Hello, JWHA friends!
I wanted to take a minute and offer some reflections on our recent conference at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library. As I contemplated this year’s theme— “Religion and Politics”—I could think of no better venue to discuss this important topic than at the Truman Library—a man known for blending faith with politics. I thought our program was superb, thanks in part to you for sharing your important work with us. The panels that I attended were lively and engaging and full of wonderful surprises about how politics has impacted Restoration traditions. I would urge each of you to polish your papers and consider submitting them to the JWHA journal editor, Ken Mulliken.
As part of our program, we also did something new this year. Instead of going to our traditional excursion sites—Adam-ondi-Ahman and Haun’s Mill (among others)—we decided to focus on twentieth-century themes—hence we visited the Brown vs. Board National Museum in Topeka, Kansas, and the World War I Museum in Kansas City. I hope you enjoyed it. We plan to visit other twentieth-century sites at future conferences.
Now let me say a word about our keynote speakers and Hymn Fest. We were absolutely thrilled to get Dr. Gregory Prince, an award-winning scholar. Dr. Prince’s keynote focused on that delicate balance between church advocacy and social issues, in this case gay rights, and he did so imaginatively, sensitively, and in a way that was informative and engaging. His keynote—and book on the same topic—demonstrates the ways in which faith traditions advocate for causes they feel passionately about. Community of Christ Prophet-President Stassi Cramm gave an equally informative and stimulating keynote. In an era when many parishioners struggle to know how doctrine is made, President Cramm drew from her own experiences in church leadership to answer that question. She kept it “real,” demonstrating the arduous and often difficult process of seeking consensus when a myriad of views occur. And finally, JWHA president Mark Staker gave a wonderfully detailed presentation on the Whitmer Family and their German pietist roots. Dr. Staker set a high bar, demonstrating and modeling what excellent scholarship looks like.
The program concluded on Sunday morning with a spirited Hymn Fest from President Cramm and her colleagues in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The Community of Christ Temple was the idyllic place for this gathering. The homilies that President Cramm and her colleagues gave were superb, the songs spiritually edifying and uplifting, and the spirit of ecumenical brotherhood and sisterhood vibrant and strong.
Thanks to each of you for making this year’s conference memorable, and thanks to our wonderful Executive Director, Cheryle Grinter, for working her magic yet again to make this conference a success.
We hope to see you again next year at our conference in Des Moines, Iowa!
Best wishes,
Matt Harris
President, JWHA
Brown vs. the Board of Education Museum Tour
We decided to do something different this year and visit historic sites that deal with 20th century church history. Pictured here is the group that went to the historic Brown vs. the Board of Education Museum in Topeka, Kansas. We learned about segregation and civil rights and how those two seminal issues affected Restoration churches. The Museum docents were excellent, and we came away feeling a sense of respect and admiration at the sacrifices that so many people in the Black community made to secure their rights. The other site visit was the World War I Museum in Kansas City. There, participants learned how the “Great War” shaped Restoration churches, specifically missionary work, family life, and other vital issues.
National World War One Museum and Memorial Tour
On Saturday afternoon, 20 September 2025, an optional tour sponsored by this year’s JWHA Conference visited the National World War One Museum and Memorial in downtown Kansas City. During the thirty-minute drive, Ken Alford answered questions and shared information about the First World War, American wartime military organization, military ranks, major European offensives with significant American military involvement, and soldiers who served form Missouri.
Upon arrival at the museum, the group was met by Matt Naylor, the current President and CEO of the Museum. Matt welcomed our group, gave a brief history of the museum, and shared insights and information about the displays and exhibits we were going to see. Attendees were able to visit the galleries, exhibits, and displays as they desired. One of the highlights for many attendees was a new “Encounters” multi-media exhibit which shares the autobiographical stories of sixteen people whose lives were changed by the war—including a British Army chaplain, a female Russian officer, a French farmer, an American soldier, an enlisted infantry soldier from India, an American woman who was charged with sedition, a German frontline soldier, and an English child who watched a German zeppelin crash near his home.
To enter and exit the museum, visitors walk across a glass floor over a field with nine thousand poppies—with each poppy representing the wartime death of 1,000 soldiers. It was a sober visit and time well spent.
A WWI envelope from a “Mail Call” exhibit showing a father’s envelope artwork on letters he sent to his son.
