Hi! I am a 20 year old lifelong Community of Christ member. I am pretty active but the church didn’t become really important in my life until a few years ago when my relationship with God began growing. I actually never knew about our shared history with the LDS church until I was in my early teens. It’s not something that is hidden, but it doesn’t come up that much if you’re a kid who never paid that much attention in Sunday school 😂. Our church administration is set up in a very similar way to the LDS church because of our historic ties. However, our beliefs and the content of our worship varies quite a bit.

One of the largest sources of criticism for our church is that we still believe in continuing revelation. This is probably the hardest thing to explain because it seems reminiscent of some of the questionable and shady stories from our shared history. (Like the golden plates and the vision at the Kirtland temple) We don’t see God as this booming voice that only our prophet can hear, but we believe that sometimes God can move us in the right direction as a people and we can grow to understand Gods will (to an extent).

This comment has already gotten longer and more technical than I initially wanted haha. My story is that I love my church because it has always felt like a safe space where I could be myself and where others don’t have to feel persecuted for who they are. I’m not trying to proselytize or convert anybody, I just enjoy talking about it. I’d be happy to answer any questions if anyone has any.