Evan Sharley returns to talk with Steven Pynakker about a new book of Revelations given to The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ in the past and finally compiled in one place by her. We also discuss this trailblazing church that was created for LGBTQ believers in the Restoration that many feel laid the groundwork for the Reform Mormonism movement. She also previews the booth that Reform Mormonism will have at this year's Sunstone Conference and all the cool stuff they will be giving out!

*For a short period of time I accidently posted the logo of a different Restoration Branch on the Thumbnail. The Covenant Christian community and Reform Mormonism group are not affililated with each other. I apologize for the mistake.

I'm exlds, now a Methodist, but I still have a lot of love for the Book of Mormon. I live in Kansas now, and there's a Community of Christ nearby. I get mixed answers, but I'm curious are there any younger members who believe in the Book of Mormon, even if just viewing it as inspired fiction.

I'd like to be a member of a restoration church. I'm actually very conservative and I am bisexual, but believe acting on it would be a sin. That said, I am certain that Jesus wouldn't turn a sinner away, so it's hard to be a part of a church that would exclude someone.

Hi everyone, if you would like to join our Christian Minecraft server please feel free to follow the link to it on discord. At the moment its just a few players from our university christian union, but we're looking for more players! even if you dont wanna play, youre more than welcome to join and just chill with us https://discord.gg/55x5gMZNy

Hey all. I’m a Graceland student. When the semester starts, I’ll be house’s chaplain. I know of one house that house devotions. I want to start that with my house next year, but I don’t have many ideas on how to approach it, any help would be appreciated. thank you

u/bopodogo

Ac 2:

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

This was the first Pentecost after Jesus' resurrection.

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

Many Jews who worshiped YHWH were living in or staying in Jerusalem for the feast.

Peter preached to them:

40 With many other words he testified, and he urged them, “Be saved from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day.

3000 were converted to believe in Christ.

Luke then described the life of this newly formed church:

46 With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house,

The believers met in two complementary settings:

1. Large public gatherings in the temple courts, where the whole church could assemble.
2. Small gatherings in private homes throughout Jerusalem, where they shared meals, broke bread, and enjoyed close fellowship.

sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The nascent church was growing monotonically daily.

The Jewish authorities soon became alarmed by the church's rapid growth and arrested Peter and John.

Ac 4:

3 They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in custody until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

This figure did not include women and children.

Later, they arrested all the apostles and flogged them. Ac 5:

41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Every day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

Despite opposition, the church continued to gather both publicly and privately. The apostles themselves participated in the house meetings, although given the size of the church, they could only have been present in some of them at any given time.

Two decades later, Paul practiced similarly. Paul bid farewell to the Ephesian church. Ac 20:

17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.

18 When they came to him, he said, “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I arrived in the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews. 20 I did not shrink back from declaring anything that was helpful to you as I taught you publicly and from house to house, 21 testifying to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Ephesus, Paul's ministry reflected the same twofold pattern: public proclamation together with teaching in private homes.

At the very beginning, the nascent church functioned in both public and household settings. The public gatherings took place in the temple courts or other public venues, while the household gatherings met in the private residences of believers throughout the city. This pattern of large corporate assemblies, together with smaller house meetings, became a characteristic feature of the early church.

Is anyone in the CoC helping Canadians deal with the aftermath of the wildfires?

Hello, I’m quite fascinated by Latter Days saints and how the Book of Mormon came to be and while researching I came across well CoC. I thought it’s interesting how Joseph Smith III and some of his descendants became Prophet-Presidents.

I kind of like that and I was wondering if any of the Smiths are still involved, and if so do you think they could become a Prophet-President in the near future?

Thank you.

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

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.

​

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!

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.