Restoration Branches - Differences From The Community of Christ

Differences From The Community of Christ

As the Restoration Branches have no universally-recognized central organization, no one organization is able to speak for all of them at this time. However, here is a sampling of some of differences in their beliefs from the Community of Christ:

• The Restoration Branches believe in an unchanging God, and so they do not believe in "disjunctive revelation" - meaning all genuine new revelations must completely agree with all genuine revelations given in the past. They see new revelations from the Community of Christ as disjunctive, and thus, false. (See law of non-contradiction)
• The Community of Christ ordains women to priesthood offices. The Restoration Branches believe that women have different, though not inferior, callings from men and that the Lord never intended women to hold priesthood offices. They do not recognize female priesthood callings in the Community of Christ or ordinances performed by women. As support for this doctrinal position, Restoration Branch members cite the lack of women's ordinations to priesthood offices in the Scriptures up until the recent changes that took place in the 1980s which were the cause of the schism combined with the statements of the Biblical authors on the role of women. The Restoration Branches specifically reject the Community of Christ's Doctrine & Covenants Section 156, which called for women's ordinations, as disjunctive and contrary to the word of God.
• The Community of Christ, following instructions given in Section 156 of their Doctrine and Covenants, built a "sacred space of worship, education, and church administration" called the Independence Temple across the street from the original Temple Lot site in Independence, Missouri, including a "World Plaza." The movement does not recognize the Community of Christ's claim of divine direction to build it. Though they do recognize that Joseph Smith Jr. did receive revelation(s) ordering the construction of a temple on the Temple Lot site sometime in the future, they feel the Community of Christ's efforts in this regard to be illegitimate.
• Many members of Restoration Branches believe they have been disenfranchised in church government by the Community of Christ, citing the rights of branches listed in the Articles of Incorporation of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (1872.) A legal document incorporating the church under the laws of the state of Illinois. They argue that the methods employed to facilitate many changes that have taken place during and since the twentieth century have violated the branches and individual members rights to voice and vote in the deliberative assemblies of church government.
• The movement does not recognize the position of any person who currently claims to be a functioning prophet, seer and revelator as legitimate. Various factions have formed into separate movements following various prophets, notably the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
• The Restoration Branches movement regards changes to the restored gospel (as understood by them to have been taught and practiced in the Church of Christ organized under Joseph Smith Jr., and reorganized under Joseph Smith III) and to the ordinances of the church as apostasy and an abomination in the sight of God.
• As previously mentioned, most Restoration Branches are close-communionists, meaning that although all are welcome to attend church meetings, they do not serve the sacrament to non-members.