Comparison of the Community of Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church)) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) are two denominations that share a common heritage in the Church of Christ founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830. Since Smith's death in 1844, they have evolved separately in belief and practices. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and claims more than 17 million members worldwide; Community of Christ is headquartered in Independence, Missouri, and reports a worldwide membership of approximately 250,000.
Significant doctrinal, organizational, and attitudinal changes in Community of Christ since 1960 have narrowed the similarities that remain between it and the LDS Church. While the doctrine and belief system of the LDS Church is highly centralized, systematic, and static, Community of Christ has adopted an adaptive, decentralized, and progressive approach to doctrine. In 1997, Community of Christ initiated a three-year period of transformation entitled “Transformation 2000", that was seen by its president W. Grant McMurray as the culmination of a series of changes dating back to 1960. McMurray identified these changes as a movement away from a belief that the denomination was "the restored church" and towards a position within mainstream Christianity. At the World Conference of 2000, by vote of 1,979 to 561, the name of the church was changed from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to Community of Christ. In so doing, the church was attempting to distance itself from comparisons with the LDS Church and in the process transform itself into a unique body among mainstream Christian denominations.
McMurray was the first president of Community of Christ who was not a direct descendant of Joseph Smith. He sought to formalize developments in thinking about prophetic leadership, the historical basis of the Book of Mormon, and the concept that priesthood authority had been restored in the 1820s and 1830s after centuries of apostasy. During his presidency, the church moved from a closed to an open communion and McMurray began to open the door to priesthood ordination for LGBT individuals, something which he acknowledged was already occurring. At the time, negative membership response to this issue forced McMurray to reaffirm the official policy prohibiting the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians. The church allowed those who were ordained against policy to continue in their priesthood offices. Since 2010, gay rights have been formalized in Community of Christ doctrine.
Prior to 1960, the RLDS Church's identity was primarily tied to its differences with the larger LDS Church, which RLDS Church members usually referred to as the "Utah Church" or "Mormon Church". McMurray cited a 1960 world tour by former president W. Wallace Smith as a pivotal event impacting the evolution of RLDS Church beliefs. Leaders such as Roy Cheville had already been teaching a new generation of church members a more ecumenical and open-minded system of beliefs. But it was the church's proselytizing of cultures in countries outside North America that knew little about Christianity, much less Mormonism, that forced a reassessment of denominational practices and beliefs. RLDS apostle Charles Neff, a leading church missionary, pushed fellow leaders and field ministers towards a relativistic doctrinal viewpoint motivated by a combination of practical missionary concerns and an attitude of theological openness. These significant moves of Community of Christ towards alignment with liberal Protestant doctrine were influenced in part by many in church leadership who pursued theological studies at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. While the RLDS Church had long been known for its strong anti-polygamy stance, its outreach efforts amongst the Sora people in India brought a re-examination even on this issue.
Church president Wallace B. Smith's 1984 call for the ordination of women to the priesthood was a milestone in the doctrinal evolution of the church towards progressive Christianity. During his term in office, greater attention was brought to peace and justice issues. The call to dedicate the Independence Temple to the "pursuit of peace" is widely regarded as both symbolic and practical evidence of the differences between the two denominations. While the LDS Church has a set of highly standardized temple rituals and regards temples as sacred space for the creation of covenants, Community of Christ understands temples to be a less formalized center for spirituality, ministerial education, and church administration.
These changes are often viewed as a broad shift in theology of Community of Christ from Restorationism to mainline Protestant Christianity, widening the scope of long-standing doctrinal differences between it and the LDS Church. However, rejection by the RLDS of certain LDS theological distinctives such as exaltation long predates these changes. Nearly all of the traditional differences between the two groups can be seen as aligning Community of Christ more closely with traditional Christian teaching and neo-orthodoxy, which further isolates the LDS Church within Christianity as a whole.
The RLDS Church was founded by the confederation of a number of smaller groups that declined to migrate with Brigham Young to Utah Territory or follow any of the others vying to become the successor to Joseph Smith. Prior to the 1860 Amboy Conference, in which the church was formally "reorganized" into the RLDS Church, numerous doctrinal differences were espoused by the leaders of the various splinter groups. Following the reorganization, these differences were solidified into a litany of what might now be called "wedge issues" that would distinguish it from Young's LDS Church in Utah.
The differences enumerated below characterize the major differences between Community of Christ and the LDS Church.
Both churches believe in an open canon of scripture founded upon the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and revelations of God to the church recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants.
