High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Supreme directional control controversy refers to a term commonly used within portions of the Latter Day Saint movement to describe a dispute between the primary leadership quorums of the Community of Christ (then known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), the movement`s second largest denomination, that began in the 1920s and had repercussions within that church for decades to come. The controversy centered upon the assertion of Frederick Madison Smith, who was then President of the church, that the First Presidency possessed "supreme directional control" over the church, as opposed to the church`s General Conference. The ensuing controversy led to the departure of many church leaders and hundreds of adherents, many of whom resigned from the Community of Christ in protest and joined other Latter Day Saint churches, most notably the Church of Christ (Temple Lot). Although Dr. Smith was initially successful in asserting the authority of the church`s First Presidency over the Council of Twelve Apostles and Presiding Bishopric, the ensuing schism proved hard to heal, and the administrative changes proved to be short-lived. By 1931, the church`s debts and the onset of the Great Depression allowed the Bishopric to reassert its authority over church finances.