1.
Church of Christ (Fettingite)
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It is informally referred to as the Church of Christ, after its founder, Otto Fetting, but this sect has never officially been named as such. The Fettingites subsequently established their own church organization, as with the Church of Christ, each of these groups declares itself to be the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth. Otto Fetting was born on 20 November 1871 in Casco, St. Clair County, Michigan. Making his home in Port Huron, Michigan, he was baptised into the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on February 9,1891, and ordained a High Priest on February 15,1899. In 1925, disgruntled by the Supreme Directional Control controversy within the RLDS church, at the time, this did not require rebaptism or reordination, as each group accepted the priesthood and sacraments of the other. In the spring of 1926, he was among seven men ordained to be Apostles in the Church of Christ, in a second alleged visitation one month later, this being identified himself as John the Baptist. The angels messages advised construction of the long-awaited Temple in Independence, Missouri and they also began work on the temple with a groundbreaking ceremony held on 6 April 1929. According to Fetting, the Hedrickites were given seven years to complete the structure, Fettings visitor revealed various architectural details for the building, and specifically directed surveyors to move their markers ten feet to the east of where they had originally been placed. The angel also revealed the location of two of Joseph Smiths original marker stones, which Smith had buried 98 years before to indicate the location for his planned temple. He also indicated that the Articles of Faith and Practice of the Temple Lot church were correct, on other occasions, the messenger indicated particular men to be ordained within the organization, including to its Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Although the Temple Lot organization had accepted the first eleven of Fettings messages. In verse four of this missive, John the Baptist states that all persons coming into the Church of Christ must be rebaptized, as the Lord has rejected all creeds and factions of men. This message equally declared Fetting to have given the same keys to the priesthood that were given to Joseph Smith. Controversy over the meaning and application of Fettings twelfth message became so great that he was silenced in October 1929 by the quorum of the Temple Lot church. Fetting was censured for alleged arrogant behavior by demanding that the church comply with his twelfth message, Fetting claimed to have been visited some thirty times by the messenger prior to his death on 30 January 1933. While initially receptive to new messages, the leadership of the existing Fettingite faction ultimately rejected all of them. Draves adherents formed the Church of Christ with the Elijah Message, Draves himself claimed a total of ninety messages prior to his death on June 28,1994, these were combined with Fettings into a book entitled The Word of the Lord Brought to Mankind by an Angel. The original Fettingite faction continues to publish its own compendium of Fettings revelations, simply entitled The Word of the Lord and this latter group is colloquially known as the Thirty-message church
2.
Independence, Missouri
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Independence is the fifth-largest city in the state of Missouri. It lies within Jackson County, of which it is the county seat, Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2010, it had a population of 116,830. Independence is known as the Queen City of the Trails because it was a point of departure for the California, Oregon and Santa Fe Trails. Independence was also the hometown of U. S. President Harry S. Truman, the Truman Presidential Library and Museum is located in the city, and Truman and First Lady Bess Truman are buried here. The city is also sacred to many Latter Day Saints, with Joseph Smiths 1831 Temple Lot being located here, Independence was originally inhabited by Missouri and Osage Indians, followed by the Spanish and a brief French tenure. It became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, Lewis and Clark recorded in their journals that they stopped in 1804 to pick plums, raspberries, and wild apples at a site that would later form part of the city. Named after the Declaration of Independence, Independence was founded on March 29,1827, Independence immediately became a jumping-off point for the emerging fur trade, accommodating merchants and adventurers beginning the long trek westward on the Santa Fe Trail. In 1831, members of the Latter Day Saint movement began moving to the Jackson County, Missouri area. Shortly thereafter, founder Joseph Smith declared a spot west of the Courthouse Square to be the place for his temple of the New Jerusalem. Tension grew with local Missourians until the Latter Day Saints were driven from the area in 1833, several branches of this movement gradually returned to the city beginning in 1867, with many making their headquarters there. These include the Community of Christ, the Church of Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ, Independence saw great prosperity from the late 1830s through the mid-1840s, while the business of outfitting pioneers boomed. Between 1848 and 1868, it was a hub of the California Trail, on March 8,1849, the Missouri General Assembly granted a home-rule charter to the town and on July 18,1849, William McCoy was elected as its first mayor. In the mid-19th century an Act of the United States Congress defined Independence as the start of the Oregon Trail. The war took its toll on Independence and the town was never able to regain its previous prosperity, United States President Harry S. Truman grew up in Independence, and in 1922 was elected judge of the county Court of Jackson County, Missouri. Although he was defeated for reelection in 1924, he won back the office in 1926 and was reelected in 1930 and he would later return to the city after two terms as President. His wife, First Lady Bess Truman, was born and raised in Independence, the Harry S. Truman National Historic Site and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum are both located in Independence, as is one of Trumans boyhood residences. Independence is located at 39°4′47″N 94°24′24″W and it lies on the south bank of the Missouri River, near the western edge of the state
3.