The Inspired Version of the Bible is part of Community of Christ's canon of scripture, although it does not mandate a single translation of the Bible. Herald Publishing House, Community of Christ's publishing arm, sells both the Inspired Version and the NRSV. The NRSV is considered a "good, recent translation", and tends to be regarded as the "default" bible in the present Community of Christ due to "its excellent scholarship" and its "interpretive principle of inclusion", although other translations are preferred in different areas.
The LDS Church initially viewed the RLDS-published Inspired Version with suspicion, and favoured the Authorized King James Version (KJV) over it, although this suspicion "rapidly faded" during the 1970s. Following polemics by J. Reuben Clark of the First Presidency in favour of the KJV and the Greek Textus Receptus, and in opposition to the RV, ASV and RSV and the Greek Westcott–Hort text (using the KJV basis of the Inspired Version as one of the arguments in favour of the KJV), the KJV has been firmly established as the approved English-language bible of the LDS Church, cemented upon the LDS Church publishing its own edition of the KJV in 1979. The LDS Church edition of the KJV includes curated excerpts from the Inspired Version, which the LDS Church refers to as the "Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible" (JST), in footnotes and an appendix.
For Spanish-speaking members, the LDS Church publishes a slightly modified version of the Reina-Valera version, including footnotes and annotations comparable to those found in its official King James Version. For other languages, the LDS Church recommends usage of specific traditional translations that are selected based on doctrinal integrity with the other official standard works.
Both Community of Christ and LDS Church accept the Book of Mormon as a second canon of scripture and views it as an additional witness of Jesus Christ that complements the Bible. Community of Christ publishes two versions of the book through its official publishing arm, Herald House. The Authorized Edition is based on the original printer's manuscript and the 1837 Second Edition (or "Kirtland Edition") of the Book of Mormon. Its content is similar to the Book of Mormon published by the LDS Church. Community of Christ also publishes a 1966 "Revised Authorized Edition", which attempts to modernize some of the language. In both cases, the versification is different from the LDS edition: for example, LDS 3 Nephi 11:7 corresponds to CofC III Nephi 5:8.
The LDS Church publishes a single version of the Book of Mormon, which is extensively footnoted to the church's other standard works. Its chapter and versification is based upon the 1879 edition edited by Orson Pratt.
At a 2007 World Conference, Community of Christ President Stephen M. Veazey ruled that a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" was out of order. He stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Although it remains an official book of scripture, views among Community of Christ members regarding its use and historicity span the entire spectrum. The LDS Church regularly emphasizes the importance of the Book of Mormon and encourages its members to read from it daily.
Both churches publish a book called the Doctrine and Covenants and accept it as scripture. Community of Christ has removed several early sections and has regularly added new revelations and other inspired documents to the book since the death of Joseph Smith. The LDS Church removed what was Section 101 (the declaration on marriage which prohibited polygamy) in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants and added the revelation on plural marriage. The LDS Church has added some material to the Doctrine and Covenants since Smith's death, but less than that of Community of Christ. The Community of Christ version currently contains 166 documents, 51 of which were produced after the death of Joseph Smith. The LDS Church version currently contains 140 documents, five of which were produced after Smith's death.
The LDS Church includes the Pearl of Great Price as part of its standard works. Community of Christ has never published or considered this book to be scripture. However, Community of Christ does accept two portions of the Pearl of Great Price—the Book of Moses and Joseph Smith–Matthew—as scripture:
As presently published by the LDS Church, the Pearl of Great Price also includes the Book of Abraham, Joseph Smith–History, and the Articles of Faith; these are not accepted as scripture by Community of Christ. The original edition of the Pearl of Great Price was published in 1851 in England by Franklin D. Richards, and included several other documents:
In 1976, documents titled "Vision of the Celestial Kingdom" (an excerpt from volume 2 of the Documentary History of the Church, detailing Joseph Smith's vision of Alvin Smith in the Celestial Kingdom) and "Vision of the Redemption of the Dead" (a vision of the harrowing of the Spirit Prison recorded by Joseph F. Smith in 1918) were added to the Pearl of Great Price by the LDS Church. In 1979, they were moved to the LDS Doctrine and Covenants as D&C 137 and 138. They have never been canonised by Community of Christ.
Both Community of Christ and the LDS Church are headed by a President of the Church, a position created and held by Joseph Smith. In the LDS Church, succession to the presidency has been based on apostolic seniority. In Community of Christ, the president has the power to appoint a successor; if the outgoing president does not appoint a successor, the Council of Twelve Apostles nominates a successor.
After Smith, the next three presidents of Community of Christ served as President of the Church until their deaths. In 1978, W. Wallace Smith broke this tradition and retired from the presidency, designated himself as "president emeritus", and appointed Wallace B. Smith as his successor. Wallace B. Smith and his chosen successor—McMurray—also retired from the position. In the LDS Church, every President of the Church has served until his death and none have selected a successor prior to death.
