Jennifer Raines,  an attorney at law, had a wonderful time growing up in the “Centerplace” during the 1970’s and early 80’s. Nearly everything she did was “at church, for church, or with church members.” In her words she lived and breathed church. During the tumultuous conference of 1984 when delegates voted to accept the revelation admitting women into the priesthood, she actively participated in a march protesting the decision. It was about fifteen years later that she began seriously examining the faith she grew up in. She found many disturbing facts in her church’s history that caused her to doubt the validity of her beliefs. She accepted an invitation to visit a Baptist Church and began attending a class called “A Closer Look: Examining the RLDS Faith” where she viewed material she had not previously seen. It was during that time she read Peter Elliott’s book Reasons for Disbelief and as a result made the final decision to leave the church. She resigned her membership in the Community of Christ and in September 2011 was re-baptized. She is now a believer in the real and enduring God, Holy Spirit, and Jesus of the Bible. This is her testimony.

I always believed that we were just like everyone else – just another protestant church – not some aberration. I grew up in Center Stake, in Independence. My father was a high priest and a pastor at two different churches in Independence. His father was an Elder and also a pastor at a congregation in Independence. At one time, my dad was even considered to go under church appointment where we would move and live somewhere for an extended period of time doing church work. My mother’s immediate family emigrated from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Independence in the late 1950’s to be in the Center Place. My mother and her mother were the principal cooks for every church camp, retreat, and banquet for Center Stake as well as surrounding stakes. My grandmother was especially well known and respected in the church for her service and Christian presence. Wallace B. Smith personally delivered the message at her funeral and there were hundreds of people in attendance. I think I was probably 4th generation RLDS on both sides. We lived and breathed church as I was growing up in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. Nearly everything we did was at church, for church, or with church members – we were at church Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights, and at the Campus (now the Family Life Center) swimming or playing sports every day. Literally, church was our life. Since we were in Independence it was rare for me to even have friends that weren’t church members. I had a wonderful time growing up.

I remember at some point during my teen years, my best friend (and nearly only non-RLDS friend), attended Independence Christian School. I went to school functions with her and dated boys from that school – mostly Baptist but also Pentecostal. I went to church with them on dates. Their church services were mostly just like what I was used to so it didn’t occur to me that my faith was different. One of my friends from that school told me that in their religion class, they were being taught that the RLDS church was a “cult” because we followed a man who talks to God and we used the Book of Mormon as scripture. As a good little church member, I told them that was impossible – the Bible predicts both the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith as a prophet. They looked at me like I was nuts. I just figured they hadn’t read their Bibles. I checked my 3-in-1 and confirmed I was right. Of course.

Then came the 1984 World Conference. I was there every day – I believe I was even a delegate that year. I was fourteen. I remember the debate over women in the priesthood and the talk of Wally B. being a false prophet. It was tumultuous. My mother and all of her church girlfriends, my dad’s mother, me and my church girlfriends, all participated in a march on the Auditorium and the Central Professional Building (where the church offices were located at the time), in protest against the revelation. I vividly remember making the protest signs. But, we stayed in the church until after 1986 when my father became terribly concerned with being “silenced” and losing his priesthood because of the things he was preaching. My understanding at the time was that the silencing was becoming imminent and as the Stake President was a close friend, he allowed my father to resign as pastor and just sort of slip away. We transferred our membership to Stone Church, the largest congregation at the time, and disappeared. We had church in our basement for a while until more organized Restoration groups emerged. However, even then we were afraid to attend any of the Restoration groups because of the potential consequences with the church. Eventually, we faded away and stopped going to church anywhere. This was a devastating loss for my entire family – we lost our church, our friends, parts of our family, and our security. The church still divides my family in many ways and I would venture to guess that since that time, no member of my immediate family has attended ANY church on a regular basis.

