Social Events And Gatherings
Additional meetings are also held at the meetinghouse. Church officers may conduct leadership meetings or host training sessions and classes. The ward or branch community may schedule social activities at the meetinghouse, including dances, dinners, holiday parties and musical presentations. The church’s Young Men and Young Women organizations meet at the meetinghouse once a week, where the youth participate in activities. At the start of 2020, the church implemented a new initiative for children and youth worldwide, which replaced all other church youth programs.
In LDS theology, a temple is considered to be a holy building, dedicated as a “House of the Lord” and held as more sacred than a typical meetinghouse or chapel. In temples, church members participate in ceremonies that are considered the most sacred in the church, including marriage, and an endowment ceremony that includes a washing and anointing, receiving a temple garment, and making covenants with God. Baptisms for the dead are performed in the temples as well.
In order to perform ordinances in temples on behalf of deceased family members, the church emphasizes genealogical research, and encourages its lay members to participate in genealogy.It operates FamilySearch, the largest genealogical organization in the world.
Origins Of The Movement
The early men and women who came together to form what became known as the Latter Day Saint movement, shared some beliefs in common with other Restorationists, but certain factors made them unique. Although the movements shared a belief in the need to “restore” the “true church” of Jesus Christ, the early Latter Day Saints also believed that direct authority from God was essential for such a restoration to be valid.
Movement’s early charismatic experiences
The beginning of Mormonism centers on a number of early charismatic experiences with the heavenly and the spiritual by Joseph Smith and his associates. Many of these experiences, such as visions, visits from angels, prophecy, and the hearing of God’s voice, are still common parts of charismatic Christianity.
Smith’s First Vision
Most Latter Day Saints trace the beginnings of Mormonism to Joseph Smith’s First Vision, which he said he had in about 1820 in the woods near his home. Early accounts of this vision describe it as a vision of Jesus in which he was told his sins were forgiven. Later, more detailed accounts indicate Smith was also told that all Christian denominations had become corrupt and further clarify that Smith saw multiple heavenly beings, including Jesus and God the Father.
Early visits by angels, Urim and Thummim, and the Book of Mormon
Organization of the Church of Christ
An Unexpected Journey From The Latter
Jeremy Christiansen, a convert from Mormonism to Catholicism, holds his daughterOpal outside St. Rita Church in Alexandria after the baptism of his wife, Carly,and newborn son, Peter. The family, including Raymond, Virginia,Goldie and Rex, pose for a photo with their then pastor Fr. Daniel N. Gee last year. COURTESY
Jeremy-Christiansen-2_Cmr_WEB
Jeremy Christiansen was raised in a faithful Mormon family. As a young man, he spent two years in Argentina as a missionary. When he returned, he married another member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and started a family. He held prominent roles in his faith community. Then one day he asked himself, What if what Ive been taught isnt true wouldnt I want to know that? His research and soul-searching eventually led him and his whole family to the Catholic Church.
When Mormon and Catholic friends asked why he converted, he wrote down his story, which became the book From the Susquehanna to the Tiber: A Memoir of Conversion from Mormonism to the Roman Catholic Church. LDS members believe that Peter, James and John appeared to LDS founder Joseph Smith on the banks of the Susquehanna River and conferred upon him the keys of the kingdom that Christ gave to Peter.
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Finances Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter
The finances of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not a matter of public record. In the absence of official statements, people interested in knowing the churchs financial status and behavior, including both members of the church and people outside the church, have attempted to estimate or guess. According to the church, their funding comes from the donations of its members and the principal expense is in constructing and maintaining facilities.
When the LDS Church takes in more donations than it pays out in period expenses, it uses the surplus to build a reserve for capital expenditures and for future years when period expenses may exceed donations. The church invests its reserve to maintain the principal and generate a reasonable return and directs its investments into income-producing assets that may help it in its mission, such as farmland and communication-related companies and the City Creek Center .
The LDS Church has not publicly disclosed its financial statements in the United States since 1959. The church does disclose its financials in the United Kingdom and Canada where it is required to do so by law. In the UK, these financials are audited by the UK office of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Universalism And The Book Of Mormon
A central theme of the Book of Mormon is the salvation of humanity. The Book of Mormon rejects the doctrine of universal salvation as heretical. The discussions surrounding Universalism in the Book of Mormon are similar to those in early nineteenth century United States. Early converts may have felt their anti-Universalist views confirmed by the Book of Mormon.
