Community of Christ—formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church)—and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) are two denominations that share a common heritage in the Church of Christ founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830. Since Smith's death in 1844, they have evolved separately in belief and practices. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and claims more than 17 million members worldwide; Community of Christ is headquartered in Independence, Missouri, and reports a worldwide membership of approximately 250,000.

Community of Christ transformation since 1960

Significant doctrinal, organizational, and attitudinal changes in Community of Christ since 1960 have narrowed the similarities that remain between it and the LDS Church. While the doctrine and belief system of the LDS Church is highly centralized, systematic, and static, Community of Christ has adopted an adaptive, decentralized, and progressive approach to doctrine. In 1997, Community of Christ initiated a three-year period of transformation entitled “Transformation 2000", that was seen by its president W. Grant McMurray as the culmination of a series of changes dating back to 1960.W. Grant McMurray, "Transforming the Church", 1998. McMurray identified these changes as a movement away from a belief that the denomination was "the restored church" and towards a position within mainstream Christianity. At the World Conference of 2000, by vote of 1,979 to 561, the name of the church was changed from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to Community of Christ. In so doing, the church was attempting to distance itself from comparisons with the LDS Church and in the process transform itself into a unique body among mainstream Christian denominations.

McMurray was the first president of Community of Christ who was not a direct descendant of Joseph Smith. He sought to formalize developments in thinking about prophetic leadership, the historical basis of the Book of Mormon, and the concept that priesthood authority had been restored in the 1820s and 1830s after centuries of apostasy. During his presidency, the church moved from a closed to an open communion and McMurray began to open the door to priesthood ordination for LGBT individuals, something which he acknowledged was already occurring. At the time, negative membership response to this issue forced McMurray to reaffirm the official policy prohibiting the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians. The church allowed those who were ordained against policy to continue in their priesthood offices. Since 2010, gay rights have been formalized in Community of Christ doctrine."Gay Rights Revelation added to Community of Christ D&C". Retrieved April 26, 2015.

Prior to 1960, the RLDS Church's identity was primarily tied to its differences with the larger LDS Church, which RLDS Church members usually referred to as the "Utah Church" or "Mormon Church". McMurray cited a 1960 world tour by former president W. Wallace Smith as a pivotal event impacting the evolution of RLDS Church beliefs. Leaders such as Roy Cheville had already been teaching a new generation of church members a more ecumenical and open-minded system of beliefs. But it was the church's proselytizing of cultures in countries outside North America that knew little about Christianity, much less Mormonism, that forced a reassessment of denominational practices and beliefs. RLDS apostle Charles Neff, a leading church missionary, pushed fellow leaders and field ministers towards a relativistic doctrinal viewpoint motivated by a combination of practical missionary concerns and an attitude of theological openness. These significant moves of Community of Christ towards alignment with liberal Protestant doctrine were influenced in part by many in church leadership who pursued theological studies at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. While the RLDS Church had long been known for its strong anti-polygamy stance, its outreach efforts amongst the Sora people in India brought a re-examination even on this issue.

Church president Wallace B. Smith's 1984 call for the ordination of women to the priesthood was a milestone in the doctrinal evolution of the church towards progressive Christianity. During his term in office, greater attention was brought to peace and justice issues. The call to dedicate the Independence Temple to the "pursuit of peace" is widely regarded as both symbolic and practical evidence of the differences between the two denominations. While the LDS Church has a set of highly standardized temple rituals and regards temples as sacred space for the creation of covenants, Community of Christ understands temples to be a less formalized center for spirituality, ministerial education, and church administration.

These changes are often viewed as a broad shift in theology of Community of Christ from Restorationism to mainline Protestant Christianity, widening the scope of long-standing doctrinal differences between it and the LDS Church. However, rejection by the RLDS of certain LDS theological distinctives such as exaltation long predates these changes. Nearly all of the traditional differences between the two groups can be seen as aligning Community of Christ more closely with traditional Christian teaching and neo-orthodoxy.

Historical differences between the churches

The RLDS Church was founded by the confederation of a number of smaller groups that declined to migrate with Brigham Young to Utah Territory or follow any of the others vying to become the successor to Joseph Smith. Prior to the 1860 Amboy Conference, in which the church was formally "reorganized" into the RLDS Church, numerous doctrinal differences were espoused by the leaders of the various splinter groups. Following the reorganization, these differences were solidified into a litany of what might now be called "wedge issues" that would distinguish it from Young's LDS Church in Utah.

