Every denomination has undergone extraordinary
pressures and adjustments during the last half century.
Stable, traditional concepts and values have come under close
scrutiny and many have been discarded. Members have change
denominations or founded new fellowships in reaction to the
foundational changes that have occurred.
The
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ is no different. In our
case, the experience was particularly traumatic and divisive, scattering church
members everywhere. In 1974, the Presiding Bishopric reported
to the Conference that
39.3% of the church's total membership of 207,178 saints
contributed to the General Church, implying 82,249 members donated.
In 2004, the Bishopric reported a total of 24,321 contributors in
2002, a loss of
57,928 members/contributors, a whopping 70.4% within 30 years.
Some missing members
attend restoration fellowships that began forming after 1984.
Today, there are at least five separate churches and several hundred
Restoration Branches. They account for approximately 10,000
church members. Sadly, over 45,000 members/contributors are
missing. Some attend other denominations, but some attend no
church. Many among this group miss the stability and
fellowship that once characterized their lives. They may of
lost hope, direction or purpose.
We invite everyone to
regain the faith that once steadied their lives. The church
that they once supported still remains. It is batter and
bruised, so to speak, and only able to hobble in the discharge of
its divinely appointed duties, but it is alive! The call to
evangelize the world remains undone and the need to bring its
inhabitants into the freedom and enlightenment available through the
gospel of Jesus is urgent. Meanwhile, the task of building up
the kingdom of God where its residents gladly choose their Creator
as their Father and love one another in word and deed has become
more imperative if peace, joy and brotherhood are to fill the world.
We invite you to join us in these tasks.
Some Restoration
Branches have united in a common conference to increase stability to
a portion of the RLDS Church, help spread the gospel around the
world and promote the fellowship encapsulated in zionic principles.
The old camaraderie that characterized the church decades ago is
returning as we learn to work together for the cause of the kingdom.
We are preaching the gospel around the world and support branches in
Belize, Cuba, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and Nepal. We are
stabilizing the church at home, gathering members into branches and
uniting nearby branches into districts. We invite you to join
this work and regain the faith and fellowship found within the
church.
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