Latter Day Saint movement
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The Latter Day Saint movement is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 15 million members, the vast majority of adherents belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with their predominant theology being Mormonism. The LDS Church self-identifies as Christian, based on the teachings of this book and other revelations, Smith founded a Christian primitivist church, called the Church of Christ. The Book of Mormon attracted hundreds of followers, who later became known as Mormons, Latter Day Saints. In 1831, Smith moved the headquarters to Kirtland, Ohio. After the church in Ohio collapsed due to dissensions, in 1838, Smith and the body of the moved to Missouri. After Smiths death in 1844, a crisis led to the organization splitting into several groups. The largest of these, the LDS Church, migrated under the leadership of Brigham Young to the Great Basin, the LDS Church officially renounced this practice in 1890, and gradually discontinued it, resulting in the Utah Territory becoming a U. S. state. This change resulted in the formation of a number of small sects who sought to maintain polygamy and other 19th-century Mormon doctrines and practices, other groups originating within the Latter Day Saint movement followed different paths in Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. For the most part these groups rejected plural marriage and some of Smiths later teachings, the largest of these, the Community of Christ, was formed in Illinois in 1860 by several groups uniting around Smiths son, Joseph Smith III. Most existing denominations that adhere to the teachings of Smith have some relationship with the movement. The driving force behind and founder of the Latter Day Saint movement was Joseph Smith, Smith and Cowdery also explained that the angels John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John visited them in 1829 and gave them priesthood authority to reestablish the Church of Christ. The first Latter Day Saint church was formed on April 6,1830, consisting of a community of believers in the western New York towns of Fayette, Manchester, the church was formally organized under the name of the Church of Christ. In 1844, William Law and several other Latter Day Saints in church leadership positions publicly denounced Smiths secret practice of polygamy in the Nauvoo Expositor, the city council of Nauvoo, Illinois, led by Smith, subsequently had the printing press of the Expositor destroyed. In spite of Smiths later offer to pay damages for destroyed property, critics of Smith, some called for the Latter Day Saints to be either expelled or destroyed. These various claims resulted in a succession crisis, many supported Brigham Young, the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, others Sidney Rigdon, the senior surviving member of the First Presidency. These various groups are referred to under two geographical headings, Prairie Saints and Rocky Mountain Saints. Today, the vast majority of Latter Day Saints belong to the Utah-based The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the second-largest denomination is the Missouri-based Community of Christ which reports over 250,000 members
4.
