I’m attending the John Whitmer Historical Association (JWHA) 34th annual Conference in Kirtland, Ohio this week (September 27-30). The theme of this year’s conference is, “Communal Experiments Among Latter Day Saints & Other American Groups.”

Unfortunately, there do not appear to be any Bloggernacle perma-bloggers presenting at this conference. (Hopefully we can change that for next year’s conference in Voree, Wisconsin!) Michael Van Wagenen is presenting on “Seer Stones and Native American Gorgets.” His is a name that you may recognize as an MHA presenter who helped to contribute to the 13 Questions segment on Banner of Heaven.

The JWHA is not officially affiliated with any church. Members of the RLDS church (now the Community of Christ) church founded the JWHA in 1972. It’s list of founders includes future CoC President and Prophet Grant McMurray. The JWHA emphasizes the history of the Community of Christ church — though it encourages interest in all aspects of Latter Day Saint history, and scholars attend and present with backgrounds in many restorationist churches.

This is my first JWHA Conference, and based on the people that I know who are involved with the organization, I have every reason to expect that it will be an exceptional conference.

I’ll report the highlights when I return.