We have shared a
video produced by BYU titled, “A New Day for the Book of Mormon” with a number
of people since being out here on the Mission. I was curious about several
non-members in the video who talked about the Book of Mormon. One of those
people is a Baptist Minister who believes in the Book of Mormon. I looked him
up online and was able to find a fair amount of information on him. From what
I found online I decided he has had an interesting life with a number of
challenges. It also looked like he may have joined the
Church at one time. He lives in Independence. My curiosity got the best of me
so I decided to email him. He was very prompt to email me back and this is what
he had to say:
* * * * * * *
Dr. Ridenhour,
I am currently a
Senior Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints serving
in Mound City, Kansas which is part of the Missouri Independence Mission. I
recently watched a Video produced by BYU titled, "A New Day for the Book of
Mormon" in which your testimony of the Book of Mormon is featured. I was
appreciative of your strong testimony of that book. Of course that made me curious
about who you were, so I was able to find and read several articles on the Internet about you. You clearly have lived an interesting and eventful life,
while also experiencing many of life's challenges. I am sure the Lord has great
love for you. One of the posts I read suggested that at one time you had joined
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but were no longer affiliated
with the Church. I could not tell whether that information was correct. You
seem to be a person that is trying to fulfill your life mission in a manner
that would be pleasing to God. This reading made me curious as to both your
view of our Church and your status with the Church. So I thought I would just
email you and ask what is your situation in regards to the Church?
Elder Jay Anderson
* * * * * * *
Dear Elder Anderson,
Thank you
for your very kind and warm inquiry. I’m more than happy to reply.
Let me
summarize first, then fill in the details…
My lovely
wife, daughter, and I moved here to Independence, MO in 1985. And we’ve been
here ever since. Yes, I’m a Southern Baptist minister who preaches out of the
Bible and the Book of Mormon. My passion is building bridges. I have a saying…
It’s
my firm belief—Bible-believing Christians and Book of Mormon Christians have
far more in common than all our differences. Are there differences? Of course.
But it’s time we began celebrating our commonalities rather than continue to
magnify our differences.
For the
past 25 year or so I have been hosting “Building Bridges Conferences” for the
purposes of: 1) bringing together, as said, Bible-believing Christians and Book
of Mormon Christians. (And I’m aware, the phrase “Book of Mormon” Christian is
somewhat of a misnomer, for Book of Mormon believers believe in both books—the
Bible and the Book of Mormon, but I use the term for the purpose of
distinction).
And 2) I
host Building Bridges Conferences for the purpose of bringing together the
various groups of Book of Mormon believers; i.e., LDS, RLDS (aka Community of
Christ), Restoration Branches, Remnant, Temple Lot, etc.—all Book of Mormon
believers. As said, I live in Independence, MO. Unlike Utah, Independence has
at least 25 or 30 various groups that consider themselves followers of Joseph
Smith, and which embrace the Book of Mormon. So anyway…I work among all the
various groups: Protestants and Book of Mormon groups, as well as among all the
various Book of Mormon groups.
That’s my
passion—to build bridges among all God’s people. That’s what I do. That’s my
ministry.
And now,
a bit of background…
During
the mid-to-late1980s, I was asked by Wade Hankins, founder of the original CCC,
RLDS seventy, to help him minister among young adults and teens. At the time,
my wife and I were attending Kansas City Fellowship in Grandview, pastored by
Mike Bickle, a charismatic non-denominational church. Wade knew I was a Book of
Mormon believer. But I told him, “Wade, I’m not a member.” He said he knew that
but wanted me to help anyway. So I did.
For over
a year and a half, Wade, Paul Lucero, and I traveled, establishing CCC groups
in cities across the country. Miracles and healings were occurring. Many were
experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit. One day, Wade called me into his
office. “Lynn, I got a problem. I need you to get baptized. You’re ministering
without a member of the priesthood and it’s making leaders of the church
uneasy.” Since denominational membership was not an issue with me, and since I
felt my work wasn’t finished, I told Wade, “No problem.” So I got baptized.
Miracles continued. It finally came to the point that leadership wanted me to
stop ministering (preaching, prophesying, speaking in tongues, praying for
sick) unless I first submitted my sermon outlines in advance and wrote out my
prophecies in advance, submitting them to leadership, waiting for their
approval. I withdrew my membership. I will say—things are entirely different
today. I am very welcome and am a whole-hearted supporter of CCM.
You
say—what’s with the LDS membership? In the mid-1990s, having lived in
Independence now for ten years, I became keenly aware—RLDS and LDS members do
not fellowship. Both groups stay in their corners. I had just recently moved my
family into Harvest Hills when my neighbor, Kenneth Brown, took me up to the
temple lot. He wanted to share with me the rich history of that “sacred spot”
near the square. I wanted to hear it. I’m new in town. I remember it like
yesterday. We’re standing on the grass known as the temple lot. I’m looking
around, admiring all the buildings. I pointed to the south east, “Ken, what’s
that building?” He snapped back, “That’s the apostates!” I had just pointed to
the Mormon Visitors Center. And we went home.
About two
weeks later, I was driving by the temple lot again, this time alone, and
thought, “I’m going to pull in to the parking lot.” I went around to the
basement of the white church building, and an elderly man with a full head of
white hair met me. He was an elder in the Temple Lot church. He gave me an
interesting 45-minute history lesson and afterwards, I was standing at a
window, looking at a building which looked like a turtle. It was the RLDS
auditorium. “What is that building?” I asked. He shot back, “O, the apostates
own that!” I’m thinking, two weeks ago, the Mormons were the apostates. Today
the RLDS are the apostates. That was my introduction as a newcomer to
restoration church history. I left that day disturbed deeply. “Something’s
wrong here!”
