Due to several questions and concerns regarding the name of the Fellowship of Christ, I have felt prompted and moved to share the experience of the revelation I received when I was given the name.
On Friday, November 6, 2015 I received a revelation from the Lord. As I read that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was rejecting children worthy of baptism because the organization disapproved of same-sex couples marrying, I felt a peace wash over me, and I heard the voice of the Lord say: “It is time.”
The only way to describe what happened next is to say that the Holy Spirit descended upon me as a dove. I was fully embraced and enveloped in the Spirit of God in a way I cannot describe with human lips or in terms of human understanding. I spoke to the Lord, being in the Presence of God in a way described in the Books of Moses as, when Moses was in God’s Presence.
I have been told not to record the full conversation as much of it was for me alone. I will however say this: The understanding I had at that moment was beyond comprehension. I was given access to understanding beyond understanding. And when the moment was over, that understanding was gone as well. I retained the memory of the experience, but that limitless flow of pure knowledge and wisdom was taken from me and I was returned to myself.
That morning, on my drive to work, I prayed to the Lord the entire journey, asking Him about the things I was to do. One of the things I knew I needed to do was create a place to begin this ministry, this journey, the Lord had called me to. My first thought was to build a website, a digital portal to the world. But I had to have a name so I could purchase a URL.
As I drove, I asked God: “What should this ministry, this thing you have called me to build, be called? Please Lord, let it be something short that works, like Community of Christ. There are so many churches called ‘Church of Jesus Christ’ it cannot be that simple, but it does not need to be too long or overly complicated. I’m not going to just make something up, I am going to wait for you to give me the name, because this is your work and I wish to do it for your glory not my own.”
The prayer was longer than this, but this portion of that prayer is all that is relevant to cover at this time. And, as I went about my day, I listened for the voice of the Lord to come to me, telling me what to name this movement I had been called to create. All day long, nothing. I prayed again on my drive home. I reiterated many of the things the Lord had told me, and things from my prayer that morning. I let the Lord know I could start writing but without a name, I could not start the website.
I ended my prayer after I was in my neighborhood, turning onto the street just before my own. As I was turning onto the circle we lived on, the voice of the Lord spoke to me saying: “The name shall be: The Church of Jesus Christ in Christian Fellowship.”
When I heard this, my countenance fell. This was not the short name I had ask for or been looking for. But it was the name given to me from God. I knew I could not go back and tell the Lord He was wrong. I just had to live with it.
Over time, I began to see the wisdom of God in the name given us. We are a Church, a body of religious believers. Faith in Jesus Christ is the core of our different religious beliefs—we are the body of Christ. What we do is gather with fellow Christians of any and all denominations, and with those that do not affiliate with any denominations, to unite as one in Christ. We gather in Christian Fellowship. Thus, we have become exactly what God declared us to be: the Church of Jesus Christ in Christian Fellowship.
