| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:James_Strang_daguerreotype_(1856).jpg) 1856 daguerreotype of James Strang, taken on Beaver Island, Lake Michigan | |
| Classification | Latter Day Saint movement |
| Orientation | Latter Day Saints |
| Theology | Mormonism; Psilanthropist; Unitarian |
| Polity | Church conference |
| Moderator | None, after Strang's death |
| Region | Worldwide |
| Founder | Joseph Smith Jr, 1830; James J. Strang, 1844 |
| Origin | April 6, 1830 (officially given); June 27, 1844 (claimed angelic ordination of Strang)[1] Voree, Wisconsin |
| Separated from | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints |
| Separations | Church of Jesus Christ (Drewite), Church of the Messiah, Holy Church of Jesus Christ, others |
| Congregations | 6 |
| Members | 130 |
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints—usually distinguished with a parenthetical (Strangite)—is one of the several organizations that claim to be the legitimate continuation of the church founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830. It is a separate organization from the considerably larger and better known Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Both churches claim to be the original organization established by Smith. The Strangite church is headquartered in Voree, Wisconsin, just outside Burlington, and accepts the claims of James Strang as successor to Smith. It had approximately 300 members in 1998. An undated FAQ on the church's official website reports there are around 130 active members throughout the United States.[2]
After Smith was murdered in 1844 with no clear successor, several claimants sought to take leadership of the church which Smith founded. Among them was Strang, who competed with other prominent members, notably Brigham Young and Sidney Rigdon.
At its peak, the Strangite Church had about 12,000 members, making them noteworthy rivals to the larger faction led by Young.[3] Strang was murdered in 1856, after which most of his followers joined Joseph Smith III and his Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, now called the Community of Christ.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
strangite.orgwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "FAQ". Archived from the original on 2019-05-25. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
- ^ "History and Succession". Strangite.org. Retrieved October 28, 2007. This compares to approximately 50,000 for Brigham Young at this same time. See "Church membership: 1830–2006," at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/search Archived 2019-06-07 at the Wayback Machine.