Mormon

The term Mormon is a colloquial name referring to Latter Day Saints, derived in the 1830s from the Book of Mormon, one of their books of scripture, whose compiler was called the prophet Mormon. It is also an adjective referring to various aspects of Mormonism. Most often, the term refers to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the largest and most well-known denomination within the Latter Day Saint movement, who are also commonly called Latter-day Saints or LDS.

Utah Mormons and Missouri Mormons

Some scholars, such as Melton, in his Encyclopedia of American Religion, subdivide the Mormons into "Utah Mormons" and "Missouri Mormons," however, these terms are not of common usage, and even unheard of, among the majority of those who call themselves Mormons.

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In this scheme, the Utah Mormon group includes all the organizations descending from those Mormons who followed Brigham Young to what is now Utah. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the by far largest of these groups, and the only group to initially reside in Utah. When the United States outlawed plural marriage, the church established a few "Mormon Colonies" like Colonia Juárez in Mexico, as plural marriage was still legal there. When the leaders of the LDS church proclaimed that God had revealed to them that the practice of plural marriage was to be discontinued, however, there were a number of families who left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and continued to practice plural marriage in scattered and usually isolated communities. While these smaller groups have a membership in the thousands, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints now claims a world-wide membership of over 12 Million, but due to heavy media focus on these fractional bodies, misidentification of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with these polygamous groups is not uncommon. These groups include the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Kingston clan, the True & Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days and a few others. The majority of these groups are found in Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, British Columbia, Alberta, and Mexico. Both the terms "Utah Mormons" and "Missouri Mormons" are problematic because the majority of members of each of these branches no longer live in either of these states. While the majority of the population of the state of Utah are members of the LDS Church, it has a large membership in many other states including California. The majority of the membership of the LDS church today resides outside of the United States.

Related Topics:
Brigham Young - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Colonia Juárez - Plural marriage - Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - Kingston clan - True & Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days - Utah - Idaho - Arizona - Colorado - British Columbia - Alberta - Mexico

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The Missouri Mormons are those Mormons who did not travel to Utah, and the organizations formed from them ? the Community of Christ, Church of Christ (Temple Lot), Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, etc. (Not all "Missouri Mormon" groups are based in Missouri, however. Notable exceptions include the Pennsylvania-based Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) which considers Sidney Rigdon Joseph Smith's rightful successor and the Wisconsin-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) which considers James J. Strang Smith's legitimate successor.

Related Topics:
Community of Christ - Church of Christ (Temple Lot) - Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) - Sidney Rigdon - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) - James J. Strang

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Addressing some of the limitations of the Utah/Missouri designations, historian Jan Shipps has now coined the terms Rocky Mountain Saints and Prairie Saints to rename the "Utah" and "Missouri" branches of the movement. These new terms have begun to gain a following among some historians today, but similar to the above mentioned titles, they are not of common usage among the majority of those who call themselves Mormons.

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