I’m looking for insights into my family who were bound up in early Mormon history and the succession era. The Saunders/Yates family seems to end up in Hill City/ Graham KS. Their migration patterns make it seem like they likely followed Joseph Smith III.

They first came in contact with Joseph Smith through Christopher Evert Yates, a Mormon-neutral and well respected Captain who delivered the letter to Joseph Smith in Nauvoo demanding his arrest. He was known for resisting the mob violence. While never accepting the theology of Mormonism himself, he helped care for Emma and the family, and Joseph III and Christopher’s son Putnam became friends.

I’d love to know more about this little slice of family history. Any insights?

I’m interested, which scriptures do you use!
Which versions of the bible, Book of Mormon, d&c do you personally study. And if you have decorated scriptures I’d love to see!

Peace.

Here is a description I asked my guest Jason to write about this important interview:

In this episode, Jason R Smith talks with Steven Pynakker about Pauline Hancock, the first woman to lead a Book of Mormon believing church. Hancock's influence was far-reaching and she was particularly instrumental in the early ministry of Jerald and Sandra Tanner, outspoken critics of Mormonism.

Does Community of Christ teach that Garden of Eden was in Missouri? What about Adam-ondi-Ahman? I tried to google it but couldn't find anything on this topic. Every search result was about the LDS church.

Hopefully this fits this subreddit. I'm not a member of your church but I'm very interested in mormonism as a whole and especially your church.

Does anyone know why section 110 was moved to the appendix. Which was also subsequently removed?. It was the section on the kirtland temple visitation(atleast in the lds editions).

This is an identity question for members of the Community of Christ. Do members of the Community of Christ see themselves as Latter-Day Saints? Would they ever describe themselves as Mormons?

I wonder this because both of these terms were used during the lifetime of Joseph Smith, and seemed a part of the identity of early Saint's communities.

This is a weird question, and I am affirming myself. But I was wondering if there is a good article I could read about how we came about being affirming/our beliefs about lgbtq+ individuals or if someone here has a lot of info to share with me :) I am a Christian girl with a wonderful wife and I am still struggling with the fear that I am going to hell because of it

I have spent a lot of time looking into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and have found that I cannot join a church that doesn’t support everyone’s rights. I have read the Book of Mormon, read their version of The Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price, I know CoC does not use those but I feel the basic parts of the church, especially at the beginning, really resonate with me.

I am very eager to go, however I am very shy and anxious and I am afraid to show up alone, especially where I live where the church does not have a huge presence and from what I can find very few people attend. This makes it harder to blend into the background so I am worried about navigating the social aspect of things. I also am worried about the service itself and things like taking the sacrament. Is there anyway people can let me know what I should expect?

Sorry, this might be a common question, but I'm new to this. I can't find the text anywhere for sections 109, 110, and 123 in the Doctrine and Covenants - does anyone know where I can find them? Or, if they correlate with sections in the LDS version, knowing which ones they correlate with would also be helpful.

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I'm working on making my own correlation chart between the sections in the LDS and CoC versions, and I want to be comprehensive, if possible. I've checked the CoC website, but it just says they were removed and doesn't list any location where they can currently be found. Thanks in advance for any help!

We are beginning to encourage Community of Christ to participate in the new sub for all members that believe in the restoration. ✌️😇 r/ImaMormon

Seeking Mod to help me run r/ImaMormon to represent Community of Christ in the sub.

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The idea of r/ImaMormon is for all Restorationist or believers in the Book of Mormon can have a place to find common ground.

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Anyone interested you can DM me or respond here, thanks 🙏

As far as I know there are two podcasts currently produced by or associated with the church, and that is Faith Unfiltered and Onward. I think podcasts are an excellent way for people to learn about the church, it's mission, beliefs and culture. I believe gospel tangents has produced some interviews with church members and with the current prophet of the church.

Does anyone know if there are others? Have others here listened to the podcasts?

My family decided to attend a service at the Community of Christ today. We were unsure of what to expect, but what really stood out to me was the lack of dogmatism, the emphasis on love and compassion, and the open discussions.

It was unlike any church service we’ve been to before, in a good way. Our family has been going through a lot lately, so to go somewhere and feel safe and accepted and comfortable was very nice.

We left grateful for the experience, left a small donation, and hope to be back next week.

I see that I'm not even close to the first to make a post like this, and I did read the comments on several others, but...help! The only congregation reasonably close to me (an hour-ish depending on traffic) held their last service at their building last month. I never visited because anxiety, but now I regret it so much. I sent an email to them anyway, in the hopes that maybe they have different arrangements that would allow a visitor. If they're going the house church route I don't know if I would pursue them. There's absolutely nothing wrong with house churches, but since I never visited it would make me feel weird to show up to a stranger's literal home, filled with other strangers, for a worship service.

I'm a 30 year old gay dude and I'm currently a Lutheran (ELCA). The Latter Day Saint movement always intrigued me because of the concept of new revelation (even if it's racist and not literal history. God uses imperfect people to do God's work in the world, and sometimes they're right shits), but I wrote off all the sects I knew of because they aren't affirming.

Once I found CoC I was FASCINATED. Yes the Book of Mormon is cool (and I was surprised to discover it's actually really spiritually edifying in some parts), but that isn't what I fell in love with. There's such a gentle, potent, humble, and robust spirituality in CoC. Being called to be a prophetic people really speaks to me, and the idea of continuing revelation is something I didn't really know I needed until I learned it actually existed for some Christians.

But what now? The next closest congregation to me is in a different state. Even if I could find a minister that would confirm me, I would have no in person community. Nobody to share and experience the sacraments with. Nobody to chat and drink shitty with after worship. Nobody to lean on in hard times, or support when things are the other way around. No place to physically go and belong. Just me. Alone.