And
that’s been my sentiments ever since: “Something’s wrong here.”
So, the
Lord laid it on my heart to befriend the LDS in Independence. I scheduled an
appointment with a local bishop. We sat and talked for two hours. I told him my
family and I had been here in Independence for ten years; we’ve been
fellowshipping among the RLDS. I shared with him my passion for building a
bridge between the two groups. He liked the idea, but said I would need to
become baptized into the church. Again, since denominational affiliation is not
an issue with me, I agreed. That was in the mid-1990s. I was clear with the
bishop. I want to continue ministering among Protestants and especially among
my RLDS brothers and sisters. He remarked he would need to get the Stake
President’s approval, which was granted. For a few years I ministered among the
two groups, building bridges. A new Stake President was assigned to the
bishop’s ward who was uneasy about my ministering among other restoration
groups. He asked me to quit doing so. Again, I withdrew membership in good
faith. To this day, I have many, many LDS friends, dear brothers and sisters.
Brother
Jay, hope this helps…
I leave
you with our Ministry Statement…
My Ministry Statement
·
In things essential—Unity
·
In things
non-essential—Liberty
·
In all things—Charity
I
frequently am asked two questions. One by Baptists. The other by Mormons.
Baptists: “As a Baptist, how can you minister
among the Mormons?”
Mormons: “If you believe Joseph Smith
restored the keys to the priesthood, why are you not a member?”
My
Response
The first
question…
“As a
Baptist, how can you minister among the Mormons?” To get to the point, I believe in the philosophy of our
ministry statement: In things essential—unity. In things non-essential—liberty.
In all things—charity. Not many of us Protestants are aware that Joseph Smith
was extremely tolerant of Christians of all sects. And that’s my heart. My
approach to ministry is similar, if not the same: free tolerance to Christians
of all sects.
The
second question…
“If
you believe Joseph Smith restored the keys to the priesthood, why are you not a
member?” I get that a lot. In LDS Church History, Vol.7:382, Joseph,
the Prophet, was presiding over a meeting with some of his Elders. I quote
Brother Joseph:
“...We
are asked, ‘Is the Church of God and the Kingdom of God the same
organization? And we are informed
that some of the brethren hold that they are separate.’ This is the correct
view to take. The Kingdom of God is a separate organization from the Church of
God. On this point, the prophet Joseph gave an example, which he asked the
younger elders who were present to always remember. It was to the effect that men might be chosen to officiate as
members of the Kingdom of God who had NO standing in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”
[bold mine].
I feel
strongly I am one of those chosen men. I believe I can get more done,
accomplish more good, outside the church. Other prominent church leaders have
felt likewise. For instance, Ezra Taft Benson quoted in conference Orson F.
Whitney,
“Perhaps
the Lord needs such men on the outside of His Church to help it along,” says
Orson F. Whitney. “They are among its auxiliaries, and can do more good for the cause
where the Lord has placed themthan anywhere else.” Elder Whitney then
pointed out that we have no warfare with other churches. “They are our partners
in a certain sense” [bold mine].
(Ezra
Taft Benson quoting Orson F. Whitney in his conference report, April
1972—citing conference report, April 1928.)
B.H.
Roberts wrote,
Let it
be understood, we are not brought necessarily into antagonism with the various
sects of Christianity as such. So far as they have retained fragments of
Christian truth…and each of them has some measure of truth—that far they are
acceptable unto the Lord; and it would be poor policy for us to contend against
them with discrimination…[O]ur relationship to the religious world is not one
that calls for the denunciation of sectarian churches as composing the church
of the devil…All that makes for truth, for righteousness, is of God; it
constitutes the kingdom of righteousness—the empire of Jehovah; and, in a
certain sense at least, constitutes the Church of Christ…On the contrary, both
the spirit of the Lord’s commandments to his servants and the dictates of right
reason would suggest that we seek to enlarge this kingdom of righteousness both
by recognizing such truths as it possess and seeking the friendship and
cooperation of the righteous men and women who constitute its membership. (Conference Report, April 1906)
These are
my sentiments exactly.
His
Blessings as we labor together in His vineyard,
Lynn
Ridenhour
Southern Baptist Minister
Jay, I am attaching a book
manuscript I wrote titled "Moments with Joseph: Sayings of Joseph Smith
this Baptist Preacher Likes." The attachment is directly below the cover
photo.
You might also be interested in browsing our website. I especially believe you would enjoy our audio presentation titled "What I have discovered about the restoration movement as a Baptist Minister" given in Independence with Dr. Robert Millet, BYU professor. Dr. Millet and I are good friends.
Simply click on
"Sermons"
His Blessings, Lynn Ridenhour
* * * * * *
Dr.
Ridenhour,
Thank you for taking
the time to respond to my email. And thank you for all that you are doing
to testify of the Book of Mormon, which I know to be another testament of Jesus
Christ. You talked about all the different restoration groups in the
Independence area and I am aware of some of them. We have met with several
individuals down here in Mound City who are members of Community of Christ
Church. However, their leadership seems to be turning away from the Book of
Mormon.
You are correct we
believe Joseph Smith not only translated the Book of Mormon, but we also
believe the Priesthood was restored through him as well as sacred temple
ordinances. I do have several of Dr. Robert Millet's books and have attended
several of his lectures in the past. We do not get up to Independence very often
but would very much like to meet you some time when we are up that way.
We wish you the very
best in all your righteous desires to promote God's work.
Elder Anderson
* * * * * *
Elder
Anderson
,
,
Such a delight
to hear from you. Would love to meet you when you're here in the Independence
area. Let me give you my private cell phone number, just in case you ever come
our way.
His Blessings,
Lynn
