😟 Protestant Explores Temple Lot • Finds Grieving Latter Day Church

Recently, I learned about the Temple Lot. If you're Catholic or Protestant, you probably never heard of this - but it's a big deal in the Latter-day Saint movement. Joseph Smith, leader and founder of Mormonism, moved his followers west and claimed to have a revelation that this chunk of land in Independence, Missouri would be the gathering spot for the "New Jerusalem" during the last days. Well, locals took issue with the movement (including the then-Governor of Missouri), who ordered Mormons to leave or be killed. Later, Smith was killed by a mob, and a number of men claimed to be the successor (most followed Brigham Young to Utah). Many contended the true successor was Smith's son, Joseph Smith III - but the problem was he was just 11 years old. While the LDS majority pioneered to Utah, Joseph Smith III's group moved back to Independence and formed the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (now Community of Christ). They built this narwhal-like temple across the street of this sacred "Temple Lot" (owned by a much smaller LDS splinter group, Church of Christ, who will not bow down to their bigger "church cousins"). For Week 25, I attended Community of Christ's Stone Church adjacent to their Temple. Being the second largest sect of Mormonism (though waaaaay smaller in size to LDS), I expected this to be a thriving church. Not quite. This was one of the most difficult, saddest visits I've ever made. The church was well-maintained, but you could tell it had been around for a long time. Hymns bookmarked the service, but as I found out, this wasn't a typical church service. It was a meeting to determine the future of this aging church that had been hit hard from declining attendance and donations. A leadership team discussed their research, vision graphs and possible options to proceed - taking the community's questions and concerns into consideration. There was confusion about a "merger" of other congregations, but leadership shied away from the word. With many confused, the most likely option was to fold and resurrect as a new church community. --------------------------- ⛪ Seven years after completing 52 Churches in 52 Weeks, this video series chronicles the spiritual experiment for a second time. If you'd like to see what happens next, SUBSCRIBE and hit NOTIFICATIONS to see what happens each week. --------------------------- ▶️ Timestamps: 0:00 Temple Lot 0:37 Week 25 0:56 Curiosity into Latter-day Saints 2:44 Temple Lot Background 4:46 Stone Church 5:40 Stages of Grief 8:54 Community of Christ Backstory 11:47 Service Presentation and Q&A 16:27 Reality of Aging Churches 18:44 "Now in This Moment" --------------------------- 🎵 Background Music: Song: Konqeson - Equinox Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Video Link:    • Konqeson - Equinox (Vlog No Copyright Music)   --------------------------- 📷 Instagram:   / 52churchesin52weeks   --------------------------- 📚 Read "52 Churches in 52 Weeks" by David Boice on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3DKry4q --------------------------- #52churchesin52weeks #lds #communityofchrist