The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Kingdom of God[1] is aMormon fundamentalist church which is not affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The sect was founded by Frank Naylor and Ivan Nielsen, who split from theCentennial Park group, another fundamentalist church over issues with another prominent polygamous family. The church is estimated to have 200–300 members,[2] most of whom reside in theSalt Lake Valley. The group is also known as theNielsen Naylor Group.
The church holds weekly meetings alternating betweenMalad, Idaho and the Church-house inBluffdale, Utah.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Kingdom of God's claims of authority are based around the accounts ofJohn Wickersham Woolley,Lorin Calvin Woolley, and others of a meeting in September 1886 betweenLDS Church PresidentJohn Taylor, the Woolleys, and others.[2] Prior to the meeting, Taylor is said to have met withJesus Christ and the deceased church founderJoseph Smith, and to have received a revelation commanding that plural marriage should not cease, but be kept alive by a group separate from the LDS Church. The following day, the Woolleys, as well as Taylor's counselorGeorge Q. Cannon, and others, were said to have been set apart to keep "the principle" alive.
The Centennial Park group is a polygamist sect based in theArizona Strip. This group is itself a split from theFundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church). The Centennial Park group refers to itself as the "Second Ward" and refers to the FLDS Church as the "First Ward". WhenAlma A. Timpson became leader of the Second Ward in 1988, he appointed Frank Naylor asapostle and Ivan Nielsen ashigh priest and later asbishop. Naylor and Nielsen disagreed with Timpson's leadership and they split from the Second Ward in 1990[3] with Naylor as leader.
Much of the rivalry was based between interactions between Timpson's sons and Neilsen and Naylor's families.
Naylor and Nielsen were able to gather a number of followers from both the Centennial Park group and the FLDS Church.[4] Most of the members of the new group migrated north to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah where they have built a meeting house.[4] They continue to practice polygamy as well as other fundamentalist doctrines such as theAdam–God doctrine.[2] The church has also formed a close relationship[5] with theChurch of Jesus Christ (Original Doctrine) Inc.,[6] an FLDS Church-offshoot based inBountiful, British Columbia.
In 2008, they began offering anEndowment ritual. After careful consideration among the presidency, one of the homes owned by their leaders was renovated for use in giving Endowments.
Finally giving up the fight, Blackmore has agreed to change his group's corporate name to the "Church of Jesus Christ (Original Doctrine) Inc.