The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, better known as the 'Mormon Church' and also abbreviated to LDS, is an international religion with, at the last count in 2000, 11 million members, though current growth rates show there are roughly one million new members every three years. Despite over half of the members residing outside of North America, it is seen as an American Church - this is in part due to its origins, in the latter day, in New York.

The LDS Church sees itself as being Christian, but because it does not believe in the Holy Trinity many other factions of Christianity are less keen to accept it as such.

History

The Church was founded on the April 6, 1830 in New York, USA. The first meeting was attended by six members along with others who had heard of the new Church and had read the Book of Mormon.

The Church was founded by Joseph Smith Jr., a man who had claimed that he had seen a number of visions. The first of these involved an appearance by God and Jesus Christ, while the second was by the angel Moroni, who, it is claimed, was a prophet in ancient America and had hidden some writings. This, Joseph Smith claimed, was the Book of Mormon, which he translated, '...by the gift and power of God'. It is also claimed by Smith and the members of the Church that Joseph was visited by John the Baptist as well as three of Jesus’ Apostles: Peter, James and John. The Book of Mormon is now available in 93 languages and the church has published over 100 million copies.

As the Church grew the members moved to Kirkland, Ohio, Independence, Missouri and Nauvoo, Illinois. The majority of the moves were due to persecution of the members, such as in October 1838 a Missouri governor, LM Bloggs, gave an order that "The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary." The extermination order was only reconsidered in 1976 and originally caused many members to move to the United Kingdom.

In 1844 Joseph Smith was assassinated in gaol in Illinois, Chicago where he had been taken for his protection. The Church was told to leave the United States and, under the Leadership of Brigham Young, left to what is now Utah, which at the time was under the control of Mexico. Here the Church continued to grow and build Salt Lake City and the Tabernacle which the Church is famous for today.

Beliefs

Members of the LDS church have a core belief in the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. This is a record that consists of the writings of the people who came from Jerusalem and settled in America approximately 600BC. The religions faction of these people, the Nephites¹, died out about 400AD, while the opposing faction, the Lamanites² but before this one of the prophets and his son, named Mormon and Moroni respectively, both compiled the records⁴ on gold plates that were hidden before being found and interpreted by Joseph Smith.

The Church's main beliefs were defined by Joseph Smith, in answer to a journalist, in the 13 ‘Articles of Faith’ that detail the beliefs of the Church. In summary they believe in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost but importantly they are not one and the same being, as seen by most other Christian churches. The Articles also believe: that Adam was the first man; in the saving of all mankind through Jesus Christ's work and actions; baptism by immersion; prophecy and the continuing of revelation; gathering of Israel and being honest and good in all that they do.

Another important aspect of LDS belief is the sacred nature of the family, to the extent that a proclamation was made by the leadership of the church near the end of the last Century. Importance of the family stems from a belief that instead of a marriage ending at death (‘Till death do you part’ as stated by many other Christian weddings) a man and wife can be married for eternity. This importance of the family is what leads many LDS to work hard looking for their ancestors.

Though there are LDS churches, these buildings do not connotate so much importance as the Church's Temples, which are much rarer than churches. These are sacred places where instructions and sacred ceremonies take place, including marriage for eternity. Inside the Temple the Sacred Garment of the Temple can be earned, which is a white top and bottom piece that members wear as an outward symbol of their covenants. There are more than 100 temples worldwide

Leadership and Organisation

The Church is lead by Jesus Christ, through a prophet who has two councillors to aid him, this group is known as the First Presidency. With him are 12 Apostles who each have special assignments, known as the Quorum of Twelve.

The prophet, sometimes referred to as President, travels the world to speak to groups of LDS as well as individuals and is said to be a prophet like those of ancient times, for God has not abandoned his children and still talks to them. The current President is Gordon B. Hinckley.

There have been a number of Latter Day Saint Prophets, serving the following years:

• Joseph Smith Jr. (1830 - 1844)
• Brigham Young(1847 - 1877)
• John Taylor (1880 - 1887)
• Wilford Woodruff (1877 - 1898)
• Lorenzo Snow (1898 - 1901)
• Joseph F. Smith (1901 - 1918)
• Heber J. Grant (1918 - 1945)
• George Albert Smith (1945 - 1951)
• David O. McKay (1951 - 1970)
• Joseph Fielding Smith (1970 - 1972)
• Harold B. Lee (1972 - 1973)
• Spencer W. Kimball (1973 - 1985)
• Ezra Taft Benson (1985 - 1994)
• Howard W. Hunter (1994 - 1995)
• Gordon B. Hinckley (1995 - )

The world religion is split into countries, for each one there are area presidencies, which are then split into regions which can contain several stakes. Finally, in each stake are wards or branches that will have a bishop or a branch president, respectively; though technically leadership descends all the way into each family where the father and husband has the power of priesthood⁶ Being a lay church, all leaders, from the bishop to the Prophet, will have full time jobs outside of their religion - none of the positions are paid employment.

The Church has a number of organisations or auxiliaries within it to work with the members for learning about the gospel. Among these are the Relief Society, a female group for giving aid to the Priesthood; Sunday School; weekday activities to help learning, such as Seminary, for young men and women, and Institute, for young single adults. Younger children, until the age of 12, have Primary before going onto Young Men's or Young Women's which lasts until 18. These are all run by Church members when they are called by the bishop or branch president. The groups help members to have a social presence and feel like part of a community, as well as reenforcing the teachings of the religion.

The Word of Wisdom

The Word of Wisdom is a doctrine concerning health and the physical body, seen as a temple of the Lord. Joseph Smith told his followers, in February 1833, that they should keep their bodies pure in respect to God. This involves abstaining from drinking alcohol, tea and coffee⁷ as well as not taking illegal drugs or tobacco. It is said later that meat should be eaten sparingly 'only in times of winter, or cold, or famine'⁸, however this is not generally observed by most of the church.

It is said that by following these commandments the saints will receive health and in addition they 'shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures'⁹.

Plural Marriage

Polygamy has not been practiced in this religion since the late 1800s. Some claim to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and practice such things, however they are normally excommunicated from the church. Even when it was practiced, it was normally limited to those who the leaders of the Church felt were able to understand and not take advantage of the situation. In many ways it was used due to the fact that many men had been killed ether fighting those who opposed the church, or in passage across the plains to Utah where the members finally settled. The practice ended in 1890 where Prophet Woodruff proclaimed "...I now publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land." (Official Declaration 1 Doctrine and Covenants)

Missionaries

It does not matter if it interrupts your schooling or delays your career or your marriage - or basketball. Unless you have a serious health problem, every Latter-Day Saint young man should answer the call to serve the mission.
- Elder Boyd K. Packer in conference report, April 1984

Terms used in the Church

Some people who attend Church get confused by some terms and abbreviations. Although not exhaustive these are interpretations for some of the ones used in British Churches, although used elsewhere world wide the researcher has only known people from the other English speaking countries the church is established in, and has not attended there himself and cannot clam to be an expert.


Investigator: one who is meeting with the missionaries investigating what the church is about.


Youth: The organisation for young men and young women (age 12 to 18)


YSA: Young Single Adults, for people age 18-30 as a sort of cattle farm for to find future spouse.


Institute: A regular weekday church learning group for members 18-30. Mostly for members at university.


Exaltation: Living with Heavenly Father for ever


Eternal Life: Same as Exaltation.


Atonement: When the Saviour in Gethsemane took upon him the sins of those who repent.


Sacrament: The Lords Supper


If you attend a service at a Latter-day Saints church and there are words you don’t understand then please speak to the Missionaries. They ware badges and will be more than happy to speak to you. Just make it clear that you don’t wish to join the church if you do not wish to. Saves a lot of time.