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Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) | |
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![]() Cutlerite church headquarters in Independence, Missouri | |
Classification | Restorationist |
Orientation | Latter Day Saints |
Polity | Church conference |
Moderator | Vernon Whiting (2013) |
Region | United States |
Founder | Alpheus Cutler |
Origin | September 19, 1853 (date of church reorganization)[1] |
Separated from | None, claims to be the sole legitimate continuation of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) |
Separations | True Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) Restored Church of Jesus Christ |
Congregations | 1[2] |
Members | Approximately 12 (2010)[3] |
The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) is a denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement headquartered in Independence, Missouri, United States. The church derives its epithet from its founder, Alpheus Cutler,[4] a member of the Nauvoo High Council and of Joseph Smith's Council of Fifty. Cutler justified his establishment of an independent church organization by asserting that God had "rejected" Smith's organization—but not his priesthood—following Smith's death, but that Smith had named Cutler to a singular "Quorum of Seven" in anticipation of this event, with a unique prerogative to reorganize the church that no one beyond this group possessed. Hence, Cutler's organization claims to be the only legitimate Latter Day Saint church in the world today. Currently, it has only one branch, located in Independence. The Cutlerite church retains an endowment ceremony believed to date to the Nauvoo period, practices the United Order of Enoch, and accepts baptism for the dead, but not eternal marriage or polygamy.