The anti-Universalism of the Book of Mormon was recognized by its early readers, both adherents and critics. Prominent opponent Alexander Campbell wrote, âThis prophet Smith ⦠wrote ⦠in his book of Mormon, every error and almost every truth discussed in N. York for the last ten years. He decides all the great controversiesâ and included âeternal punishmentâ as one of those controversies. Early Latter Day Saint Sylvester Smith wrote in 1833 that âthe Universalist says it reproaches his creed.â Another early convert, Eli Gilbert, of Connecticut said that the Book of Mormon shortly after publication, that it âbore hard upon my favorite notions of universal salvationâ
Amongst anti-Universalists there was general agreement that there was a two-outcome doctrine of heaven and hell, but differing opinions on who would ultimately be saved. Calvinism for example believed that an omniscient God already had decided who would be saved, and human actions on earth would do little to change things. The Book of Mormon generally aligned with Methodists of the time, who divided humankind into five groups of people:
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History Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter
The history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is typically divided into three broad time periods:
During the 20th century, the church grew substantially and became an international organization. Distancing itself from polygamy, the church began engaging, first with mainstream American culture, and then with international cultures, particularly those of Latin America, by sending out thousands of missionaries across the globe. The church became a strong and public champion of monogamy and the nuclear family, and at times played a prominent role in political matters. Among the official changes to the organization during the modern area include the ordination of black men to the priesthood in 1978, reversing a policy originally instituted by Brigham Young. The church has also periodically changed its temple ceremony, gradually omitting certain controversial elements. There are also periodic changes in the structure and organization of the church, mainly to accommodate the organization’s growth and increasing international presence.
Myth : It’s Called The ‘mormon Church’
Since the church was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, the official name has always been The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But Bowman says that from the start, detractors and critics began calling the controversial new sect “Mormons” or “Mormonites,” an insult directed at the “Book of Mormon,” an ancient book of scripture translated and published by Smith.
But what started as a derogatory slur was soon embraced by church leaders like Brigham Young, who said that church members should be proud to be called Mormons.
“There’s a long history of Christian denominations being tagged with a name by outsiders and then eventually adopting it,” says Bowman, including Methodists who were criticized as “overly Methodical” in their piety and Baptists who were ridiculed for their belief in full immersion.
In recent decades, though, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has distanced itself from terms like “Mormon,””Mormon Church,””LDS Church” and other nicknames, because it says they detract from Jesus Christ as the true center of Mormon belief.
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Viewpoints Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter
The existence of 19th century anti-Universalist arguments and rhetoric in the Book of Mormon has been pointed out as anachronistic by various scholars, including Fawn M. Brodie and Dan Vogel. Most scholars of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reject the anachronism.
LDS Church scholar Terryl Givens argues that because Book of Mormon prophets were shown by Jesus Christ the modern era, and the audience of the Book of Mormon was people in the modern era, that Book of Mormon prophets would have been intimately familiar with anti-Universalist rhetoric and purposefully used it to convince modern day readers. In Givensâs view, the existence of anti-Universalist rhetoric validates ancient prophets prophetic abilities. Similarly, LDS Church scholar Casey Paul Griffiths wrote, âIf Mormon and Moroni saw our day, as they claimed, wouldnât we have expected them to write on topics related not only to us but to those of Joseph Smithâs day? As one of the burning issues of the day, if the book did not deal with Universalism, it wouldnât be fulfilling its promises.â
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Scribe To Joseph Smith
In February 1828, Harris traveled to Harmony, Pennsylvania to serve as a scribe while Smith dictated the translation of the golden plates. By June 1828, Smith and Harriss work on the translation had resulted in 116 pages of manuscript.
Harris asked Smith for permission to take the 116 pages of manuscript back to his wife to convince her of its authenticity Smith reluctantly agreed. After Harris had shown the pages to his wife and some others, the manuscript disappeared. The loss temporarily halted the translation of the plates, and when Smith began again, he used other scribes, primarily Oliver Cowdery.
The first extant written revelation to Joseph Smith, dated July 1828, refers to Smiths delivering the 116 pages to Harris. Addressing Smith, the revelation says: thou deliveredst up that which was sacred, into the hands of a wicked man, who has set at nought the counsels of God, and has broken the most sacred promises, which were made before God, and has depended upon his own judgement, and boasted in his own wisdom.
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Polygamy Officially Discontinued In 1890
The Tanners argue that the churchâs 1890 reversal of its policy on polygamy was done for political reasons, citing the fact that the change was made during the churchâs lengthy conflict with the federal government over property seizures and statehood. The Ostlings say that, soon after the church received the revelation that polygamy was prohibited, Utah again applied for statehood. This time the federal government did not object to starting the statehood process. Six years later, the process was completed and Utah was admitted as a state in 1896. The Ostlings note that soon after the church suspended the practice of polygamy, the federal government reduced its legal efforts to seize church property. Despite this, Mormon leaders after 1890 continued to sanction and participate in plural marriages in secret, in smaller numbers, both in the U.S. and in Mexico, for the next several decades.
