The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
A 19th‑century American restoration movement that produced new scripture, distinctive rites, and a global institutional church rooted in claims of continuing revelation.
Quick Facts
- Period
- 1830 - Present
- Region
- Americas
- Key Figures
- Brigham Young, Eliza R. Snow, Emma Hale Smith +2 more
Key Figures
Brigham Young
Second President / Territorial Leader
Leader of the majority of church members after 1844Brigham Young (born 1801 in Whitingham, Vermont) emerged as the primary leader of the largest faction of Joseph Smith's ...
Eliza R. Snow
Poet, Relief Society Leader, Theologian of Womanhood
Early Relief Society leader and influential poet within the Latter‑day Saint communityEliza Roxcy Snow (1804–1887) was a prominent nineteenth‑century Latter‑day Saint poet, organizer, and institutional lead...
Emma Hale Smith
Early Church Leader / Relief Society Founder
First president of the Relief Society in Nauvoo; wife of Joseph SmithEmma Hale Smith (born 1804 in Harmony, Pennsylvania) was a central figure in the early Latter‑day Saint community, both ...
Joseph Smith
Founder and Prophet
Founding leader of early Latter‑day Saint movementJoseph Smith (born 1805 in Sharon, Vermont) is the central founding figure of the Latter‑day Saint movement and the pers...
Spencer W. Kimball
Twentieth‑century Church President / Reformer
President of the church during a period of institutional expansion and changeSpencer W. Kimball (born 1895 in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory) was a twentieth‑century leader whose presidency is ofte...
The Story
This narrative combines documented history with dramatized scenes for storytelling purposes.
Origins and Founding
This chapter traces the emergence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints from its early nineteenth‑century American setting, treating both the tradi...
Beliefs and Worldview
This chapter examines the central teachings and organizing concepts of Latter‑day Saint theology as lived and taught in the tradition, and it contrasts those cl...
Practice and Ritual Life
This chapter surveys the lived practices and ritual textures that give shape to Latter‑day Saint communal life, from weekly worship and rites of passage to the ...
Authority and Transmission
This chapter looks at the mechanisms by which The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints preserves its teachings, confers authority, and transmits doctrine...
The Tradition Today
This chapter portrays the contemporary shape, geographic distribution, internal diversity, and public engagements of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Sa...
Timeline
First Vision (as narrated by adherents)
**1820** — According to the tradition's historical narrative, Joseph Smith experienced a theophanic vision in a grove near Palmyra, New York, in which he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. This episode is treated by adherents as the initiating revelation of a restoration of priesthood authority; historians note that multiple written accounts of this vision were produced over subsequent years and analyze them in their documentary contexts.
Angel Moroni visitation (as claimed)
**1823** — Joseph Smith reported that in 1823 an angelic messenger named Moroni revealed the location of buried metal plates containing a religious record. The narrative of this visitation plays a central role in the Book of Mormon tradition and the subsequent claim of translation.
Organization of The Church of Christ (founding)
**1830-04-06** — On April 6, 1830, a small group in Fayette, New York, formally organized a restorationist religious body that later became known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints. Contemporary records document the meeting and the publication in March 1830 of The Book of Mormon, which served as a foundational text for the new movement.
Kirtland Temple construction begins
**1833** — In 1833 adherents in Kirtland, Ohio, completed the construction of the Kirtland Temple, one of the earliest architectural manifestations of the movement's religious life; the temple served as a center for communal worship and early ritual experimentation.
Missouri 'Extermination Order' issued
**1838-10-27** — Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued an order in October 1838 that called for the removal of Mormons from certain counties, an action that followed violent clashes between settlers and Latter‑day Saints. Historians mark this document and the associated conflicts as pivotal in the movement's expulsion from Missouri.
Introduction of Nauvoo temple ordinances
**1842** — In Nauvoo, Illinois, leaders introduced ritual practices that would evolve into the modern temple endowment and sealing ordinances. The first administration of certain rituals commonly identified with the endowment occurred in 1842 and later became central to the tradition's temple theology.
Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith
**1844-06-27** — Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by an armed mob while confined in Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844. The event precipitated succession disputes and led to a major schism in the movement's leadership.
Western migration to the Salt Lake Valley
**1846-1847** — Following the 1844 crisis and rising tension in Illinois, the majority of adherents under Brigham Young's leadership migrated across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley, entering it in July 1847. This migration established a new territorial center and enabled the development of settlement patterns and institutions in the intermountain West.
1890 Manifesto (public repudiation of polygamy)
**1890** — In 1890 church leadership issued a public statement, commonly called the Manifesto, that announced the discontinuation of new plural marriages among members in the United States. The declaration was a turning point in institutional relations with the U.S. government and in the movement's path toward Utah statehood.
Utah admitted as a U.S. state
**1896** — After decades of negotiation and legal conflict over polygamy and territorial governance, Utah was admitted to the Union as a state in 1896. Statehood reflected a reconfiguration of the movement's legal and civic relations with federal authorities.
Priesthood policy change (1978)
**1978-06** — In June 1978, church leaders announced a policy change that extended priesthood ordination to worthy male members regardless of race. The event is treated by adherents as an instance of continuing revelation; historians study the policy in light of global expansion and shifting social contexts.
Name emphasis and branding change
**2018** — In 2018 church leaders issued guidance urging the use of the full name 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints' in official and public usage, a move that attracted attention for its implications for identity and public relations. The directive was disseminated through official channels and widely reported in the media.
Sources
- primary_source_archiveJoseph Smith Papers
A documentary edition publishing primary documents related to Joseph Smith and early church history; valuable for archival sources and documentary scholarship.
- academic_bookJoseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
Richard Lyman Bushman (2005). A widely cited scholarly biography that analyzes Joseph Smith in historical context while engaging sympathetically with religious sources.
- academic_bookThe Cambridge Companion to Mormonism
Edited by Terryl Givens and Reid L. Neilson (2015). A collection of scholarly essays covering theology, history, ritual, and global dimensions of the tradition.
- academic_bookMormonism: A Very Short Introduction
Terryl L. Givens (2014). Concise scholarly overview of beliefs, history, and cultural impact; useful for contextual summaries.
- academic_bookThe Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith
Matthew Bowman (2012). Social and cultural history of the movement with attention to institutional development and public identity.
- academic_bookMormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition
Jan Shipps (1987). A classic study by a historian that treats the movement as a distinct American religious tradition.
- scriptureThe Book of Mormon
First published 1830. Central canonical text for the tradition; used here as primary religious literature.
- scriptureDoctrine and Covenants; Pearl of Great Price
Collections of revelations and writings that are part of the tradition's canon; historically accumulated in the nineteenth century.
- research_reportPew Research Center: Reports on Mormons in the United States
Sociological and demographic reports that analyze membership, identity, and religious practice in national samples.
Explore Related Archives
The creeds documented here connect to the broader record. Explore the context through our sister archives.