Schism
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A schism is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a religious body. It is also used of a split within an organization or movement or, more broadly. A schismatic is a person who creates or incites schism in an organization or who is a member of a splinter group. Schismatic as an adjective pertaining to a schism or schisms, or to those ideas, policies. In religion, the charge of schism is distinguished from that of heresy, since the offence of schism concerns not differences of belief or doctrine but promotion of, or the state of, however, schisms frequently involve mutual accusations of heresy. In Roman Catholic teaching, every heresy is a schism, while there may be some free of the added guilt of heresy. Liberal Protestantism, however, has often preferred heresy over schism, mcCord drew a distinction between them, teaching, If you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always choose heresy. As a schismatic, you have torn and divided the body of Christ, in Buddhism, the first schism was set up by Devadatta, during Buddhas life. This schism lasted only a short time, later, the early Buddhist schools came into being, but were not schismatic, only focusing on different interpretations for the same monastic community. In the old texts,18 or 20 early schools are mentioned, later, there were the Mahayana and Vajrayana movements, which can be regarded as being schismatic in origin. Each school has various subgroups, which often are schismatic in origin, for example, in Thai Theravadin Buddhism there are two groups, of which the Dhammayut has its origin partly in the Mahanikaya, and is the new and schismatic group. Both Mahanikaya and Dhammayut have many subgroups, which usually do not have schismatic origins, Tibetan Buddhism has seen schisms in the past, of which most were healed, although the Drukpa school centred in Bhutan perhaps remains in a state of schism from the other Tibetan schools. The words schism and schismatic have found their heaviest usage in the history of Christianity, to denote splits within a church and these words have been used to denote both the phenomenon of Christian group splintering in general, and certain significant historical splits in particular. A distinction is made between heresy and schism, heresy is rejection of a doctrine that a Church considered to be essential. But, when for any reason people withdraw from communion, two distinct ecclesiastical entities may result, each of which then, or at least some of its members, may accuse the other of heresy. In Roman Catholic Church canon law, an act of schism, like an act of apostasy or heresy, as stated in canon 1312 §1 1° of the Code of Canon Law, this penalty is intended to be medicinal, so as to lead to restoration of unity. This nuanced view applies especially to the Churches of Eastern Christianity, the First Council of Nicaea distinguished between schism and heresy
5.
W. A. Draves
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William August Draves was the founder and an apostle of the Church of Christ with the Elijah Message, a successor to the organization founded by former Church of Christ Apostle Otto Fetting. Like Fetting, Draves claimed to have received visits and messages from John the Baptist, although accepted by many Fettingites, Draves was rejected by portions of the Fettingite leadership, leading him to found his own church in 1939. He continued to produce a total of ninety messages from the alleged angelic visitor throughout succeeding decades, William Oley Draves was born in Keystone, Nebraska on 12 May 1912, the third of eight children born to Wilhelm August Heinrich Draves and Sylvia Stella Dunwoody. Draves paternal grandfather Leopold Friedrich Johann Drews/Draves was born in Coburg, Germany January 10,1848 and died January 12,1904 in Dows, Iowa. Days later, a prophetess at this same reunion reemphasized Draves destiny to him, much later, Draves reported the prophecy came true — to the day — exactly as specified, confirming to him the truth of what he had experienced in 1922. Three years after his baptism in the RLDS church, Draves moved with his family to Nucla, Colorado and he reported that he continued to study the Bible and Book of Mormon during these years, preparing himself for an as-yet unknown mission within the Latter Day Saint movement. Fettings messages—allegedly coming from John the Baptist-- excited the Draves family, according to Draves, Bartons words at his confirmation almost exactly echoed those spoken by the RLDS elder who had confirmed him seven years earlier. However, a crisis brewing within the Temple Lot organization would alter Draves plans—eventually leading to an alleged prophetic calling. Although the Temple Lot church had accepted the first eleven of Fettings messages. In verse four of this missive, John the Baptist states that all individuals coming into the Church of Christ must be rebaptized, as the Lord has rejected all creeds and factions of men. This message equally declared Fetting to have given the same keys to the priesthood that were given to Joseph Smith. Controversy over the meaning and application of Fettings twelfth message became so great that Fetting himself was silenced in October 1929 by the Temple Lot organization. Draves reported that upon confronting Apostle Barton with his own questions about Fetting and his twelfth message, Draves chose to proceed with his inquiry, which led to his baptism into Fettings organization in 1931. Later, he was ordained an elder in Fettings church, Otto Fetting would receive a total of thirty messages prior to his death in January 1933. Four years after Fettings death, in October 1937, Draves claimed that the messenger had appeared to him further instruction for the Fettingite church. While many of Fettings adherents accepted Draves and his missives, some did not, Draves and his followers formed the Church of Christ with the Elijah Message, currently headquartered in Independence, Missouri. This church operates missions in England, Germany, Belgium, Holland, India, Kenya, Draves continued to allegedly receive visits and messages from John the Baptist up to his death in 1994. Draves messages, together with the ones from Otto Fetting, were published in a book entitled The Word of the Lord Brought to Mankind by an Angel
6.
