders led groups in various
directions, both theologically and geographically. The largest of these factions
followed Brigham Young from Illinois to Utah, where the Mormon church settled
and grew. Sidney Rigdon, a prominent leader under Joseph Smith, led a group to
Pennsylvania which he called the 'Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of
Zion.' In 1845 William Bickerton joined this group. The group began to
disintegrate soon thereafter, due to some theological innovations on the part of
Ridgon. Left without a church, for a time Bickerton met with a Mormon
congregation in the region. However, upon learning of the Mormon doctrine of
polygamy, the Adam-God theory, and other strange doctrines, he left this group
as well.
By claiming direct revelation from God, Bickerton ultimately felt he had
authority to start his own church to promote 'the true doctrine of Christ,' that
is, Joseph Smith's version. Their official bible is the King James version, but
from your letter it sounds like at least some of the members prefer to use
Joseph Smith's 'Inspired Version' of the bible, owned and published by the RLDS
church (for more information on the 'Inspired Version' see chapter
9 in my book, Part Way to Utah: the Forgotten Mormons). They also
believe in Joseph Smith's 'Book of Mormon,' and print their own version (for
more information on the Book of Mormon, see chapters 5,
6 & 7 in my book). One
doctrine which distinguishes this group from other branches of Mormonism is
their practice of Washing of Feet. And as do most branches of Mormonism, this
church claims to be the true successor of Joseph Smith's original church.
Marina, you can find more information about this church on their official
website at www.the-church.org. You can
also find more information in Steven Shield's book Divergent Paths of the
Restoration, published by Restoration Research, Bountiful, Utah. Some
of the information I have provided above came from this book.
I hope you have found this helpful, Marina. I pray God may use you to help open
the eyes of your husband to the unChristian nature of the church he was raised
in.
Blessings to you and your family,
Paul Trask
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