Elbert Aoriul Smith (8 March 1871 – 15 May 1959) was an American leader in the

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...

(RLDS Church). He was a member of the church's

First Presidency Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...

from 1909 to 1938 and the

Presiding Patriarch In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Presiding Patriarch (also called Presiding Evangelist, Patriarch over the Church, Patriarch of the Church, or Patriarch to the Church) is a church-wide leadership office within the priesthood. Among the duties ...

of the church from 1938 to 1958.

RLDS Church leadership

Smith was born in Nauvoo,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, the son of

David Hyrum Smith David Hyrum Smith (November 17, 1844 – August 29, 1904) was an American religious leader, poet, painter, singer, philosopher, and naturalist. The youngest son of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale Smith, he was an influential missionary and leader in ...

and the grandson of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by J ...

. In 1900, Elbert Smith became a full-time

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

of the RLDS Church. On 18 April 1909, Smith's uncle

Joseph Smith III Joseph Smith III (November 6, 1832 – December 10, 1914) was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith (founder of the Latter Day Saint movement) and Emma Hale Smith. Joseph Smith III was the Prophet-President of what became the Reorganized Chu ...

, who was the president of the RLDS Church, asked him to become one of his counselors in the church's First Presidency. Smith replaced R. C. Evans, who had moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and been given jurisdiction over the church there. When Smith's cousin Frederick M. Smith succeeded Joseph Smith III as president of the church, Elbert Smith was retained in the First Presidency as a counselor. Smith moved to

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, after the church made the decision to move its headquarters there from

Lamoni In the Book of Mormon, Lamoni (; believed to mean "Lamanite" or "of Laman") is a Lamanite king. The missionary Ammon converts him back to the Law of Moses. After this, Lamoni becomes righteous again. Lamoni was a lesser king of part of the gr ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. Smith remained as a member of the First Presidency until 7 April 1938, when Frederick Smith designated him as the

of the church. In 1946, Smith presented a

revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

to a World Conference of the church in which he stated that God had selected Israel A. Smith to succeed Frederick Smith, who had recently died. Smith remained in as Presiding Patriarch of the church until his resignation in 1958 for health reasons, when he was replaced by

Roy Cheville Roy A. Cheville (October 2, 1897–April 6, 1986) was a religious leader, theologian and educator in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church), which became Community of Christ in 2001. Cheville graduated from ...

.Doctrine and Covenants 145:4

Author and editor

Smith was a prolific author of books and tracts about the history of the

and the RLDS Church and about church organization and procedure. For many years he was also the editor of ''

Saints' Herald ''Herald'' (formerly ''The True Latter Day Saints' Herald'' and ''The Saints' Herald'') is the official periodical of Community of Christ. It is published monthly in English in Independence, Missouri, by Herald House Publishing. ''The True Latt ...

'', the official periodical of the RLDS Church. Among Smith's most well-known works is ''Restoration: A Study in Prophecy'' and ''Differences that Persist Between the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Utah Mormon Church''.

Family and death

Smith married Clara Abigail Cochran in Lamoni, Iowa on 4 September 1895. They were the parents of three boys, two of whom survived to adulthood. Smith died at Independence, Missouri, at the age of 88.

Publications

*Elbert A. Smith (1908). ''An Instrument in His Hand'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1908). ''The Minister who was Different'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— and David H. Smith (1911)
''Hesperis, or, Poems By Father and Son''
(Independence Mo.: Herald House) *Elbert A. Smith (1911). ''The Church in Court'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1913). ''A Plea for the Golden Rule'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1913). ''Duties of Branch Officers'' Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1916). ''Joe Pine'' Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1920). ''Corner Stones of the Utah Church'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1920). ''Square Blocks and Other Sermons and Articles'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1922). ''Timbers for the Temple;: A Story of Old Nauvoo in Days of her Glory'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1924). ''The True Philosophy of Church Government'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1925). ''In the Beginning God Created: And 3 Other Radio Sermons'' (Independence, Mo.: RLDS Church) *—— (1927). ''What Latter Day Saints believe about God'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1930). ''Utah Mormon Polygamy. Its Belief and Practice'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1935). ''Church Court Procedure: With Suggested Forms to be Used when Preparing and Hearing Cases'' (Independence Mo.: RLDS Church) *—— (1941). ''Faith of our Fathers Living Still'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1941). ''What Latter Day Saints Believe about Marriage and the Home: With Chapters on the Divorce Problem'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1943)
Differences that Persist Between the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Utah Mormon Church
' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) eprinted by Kessinger Publishing in 2004, *—— (1943). ''Exploring the Church'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1946). ''On Memory's Beam: The Autobiography of Elbert A. Smith'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) e-published in a 1959 revised edition as ''Brother Elbert''*—— (1946)
''Restoration: A Study in Prohecy''
(Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1948). ''Prophetic Warnings in Modern Revelations'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1950). ''Evangelists and Patriarchs;: Their Work and Calling'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *—— (1950). ''Zion Builders' Sermons;: A Series of Doctrinal Sermons Addressed to the Young People of the Church'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House) *——, F. Henry Edwards and Herbert M. Scott (eds., 1951). ''Compendium of the Scriptures Including Texts of the Standard Books of the Church'' (ndependence Mo.: Herald House) *Elbert A. Smith (1951). ''Blue Pencil Notes'' (Independence Mo.: Herald House)

Notes

References

(1970). ''They Made a Difference'' (Independence, Mo.: Herald House) pp. 315–326 *''History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints'', vol. 6, pp. 643–647 * Roger D. Launius
“Pretender to the Throne? R. C. Evans and the Problem of Presidential Succession in the Reorganization”
'' Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'' vol. 30, no. 2 (Summer 1997) pp. 81–102 *"Obituary of Elbert A. Smith", ''Saints' Herald'', vol. 106, no. 26 (1959), p. 608

External links

"The Stewardship of Priesthood"
: sermon delivered by Smith on 5 January 1927 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Elbert A. 1871 births 1959 deaths American Latter Day Saint missionaries American Latter Day Saint writers American leaders of the Community of Christ Community of Christ missionaries Doctrine and Covenants people Editors of Latter Day Saint publications Latter Day Saint missionaries in the United States Members of the First Presidency (Community of Christ) People from Nauvoo, Illinois Presiding Evangelists of the Community of Christ Smith family (Latter Day Saints) Writers from Independence, Missouri