The Journey of a People: The Era of Reorganization, 1844 to 1946

by Mark A. Scherer

585 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Jonathan Bacon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having grown up in the RLDS church (now Community of Christ), I found the history of the movement fascinating. Volume 1 focuses on the era of the restoration and while most members know the rough outline of that period of church history, Scherer adds immeasurable depth to our understanding of the personalities and events. For a variety of reasons, much of the early church history, covered in Volume 1, has remained unknown, hidden or just ignored. It's refreshing to see an honest, open exploration of the early restoration time period. Conversely, the Reorganization Era of church history (post-1844) has been overlooked by many members, probably because of the extreme focus on the founding of the Restoration movement. Volume 2 is filled with little know stories and background regarding the church's story from 1844 to 1946 (the death of Frederick Madison Smith). All in all, both volumes shed new light and offer a refreshingly open assessment of the first 126 years of the church that has now evolved into the Community of Christ. Through Scherer's two volume history, the veil has been removed and readers can now view the church with all it's beauty, sacrifices, humanness, and blemishes.