Church of Jesus Christ in Zion
|
|
The Church of Jesus Christ in Zion was the name of a small, now-defunct sect of Mormonism located in Independence, Missouri. The group recognized Roger E. Billings as a prophet and patriarch, but disbanded in late 2004 or early 2005.
Relationship with Mormonism
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ in Zion were followers of Mormon founder Joseph Smith, Jr., but they believed that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had strayed from Smith's teachings. The church claimed that Smith restored Priesthood keys to Ken Asay, who ordained Billings to be a Prophet and the Patriarch of Zion prior to Asay's death in 1985.
The church believed in a doctrine of "multiple lives". This doctrine is similar to reincarnation; however, humans may only be reborn as other humans. Many sources report that the sect practices polygamy, with Billings himself reportedly having several wives and dozens of children. This charge, for example, was brought by Novell as a means to discredit Billings in a decade-long patent lawsuit which Novell won in May 2004. While Billings admitted that he wrote a tract in 1985 advocating polygamy, he denied that he ever practiced it.
Business and educational operations
Under the direction of Roger Billings, the church was associated with, and helped operate, a number of business and educational operations, including an alternative science and math educational program named the International Academy of Science (http://www.science.edu). This school is in operation, but is no longer associated with the now-defunct church. Billings also runs a number of businesses which were once associated with the church, including WideBand Corporation (http://www.wband.com) (a high-speed networking company), Billings Energy Corporation (http://www.billingsenergy.com) (a hydrogen fuel-cell research company), Acellus Labs (http://www.acellus.com) (a system of educational software), and EarthTouch (http://earthtouch.com) (which sells health supplements).
Ownership of the group's name by the Church of Scientology
The name of the Church of Jesus Christ in Zion has been registered as the Kansas City Mission of the Church of Scientology, located at 1202 West 40th Street in Kansas City, Missouri. According to Missouri Secretary of State records, the Registered agent is Gary Miller.
In 1992, the sect using the name Church of Jesus Christ in Zion was recognized by the Church of Scientology as a "suppressive group." Currently, the Church of Scientology has registered the name as one of its missions.