Cedar Ridge Congregation -- Nashville, Tenn.
Our Mission Statement
WE PROCLAIM JESUS CHRIST and PROMOTE COMMUNITIES OF JOY, HOPE, LOVE, and PEACE
We will be a Christ-centered, spiritually effective and physically expanding urban center that responds to divinely inspired ministry within the church fellowship, as well as the surrounding community.
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Our Faith and Beliefs
Recognizing that the perception of truth is always qualified by human nature and experience, there is no official church creed that must be accepted by all members. However, through the years various statements, such as those listed below, have been developed to present the generally accepted beliefs of the church. All people are encouraged to study the scriptures, to participate in the life and mission of the church, and to examine their own experiences as they grow in understanding and response to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[ Top of Page ]God
The one eternal, living God is triune: one God in three persons. The God who meets us in the testimony of Israel is the same God who meets us in Jesus Christ, and who indwells creation as the Holy Spirit. God is the Eternal Creator, the source of love, life, and truth. God actively loves and cares for each person. All things that exist owe their being to God who alone is worthy of our worship.
[ Top of Page ]Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is "God with us," the Son of God, and the living expression of God in the flesh. Jesus Christ lived, was crucified, died, and rose again. The nature, love, and purpose of God are most clearly seen in Jesus Christ, our Savior.
[ Top of Page ]Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the continuing presence of God in the world. The Spirit works in our minds and hearts through intelligence, comfort, guidance, love, and power to sustain, inspire, and remake us.
[ Top of Page ]Salvation
God loves us even though we are sinful. Through the ministry of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit, we are able to turn to God and receive the gifts of salvation and eternal life. Those who accept the gospel are called to respond to Christ through baptism and committed discipleship. As individuals exercise faith in Christ and follow his example and teachings, they become new people.
[ Top of Page ]The Church
Christian discipleship is most fully possible when it is pursued in a community of committed believers. The church, as part of the body of Christ, is the means through which the ministry of Christ continues in the world today. It is a community of people seeking to bring God's love to all through compassionate ministry, worship, the sacraments, and witness.
[ Top of Page ]Revelation
The process through which God reveals divine will and love is called revelation. God continues to reveal today as in the past. God is revealed to us through scripture, the faith community, prayer, nature, and in human history.
[ Top of Page ]Scripture
The scriptures provide divine guidance and inspired insight for life when responsibly interpreted and faithfully applied. With other Christians, we affirm the Bible as scripture for the church. In our tradition, the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants are additional scriptural witnesses of God's love and Christ's ministry.
[ Top of Page ]Sacraments
The sacraments express the continuing presence of Christ through the church. They help us establish and continually renew our relationship with God. Through them we establish or reaffirm our covenant with God in response to God's grace. The sacraments of the church are baptism, confirmation of membership, the Lord's Supper (Communion), marriage, blessing of children, administration to the sick, ordination to the priesthood, and the evangelist's blessing.
[ Top of Page ]Human Worth
God loves each of us equally and unconditionally. All persons have great worth and should be respected as creations of God with basic human rights. The willingness to love and accept others is essential to faithfulness to the gospel of Christ.
[ Top of Page ]All Are Called
All men, women, youth, and children are given gifts and abilities to enhance life and to become involved in Christ's mission. Some are called to particular responsibility as ordained ministers (priesthood) in the church. The church provides for a wide range of priesthood ministries through calling and ordination of both men and women.
[ Top of Page ]Free Agency
All people are free to choose, resulting in real consequences of good and evil to our lives, the lives of others, and our environment. Commitment to Christ, sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and participation in the faith community help people make responsible choices that enhance human life and respect creation.
[ Top of Page ]Stewardship
All things were created by God and should be used for God's purposes. Stewardship is the wise management of gifts and resources to enrich personal, family, congregational, and community life, as well as utilizing natural resources for the good of all creation.
[ Top of Page ]The Kingdom
God's kingdom is present wherever people acknowledge the lordship of God over life, relationships, and creation. The full coming of the kingdom awaits the final victory over evil when divine rule is established and justice, peace, and righteousness prevail.
[ Top of Page ]Zion
The "cause of Zion" expresses our commitment to pursuing God's kingdom through the establishment of Christ-centered communities in families, congregations, neighborhoods, cities, and throughout the world.
[ Top of Page ]Peace
Because of our commitment to Christ and belief in the worth of all people and the value of community building, we dedicate our lives to the pursuit of peace and justice for all people.
[ Top of Page ]Resurrection
God conserves and renews life as revealed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a sign of God's ultimate victory over death. In Christ's resurrection, we find hope and courage for living. Through resurrection, God transforms individuals, bringing them into the fullness of eternal life.
[ Top of Page ]Judgment
Our eternal destiny is determined by God according to divine wisdom and love and according to our response to God's call to us. God's judgment is just and is based on the kind of people we have become in relation to the potential of our lives.
