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Jason R.
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RLDS Church Becomes Community of Christ
INDEPENDENCE, MO - By a vote of nearly 80% in the affirmative, delegates to the 2000 RLDS World Conference agreed to change the name of the church to the Community of Christ. The name became effective on April 6, 2001, after members underwent a forty-day preparation period. Though many names have been suggested for the Church in the last several years, this was the first time such a proposition carried a majority vote. To help in the transition, the Church hired Crane MetaMarketing of Atlanta to coordinate the required PR functions.On the date set for the changeover, RLDS Church leaders held a press conference and an open house for area clergy to celebrate the new name. President W. Grant McMurray said of the change, "we simply feel that this name is the clearest way to communicate to the world who we are, who we were, and who we seek to be." The new name more fully reflects the Church’s mission statement: "We proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace." The change also sets forth a clearer distinction between the former RLDS Church and the much larger Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with which it shares a common history but few core beliefs.
For more information about the name change visit: