Portal:Latter Day Saint movement

The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded in the United States by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s.

Collectively, these churches have nearly 18 million nominal members. The vast majority, more than 17 million, belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). About 250,000 belong to the Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The remainder belong to other denominations with memberships generally ranging in the thousands. The predominant theology of the churches in the movement is Mormonism, which sees itself as restoring again on Earth the early Christian church; their members are most commonly known as Mormons. An additional doctrine of the church allows for prophets to receive and publish modern-day revelations.

A minority of Latter Day Saint adherents, such as members of Community of Christ, have been influenced by Protestant theologies while maintaining certain distinctive beliefs and practices including continuing revelation, an open canon of scripture and building temples. Other groups include the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which supports lineal succession of leadership from Smith's descendants, and the more controversial Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which defends the practice of polygamy. One source has estimated that over 400 denominations have sprung from founder Joseph Smith's original movement. (Full article...)

Latter Days is a 2003 American romantic comedy drama film about the relationship between a Mormon missionary who is in the closet and his openly gay neighbor. The film was written and directed by C. Jay Cox and stars Steve Sandvoss as the missionary, Aaron, and Wes Ramsey as the neighbor, Christian. Joseph Gordon-Levitt appears as Elder Ryder and Rebekah Johnson as Julie Taylor. Mary Kay Place, Khary Payton, Erik Palladino, Amber Benson, and Jacqueline Bisset have supporting roles.

Latter Days premiered at the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival on July 10, 2003, and was released in various U.S. states over the next 12 months. Later the film was shown at several gay film festivals. It was the first film to portray LGBTQ Mormon characters, and the conflict between the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and same-sex romantic and sexual relationships. Showings in some U.S. states were controversial. Various religious groups demanded that the film be withdrawn from theaters and video stores under boycott threats. (Full article...)

Photograph of the Nauvoo Temple circa 1847

The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The church's first temple was completed in Kirtland, Ohio, United States, in 1836. In the winter of 1846, when the main body of the church was forced out of Nauvoo, the church attempted to sell the building, finally succeeding in 1848. The building was damaged by arson and a tornado before being demolished.

In 1937, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) reacquired the lot on which the original temple had stood. In 2000, the church began to build a temple on the same site with an exterior that is a replica of the original, but whose interior is laid out like a modern Latter-day Saint temple. On June 27, 2002, a date that coincided with the 158th anniversary of the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the temple was dedicated by the LDS Church as the Nauvoo Illinois Temple. (Full article...)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded during the Second Great Awakening, the church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, as of 2024^[update], it had more than 17.5 million members, of which more than 6.8 million live in the United States. The church also reports more than 109,000 volunteer missionaries and more than 200 dedicated temples.

The church's theology is restorationist and nontrinitarian. It is a Christian denomination and includes a belief in the doctrine of salvation through Jesus Christ and his substitutionary atonement on behalf of humankind. It is often included in the lists of larger Christian denominations, though various other Christian churches have considered the LDS Church to be distinct and separate from mainstream Christianity. The church has an open canon of four scriptural texts: the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C), and the Pearl of Great Price. Other than the Bible, the majority of the church canon consists of material believed by the church's members to have been revealed by God to Joseph Smith, including texts described as lost parts of the Bible, and other works believed to have been written by ancient prophets, including the Book of Mormon. Members adhere to church laws of sexual purity, health, fasting, and Sabbath observance, and contribute ten percent of their income to the church in tithing. The church teaches ordinances through which adherents make covenants with God, including baptism, endowment, and celestial marriage. (Full article...)

• Outline of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Outline of the Book of Mormon
• Outline of Joseph Smith

Young, c. 1865

Brigham Young (/ˈbrɪɡəm/ BRIG-əm; June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death in 1877. He also served as the first governor of the Utah Territory from 1851 until his resignation in 1858.

Young was born in 1801 in Whitingham, Vermont, and raised in Upstate New York. After working as a painter and carpenter, he became a full-time LDS Church leader in 1835. Following a short period of service as a missionary, he moved to Missouri in 1838. Later that year, Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs signed the Mormon Extermination Order, and Young organized the migration of the Latter Day Saints from Missouri to Illinois, where he became an inaugural member of the Council of Fifty. In 1844, while he was traveling to gain support for Joseph Smith's presidential campaign, Smith was killed by a mob, igniting the Illinois Mormon War and triggering a succession crisis in the Latter Day Saint movement. After negotiating a ceasefire, Young was unanimously elected as the church's second president in 1847. During the Mormon exodus, Young led his followers west from Nauvoo, Illinois, via the Mormon Trail to the Salt Lake Valley. Once settled in Utah, he ordered the construction of numerous temples, including the Salt Lake Temple. He also formalized the prohibition of black men attaining priesthood and directed the Mormon Reformation. An advocate for education, Young sought to establish the higher education institutions that would later become the University of Utah and Brigham Young University. (Full article...)

• ... that a Utah TV station was historically preferred by non-Mormon viewers?
• ... that James Buchanan helped to open talks over buying Alaska by spreading a rumor that Mormons were planning to emigrate there?
• ... that The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Layla Taylor is no longer a member of the Mormon church?

• 30 October 1838: The Haun's Mill massacre occurred.
• 9 October 1848: The Nauvoo Temple was destroyed by fire (pictured); only the four exterior walls remained standing.
• 6 October 1890: Wilford Woodruff issues the "1890 Manifesto" halting polygamy.
• 2 October 1976: "To Young Men Only" was delivered by Mormon apostle Boyd K. Packer.
• 10 October 2014: The LDS Church film Meet the Mormons was released in the cinemas of the United States.