Julian Whiting

Julian Whiting
Julian Whiting
7th President of The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)
	November 22, 1974 [1] – April 30, 1997 [2]
Called by	Rupert Fletcher [3]
Predecessor	Rupert Fletcher [3]
Successor	Stanley Whiting
Personal details
Born	September 7, 1912; Helena, Montana, United States
Died	October 3, 2004 (aged 92); Independence, Missouri, United States
Resting place	Mound Grove Cemetery; 39°06′46″N94°25′41″W / 39.1128°N 94.4281°W
Spouse(s)	Violet Marie Vargason
Parents	Julian Everson Whiting; Amy Louisa Gentzler
	Biographyportal Latter Day Saintsportal
	Biographyportal Latter Day Saintsportal

Last updated April 13, 2019

Julian Everson Whiting (7 September 1912 - 3 October 2004) was a Latter Day Saint leader who served as the seventh president of The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) from 1974 to 1997. During his tenure, the Cutlerites endured the second (and last, to date) schism in their history when Eugene O. Walton, a convert to the church, proclaimed himself to be the "One Mighty and Strong" in 1980. Walton's attempt to have the Cutlerite church recognize his claim was foiled when the vast majority of Cutlerites, led by Whiting, rejected Walton's purported revelation authorizing his alleged new title.

Latter Day Saint movement collection of independent church groups

The Latter Day Saint movement is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 16 million members, although the vast majority of these—about 98%—belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The predominant theology of the churches in the movement is Mormonism, a form of Christianity usually categorized as Restorationist. A minority of Latter Day Saint adherents, such as members of the Community of Christ, believe in traditional Protestant theology, and have distanced themselves from some of the distinctive doctrines of the LDS Church. Other groups include the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which supports lineal succession of leadership from Smith's descendants, and the more controversial Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which defends the practice of polygamy.

The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) is a denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement headquartered in Independence, Missouri, United States. The church derives its epithet from its founder, Alpheus Cutler, a member of the Nauvoo High Council and of Joseph Smith's Council of Fifty. Cutler justified his establishment of an independent church organization by asserting that God had "rejected" Smith's organization—but not his priesthood—following Smith's death, but that Smith had named Cutler to a singular "Quorum of Seven" in anticipation of this event, with a unique prerogative to reorganize the church that no one beyond this group possessed. Hence, Cutler's organization claims to be the only legitimate Latter Day Saint church in the world today. Currently, it has only one branch, located in Independence. The Cutlerite church retains an endowment ceremony believed to date to the Nauvoo period, practices the United Order of Enoch, and accepts baptism for the dead, but not eternal marriage or polygamy.

The biblical term "proselyte" is an anglicization of the Koine Greek term προσήλυτος (proselytos), as used in the Septuagint for "stranger", i.e. a "newcomer to Israel"; a "sojourner in the land", and in the Greek New Testament for a first-century convert to Judaism, generally from Ancient Greek religion. It is a translation of the Biblical Hebrew phrase גר תושב.

Early years

Whiting was born on 7 September 1912 in Helena, Montana. His father, who had the same name as his, was an agent for the Great Northern Railway in Wolf Creek, Montana. When Julian was two years old, his family relocated to the main Cutlerite settlement in Clitherall, Minnesota (where his father had grown up), where his father worked a farm and managed a general store in town. Whiting's mother was Amy Gentzler Whiting, originally from Creighton, Nebraska.

Helena is the state capital of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County.

The Great Northern Railway was an American Class I railroad. Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, it was the creation of 19th-century railroad entrepreneur James J. Hill and was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad. The Great Northern's (GN) route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in the U.S.

Wolf Creek is an unincorporated community in Lewis and Clark County, Montana, United States. Wolf Creek is located along Interstate 15 28 miles (45 km) north of Helena. Wolf Creek has a post office with ZIP code 59648.

After leaving school, Julian moved in 1933 to Independence, Missouri, where the church had relocated its headquarters five years before. There, he worked as an electrical contractor and ultimately became co-owner of Galaxie Electric Co. He obtained a private pilot's license, and aviation became his principal hobby. Julian married Violet Marie Whiting, and they became the parents of three children.

Independence is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies within Jackson County, of which it is the county seat. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2010, it had a total population of 116,830.

An electrical contractor is a business person or firm that performs specialized construction work related to the design, installation, and maintenance of electrical systems.

A private pilot is the holder of a private pilot license. With a private pilot license (PPL), a pilot is allowed to fly aeroplanes of the category and class that the license designates, in addition fly a category and class airplane up to 12,500 pounds. Private pilots are not permitted to profit from any flight. In order to be compensated for flight services, a pilot must hold a commercial pilot license.

Presidency

Julian Whiting succeeded to the Cutlerite presidency in 1974, upon the death of Rupert Fletcher. During this timeframe the Cutlerite church attracted several new members, one of whom was Eugene Walton, a former member of the RLDS church who had left that denomination due to a perceived increase in liberalism within it. Enthusiastically received at first by Whiting and the other members of the church, Walton shocked his new brethren in 1980 with his claim to be "The One Mighty and Strong" foretold by Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants Section 85 (Utah edition). When Whiting and the majority of Cutlerites refused to endorse this claim, Walton and two of his associates resigned their membership and started the Restored Church of Jesus Christ, which became defunct with Walton's death in 2010.

Rupert J. Fletcher was a Latter Day Saint leader who served as the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) from 1958 to 1974. As church president, he ended the schism between the church's Missouri congregation and its Minnesota branch, which had seceded from the church in 1955 and called itself the True Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite). He also authored, in company with his wife Daisy, a compendium of Cutlerite history and doctrine, entitled Alpheus Cutler and The Church of Jesus Christ.

Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church with roots in the Latter Day Saint movement. The church reports 197,000 in 60 nations. The church traces its origins to Joseph Smith's establishment of the Church of Christ on April 6, 1830. A group of members including his elder son formally reorganized on April 6, 1860 in the aftermath of the 1844 death of Joseph Smith, forming The [Reorganized] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they generally support limited government, individual rights, capitalism, democracy, secularism, gender equality, racial equality, internationalism, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion.

In 1997, Whiting resigned his presidency due to advancing age. He died on 3 October 2004, and is buried with his wife in Mound Grove Cemetery in Independence.

Children

Julian and Violet ("Ilo") Whiting had three children:

Stanley E., who succeeded him in the president's office
Darrel J.
Mary E.

Related Research Articles

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References

↑ Biographical History
↑ Death of a Mormon Prophet.
1 2 Fletcher, Rupert J. and Daisy Whiting, Alpheus Cutler and The Church of Jesus Christ. Church of Jesus Christ, 1974, pp. 47-55, 271-274.

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[1] Biographical History

[2] Death of a Mormon Prophet.

[Fletcher-3] 1 2 Fletcher, Rupert J. and Daisy Whiting, Alpheus Cutler and The Church of Jesus Christ. Church of Jesus Christ, 1974, pp. 47-55, 271-274.