The first five successors to Joseph Smith in the presidency of Community of Christ were direct descendants of Smith. McMurray was the first president of the church who was not a member of the Smith family. While never formally accepting a principle of lineal succession, the denomination teaches that Smith had designated his son, Joseph Smith III, as his successor. In 1996, the appointment of McMurray by retiring president Wallace B. Smith was the justification used by schismatic groups that abandoned Community of Christ. This schism led to the creation of the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The president of the Remnant Church at the time, Frederick Niels Larsen, was a maternal great-great-grandson of Joseph Smith. Larsen's handpicked successor and current head of the Remnant Church, Terry W. Patience, however, is not a descendant of Joseph Smith.
The LDS Church determines its presidential successor by principles of apostolic seniority combined with inspiration from God. When a church president dies, the member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who has been an apostle the longest—the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—becomes the new president of the church. Prior to making the succession official, the apostles individually and collectively pray for divine guidance and confirmation of their proposed action.
While this is an area that marked a traditional difference between the two denominations, a 2004–05 succession crisis prompted the Council of Twelve Apostles of Community of Christ to utilize an inspiration-seeking procedure similar to that adopted by the apostles of the LDS Church. When McMurray stepped down as president in 2004, he chose not to name a successor, as previous retirees from the position had done. In 2005, Stephen M. Veazey—who was president of the Twelve, but not the senior member—was selected as successor by the Council of Twelve.
Community of Christ teaches about the Trinity, which they define as a God who is a community of three persons. The LDS Church teaches that the Godhead is composed of three physically distinct personages who are united—or "one"—in purpose.
The LDS Church teaches the principle of exaltation, in which people who achieve the highest degree of salvation can become Gods, and in which God the Father was once a man who became an exalted person. This teaching is derived from late-Nauvoo-period statements of Joseph Smith such as the King Follett Discourse.
This doctrine is not accepted by Community of Christ, which already regarded it as false doctrine as of the tenure of Elbert A. Smith as presiding patriarch of the RLDS Church (1938–1958). Smith, in a pamphlet titled Differences That Persist, argued that the exaltation teaching contradicted statements in the Bible, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants emphasising the unchanging nature of God. This position was established long before the controversies which led to the separation of the Restoration branches in the 1980s; hence, the exaltation teaching is also rejected by that group.
According to Brigham Young, the Adam–God doctrine was first taught by Joseph Smith before his death in 1844. However, the evidence that Smith originated the doctrine consists only of Young's own assertions, an 1877 recollection of Anson Call, and some circumstantial evidence collected by Mormon fundamentalist writers. LDS Church President Spencer W. Kimball officially denounced the Adam–God doctrine in 1976.
Because Community of Christ was founded by the confederation of a number of smaller groups that declined to accept Young's leadership, the Adam–God doctrine has never been a part of Community of Christ teachings, and it has maintained that the doctrine was first enunciated by Young, not Smith.
Both churches have a tradition of bestowing the priesthood on adult male members of the church. The priesthood of Community of Christ has always been open to persons of all races in accordance with section 116 of the Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants, received in 1865 and canonised in 1878; it was opened to women in 1984. The LDS Church's priesthood is open to males only and from the mid-1800s until 1978 was not open to people of black African descent. The LDS Church routinely gives its Aaronic priesthood to boys 11 years of age and older, while Community of Christ generally restricts its priesthood to adult men and women.
Both Community of Christ and the LDS Church operate temples, which for both groups are separate and distinct from church chapels or meetinghouses. The LDS Church has 202 operating temples. Until 2024, Community of Christ operated two temples, the Kirtland Temple and the Independence Temple. On March 5, 2024, the Kirtland Temple was acquired by the LDS Church.
In contrast to Brigham Young's position that a specific commandment was not needed before the Salt Lake Temple was built, Community of Christ traditionally maintains that a specific commandment is required before erecting a temple, noting the existence of such separate commandments for the Kirtland, Nauvoo and original planned Independence temples, and citing Joseph Smith having halted temple construction in Far West, Missouri on the basis of the absence of a commandment revealing it to be the will of God. As such, the commandment to construct the present Independence Temple is included in section 149 of the Community of Christ edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, and further instructions regarding its construction and purpose are included in later sections.
Community of Christ does not practice and has traditionally objected to the idea of sacraments or rituals being performed in its temples; half of the eight sacraments (baptism, confirmation, blessing of children, marriage) are not performed in Community of Christ temples (although, for example, the Lord's Supper and anointing of the sick are), and neither has a baptismal font. Community of Christ's temples are open to the public and are dedicated to the pursuit of peace, spiritual learning, and church history and administration. LDS Church temples are open only to approved members and are primarily used for the performance of rites such as the endowment, celestial marriage, and baptism for the dead; these ordinances have never been embraced by Community of Christ.
