Church of Christ With the Elijah Message

The Church of Christ with the Elijah Message
Church of Christ "With the Elijah Message" meetinghouse in Independence, Missouri
Classification	Latter Day Saint movement
Orientation	Latter Day Saints
Polity	Church conference
Moderator	None; all members of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles are equal
Region	United States
Founder	William Draves
Origin	1943
Separated from	Church of Christ (Fettingite)
Separations	Church of Christ with the Elijah Message - The Assured Way of the Lord, Inc.; Church of Christ with the Elijah Message, Inc.; Church of Christ - "The Church with the Elijah Message" - Established anew in 1929, Inc.
Members	c. 12,500 worldwide as of 1987[1][2]

The Church of Christ with the Elijah Message is the name of three related church groups and a denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement, headquartered in Independence, Missouri. It split from the Church of Christ (informally referred to as the "Fettingites") in 1943 in a dispute over claimed revelations given to its founder William A. Draves. Draves, an elder in the Fettingite group, claimed to be receiving messages from an angelic being who identified himself as John the Baptist—the same person who had allegedly appeared to Fettingite founder Otto Fetting, a former apostle of the Temple Lot Church of Christ. While many Fettingites accepted these new missives, some did not, leading Draves to form his own church. His adherents claim it to be the sole legitimate continuation of Fetting's organization, as well as that of the Temple Lot church. As of 1987, the church had approximately 12,500 adherents spread between Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas.^[3]