Zenas Hovey Gurley Sr. (May 29, 1801 – August 28, 1871) was a leader in the history of the

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 Jo ...

. He was baptized into the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The chu ...

on April 1, 1838, and became an

elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and tr ...

soon thereafter. By the

death of Joseph Smith Joseph Smith, the founder and leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother, Hyrum Smith, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, United States, on June 27, 1844, while awaiting trial in the town jail. As mayor of the city of ...

in 1844, Gurley had been ordained a

seventy 70 (seventy) is the natural number following 69 and preceding 71. In mathematics 70 is: * a sphenic number because it factors as 3 distinct primes. * a Pell number. * the seventh pentagonal number. * the fourth tridecagonal number. * the fift ...

. Beginning in 1849, Gurley led a

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' twig'' usually ...

of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) in Yellowstone, Wisconsin, in the early years after the

succession crisis A succession crisis is a crisis that arises when an order of succession fails, for example when a king dies without an indisputable heir. It may result in a war of succession. Examples include (see List of wars of succession): *Multiple periods du ...

. In 1852, Gurley broke with

James Strang James Jesse Strang (March 21, 1813 – July 9, 1856) was an American religious leader, politician and self-proclaimed monarch. In 1844 he claimed to have been appointed to be the successor of Joseph Smith as leader of the Church of Jesus Christ ...

over the issue of

plural marriage Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more th ...

and was eventually

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

from Strang's church. Along with

Jason W. Briggs Jason William Briggs (June 25, 1821 – January 11, 1899) was a leader in the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement and was instrumental in bringing about the 1860 "Reorganization" of the church, which resulted in the establishment of the ...

, Gurley became an important early leader of the "New Organization" of the church that developed in the Midwest in the 1850s. In 1853, he was called as an

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

in the New Organization, which is today known as the

Community of Christ The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...

. Along with William Marks, Gurley ordained

Joseph Smith III Joseph Smith III (November 6, 1832 – December 10, 1914) was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith (founder of the Latter Day Saint movement) and Emma Hale Smith. Joseph Smith III was the Prophet-President of what became the Reorganized Chu ...

President of the Church In the Latter Day Saint movement, the President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed succe ...

in 1860. Gurley's son Zenas H. Gurley Jr. was called as an RLDS Church apostle in 1873.

References

*Inez Smith Davis, ''The Story of the Church: A History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and of Its Legal Successor, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,'' 12th edition, Herald House: 1981.

External links

* 1801 births 1871 deaths American Latter Day Saint missionaries American leaders of the Community of Christ Apostles of the Community of Christ Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) members Community of Christ missionaries Converts to Mormonism Latter Day Saint missionaries in the United States People excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) Religious leaders from Wisconsin {{LDS-stub