The differences enumerated below characterize the major differences between Community of Christ and the LDS Church.

Scriptures Both churches believe in an open canon of scripture founded upon the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and revelations of God to the church recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants.

Bible The Inspired Version of the Bible is part of Community of Christ's canon of scripture, although it does not mandate a single translation of the Bible. Herald Publishing House, Community of Christ's publishing arm, sells both the Inspired Version and the NRSV. The NRSV is considered a "good, recent translation", and tends to be regarded as the "default" bible in the present Community of Christ due to "its excellent scholarship" and its "interpretive principle of inclusion", although other translations are preferred in different areas.

More recently, Community of Christ has adopted the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue) for use in English-language resources. Noting the dependence of the Inspired Version on the King James Version, the basis of the King James Version on a relatively small number of relatively late source manuscripts, and the lack of support for Joseph Smith's changes in older Biblical manuscripts which have since been discovered, Community of Christ theology and scripture consultants Charmaine and Tony Chvala-Smith suggest understanding the Inspired Version as a work of theological commentary by Joseph Smith rather than as a restoration of the original autograph texts.

The LDS Church initially viewed the RLDS-published Inspired Version with suspicion, and favoured the Authorized King James Version (KJV) over it, although this suspicion "rapidly faded" during the 1970s. Following polemics by J. Reuben Clark of the First Presidency in favour of the KJV and the Greek Textus Receptus, and in opposition to the RV, ASV and RSV and the Greek Westcott–Hort text (using the KJV basis of the Inspired Version as one of the arguments in favour of the KJV), the KJV has been firmly established as the approved English-language bible of the LDS Church, cemented upon the LDS Church publishing its own edition of the KJV in 1979. The LDS Church edition of the KJV includes curated excerpts from the Inspired Version, which the LDS Church refers to as the "Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible" (JST), in footnotes and an appendix.

For Spanish-speaking members, the LDS Church publishes a slightly modified version of the Reina-Valera version, including footnotes and annotations comparable to those found in its official King James Version. For other languages, the LDS Church recommends usage of specific traditional translations that are selected based on doctrinal integrity with the other official standard works.

Book of Mormon

Both Community of Christ and LDS Church accept the Book of Mormon as a second canon of scriptureAndrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007. and views it as an additional witness of Jesus Christ that complements the Bible. Community of Christ publishes two versions of the book through its official publishing arm, Herald House. The Authorized Edition is based on the original printer's manuscript and the 1837 Second Edition (or "Kirtland Edition") of the Book of Mormon. Its content is similar to the Book of Mormon published by the LDS Church.1966 "Revised Authorized Edition" . Community of Christ also publishes a 1966 "Revised Authorized Edition", which attempts to modernize some of the language. In both cases, the versification is different from the LDS edition: for example, LDS 3 Nephi 11:7 corresponds to CofC III Nephi 5:8.

The LDS Church publishes a single version of the Book of Mormon, which is extensively footnoted to the church's other standard works. Its chapter and versification is based upon the 1879 edition edited by Orson Pratt.

At a 2007 World Conference, Community of Christ President Stephen M. Veazey ruled that a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" was out of order. He stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Although it remains an official book of scripture, views among Community of Christ members regarding its use and historicity span the entire spectrum. The LDS Church regularly emphasizes the importance of the Book of Mormon and encourages its members to read from it daily.

Doctrine and Covenants

Both churches publish a book called the Doctrine and Covenants and accept it as scripture. Community of Christ has removed several early sectionsCommunity of Christ, Doctrine and Covenants - Doctrine and Covenants 107 see header and has regularly added new revelations and other inspired documents to the book since the death of Joseph Smith. The LDS Church removed what was Section 101 (the declaration on marriage which prohibited polygamy) in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants and added the revelation on plural marriage. The LDS Church has added some material to the Doctrine and Covenants since Smith's death, but less than that of Community of Christ. The Community of Christ version currently contains 166 documents, 51 of which were produced after the death of Joseph Smith. The LDS Church version currently contains 140 documents, five of which were produced after Smith's death.

Pearl of Great Price