United Order Family of Christ

United Order Family of Christ
Classification	Restorationist
Orientation	Latter Day Saint movement
Founder	David-Edward Desmond
Origin	1969 Denver, Colorado
Separated from	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Defunct	ca. 1974
Official website	rcjc.org

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The United Order Family of Christ was a schismatic sect of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which was founded in 1969 in Denver, Colorado, by David-Edward Desmond and existed until at least 1973−74.^[1]^[2]

The United Order Family of Christ was founded specifically for young gay men only, ages 18 to 30. Because they practiced a uniquely Mormon form of communalism called the United Order in which they held "everything in common", Desmond affirmed that the Family was "not for the great majority of the Gay LDS". Desmond's title as the President of the Church was First Key. He may have solemnized same-sex marriages between people in his congregation.

This Mormon schismatic church was the third gay Christian church founded in the United States, the first being a Catholic schism founded by Father George Hyde in 1946 in Atlanta, Georgia, and called the Eucharistic Catholic Church, which later moved to New York City. The second is the Metropolitan Community Church, founded by the Revd Troy D Perry in 1968 in Los Angeles. Desmond's Homosexual Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lasted at least until 1973, when Desmond was still corresponding with David C. Martin (then editor of the Restoration Reporter), and probably until 1974.^[3]^[4]^[5]

David-Edward Desmond

David-Edward Desmond was born in 1940, in Spokane, Washington, to 19-year-old Joyce Betty Grasty and her husband Desmond (first name unknown). He lived in Denver, Colorado, during the 1960s and 1970s. He died on 11 May 1983, in Pullman, Washington. Grace Lutheran Church's Rev. Vernon Johnson held the funeral and he was buried in Fairmount Memorial Park, Spokane, Washington.

References

^ Shields, Steven L. (2001). Divergent Paths of the Restoration: A History of the Latter-day Saint Movement. Herald House. p. 100. ISBN 0830905693. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
^ The Cultic Milieu: Oppositional Subcultures in an Age of Globalization. AltaMira Press. 23 July 2002. p. 107. ISBN 075910204X. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
^ Quinn, Michael D. Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example University of Illinois Press, 1996 Page 438
^ Same-sex among Nineteenth Century Americans by D. Michael Quinn Page 438:. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
^ "Gay Mormon Case Studies-United Family of Christ:". Gaymormon.com. Retrieved 2013-12-02.

External links

"Same Sex Temple Sealings: Did the Early LDS Church Embrace Homosexual Relationships?", Salt Lake Metro, September 2004

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Sects in the Latter Day Saint movement

Left-of-center LDS-derived sects

Church of Christ
Organized by: Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith's original
organization; multiple sects currently
claim to be true successor 1844 (trust reorganized)
1851^{[note 1]}(incorporated) The Church of
Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints
Organized by: Brigham Young^{[note 1]}
and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
14 million members

Left-of-center
LDS sects

1868 1966 1985

The Church of Zion
Organized by: William S. Godbe
Defunct United Order Family of Christ
Organized by: David-Edward Desmond
Defunct as of 1974 Restoration Church of Jesus Christ
Organized by: Antonio A. Feliz
Defunct as of 2010

^ ^a ^b Multiple sects currently claim to be true successor, however, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was officially reorganized in 1844 and incorporated in 1851, after the death of Joseph Smith."An Ordinance, incorporating the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", Laws and Ordinances of the State of Deseret, Salt Lake City, Utah: Shepard Book Company, 1919 [February 4, 1851], p. 66, retrieved June 29, 2010

United Order Family of Christ

David-Edward Desmond

See also

References

Further reading

External links