Stassi Cramm

A counselor succeeds to the presidency

Community of Christ ordained Stassi D. Cramm its ninth prophet-president on June 1, 2025. A former United States Air Force flight test engineer and project manager, she had served as presiding bishop and as counselor to President Stephen M. Veazey. She became the first woman to hold the presidency of the denomination once known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Official biography · Film of the ordination

My interest in Cramm’s succession begins with the office she already held. The Reorganization had followed Joseph Smith III and successive members of the Smith family. After the last Smith president came Grant McMurray, then Veazey from the presidency of the Twelve, then Cramm from the First Presidency. When I wrote about Cramm’s call in Independence, I commended her education, skill, and compassion. The prospect of a woman presiding presents no historical difficulty for a follower of James Strang, who ordained women in 1851. My earlier account of the succession

What passed out of Reorganized Church custody

In March 2024, while Cramm was a counselor, Community of Christ announced a $192.5 million sale to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Kirtland Temple was the most conspicuous property. A bibliographer has particular reason to attend to the rest. Joseph Smith’s Bible revision manuscripts and the Phinney Bible went with the temple, as did John Whitmer’s manuscript history, the “Caractors” document, correspondence of Joseph and Emma Smith, and notes of an 1869 interview with Emma. The agreement assigned a single price to the whole transaction. Its terms supply no separate price for the temple or for any manuscript. Community of Christ’s inventory and account of the terms

Cramm publicly defended the decision. She described unanimous agreement among the leadership and declining contributions in several countries. The Presiding Bishopric concluded that retaining Kirtland would leave the endowment too small to generate the income the denomination needed. The sale preceded Cramm’s presidency by more than a year. Her responsibility in the public record is that of a participating leader who explained and defended a collective decision. Cramm’s March 2024 interview transcript · Presiding Bishopric’s financial rationale

What the sale agreement actually secured

There is a considerable difference between the years a building can stand and the years a contract protects access to it. Community of Christ reports a fifteen-year contractual provision for public access to the named sites. For the years beyond that period, its account records the buyer’s stated intention to continue free access. Community of Christ groups may arrange up to six special gatherings a year under the terms described. For generations the Reorganization itself could decide who entered Kirtland Temple, who interpreted it, and when its people could gather there. An endowment can pay a guide’s salary. It cannot give the former owner those decisions back. Published access and gathering provisions

Historian David Howlett, who spent twelve summers at Kirtland and wrote a book about the temple, identified a cost the sale price could never measure. Generations of caretakers had made the building part of their family histories. For Howlett, giving his father a tour in 2019 belonged to that history. In 2025 Cramm acknowledged that members still objected to the sale and described the denomination’s financial condition as healthy. Both judgments belong in its history. A healthier balance sheet answers the question of financing. Who will interpret the manuscripts and the temple for the next generation remains a question of custody. Howlett’s account · Cramm’s subsequent assessment