The Story of the Conventionesta's

In the early 1930’s a leader in the LDS Church in Mexico, Margarito Bautista, wrote a book in which he proffered a revolutionary interpretation of Mormon scripture. Bautista said the Latino peoples, particularly the Mexicans, were the new chosen people, on account of ancestry derived from the ancient Lamenites. Christ’s Church had been restored by Joseph Smith and popularized by the Angelo Mormons, but in time was meant to have its leadership passed on to Hispanics members, who would spread the gospel as well as create a massive political empire based out of Mexico.

Bautista’s book circulated among the Mexican membership and gained in popularity. Bautista hoped to use the work as leverage with the Salt Lake based Church, and get it to appoint more Mexican members to positions of authority, starting with the local mission president who had always been an outside appointment from Church headquarters. Bautista even wanted the Church to publish and distribute his book among the general membership and perhaps even use it in proselytizing.

Well obviously the Church did not take well to Bautista’s recommendations and they where rejected. Bautista held a convention of Mexican members that ratified epistles to the Church leadership requesting there recognition of the legitimacy of Bautista’s book, and acquiesce to his demands. This request was also rejected, as where those submitted by a second and third convention. It was after the third convention that roughly a third of the Churchs roughly 1,800 Mexican Latino members broke off and formed there own Church.

Ironically shortly after the new Churches establishment Bautista was thrown out of the body over doctrinal issues. It seems Bautista was fascinated with the eccentricities of 19th century Mormonism and wanted to reinstate polygamy and practice communal (United Order) economics. Bautista was succeed in the leadership by his nephew Abel Paez, who established an organization based more closely along the lines of the then contemporary mainline Church. They sent out missionaries, published a magazine, and even built meeting houses.

It was not until the early 40’s when a Arwell Pierce, a white man who had lived most of his life in Mexican Mormon colonies (settlements established by 19th century Mormons so as to practice polygamy unherased by American authorities, but continued even after the abandonment of that practice (Mitt Romney’s ancestry came from one of these)). Pierce opened up a dialogue with the conventionestas and played good cop encouraging the disaffected former Latter-day Saints that their demands for local leadership would be met in time through the strengthening of their Stakes. His councilor Harold Brown then played bad cop, by stressing the preeminence of the Prophet in matters of leadership, and the importance of loyalty to Salt Lake. A reconciliation between the parties was formalized, and in 1946 LDS Church president George Albert Smith traveled to Mexico to preside over a ceremony readmitting 1,200 fmr. Convenatinsts into the mainline LDS Church.

This basic story is outlined on pages 137-139 of Robert Gottlieb & Peter Wiley’s 1984 book America’s Saints: The Rise of Mormon Power. It’s also one, your simply not going to hear often.