The Church of Christ (Cutlerite), is a Latter Day Saint (Mormon) denomination headquartered in Independence, Missouri. The official name of the church is The Church of Jesus Christ, but its members are known informally as Cutlerites after Alpheus Cutler, an early church leader.
History
Alpheus Cutler was an early Latter Day Saint leader and contemporary of Joseph Smith, Jr.. Cutler was in charge of the construction of the church's temple in Nauvoo, Illinois and he was a member of the secretive Council of Fifty. Prior to Smith's death in 1844, Cutler was charged to go on a special evangelizing mission to the "Lamanites" (as Native Americans were called by Mormons). When Brigham Young invited Cutler to immigrate to the newly-founded Salt Lake City, Cutler declined to end his Lamanite mission. Instead, he and a group of loyal followers founded their own colony in Manti, Iowa. On September 19, 1853, Cutler reorganized his own Mormon denomination which he called: The Church of Jesus Christ.
In the 1860s, missionaries from the Reorganization visited Manti. Many Cutlerites were converted to believe Joseph Smith III was his father's true successor and joined Smith III's Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Shortly before Cutler's death on August 10, 1864, members of the church who remained loyal to Cutler relocated to Clitherall, Minnesota in response to a vision. Missionaries from the Reorganization followed the Cutlerites to Minnesota and again converted many of their ranks. Finally, in 1928, a portion of the group moved to Independence, Missouri, where they built their present headquarters.
Doctrines
The church practices a form communitarianism, which they refer to as the "Order of Enoch" (SeeLaw of Consecration). The Cutlerites are also the only Midwestern or Prairie Saints who practice the Mormon temple "endowment" ceremony that originated in the Nauvoo period.
External links
The church's official website (http://www.cutlerite.org/)
Smith taught that this church was a restoration of the primitive Christian church established by Jesus in the first century A.D. Moreover, Smith taught that this restoration occurred in the "Latter Days" of the world, i.e., the time immediately prior to the Second Coming of Jesus.
The fact that the churches of other Christian Restorationists, including the Campbellites, were also named the "Church of Christ" caused a considerable degree of confusion in the first years of the Latter Day Saint movement.
The name "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" was also used for decades by members who coalesced into a "New Organization" of the church under the leadership of Smith's son, Joseph Smith III.
The Church of Christ later called, the Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion organized by Sidney Rigdon 1844.
In a press release from 2001, the LDS Church stated that the word "Mormon" as an adjective in such expressions as "Mormon pioneers", "Mormons" as a noun in reference to members of the church, and "Mormonism" as a doctrine, culture, and lifestyle, were all acceptable.
The LDS Church also notes that the use of the terms "Mormon", "Mormon fundamentalist" and "Mormon dissident" in reference to organizations or groups outside of the LDS Church (especially those that practice polygamy) is a misunderstanding of Mormon theology, in particular the principle of continuous revelation and Priesthood authority.
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