The Community of Christ made history Sunday.
The church, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and delegates at its World Conference in Independence, Missouri, approved the faith’s first female prophet-president in its 165-year existence.
Stassi D. Cramm, who has been serving in the church’s governing First Presidency, has spent nearly a quarter century in full-time ministry for the faith that, like the much-larger Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, traces its origins to Joseph Smith.
“This call is not about me,” Cramm told The Salt Lake Tribune on Saturday before her ordination. “God calls whom God calls. I hope that what people will witness is not ‘Stassi Cramm, what a great [resume], or what a great background.’ ... I hope what people will see is Community of Christ is a place where everyone is welcome and where everyone has the opportunity to explore their discipleship and ministry.”
Still, Cramm has been a trailblazer since her ordination as a priest in 1987 — just three years after the church opened its priesthood to women — followed in 1990 as an elder, 1999 as a high priest, 2002 as a bishop and 2005 as an apostle.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in general engineering, followed by a master’s degrees in organizational management and religion and a doctorate in organization and management.
Before beginning her full-time ministry for Community of Christ in 2000, Cramm worked as a flight-test engineer for the Air Force.
While with the church, she has, among other duties, provided teaching, preaching and guest ministry around the U.S. and other countries. She previously served as dean of Community of Christ Seminary at Graceland University.
Cramm and her husband, Stephen Cramm, have two adult children and two grandchildren. They divide their time between church headquarters in Independence and Boston, where their grandkids live.
Cramm is known widely for her writing “onward” at the end of most of her emails, the biography says. It came from an old church hymn “Onward to Zion.”
“It was intended to mark a new chapter in my life,” she is quoted as saying, “focused on doing everything I could to help make God’s vision of shalom tangible.”
The new prophet-president succeeds Steve Veazey, who has led the global 250,000-member church since 2005. Cramm’s new position was announced in January 2024.
“It’s about time,” apostle Lachlan Mackay said at the time. “Her capacity to get things done exceeds anyone I’ve ever seen.”
Here are lightly edited excerpts from The Tribune’s interview with Cramm the day before her groundbreaking ordination:
When you were ordained a priest in 1987, did you imagine you would one day be the church’s prophet-president?
No, honestly, I never imagined that 1) I would start working full-time as a minister and 2) that this call would come for me.
(Community of Christ) Stassi D. Cramm is the first female prophet-president of Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
When it did come, what did you think? How did you feel? Did you have any kind of spiritual confirmation?
People have asked me that question a lot: Did you see it coming? It’s really been looking backward, yeah, that I have recognized preparatory moments that the spirit placed in my life, but I did not recognize them as I was moving through them. … [After the Council of the Twelve Apostles met in a retreat], they asked to meet with Scott Murphy [the other counselor in the First Presidency] and me on Saturday afternoon. … I had this sudden wave of, “what if they say my name [pick me]?” I didn’t actually know what to do with that insight. Is that ego? It’s not something that I was seeking. … So when they said it, it was both a total surprise and yet not a surprise in the very same moment. It’s sort of like Paul talks about the kingdom is both here and coming. And it was almost like the call was both known and not known at the same time.
Have you had some prayerful moments where you think, ‘OK, God, if this is what you want …’?
It comes in waves. There are waves of self-doubt, and, like, there’s got to be a better answer. And why me? Then, honestly, a lot of the affirmations have come from colleagues or from people in the church as they have reached out and said, “Oh, we’re praying for you. We were so excited when we heard the announcement.” The expressions have just been so lovely and so supportive. …It’s been quite a journey. I’m very grateful that I’ve had as much time as I have to prepare for this [18 months since the announcement]. That has been a blessing for me and hopefully for the church as well.
(Tribune file photo) The Community of Christ Temple, Independence, Missouri.
Younger apostles have been chosen. Are aging leaders part of the challenges facing the church?
It’s different in different countries. We do have some countries where we lack older members, more senior members that the church is like new and bubbling, and its younger leaders. The way I would summarize the global challenge is leadership development. How do we prepare people to serve in the various calls that they are being asked to step into? My number one priority — along with the council — is: Are we faithful in developing leaders so that they feel prepared to lead in our identity, to lead in the spirit of shared leadership in collaborating?
Do you have any big plans, any big initiatives you’re about to unveil?
If all goes as planned, on Thursday night we’ll be sharing what our vision is. Part of that is: What does it really look like to empower the prophetic voice of the people? Former President [Grant] McMurray introduced that concept. President [Steve] Veazey moved that idea forward, [leading] us in a very formative time of setting our foundation of what our identity and message and mission are all about. We now feel like we’re poised for action, and that action needs to be contextualized. That means as we seek to bring about justice and restoration, we do it in ways that make sense in the culture where the people are serving. … We’re still exploring what we need to be providing out of our temple here at headquarters. How does that bring blessing to the whole world? And then the last thing is: How do we hold ourselves accountable? Are we doing our part to try to move forward God’s vision in the world?
