Church of Christ (Temple Lot)

Church of Christ (Temple Lot)
source
Name	Church of Christ (Temple Lot)
Caption	Temple Lot in Independence, Missouri
Founded date	1863
Founder	Granville Hedrick
Headquarters	Independence, Missouri
Area	United States, international missions
Classification	Latter Day Saint movement

Church of Christ (Temple Lot) is a small Restorationist denomination within the Latter Day Saint movement headquartered in Independence, Missouri. Formed in the aftermath of schisms following the deaths of Joseph Smith Jr. and conflicts such as the Mormon War (1838), the group asserts a commitment to the earliest revelations recorded in the Book of Mormon and selected revelations ascribed to Joseph Smith III and other early figures. The body is best known for owning the 2.5-acre parcel in Jackson County, Missouri called the Temple Lot and for its rejection of later developments promulgated by Brigham Young and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

History

The Church traces its origin to followers of Granville Hedrick who separated from Strangite and RLDS factions in the 1860s. In the aftermath of Nauvoo, Illinois upheavals and the westward migration led by Brigham Young to Great Salt Lake, Hedrick and associates reorganized in Jackson County, asserting rights to the Temple Lot first dedicated by Joseph Smith Jr. in 1831. Legal and physical conflicts with settlers and militias, including episodes tied to the Extermination Order (1838) by Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs, shaped early institutional identity. The Temple Lot church engaged in notable litigation with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the 20th century over title to the Temple Lot, culminating in decisions by courts in Jackson County and appeals to higher tribunals influenced by precedents in United States law concerning religious property, yet the Temple Lot retained possession.

Beliefs and Doctrine

Doctrinally, the Church adheres to the Book of Mormon as scripture alongside the Bible and selected revelations they attribute to Joseph Smith Jr. prior to his death. The group rejects plural marriage as practiced under Brigham Young and repudiates later institutional developments such as the establishment of a centralized quorum system resembling that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Temple Lot church emphasizes restorationist themes present in the writings of Oliver Cowdery, Ezra Booth, and early Kirtland, Ohio documents, affirms prophetic succession claims rooted in figures like Granville Hedrick rather than Brigham Young or Joseph Smith III, and interprets eschatology through a premillennial lens akin to that found in some Adventist and Millerite thought. Their hymnody and liturgical texts draw on traditions associated with James Strang and Sidney Rigdon while maintaining a distinctive stance on priesthood organization.

Organization and Leadership

Governance is congregational with a centralized corporate entity managing the Temple Lot and associated properties. Leadership roles include elders and ministerial officers comparable to early Latter Day Saint movement structures as practiced in Kirtland and Nauvoo. The church eschews hierarchical bodies such as the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles model advanced by other factions; instead, local congregations exercise autonomy subject to discipline by a conference akin to practices once observed by followers of W.W. Phelps and John C. Bennett. Administrative decisions have been the subject of intra-movement correspondence with leaders from Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and delegations from Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Temple Lot and Properties

The Temple Lot, originally dedicated by Joseph Smith Jr. during the Kirtland–Independence period, is the church’s most significant asset. The parcel’s legal history involved litigation with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and disputes examined in Jackson County courts and referenced in United States Supreme Court jurisprudence on religious property precedents. Around the Temple Lot stand properties associated with early Missouri Latter Day Saint settlement attempts, and the site has attracted visitors linked to Historic Sites tourism, scholars from institutions like Brigham Young University and University of Missouri, and interdenominational observers. Proposals to build a temple on the lot have been publicly debated and compared to temple-building projects by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ.

Practices and Worship

Worship centers on congregational services featuring sermons, scripture readings from the Bible and Book of Mormon, hymn singing, and sacraments historically associated with early Joseph Smith Jr. practices. The church emphasizes evangelism consistent with 19th-century Restorationist missions to Missouri and other Midwestern states, mirroring outreach patterns of contemporaneous groups such as the Strangites and Bickertonites. Ordinances include baptismal immersion, the laying on of hands, and communal prayer modeled after accounts in Doctrine and Covenants sections they accept. Their calendar marks anniversaries tied to events like the dedication of the Temple Lot and the 1819-1836 foundational period of the movement.

Schisms and Relations with Other Latter Day Saint Movements

Since its founding, the Temple Lot church has experienced and enacted schisms involving factions aligning with leaders such as James J. Strang, Joseph Smith III, and Brigham Young. Relations with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have ranged from litigation to theological debate; contacts with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have included public disagreements over doctrine and temple claims. Ecumenical exchanges have occurred with independent groups like Community of Christ splinter congregations and with historians from Graceland University and archival researchers from the LDS Church History Library.

Demographics and Distribution

Membership has remained relatively small compared with larger bodies like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Community of Christ, concentrated primarily in Missouri and neighboring Midwestern states, with limited missions abroad following patterns of 19th-century American Restorationist emigration to Europe and the Philippines. Demographic studies by scholars at Brigham Young University and University of Missouri–Kansas City indicate modest growth punctuated by local conversions and occasional transfers from other Latter Day Saint movement groups. The church’s archives and membership rolls have been referenced in academic works on American religion and restorationist sectarianism.

Category:Latter Day Saint movement