Mormons Ron Wood and Linda Thatcher do not dispute that the change was a result of federal intervention and say that the church had no choice in the matter. The 1887 EdmundsTucker Act was crippling the church and âsomething dramatic had to be done to reverse trend.â After the church appealed its case to the U.S. Supreme Court and lost, church president Wilford Woodruff issued the 1890 Manifesto. Woodruff noted in his journal that he was âacting for the temporal salvation of the Churchâ.
Succession After Smiths Death
Smith left ambiguous or contradictory succession instructions that led to a crisis in the early church. Several church members claimed rights to leadership.
An August 8, 1844 conference that established Brigham Youngâs leadership is the source of an oft-repeated legend. Multiple journal and eyewitness accounts from those who followed Young state that when Young spoke regarding the claims of succession by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he appeared to look or sound like the late Smith. Although many of these accounts were written years after the event, there were contemporary records.
Most Latter Day Saints followed Young, but some aligned with other various people claiming to be Smithâs successor. One of these was Smithâs own son, Joseph Smith III, who in 1860 led the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, now called the Community of Christ church. Many of these smaller groups were spread throughout the Midwestern United States, especially in Independence, Missouri. Reverberations of the succession crisis continue to the present day.
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Growth And Demographic History
The records of the LDS Church show membership growth every decade since its beginning in the 1830s, although that has slowed significantly. Following initial growth rates that averaged 10% to 25% per year in the 1830s through 1850s, it grew at about 4% per year through the last four decades of the 19th century. After a steady slowing of growth in the first four decades of the 20th century to a rate of about 2% per year in the 1930s , growth boomed to an average of 6% per year for the decade around 1960, staying around 4% to 5% through 1990. After 1990, average annual growth again slowed steadily to a rate around 2.2% for the ten years ending 2015, approximately double the average world population growth rate of 1.1% for the same period. The growth rate has not been greater than 3% per year in the 21st century and has decelerated steadily since 2012. The rate has not been above 2% since 2013. In May 2019, however, Phil Zuckerman, Ph.D., of Psychology Today expressed skepticism of how the LDS Church reports growth in membership, noting that while church membership was reported to be rising, separate analysis conducted by journalist showed that reports of Mormon retention, religious participation, teachings and belief have been declining since 2007. By 2019, Mormons represented 51% of the population in their longtime stronghold of Utah, in contrast with 75% in 2000.
Things Mormons Wish Non
The fast-growing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims more than 16 million members worldwide, yet remains one of the least-understood religions on the planet. Even though the Church outlawed polygamy more than a century ago, many people still think Mormons can have more than one wife. And a lot of folks still confuse Mormons with Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Amish.
To help set the record straight about Mormon beliefs and practice, we spoke with Matthew Bowman, the chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University and the author of “The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith.”
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Mormonism Is The Core Theology Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter
Mormonism is the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members of the church are often called Mormons. The term was originally considered derogatory, but today it is considered acceptable. However, the LDS church has explained that the word Mormon is sometimes used to describe other splinter groups that are not affiliated with the Church of Latter-day Saints, such as polygamist groups.
Mormonism is marked by several saving ordinances, or what other religions may call sacraments. These ordinances include baptism by immersion, confirmation, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, an endowment in the temples, and marriage.
Ordinances and covenants help us remember who we are, the LDS church says on its official site. They remind us of our duty to God. The Lord has provided them to help us come unto Him and receive eternal life. When we honor them, He strengthens us.
Death Of Joseph Smith
Whenever Latter Day Saints gathered in large numbers, they met with opposition from neighbors who suspected that Mormon bloc-voting would lead to theocracy. By the mid-1840s, many non-Mormons in Hancock County felt threatened by growing Mormon political power, commercial rivalries, and a new religion with at least two elements that were hard to digest in the religious community of that time: first, Latter Day Saints had a somewhat different perspective on the nature of God from traditional Protestants second, the claim of modern revelation, together with the claim of new scripture, opened the canon of the Bible.
Smith’s destruction of the Expositor exacerbated all these fears and non-Mormons throughout Illinois began to clamor for his arrest. When Smith submitted to imprisonment in the county seat of Carthage, the Governor of Illinois, Thomas Ford, left the jail, taking the only impartial local militia unit with him. With the jail being guarded only by two guards and a unit of anti-Mormon militiamen, the Carthage Greys, a mob of disbanded militia units, attacked without resistance. Joseph and his brother Hyrum were killed.
All men who were tried for the murders were acquitted after the prosecuting attorney dismissed the testimonies of the state’s witnesses suddenly in his closing remarks.
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