Minutes, 1 September 1831
-
Source Note
Minutes, , OH, 1 Sept. 1831. Featured version, titled “Minutes of a Conference held in Kirtland Geauga County Ohio, Sept. 1. 1831,” copied [between ca. 6 Apr. and 19 June 1838] in Minute Book 2, p. 5; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 2.
-
Historical Introduction
On 1 September 1831, soon after his return from , JS held a in , Ohio, in which was a church and others were disciplined. Whitney was the second such agent appointed in the church. A May 1831 revelation had mandated the appointment of the first agent, who would “provide food & raiment according to the wants of this people,” and was called to fill that role. After Gilbert, JS, and other arrived in Missouri, a 1 August revelation directed that there be “an agent appointed by the voice of the Church”—apparently a second agent in addition to Gilbert. Upon JS’s return to , a 30 August revelation designated Whitney as the “agent unto the that shall tarry.” Accordingly, ordained Whitney to this position at the 1 September conference of elders.The conference also revoked the right to preach from and William Carter. Using conferences as a venue for institutional discipline was common among some Protestant denominations at this time; conferences were especially used to discipline those who had been called to preach. Disciplinary procedures within the at this time were still developing, though the February 1831 revelation of the “Laws of the Church of Christ” outlined procedures for adjudicating charges against those accused of committing adultery. These same procedures were apparently also to be applied when individuals committed “any manner of iniquity.” According to these instructions, the accused would “be tried before two Elders of the Church or more and every word shall be established against him by two witnesses of the Church.” These procedures were apparently followed in this conference, although the minutes do not specify the identity of those testifying, how many people testified, or the specific offenses with which Fuller and Carter were charged. The minutes do not record whether Fuller and Carter were present during the proceedings.served as the clerk of the conference and kept minutes. Sometime in 1838, copied the minutes into Minute Book 2.
Footnotes
-
1
Revelation, 20 May 1831 [D&C 51:8] .
-
2
Revelation, 8 June 1831 [D&C 53:4] .
-
3
Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:49].
-
4
Revelation, 30 Aug. 1831 [D&C 63:45]; see also Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:49–51].
-
5
Wigger, Taking Heaven by Storm, 89–90.
Wigger, John H. Taking Heaven by Storm: Methodism and the Rise of Popular Christianity in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
-
6
Revelation, 23 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:87].
-
7
Revelation, 23 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:80].
-
1

Present | ||
Joseph Smith jr. | ||