 Historians Corner Vol. 2 | No. 2c This issue of Historians Corner is coming to you a week later than I had planned. Leading up to last Wednesday my attention just seemed to get consumed by continuing discussions of the announcement on March 5 by church leadership of the sale of significant historic assets. I simply did not get back to drafting this column at that time. Quick review: this is Part 3 of what will now be at least a 4-part series of columns about how the leaders of Community of Christ were designated and approved in the Prophet-President role. We are going in reverse order from the present and into the past. In part 1 we dealt with the appointments and approval processes for Stassi Cramm, Stephen Veazey, Grant McMurray and Wallace B. Smith. In part 2 we dealt with W. Wallace Smith and Israel A. Smith. That was a rather “extended” column. I hope readers clicked on the button labelled: “Click Here to Read Full Article” to get the full story for both presidents. Both previous columns (along with all other previous Historians Corner columns) can be found in the archive here: Historians Corner. Frederick M. Smith (Prophet-President 1915 to 1946). Of all the Prophet-Presidents of RLDS/Community of Christ, the designation of Frederick Madison Smith to succeed his father in that office was the clearest – and were understood for a long time! Richard Howard, Church Historian Emeritus, has written: “Frederick M. Smith, born...in 1872, from earliest memories could recall the Saints’ expectation that one day he would be RLDS Church president.”[1] He must have understood what this meant for him as he watched his father, Joseph Smith III, perform his leadership tasks and responsibilities. It did not take long for these traditional and social pressures to begin to be made real. He was called into the First Presidency by his father through the recounting of an experience of a revelatory dream for the annual General Conference of the church in 1902.[2] Then four years later, a subsequent revelation through Joseph Smith III included this very clear declaration: …in case of the removal of my servant now presiding over the church (Joseph Smith III) by death or transgression, my servant Frederick M. Smith, if he remain faithful and steadfast, should be chosen…[3] Further, lest there be ANY doubt, in a document titled “A Letter of Instruction,” written by Joseph Smith III and published in the “The Saints’ Herald” on March 13, 1912, among other very important things stated about presidential succession, it is proclaimed: I, Joseph Smith, the present incumbent of the office of president of the Reorganized Church, definitely designate my eldest living son, Frederick Madison Smith, as the proper person to be chosen by the church as my successor in office, believing as I do that the Spirit of revelation and wisdom has manifested to me that such choice should be made as directed by the Spirit of the great Masterbuilder.[4] There was no question as to the designation of Fred M. as the successor to Joseph III. There was also no question about Fred M.’s desire to serve. And yet – there was still drama in the transition (what else would you expect!). Joseph III grew increasingly ill during 2014. At the same time Fred M. applied for and was accepted into a prestigious Ph.D. program at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He, along with his wife and two small daughters, moved there in the late summer. He was undertaking a two-year program consolidated into one year and he had a very serious program supervisor. Fred M. received word in November that his father was failing quite quickly. His program supervisor allowed him to return to Missouri, but only for a short time. A matter of days after his father’s passing on December 10, he was back at his studies. The annual General Conference at which Fred M. was to be approved as Prophet-President was scheduled for April 2015. As the conference approached both he and his wife became ill from the stress of the work they were undertaking. The conference began with the hope that Fred M. could get there sometime during the week. He ultimately could not. His call was approved by the Conference late in the week. His ordination was delayed for a month. On May 5, in a Stone Church, filled to capacity, Frederick Madison Smith was ordained as Prophet-President of the church. Next time – in two weeks (maybe three?!) we will learn about Joseph Smith III’s acceptance as Prophet-President. And I just have this feeling it will require another column to deal with how Joseph Smith, Jr., became the first Prophet-President of the church. Please feel free to contact me with any comments or questions. [1] Richard P. Howard, The Church Through the Years, Volume 2, Herald Publishing House, Independence, Missouri: p. 221
[2] See Book of Doctrine and Covenants (RLDS/Community of Christ version), section 126:7,8. [3] Ibid, section 127:8b. [4] Joseph Smith III, “A Letter of Instruction,” The Saints’ Herald, March 12, 1912. See this link, accessed on March 20, 2024: Letter of Instruction, 2012 Saints Herald, pages 241 to 248 Comments are closed.
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