[ Top of Page ]End Time
God is acting in history to reconcile all creation to divine purpose. The meaning and end to which history moves is revealed in Christ. The ultimate victory of righteousness and peace over injustice, evil, and sin is assured because of the unfailing love of God and the conviction that Christ is coming again.
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Who We Are
Our History
170-Year Heritage of Restoration,
Discipleship, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ
The church originated in the early nineteenth century in New York state, an area experiencing a great deal of religious enthusiasm. Joseph Smith Jr., a young teenager, tried to sort out where he stood in the confusion of conflicting religious claims and prayed to God in search for the truth.
In the years that followed, Joseph Smith Jr. had what he later described as significant religious experiences. In response to these experiences he was instrumental in organizing the church on April 6, 1830, in Fayette, New York. Shortly thereafter he and a small group of members moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where a dynamic minister, Sidney Rigdon, and some of his followers joined the infant church.
Kirtland represented an effort by the church to create a religious and social community to serve as the base for spreading the gospel message into the world. Today the Kirtland Temple stands as a monument to the efforts of these faithful people.
While the Kirtland experiment grew, missionaries visited Jackson County, Missouri, designated by Joseph Smith as the center of God's earthly kingdom (Zion) in 1831. Increased tensions between the Saints and local residents resulted in church members moving northward from county to county. The Jackson County experience was tragic, yet it provided a lesson in tolerance both for the Saints and for the native Missourians.
Saints from Jackson County and the Kirtland experiment, which was nearing financial collapse in the depression of 1837 - 1838, joined to form a new center at Far West, Missouri
In 1839 the church was evicted entirely from the state of Missouri. The Saints founded Nauvoo (Illinois), the "city beautiful," on the banks of the Mississippi River. The town grew rapidly with Joseph Smith Jr. as its spiritual and secular leader shaping a social, religious, and political community. Internal confusion and conflicts with the surrounding communities grew as Nauvoo increased in size. On June 27, 1844, an angry mob broke into the Carthage, Illinois, jail and killed Joseph and his brother Hyrum who had been imprisoned there.
Following Joseph's death the church was in a state of confusion and disorganization for several years, and divided into factions. The largest group moved westward to the Great Salt Lake Valley under the direction of an influential church leader, Brigham Young. Smaller factions scattered in all directions.
The Reorganized Church came into being in the 1850s. The "Reorganization" believed that Joseph Smith Jr. had designated his eldest son, Joseph III, to be his successor as president of the church. The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was organized on April 6, 1860, at Amboy, Illinois, under the leadership of Joseph Smith III. His leadership spanned 54 years marked by wisdom and sensitivity. His presidency saw the church grow from a small fragmented group to a church of over 70,000 persons with representation throughout the United States and in several other countries. Since April 1920, the official corporate headquarters of the church has been in Independence, Missouri.
In 1915, Frederick Madison Smith succeeded his father in the presidency. He emphasized the social expression of the gospel, advocating the establishment of Zionic conditions merging both spiritual and temporal dimensions. After his death in 1946, Frederick M. Smith was succeeded by his brother, Israel A. Smith.
Israel A.Smith's twelve years of presidency were marked by a postwar, post-depression search for stability and growth. However, due to his pastoral caring personality, the period provided a growing unity unprecedented in the church's history. It was highlighted by an increased missionary emphasis and progress toward completion of the Auditorium in Independence, Missouri, the headquarters building Frederick M. had conceived and begun many years earlier.
In 1958, W. Wallace Smith became the third of Joseph III's sons to follow him in the presidency. His presidency experienced the expansion of the church into other Western and non-Western cultures. The 1960s and 1970s were marked by evaluation of program and message and the adoption of a more decentralized style of church administration.
In 1976, W. Wallace Smith designated his son, Wallace B. Smith, to succeed him as prophet-president after a two-year period of preparation. Wallace B. Smith was ordained to the office in 1978 and presided over the church's sesquicentennial celebrations in 1980.
In 1995, President Wallace B. Smith designated W. Grant McMurray as his successor upon his retirement in April 1996. McMurray was ordained at the 1996 World Conference in Independence, Missouri, and currently presides over the church.
Delegates at the church's 2000 World Conference passed legislation to change the name of the church to Community of Christ--a name that more adequately represents the church's theology and mission: "We proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace." On April 6, 2001, the anniversary of the church's 1830 founding, the church officially became Community of Christ.
Grant McMurray resigned as President/Prophet of the world church in November 2004. The two counselors remaining in the First Presidency led the leading quorums of the church in much prayer and asked the entire church membership to be prayerful about discerning God's will in choosing a new Prophet/President of the church.
A called world conference was scheduled for and held June 2005. Stephen M. Veazey, President of the Council of Twelve Apostles, was nominated and chosen by the conference delegates to become Prophet/President of Community of Christ world church at that June 2005 world conference and has been faithfully serving in that office since then.