Is RLDS Church the second largest sect of those which claim Joseph Smith as founder?
by 
Alatea
ANSWERS: 5
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Yes, but they call themselves the Community of Christ now. They gave up the name Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (RLDS) several years ago. I don't think that any of the other splinter groups comes close to matching either of our numbers.
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Yes the Community of Christ is the second largest Latter Day Saint tradition (the 200-400+ church traditions that are dependents of the church organized in upstate NY on April 6 1830)
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Technically, no. The Community of Christ—the new name of the organization previously known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints—is the *largest* sect of those which claim Joseph Smith as founder. While The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is certainly much larger than the Community of Christ, it is not a “sect.” According to the Oxford American Dictionary, a sect is “a group that has separated from an established church.” Even if one doesn’t agree with the Church of Jesus Christ, I can’t see any way to claim that “sect” would be an appropriate denotation thereof.
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Yes. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_denominations_in_the_Latter_Day_Saint_movement The fifth column lists approximate membership numbers for each denomination, so you can compare the size of the extant groups.
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Yes. Although the LDS/Mormon or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT claims to be the lawful continuation of the original church...the courts of the land have declared the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as the "true and lawful continuation of the original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" in the 1880 Kirtland Temple Case in Ohio and the 1892 Temple Lot Case in Missouri. http://www.restored.org/lds/court.htm
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