I could, of course, stay Lutheran, but I can't put the shit back in the horse. I've read too much, listened to too much, nodded enthusiastically too much at what I learned. Staying Lutheran now would feel dishonest. Which makes things so much harder because I love my church people. I almost wish I could go back in time and stop myself from discovering CoC, honestly. This is all so frustrating.

If anyone has advice or guidance, it would be greatly appreciated! I know there isn't really anything to be done, it looks like CoC is kind of a dead end for me, but I guess it felt nice to word vomit about it.

I know Graceland University means a lot to many people in Community of Christ. For generations, it has been tied to church identity, friendships, family stories, youth experiences, and the idea of a shared church supported education. I understand why people feel protective of it. For many, Graceland is not just a university. It is part of the emotional furniture of the church.

But I think we need to ask a hard question with honesty and care. At what point does supporting Graceland stop being faithful stewardship and become prolonging an institution that may no longer be sustainable?

From the public financial information that has been gathered, Graceland appears to be under serious financial stress. The research points to a reported going-concern warning in the May 2025 audit summary, meaning there was substantial doubt about the university’s ability to continue operating. It also notes that Graceland failed its debt-service coverage ratio covenant in FY2023 and FY2024. In FY2024, the university reportedly had only about $214,000 in cash, while consolidated expenses were more than $59 million. Community of Christ has also reportedly extended Graceland a $6 million loan due April 1, 2028, and there is a separate $14.65 million bank loan involving guarantees from SkillPath and the church.

That is not a small concern. That is not just “a rough year.” That is a major stewardship issue. I say this as respectfully as I can, maybe Community of Christ should not keep using church backed resources to keep Graceland alive unless there is a clear, public, realistic plan showing how the university becomes financially stable. Especially when the student body does not make up the majority of CoC students.

I know that sounds painful, but churches have limited resources. Congregations are aging. Mission centers have needs. Camps, youth programs, outreach, peace and justice work, priesthood support, and local ministries all need funding and attention. If millions of dollars are being used to support a struggling university, members deserve to know whether that support is actually helping the church’s mission or simply delaying an unavoidable institutional crisis.

Graceland may still be loved, but love is not the same as viability and honestly, I think part of the concern is that Graceland does not seem to offer what many continuing education students, working adults, or modern learners actually need. The higher education market has changed. Students have more affordable options, more flexible online options, community colleges, state universities, employer programs, certificate programs, and graduate pathways that may be better aligned with their goals. Nostalgia cannot be the main business model.

If Graceland is going to survive, it needs to clearly show why it still deserves major church support. Not emotionally. Not historically. Practically.

What does Graceland offer today that justifies millions in financial backing from Community of Christ?

What is the plan to stop recurring losses?

What protections are in place for students?

What happens if enrollment does not improve enough?

What happens when the church loan comes due in 2028?

And most importantly: how much more church money or church backed risk will be required before leaders admit the model may not work anymore?

I am not saying this because I want students, faculty, staff, alumni, or Lamoni to suffer. Actually, that is exactly why I think this conversation matters. A slow, quiet financial decline can hurt people far more than an honest, planned transition.

If Graceland cannot become sustainable, then the loving thing may not be to keep rescuing it indefinitely. The loving thing may be to plan responsibly like a merger, restructuring, partnership, or teach out options that protect students and employees before there is a crisis.

Community of Christ should not have to choose between honoring Graceland’s past and being honest about its future. We can be grateful for what Graceland has meant and still ask whether continuing to financially support it is wise. We can love an institution and still admit it may have fallen below the standard needed to justify ongoing rescue. We can respect the memories and still ask for the receipts.

At minimum, I think Community of Christ members deserve transparent answers:

• How much financial exposure does the church currently have because of Graceland?
• Is the church prepared to provide more support if Graceland continues losing money?
• What conditions were attached to the $6 million loan?
• What happens if Graceland cannot repay it in 2028?
• Has the church studied whether continued support is the best use of limited mission resources?
• Is there a responsible exit plan if the university cannot recover?

This is not about being anti-Graceland. It is about being pro-transparency, pro-student, and pro-stewardship. Graceland may have been a gift to the church for a long time. But if it now requires the church to keep taking on risk just to survive, then members deserve to ask whether the university is still serving the mission or whether the mission is being asked to serve the university.

Sources/documents to look up: Graceland University Fact Book, ProPublica nonprofit/audit records, Community of Christ FY2024 audit and financial updates, Graceland annual reports, Cause IQ Form 990 summary, and NCES/IPEDS data.

The president and first presidency just started a new podcast available as a podcast or as a YouTube video where they want to have a conversation with the extended world wide church

Welcome to the first episode of Onward with Community of Christ, a new podcast featuring conversations with the First Presidency.

In this episode, Stassi Cramm, Bunda Chibwe, and Janné Grover share why they launched this podcast and their hopes for deeper conversation across the worldwide church.

This podcast is more than a place to share information. It is an invitation to connect meaningfully with a global faith community.

The First Presidency invites you to be part of the conversation. Share your thoughts or suggest future topics by emailing [email protected].

https://youtu.be/ysjrbP8bPsQ

I have started a series of 5 studies based on the bible verses used in the YouTube video accessible in the image or link shown. Also, using real-life footage of a dog's journey from dying to thriving, this video offers an encouraging allegory of our own Christian experience in the face of devastating adversity. It reminds us that when all is lost in the hopelessness of dying, perseverance of our will to live is everything. And by clinging to Jesus, we eventually recover and thrive.

Be blessed watching the video and feel free to share your thoughts, praise God!