Editing Amboy Conference

{{short description|1860 re-organization of what became the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints}}
[[File:Amboy Il Downtown Mormon Plaque.jpg|thumb|left]]
The '''Amboy Conference''' was the setting of the official "re-organization" of the [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]] into the [[Latter Day Saint]] denomination known since 2001 as the [[Community of Christ]]. Held on April 6, 1860, this conference recognized movement founder, [[Joseph Smith]]'s eldest son, [[Joseph Smith III]] as his rightful successor and sustained the young Joseph as [[Prophet–President|President of the Church]].

Elder [[Zenas H. Gurley Sr.]] presided over the conference which was held in [[Amboy, Illinois]], and Samuel Powers and [[Edmund C. Briggs]] were reported to preach powerful sermons and bear strong testimonies of the restored gospel. [[Joseph Smith III]] addressed the conference and told the assembled Latter Day Saints that he had accepted the calling "in obedience to a power not my own, and I shall be dictated by the power that sent me." Smith also denounced the practice of [[plural marriage]], stating that it was in opposition to the doctrine contained in the [[Book of Mormon]]. He affirmed his allegiance to the [[Constitution of the United States|constitution]] and laws of the United States and he said that the church must act in accordance with those laws that there be no antagonism between church and state.

Both Smith and his mother [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Hale Smith Bidamon]] were accepted into the church without [[rebaptism (Mormonism)|rebaptism]], as their original baptisms were considered to remain valid. After the conference, Smith and his mother returned to their homes in [[Nauvoo, Illinois]], from where he began to preside over the affairs of the newly reorganized church. In 1872, the church was renamed the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which was a reference to the reorganization which occurred at the Amboy Conference.

==References==
{{reflist}}
*Richard P. Howard, ''The Church Through the Years,'' Herald House: 1992.
*[[Roger D. Launius]], ''Joseph III: Pragmatic Prophet,'' University of Illinois Press: 1995.

{{Community of Christ}}
{{Latter Day Saint movement}}

[[Category:Community of Christ]]
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint movement in Illinois]]
[[Category:1860 in Illinois]]
[[Category:1860 in Christianity]]
[[Category:April 1860]]

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