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) The Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio.
How is the church doing financially since selling the historic Kirtland Temple and Nauvoo, Illinois, properties to the Utah-based church?
In some of our Western countries, which is where the church has more economic capacity, we are seeing a decline in membership and so, by association, fewer members, you know, means less worldwide mission tithes. Our Presiding Bishopric is guiding us on a series of multiple strategies over the next five years, intended to try to both encourage new participation through invitation and witnessing, and inviting people to find an element of the church’s ministry that they’re passionate about and that they’re willing not only to support with their time but also with their funds. They’re also looking for alternative income sources. We are in, I would say, a healthy place at the moment. The sale [of historic properties] has really allowed us to invest in our future mission in ways that allowed us to make the decision that we made, which was very painful for everyone.
What are you doing to heal members’ hurt from the sale?
We have tried to be very intentional about sharing information in different forums. Some people were most upset because they did not get to participate in the decision-making process, and that felt counter to the way we try to make big decisions. Although these were very sacred spots, in the end, it was, in fact, a business transaction, which we had to operate within the practice and process of negotiations and coming to an agreement, and we needed to be able to do that space without bringing things to the World Conference. That has been hard. We’ve had online Q&A sessions. We’ve responded to individual letters. … There have been local initiatives. There has been individual pastoral care. … We had a Palm Sunday service here in 2025 at Kirtland. We had an agreement with the LDS Church that we would have access at times, and they were gracious hosts and let us have that weekend. We focused a little bit on what we had lost, but we focused more on what we still had, and that the story was continuing to be written. I heard from some people that there was a sense of healing by knowing that they could be present on the site. … There are still people who are upset, and some may take that frustration and anger to their grave. All we can do is just continue to share, to be supportive, and to continue to point to the future, which is why the decision was made.
Going back to women’s ordination in 1984 — a step the Utah-based faith has not taken — some say the church lost a lot of members over it, right?
We estimate about half.
Some historians argue the church didn’t prepare the people enough for that move. What do you think?
It was an act of faith. There are those moments where the spirit’s calling is so profound that all you can do is present it to the body and then see what the body does with it. In talking to then-President [Wallace] Smith, it was no longer deniable to him. He sensed it for quite a while [that] we cannot continue to become who we are called to be without making this decision, that God was saying, “It’s now, and what will you do with this invitation?” The leadership and those who remain demonstrated an amazing willingness to take a risk, along with profound courage. I just pray that if I come to one of those crossroads, that I have the discernment and the faith and the humbleness and the courage to make that choice.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Salt Lake City area congregation of the Community of Christ in Millcreek.
The RLDS name officially was changed to Community of Christ in 2001, but many journalists still write “formerly known as” to distinguish it from other Christian churches. Do you think that will ever be unnecessary?
Only God knows. Honestly, I have stopped introducing it that way. From my perspective, that actually confuses people more than it helps. If you’re not in Salt Lake City, most others in the world say, “Oh, well, then you’re Mormon,” and then we’re back to the “nope, not even close.” Yes, we have common roots and 14 years where we journeyed together, but many, many, many, many decades where we have not. In some ways, being mainstream, another Christian denomination, (especially when we’re witnessing and sharing our message), gives us a better starting place, so they don’t make immediate assumptions of what our beliefs are based on what they know about the LDS Church. … We are rooted in the restoration tradition, but we are closer to our ecumenical friends, like Disciples of Christ and the Methodists, at this point than we are to our LDS Church cousins.
What is your relationship with the LDS Church?
I would say it’s positive. We went through one of the most painful leadership decisions that any leadership would ever want to have to make. We made that journey with key leaders in the LDS Church, and they were gracious and understanding and sensitive and patient. I genuinely sensed that our well-being and how this was going to help us respond to our mission were understood and appreciated by them. … I got greetings when my call was announced from the [Latter-day Saint First] Presidency and from the [Presiding] Bishopric. It did not feel perfunctory.
What do you want readers to take away from this historic development in your church?
This call is not about me. God calls whom God calls. I hope that what people will witness is not “Stassi Cramm, what a great [resume], or what a great background.” I hope what people will see is Community of Christ is a place where everyone is welcome and where everyone has the opportunity to explore their discipleship and ministry, and that Community of Christ is committed to the prophetic voice of the people in establishing God’s kingdom … as best we are able in an imperfect world.”
Correction • Monday, June 2, 2025, 9:16 a.m.: Scott Murphy was a member of Community of Christ’s First Presidency. An earlier version misspelled his last name.