Historically, Community of Christ did include documents in its Doctrine and Covenants which sanctioned baptism for the dead and other temple rites. However, Community of Christ considers that the institution of baptism for the dead was made conditional on the completion of the Nauvoo Temple in a reasonable amount of time. Because the membership of the church failed to complete the temple during Smith's lifetime, Community of Christ teaches that the right to perform baptisms for the dead was withdrawn and has not been reinstituted.
The 1970 World Conference of the Community of Christ concluded that sections 107, 109, and 110 (regarding baptism for the dead and temple rites) had been added to the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants without proper approval of a church conference. Thus, the conference redesignated those sections as historical appendices. The World Conference of 1990 subsequently removed the entire appendix from the Doctrine and Covenants.
Community of Christ utilizes the symbol of the Christian cross on its buildings and temples. The LDS Church currently does not use the cross on the grounds that "because the Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith", although this aversion to the cross only became dominant in the 20th century. Rather than a cross, the logo of the LDS Church features the Christus statue as a symbol.
Many temples of the LDS Church include a statue of the Angel Moroni on a spire, but the church does not consider Moroni to be an official symbol and "has no policy regarding the use of statues of the angel Moroni atop temples", but rather includes or excludes a statue from each temple based on local circumstances. Community of Christ does not use the Angel Moroni as a symbol.
In the United States, the Veterans Affairs (VA) emblem for headstones for LDS Church members is a stylized Angel Moroni. For Community of Christ members, the VA emblem is a stylized representation of a child standing between a lion and a lamb, which is an official logo of Community of Christ.
In the 19th century, the differences between the LDS Church and the RLDS Church regarding polygamy was the principal distinction between the two churches. The LDS Church openly practiced plural marriage from 1852 to 1890 and taught that the practice was instituted by Joseph Smith and taught in secret to members of the church before his death. For many years, the leaders of the RLDS Church were vocal critics of the LDS Church's polygamy and argued that the practice had been introduced by Brigham Young, and falsely attributed to Smith after Smith's death. Polygamy was frequently denounced by RLDS leaders and the practice was never accepted by the church. Smith's son Joseph Smith III and widow Emma Smith repeatedly taught that Smith opposed the practice and was not a polygamist.
Today, the Community of Christ continues to reject polygamy. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposes the practice of polygamy in this life, and its church presidents have repeatedly emphasized that the Church and its members are no longer authorized to enter into plural marriage. However, a divorced or widowered LDS man can be sealed in the temple to later wives upon remarriage, all of whom he would be married to in the celestial kingdom, while a woman can only be sealed to one husband at a time while both are alive (recent Church policy allows widowed women to be sealed to multiple husbands if they are deceased); this has come under criticism as "polygamy delayed" to the hereafter. Community of Christ does not practice temple sealing.
Traditionally, Community of Christ taught that tithing should be calculated as one-tenth of a member's discretionary income. The LDS Church teaches that it is ten percent of one's annual income, with it left to the member to determine how to calculate it (e.g., what constitutes "income" and whether it is ten percent of income after or before tax). Recently, Community of Christ has adopted a program known as Disciples' Generous Response, which encourages financial generosity as a response to God rather than as a set calculated obligation.
The LDS Church teaches that Joseph Smith restored the fullness of the gospel after a centuries long period known as the Great Apostasy. The LDS Church therefore characterizes itself as a restoration of fallen Christianity and the one true church that exists. In contrast, Community of Christ has de-emphasized its traditional tenet that it is the one true church and has adopted a viewpoint that all faith traditions can offer a pathway to divine illumination. Barbara McFarlane Higdon has called Community of Christ a "unique member of the body of Christ, the universal community of believers." Higdon also suggests that prior claims that the church had been "restored" were tantamount to idolatry. Community of Christ has therefore moved towards ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue. Nevertheless, Community of Christ "steadfastly affirms the primacy of continuing revelation instead of creedal rigidity". Community of Christ's Doctrine and Covenants continues to contain documents that declare that the church is the one true church.
Today, Community of Christ generally refers to Joseph Smith's First Vision as the "grove experience" and takes a flexible view about its historicity, emphasizing the healing presence of God and the forgiving mercy of Jesus Christ felt by Smith. In contrast to the LDS Church having canonised the 1838 account of the First Vision, orientation movies at Community of Christ operated historic sites tend to either derive from the earlier 1832 account, or else use vague language. In contrast, the LDS Church strongly affirms the reality of the First Vision and emphasizes its role as the beginning of the restoration of the gospel through God's chosen prophet.