What's in a Name

A little history lesson:

Posted on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 - 07:24 am:

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Now that the RLDS name appears to be up for grabs I'm wondering if it will cause more upheaval in the church. (And stop me if this is just another rumour. I'm not into rumours; I think God is against them, too.) If the JCRB takes it—the name—what about the branches who don't choose to go with them? Will the JCRB and their followers go with the name and form yet one more church, with their own hierarchy, and leave the independent Restorationists to regroup? I guess this is really a two-pronged question. What about the branches who have chosen not to join up with the JCRB? I'm just sitting here in the Ozarks pondering this.

Jan

For those of you who weren't around in early June, this is the question I posted to a discussion board shortly after the news broke that several more branches had begun using the RLDS name. The truth is, many branches had begun using the name but the JCRB apparently chose that moment to make it public.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your perspective, the questions brought such a firestorm of responses that the thread got deleted a couple of days later. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I have all of the posts in my email archives. One of the posts contained an email (We all remember the email, don't we?) from the JCRB secretary to a sister in which he specifically said he hoped for a lawsuit by the CoC because the case was very strong. Whose case? The Restoration? The JCRB? Ephraim's Camp? Who knows?

Fast forward to 8-2-07:

Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 05:31 am: The Community of Christ Church lawsuit against the South Branch for the RLDS name

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A committee from the JCRB has been negotiating with the CoC for the name who knows how long. This can't be a surprise. Theory #1: This church was selected because they have been using the RLDS name for a while. Don't know if they are JCRB or not but MAYBE the JCRB can come riding to the rescue with a) money, b) attorneys.
Theory #2: Because of ongoing negotiations, you get to use the name only if you are JCRB. Theory #3: Variations on either of the above.
Just a couple of thoughts at 5 a.m.

The above was posted by me shortly after the "news" broke about the lawsuit. Now it seems we are engaged in a great debate over whether the branches should finance the suit. Another letter has gone out to the branches requesting opinions/assistance/feedback/you name it. And the clincher is: ONE WEEK to decide. Oh, pulease. Give me just one small break here. How long has this been in the works? When did this whole conspiracy start? Last week? Last month? How about mid nineties? Or before?

The "informal" meetings between the JCRB and the CoC have now spawned an intractable creature which is sucking the lifeblood out of us. This is not about the RLDS name. This is about the survival of the church which was founded by Jesus Christ through our brother Joseph Smith, Jr. Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray for our deliverance.

Seeker