It wasn’t until about 15 years later that I truly started examining my faith. Someone close to me made a comment about how foolish it was to belong to a made-up church founded by some guy named “Joe Smith.” Kind of funny I guess. But it started my questioning. I asked my father and surprisingly he directed me to several websites and provided other materials. Apparently, he had been searching for answers as well and had actually been in contact with the church historian. I learned that the Book of Mormon was not translated by use of the Urim and Thummim and the golden plates, but by Joseph putting a peep stone in his hat and conjuring up the words – most of which came from other sources. I learned that none of the three witnesses or the eight witnesses had ever physically seen the plates. And, I learned some pretty disturbing things in church history – that baptism for the dead and polygamy began with Joseph Smith, (which was the real reason for the destruction of the printing press in Nauvoo), the story of the Danites in northern Missouri and the fact that no matter where he went, Joseph Smith took a peaceful community and turned it deadly. What is amazing to me looking back is that there was still so much to learn! But that was enough for me to make a decision to find another church to attend – or I should say a church to attend since I wasn’t attending any church regularly.

I church-hopped for a while and landed at a Lutheran church where I stayed for about five years. I became a member by attending membership classes. They accepted my baptism in the RLDS church, along with their classes, as sufficient for membership.  Obviously, they knew nothing of the RLDS faith. At this point, I had rejected the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and the church, but it did not occur to me to give up my membership. Why did I have to? And what if Joseph Smith was right and it was the only true church? Giving up your membership meant falling away and being eternally damned. I resumed my previous research but at this point I didn’t know what to do about what I was finding, which was increasingly disturbing. I continued attending my Lutheran Church and occasionally went with my parents to visit friends at a Community of Christ or Restoration congregation.

In the spring of 2011, I was having a difficult time in my life. One day, I felt an overwhelming need to pray for peace and guidance. I dropped my daughter off at daycare at Messiah Lutheran Church in Independence and went up to their sanctuary but it was not open. Where else could I go? I knew that the Community of Christ Temple had a chapel (my grandmother had been a tour guide there) that was open to the public for prayer and meditation. So, I went there. I signed the guest book and sat down to pray. An attendant asked if she could do anything for me and I said no. She left and I was alone.

I sat and prayed for guidance. I felt nothing. So, I prayed some more. Still nothing. I looked at the paintings on the walls depicting the ordinances of the church. I prayed some more. Then it occurred to me what was going on – neither God nor the Holy Spirit was present there. Or, perhaps they were present and telling me I couldn’t find what I was looking for there. I left the Temple in tears. I sat in my car in the parking lot and prayed – what was I supposed to do? Where was I supposed to go?

I have often heard that when you ask God a question, you must be prepared for the answer. My answer came that day. A new employee in my office invited me to visit her Baptist church. Wow I thought – that was fast! I looked at the church’s website – I really didn’t know anything about the Baptist church. I saw that there was a Sunday School class called “A Closer Look – Examining the RLDS Faith.” Surely this was my answer. I started attending that church and the class, and reviewed materials that I had not seen before. But, mostly I was amazed that there were so many other people in my situation! These people had left the church and/or the Restoration and they were all fine.

Peter Elliott’s book, “Reasons for Disbelief” was instrumental in my final decision. I had never heard of The Position Papers until reading Peter’s book. When I asked my dad about them, he handed me a copy that had been bound and printed in 1969. What I learned was that the World Church had determined BEFORE I was even born that the foundation of the RLDS church was fraudulent and corrupt,. Yet, at least until I stopped attending an RLDS church in the late 1980’s the church was still teaching the same materials! How could they perpetrate such a fraud?! They knew about the peep stone and hat; they knew the Inspired Version was a fabrication; they knew Joseph Smith founded (and practiced) the doctrines of baptism for the dead and polygamy and encouraged a belief in the plurality of gods. Quite simply – THEY KNEW!!!

Over the ensuing months, I finalized my research and worked through some issues (with the help of a few hours of conversation with Carol Hansen) in August 2011. I resigned my membership in the Community of Christ Church and in September 2011, was re-baptized a believer in the real and enduring God, Holy Spirit, and the true Jesus Christ – not the one created by a man with a rock in a hat.