Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) - American Family Tree [Return to List of Trees]
Latter-day Saints (Mormon) churches follow at least some of the teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr., who published the Book of Mormon in 1830. The largest denomination in the family is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), founded in 1830 and currently headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. The next largest is the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Latter-Day Saints), founded in 1860.
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| Religious Group | Founded | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | 1830 | The main body of Latter-day Saints is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the Salt Lake Temple and Tabernacle are located. This church was organized on April 6, 1830 in Fayette, New York, by Joseph Smith. Members believe that Joseph Smith was divinely directed to restore the gospel to the earth, and that through him the keys to the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods and temple work also were restored. |
| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Strangite) | 1844 | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Strangite) was founded in 1844 by James Jesse Strang, a Mormon church leader in Wisconsin at the time Joseph Smith was killed. Joseph Smith appointed Strang as his successor by letter before his death. Strang received a set of revelations which became authoritative for his church. |
| Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) | 1853 | The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) was founded in 1853 by Alpheus Cutler, a Mormon leader at the time Joseph Smith was killed. There appears to be one active congregation left; these congregants affirm the authority of Alpheus Cutler and place little stress on evangelization, instead inviting people who want to move near their church to participate. |
| Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints | 1860 | The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was formed in 1860 by Jason Briggs, Zenos Gurley, William Marks, and followers of Joseph Smith, Jr., who decided against migrating to Utah during the 1850s. The organization changed its name in 2001 to the Community of Christ. |
| Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) | 1862 | This church was organized in 1862 at Green Oak, Pennsylvania by William Bickerton. |
| Church of Christ (Temple Lot) | 1867 | The Church of Christ is a denomination of the Latter-day Saint movement headquartered in Independence, Missouri on what is known as the Temple Lot. Members of the church have been known colloquially as Hedrickites, after Granville Hedrick, who was ordained the first leader of the faction in July 1863. The church sees itself as the true continuation of the Church of Christ, which was organized in 1830. After persecutions of the church, migrations, and divisions, the year 1867 marks the return to Independence, Missouri, of four congregations from rural Illinois that had united together and spoke out about errors in the church. |
| Church of Christ (Fetting/Bronson) | 1929 | The Church of Christ (Fetting/Bronson) began in 1929 after a split from the Church of Christ (Temple Lot). Two years earlier, in 1927, one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), Otto Fetting, claimed to receive messages from John the Baptist. The first message was to build the temple, but the twelfth message, which called for members of the church to be (re)baptized, became a matter of controversy and disagreement. The church did not accept this message, and when Fetting and others were baptized anyway, they were disfellowshipped. Thus, the Church of Christ (Fetting) was started by Fetting and his followers, which represented about a third of the Temple Lot church at the time. |
| Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | 1929 | The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) is a conservative Latter-day Saints group and the largest of the polygamy-practicing groups. Doctrinally, they are similar to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prior to that group's denunciation of polygamy, but they also have rejected most of the Church's changes introduced through the twentieth century. The origin of the church dates back to a council in 1929, though the present name was assumed in 1991 under the leadership of Rulon Jeffs. After Rulon Jeffs passed away in 2002, his son, Warren Jeffs, became the group's leader and married all of his father's wives. Since then, the church center moved to Eldorado, Texas, and became known as the Yearning for Zion Ranch. However, in the years since then, the church experienced numerous raids by governmental authorities, which led to arrests, convictions, and imprisonments of most of the leadership, including Warren Jeffs, who is serving a life sentence. The group is still active, and Warren Jeffs leads the group with communications from prison, though the future of the group is unclear. |
| Church of Christ with the Elijah Message, Established Anew in 1929 | 1943 | The Church of Christ "with the Elijah Message," Established Anew in 1929 was formed in 1943 after a conflict within the Church of Christ (Fetting/Bronson). Otto Fetting was the leader of the Church of Christ (Fetting/Bronson) until his death in 1933, and during his life he claimed to receive messages from John the Baptist. After he passed, the church received no revelations until another church elder, W. A. Draves, claimed to also receive messages from John the Baptist. Although some of these early messages were accepted by the church, their validity was eventually questioned, and a lawsuit over church assets in 1943 prompted Draves and his followers to leave the church, forming this group. |
| Apostolic United Brethren | 1954 | The origins of the Apostolic United Brethren date back to a split in the United Order Effort, which was the largest of the polygamy-practicing groups in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1951, Joseph White Musser became the group's leader upon the death of John Y. Barlow, and he quickly experienced doubts over his leadership and authority from elected elders in the group. Most of the elders of the group resided in Short Creek, Arizona, though Musser ran the group's publishing company in Salt Lake City, Utah. After Musser had a stoke in 1953, he appointed two new members to the church leadership, but internal resistance only increased. At that point, Musser appointed an entire new set of leaders, consisting only of his supporters. This caused a break in the church, with most members resisting and remaining with the church in Short Creek, Arizona. Musser's Chief Assistant, Rulon C. Allred, became the presiding elder of Musser's following in 1954, though it was not until 1975 that the group formally incorporated as "the Corporation of the Presiding Elder of the Apostolic United Brethren." |
| Restoration Branches Movement | 1980s | The Restoration Branches Movement began in the 1980s as a conservative split within the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (now known as the Community of Christ). Dissent within the church had been developing for two decades prior to the split, with key issues being the church's change in school curriculum and the ordination of women. Dissenting individuals within the church began to organize and separate, forming autonomous branches (congregations) that remained within the church but operated independent of its hierarchy. |
| Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | 1991 | The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was formed in 1991 by former members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The separating members perceived the church to be drifting toward liberal Protestant theology and away from the early teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr., in the 1830s and 1840s. The church has a theology similar to the Reorganized Church prior to changes introduced in the 1970s. |
| Community of Christ | 2001 | The Community of Christ, originally known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was formed in 1860 by Jason Briggs, Zenos Gurley, William Marks, and followers of Joseph Smith, Jr., who decided against migrating to Utah during the 1850s. The organization changed to its present name in 2001. |