Otto Fetting
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Fetting claimed to have been visited by John the Baptist thirty or more times between February 4,1927 and his death on January 30,1933. Otto Fetting was born in Casco, Michigan, in 1925, dismayed by the Supreme Directional Control controversy within the RLDS church, Fetting switched his allegiance to the Temple Lot organization. At the time, this did not require rebaptism or reordination, as each group accepted the priesthood, in the spring of 1926, he was among seven men ordained to be Apostles in the Church of Christ. On February 4,1927, Otto Fetting claimed that he had visited by John the Baptist. This message commanded construction of the long-awaited Temple in Independence, Missouri and they also began work on the temple with a groundbreaking ceremony held on April 6,1929. According to Fetting, the Hedrickites were given seven years to complete the structure, Fettings visitor revealed various architectural details for the building, and specifically directed surveyors to move their markers ten feet to the east of where they had originally been placed. The angel also revealed the location of two of Joseph Smiths original marker stones, which Smith had buried ninety-eight years before to indicate the location for his planned temple. He also indicated that the Articles of Faith and Practice of the Temple Lot church were correct, on other occasions, the messenger indicated particular men to be ordained within the organization, including to its Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Although the Temple Lot organization had accepted the first eleven of Fettings messages. In verse four of this missive, John the Baptist states that all persons coming into the Church of Christ must be rebaptized, as the Lord has rejected all creeds and factions of men. This message equally declared Fetting to have given the same keys to the priesthood that were given to Joseph Smith. Controversy over the meaning and application of Fettings twelfth message became so great that Fetting himself was silenced in October 1929 by the Temple Lot organization, Fetting would be visited a total of 30 times by his messenger prior to his death on January 30,1933. To the end of his life, Fetting insisted upon the veracity of his heavenly visitor, the manifestation and words of the visits of the Messenger are true. I have seen him time to time. I heard his voice, Ive seen his face, I saw the light, I felt his hand on my head and the slap on my shoulder. I was enwrapt in that wonderful Heavenly and Divine power, and the words I have given you are not my words, others may make statements about me, but I want this to be understood that this statement is true. And I shall abide by the advice and instructions given by the Messenger regardless of what men may say. Signed Otto Fetting Independence, Missouri, October 9,1929 Four other people claimed to have seen John the Baptist during his visit to Fetting
7.
Louisiana
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Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Louisiana is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States and its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the state in the U. S. with political subdivisions termed parishes. The largest parish by population is East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana is bordered by Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, Texas to the west, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Much of the lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh. These contain a rich southern biota, typical examples include birds such as ibis, there are also many species of tree frogs, and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. In more elevated areas, fire is a process in the landscape. These support a large number of plant species, including many species of orchids. Louisiana has more Native American tribes than any other state, including four that are federally recognized, ten that are state recognized. Before the American purchase of the territory in 1803, the current Louisiana State had been both a French colony and for a period, a Spanish one. In addition, colonists imported numerous African people as slaves in the 18th century, many came from peoples of the same region of West Africa, thus concentrating their culture. Louisiana was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 1643 to 1715, when René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane. The suffix -ana is a Latin suffix that can refer to information relating to an individual, subject. Thus, roughly, Louis + ana carries the idea of related to Louis, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist 250 million years ago when there was but one supercontinent, Pangea. As Pangea split apart, the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico opened, Louisiana slowly developed, over millions of years, from water into land, and from north to south. The oldest rocks are exposed in the north, in such as the Kisatchie National Forest. The oldest rocks date back to the early Tertiary Era, some 60 million years ago, the history of the formation of these rocks can be found in D. Spearings Roadside Geology of Louisiana. The sediments were carried north to south by the Mississippi River
