The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ was a sect that was created in 1907 from dissenting members of

The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) The Church of Jesus Christ is an international Christian religious denomination with origins in the Latter Day Saint (Mormon) movement that is headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, United States.

. Like its parent church, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ was a

Rigdonite A Rigdonite is a member of the Latter Day Saint movement who accepts Sidney Rigdon as the successor in the President of the Church, church presidency to the movement's founder, Joseph Smith Jr. The early history of the Rigdonite movement is shared ...

and Bickertonite organization: it traced the claim of succession to

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

founder

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

through

Sidney Rigdon Sidney Rigdon (February 19, 1793 – July 14, 1876) was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement. Biography Early life Rigdon was born in St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on February 19, 1793. He ...

and

William Bickerton William Bickerton (January 15, 1815 – February 17, 1905) was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement after the 1844 succession crisis. In 1862, Bickerton became the founding president of the church now known as The Church of Jesus Chri ...

. At the conference of The Church of Jesus Christ in 1907, church apostle Allen Wright distributed a pamphlet that expressed a dissenting opinion on the

Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christianity, Christian and Islam, Islamic belief that Jesus, Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his Ascension of Jesus, ascension to Heaven (Christianity), Heav ...

of Jesus and the nature of Christ's

millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ...

reign on earth.Lyle O. Wright (1963). "Origins and Development of the Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times." (M.S. thesis: Brigham Young University) p. 21.

J. Gordon Melton John Gordon Melton (born September 19, 1942) is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History with the I ...

(1996, 5th ed.). ''Encyclopedia of American Religions'' (Detroit, Mich.: Gale) pp. 583–584. The conference condemned the publication and passed a resolution that suspended any member who believed Wright's ideas. Wright and five other members of the church's

Quorum of Twelve Apostles In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the Council of the Twelve, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Council of the Twelve Apostles, or the Twelve) is one of the governing bodies (or Quorum (Latter Day Saints), ...

refused to sustain the administrative action of the conference and subsequently were removed from office and excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ. A few months later, the six apostles and their followers organized the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ. Another of the former church apostles, William T. Maxwell, was selected as the church's inaugural president. The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ eventually merged with the Primitive Church of Jesus Christ, another schismatic Bickertonite sect that was created in 1914. By the 1970s, the combined church had dwindled to a single congregation in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

. Today, the church is believed to be defunct, leaving The Church of Jesus Christ headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania as the only surviving Rigdonite–Bickertonite sect.

Church publications

*J.L. Armburst (1929). ''Reformation or Restoration, or Which Is the Church? Jesus Christ Established but One Visible Church'' (N.p.: Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ) *W.T. Maxwell (1908). ''A Statement Issued by the Re-Organized Church of Jesus Christ, July 4th, 1908'' (Youngwood, Penn.: Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ)

Notes

References

*Kate B. Cater (1969). ''Denominations that Base their Beliefs on the Teachings of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet'' (Salt Lake City, Utah:

Daughters of Utah Pioneers The International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers (ISDUP, DUP) is a women's organization dedicated to preserving the history of the European settlers of the geographic area covered by the State of Deseret and Utah Territory, including Mormon pi ...

) *Russell R. Rich (1967, 2d ed.). ''Those Who Would be Leaders: Offshoots of Mormonism'' (Provo, Utah:

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

) *Steven L. Shields (1990, 4th ed.). ''Divergent Paths of the Restoration'' (Independence, Mo.:

Herald House Herald House or Herald Publishing House is the publishing division of Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri. It publishes books, periodicals and other materials at the direction of the First Presidency. Its history dates to the public ...

) Defunct Latter Day Saint denominations Christian organizations established in 1907 Rigdonite–Bickertonite denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement Latter Day Saint movement in Pennsylvania 1907 establishments in the United States {{LDS-stub