The Primitive Church of Jesus Christ was a schismatic

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that b ...

that was formed in 1914 by and from dissenting members of

The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) The Church of Jesus Christ is an international Christian religious denomination headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, United States.Rigdonite A Rigdonite is a member of the Latter Day Saint movement who accepts Sidney Rigdon as the successor in the church presidency to the movement's founder, Joseph Smith Jr. The early history of the Rigdonite movement is shared with the history of the ...

and Bickertonite organization: it traced its claim of succession to

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 Jo ...

founder

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

through

Sidney Rigdon Sidney Rigdon (February 19, 1793 – July 14, 1876) was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement. Biography Early life Rigdon was born in St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on February 19, 1793. He was ...

and

William Bickerton William Bickerton (January 15, 1815 – February 17, 1905) was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement after the 1844 succession crisis. In 1862, Bickerton became the founding president of the church now known as The Church of Jesus Christ ...

. In 1914, a dispute emerged in the Bickertonite church as to the proper leadership structure of their church. Some members, led by William Cadman, argued that the church should be led by a

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 ...

and

Quorum of the Twelve In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the Council of the Twelve, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Council of the Twelve Apostles, or the Twelve) is one of the governing bodies or ( quorums) of the church hie ...

, while others maintained that there should be no First Presidency in the church because

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

' original church was simply headed by

twelve apostles In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...

J. Gordon Melton John Gordon Melton (born September 19, 1942) is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History with the Ins ...

(1996, 5th ed.). ''Encyclopedia of American Religions'' (Detroit, Mich.: Gale) pp. 583–584. Church apostle James Caldwell and other dissenters who felt that the First Presidency was a deviation from Christ's original church left the church and established the Primitive Church of Jesus Christ.In 1971, the parent church also abolished its First Presidency—referred to as the "Quorum of Three"—and made its

Quorum of Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

the senior leadership body of the church: Joseph Calabrese (1991, reprint.) ''Questions and Answers'' (Monongahela, PA: The Church of Jesus Christ) pp. 39–40. Caldwell and the other dissenters also disagreed with Cadman about the truth of Joseph Smith's

First Vision The First Vision (also called the grove experience by members of the Community of Christ) refers to a theophany which Latter Day Saints believe Joseph Smith experienced in the early 1820s, in a wooded area in Manchester, New York, called the ...

. Caldwell and his followers did not believe that the First Vision took place, although they did believe that Joseph Smith was a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

and that he was inspired by God to translate the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...

. Caldwell and his followers referred to members of their parent church as "Cadmanites", because it was led by William Cadman.Lyle O. Wright (1963). "Origins and Development of the Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times." (M.S. thesis: Brigham Young University) p. 21. At the organization of the church in

Washington, Pennsylvania Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania. A part of the Greater Pittsburgh area in the southwestern part of the state, the city is home to Washington & Jefferson College and Pony League baseball. The populat ...

, Caldwell was elected as the first president of the church, and he was succeeded by his nephew, Lawrence Dias. The church was strongly opposed to

plural marriage Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more tha ...

plurality of gods In orthodox Mormonism, the term God generally refers to the biblical God the Father, whom Latter Day Saints refer to as '' Elohim'', and the term ''Godhead'' refers to a council of three distinct divine persons consisting of God the Father, Jes ...

, and

baptism for the dead Baptism for the dead, vicarious baptism or proxy baptism today commonly refers to the religious practice of baptizing a person on behalf of one who is dead—a living person receiving the rite on behalf of a deceased person. Baptism for the dea ...

. The Primitive Church of Jesus Christ eventually merged with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ, another schismatic Bickertonite sect that had been created in 1907. By the 1970s, the combined church had dwindled to a single congregation in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

. The church is believed to be defunct, leaving the Church of Jesus Christ in

Monongahela, Pennsylvania Monongahela, referred to locally as Mon City, is a third class city in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is about south of Pittsburgh proper. The population was 4 ...

as the only surviving Rigdonite–Bickertonite sect.

Notes

References

*Kate B. Cater (1969). ''Denominations that Base their Beliefs on the Teachings of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet'' (Salt Lake City, Utah:

Daughters of Utah Pioneers The International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers (ISDUP, DUP) is a women's organization dedicated to preserving the history of the original settlers of the geographic area covered by the State of Deseret and Utah Territory, including Mormon pio ...

) *Russell R. Rich (1967, 2d ed.). ''Those Who Would be Leaders: Offshoots of Mormonism'' (Provo, Utah:

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

) *Steven L. Shields (1990, 4th ed.). ''Divergent Paths of the Restoration'' (Independence, Mo.:

Herald House Herald House or Herald Publishing House is the publishing division of Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri. It publishes books, periodicals and other materials at the direction of the First Presidency. Its history dates to the publicatio ...

) {{LDS sects/Sidney Rigdon Christianity in Pittsburgh Defunct Latter Day Saint denominations Christian organizations established in 1914 Rigdonite–Bickertonite denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement Latter Day Saint movement in Pennsylvania