Utah Mormons and Missouri Mormons (Jesus Christ, Latter-Day Saints, churches, prophet)

[lilithu]

Hey all, namaste. I am familiar with the story of how Brigham Young led a group of Mormon pioneers out west to escape persecution. Supposedly, when the group got to the Great Salt Lake in Utah, he said, "This is the place." I saw the statue commemorating that in Temple Square, along with another commemorating the miracle of the sea gulls. Very cool!

But I guess I always assumed that ALL the LDS followed Young to Utah, and just found out that isn't true. Some stayed back in Missouri, and for a while there were the Utah Mormons and the Missouri Mormons. I guess my question is, were there differences in theology/practice that arose as a result of the physical split? Is "Church of the Latter Day Saints" synonymous with all Mormons or just the Utah Mormons? And given that there are LDS all over the world now, does this old distinction still have any meaning?

And one last question, since I had to go thru the "Restorationist" forum to find your forum, do yall agree with that designation? Do you view yourselves as Restorationist and/or in the same category as the other Restorationists?

thanks!

[Bishka]

Originally Posted by lilithu

But I guess I always assumed that ALL the LDS followed Young to Utah

Most people do.

Originally Posted by lilithu

Some stayed back in Missouri, and for a while there were the Utah Mormons and the Missouri Mormons.

In a manner of speaking, yes.

Originally Posted by lilithu

I guess my question is, were there differences in theology/practice that arose as a result of the physical split?

Yes. The RLDS/COC thought that Joseph Smith's only living son should take on the mantle of prophetship instead of a man being called of God. That's where things started to split.

Originally Posted by lilithu

Is "Church of the Latter Day Saints" synonymous with all Mormons or just the Utah Mormons?

It depends.

Originally Posted by lilithu

And given that there are LDS all over the world now, does this old distinction still have any meaning?

Which old distinction? Sorry, guess I'm a bit slow this afternon lilithu.

Originally Posted by lilithu

And one last question, since I had to go thru the "Restorationist" forum to find your forum, do yall agree with that designation?

Yes.

Originally Posted by lilithu

Do you view yourselves as Restorationist and/or in the same category as the other Restorationists?

Not all restorationists (IMO).

[SoyLeche]

Originally Posted by lilithu

Hey all, namaste. I am familiar with the story of how Brigham Young led a group of Mormon pioneers out west to escape persecution. Supposedly, when the group got to the Great Salt Lake in Utah, he said, "This is the place." I saw the statue commemorating that in Temple Square, along with another commemorating the miracle of the sea gulls. Very cool!

But I guess I always assumed that ALL the LDS followed Young to Utah, and just found out that isn't true. Some stayed back in Missouri, and for a while there were the Utah Mormons and the Missouri Mormons. I guess my question is, were there differences in theology/practice that arose as a result of the physical split? Is "Church of the Latter Day Saints" synonymous with all Mormons or just the Utah Mormons? And given that there are LDS all over the world now, does this old distinction still have any meaning?

I'm not sure about them being in Missouri, at least at first. Mormons in general weren't welcome in Missouri at the time.

After the death of Joseph Smith there was some question as to who was supposed to lead the church. The majority of the Saints eventually felt that the leadership fell upon the Quarum of the Twelve Apostles, of which Brigham Young was the leader. This group went west. There wasn't really an organized opposition, but there were many small groups that went off to do their own thing. Eventually some of these got together and formed the Reorginized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with Joseph Smith's son, Joseph Smith III, as their leader. This is the group you are reffering to as the "Missouri" Mormons, and today their headquarters is in Missouri. One of the main areas of contention between the LDS and RLDS was polygamy. They profess that Joseph Smith never practiced it and that it was started by Brigham Young.

For a long time the President of their church was always a direct descendant of Joseph Smith. That is not true today.

Also, a few years ago they changed the name of their church to the "Community of Christ". From what I understand they had fallen into some hard times financially and joined a conglomerate of Christian churches to pipe into some financial help. I'm not sure if that is true or not though. Some time ago there was a member of RF who was RLDS (he became disaffected with the church when they changed to the CoC).

And one last question, since I had to go thru the "Restorationist" forum to find your forum, do yall agree with that designation? Do you view yourselves as Restorationist and/or in the same category as the other Restorationists?

thanks!

I have no problem being grouped with "Restorationists". It's what we are

[SoyLeche]

The CoC is a much smaller organization than the LDS church, and, yes, there is still a distinction.

[lilithu]

Hi Guys, thanks for the responses.

I guess my real question is whether this is now functionally only a historical footnote. I mean if I meet someone who identifies as Mormon, is it safe to assume that they're of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, or could they be CoC? Do the CoC still call themselves Mormon?

Granted, I know that some LDS do not call themselves Mormon as it is viewed by some as a pejorative term. That's not how I mean it. I'm just trying to figure out how much significance there is currently to the CoC.

(Is this why the Osmond family has/had a presence in Branson, MO?)

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by lilithu

I mean if I meet someone who identifies as Mormon, is it safe to assume that they're of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, or could they be CoC? Do the CoC still call themselves Mormon?

I think that, for the most part, people who refer to themselves as "Mormons" are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm pretty sure that members of the Community of Christ do not consider themselves to be "Mormons."

Granted, I know that some LDS do not call themselves Mormon as it is viewed by some as a pejorative term. That's not how I mean it. I'm just trying to figure out how much significance there is currently to the CoC.

Actually, most of us don't mind, and most of us refer to ourselves by that term from time to time.

(Is this why the Osmond family has/had a presence in Branson, MO?)

No, that would not have had anything to do with their presence there.

[SoyLeche]

Originally Posted by shaktinah

Hi Guys, thanks for the responses.

I guess my real question is whether this is now functionally only a historical footnote. I mean if I meet someone who identifies as Mormon, is it safe to assume that they're of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, or could they be CoC? Do the CoC still call themselves Mormon?

Granted, I know that some LDS do not call themselves Mormon as it is viewed by some as a pejorative term. That's not how I mean it. I'm just trying to figure out how much significance there is currently to the CoC.

(Is this why the Osmond family has/had a presence in Branson, MO?)

It is not a "historical footnote" - they are distinct organizations and do not really interact much at all. I don't think they use the term "mormon" at all.

I've never considered the term "Mormon" as pejoritive. I use it to describe myself quite a bit.

[jonny]

Originally Posted by shaktinah

Hi Guys, thanks for the responses.

I guess my real question is whether this is now functionally only a historical footnote. I mean if I meet someone who identifies as Mormon, is it safe to assume that they're of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, or could they be CoC? Do the CoC still call themselves Mormon?

Granted, I know that some LDS do not call themselves Mormon as it is viewed by some as a pejorative term. That's not how I mean it. I'm just trying to figure out how much significance there is currently to the CoC.

(Is this why the Osmond family has/had a presence in Branson, MO?)

There are actually quite a few "splinter" groups of LDS. The CofC and LDS Churches are the two largest. There is also the FLDS church which has been in the news a lot lately.

You can read about some of the others here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor..._denominations