List of sects in the Latter Day Saint movement

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This is a list of sects which consider themselves a part of Latter Day Saint Restorationism. All follow at least some of the teachings and revelations of Joseph Smith, Jr., publisher of the Book of Mormon in 1830. Latter Day Saint Restorationism had its largest schism after the Death of Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1844. Following Smith's death, the largest group of adherents followed Brigham Young, settled in Utah Territory and called themselves The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and denominations headquartered in the west are sometimes referred to as a "Rocky Mountain Saint" sects. Other groups remained in and around Nauvoo, Illinois and Independence, Missouri and are sometimes called a "Prairie Saint" sects.

Contents 1 Before the schism 2 Prairie Saint groups 3 Rocky Mountain groups 4 Other groups 5 References

[edit] Before the schism

Formed prior to the death of the church's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr.

Church Name	Organized by	Date Organized	Split off/Continuation of	Current Status	Notes
Church of Christ	Joseph Smith Jr.	April 6, 1830	N/A	Multiple sects claim to be true successor	Name changed to Church of the Latter Day Saints in 1834 and the name remained in flux (The Church of God / The Church of Jesus Christ / Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints / Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) until the death of Smith.
Pure Church of Christ	Wycam Clark	1831	Church of Christ	Defunct	First schismatic sect in the Latter Day Saint movement
Independent Church	— Hoton	1832	Church of Christ	Defunct	Little is known about this second schismatic sect.
Church of Christ	Ezra Booth	1836	Church of Christ	Defunct	Taught that Joseph Smith was not a prophet and the Book of Mormon was not scripture
Church of Christ (Parrishite)	Warren Parrish	1837	Church of Christ	Defunct
Alston Church	Isaac Russell	1839	Church of Christ	Defunct	Taught that the Latter Day Saints should remain in Missouri and not emigrate to Illinois
Church of Christ	William Chubby	late 1830s	Church of Christ	Defunct	Established with the special mission of ministering to black people
Church of Jesus Christ, the Bride, the Lamb's Wife	George M. Hinkle	1840	Church of Christ	Defunct	Taught that Joseph Smith was not a prophet and the Book of Mormon was not scripture
Church of Christ	Hiram Page	1842	Church of Christ	Defunct
True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	William Law	1844	Church of Christ	Defunct	Opposed plural marriage; published the Nauvoo Expositor

[edit] Prairie Saint groups

Formed after 1844 in the midwest

Church Name	Organized by	Date Organized	Split off/Continuation of	Current Status	Notes
Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion	Sidney Rigdon	1844	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	Dissolved by 1847	Originally also used the name Church of Christ. Also known as Rigdonites.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)	James J. Strang	1844	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	A few hundred members; headquartered in Voree (now Burlington) Wisconsin.	Web site: churchofjesuschristoflatterdaysaints.org
Church of Christ	Aaron Smith	1846	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)	Defunct
Church of Christ (Whitmerite)	William E. M'Lellin and David Whitmer	1847 and 1871	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	Extant until around 1925	William E. M'Lellin claimed that Joseph Smith, Jr. had designated David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses, as his successor. By 1925, most remaining members of the Whitmerite church had united with the Church of Christ (Temple Lot).
Church of Christ (Brewsterite)	James C. Brewster and Hazen Aldrich	1848	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	Defunct	Published a periodical entitled The Olive Branch
The Bride, the Lamb's Wife	Jacob Syfritt	1848	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	Defunct	Syfritt claimed to have been taken to heaven to converse with Joseph Smith, who designated him as his true successor
Congregation of Jehovah's Presbytery of Zion (Baneemyites, Conjespresites)	Charles B. Thompson	1848	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	Defunct	Thompson claimed to be "Baneemy" mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 105:27. Said the church had been rejected by God following Joseph Smith's death and he had been called to renew the priesthood among the gentiles.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Gladdenite)	Gladden Bishop	1851	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	Dissolved after Bishop's death in 1865	Many members later helped form the Church of Christ (Temple Lot)
Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)	Alpheus Cutler	1853	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	Handful of members; headquartered in Independence, Missouri	Formerly called The True Church of Jesus Christ; adherents commonly called Cutlerites
Church of the Potter Christ	Arnold Potter	1857	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Defunct	Potter wore a long beard and white robes; his followers wore black robes; followers emigrated from California to Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1861
Community of Christ	Joseph Smith III	1860	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	Second-largest Latter Day Saint denomination; approximately 200,000 members; headquartered in Independence, Missouri.	Previously known as the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" (RLDS Church); organized by Joseph Smith III in 1860. Web site: cofchrist.org.
The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)	William Bickerton	1862	Organized by former followers of Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion, which by then was defunct	15,000 members; headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania	Adherents commonly referred to as Bickertonites (church actively opposes use of this term); web site: thechurchofjesuschrist.org.
Church of Christ (Temple Lot) (Hedrickites)	Granville Hedrick	1863	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; some members from Gladdenites	5000 members; headquartered on the Temple Lot in Independence, Missouri	Web site: churchofchrist-tl.org; adherents commonly referred to as Hedrickites
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)	Half of the Bickertonite Quorum of Twelve Apostles	1907	Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)	Defunct	Dispute over nature of life in the millennium split Bickertonite Quorum of the Twelve in two; later merged with the Primitive Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)
Primitive Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)	James Caldwell	1914	Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)	Defunct	Rejected the First Presidency as a valid leadership organization of the church; later merged with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)
Church of the Christian Brotherhood	R. C. Evans	1918	Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	Defunct	Split with Reorganized Church over belief that Joseph Smith practiced plural marriage; Evans published a book documenting evidence that Smith was a polygamist; Evans went on to reject most of the tenets of Mormonism
Church of Christ with the Elijah Message	Otto Fetting and William Draves	1929 and 1943	Church of Christ (Temple Lot)	Headquartered in Independence, Missouri	A denomination which split with the Temple Lot church over reported revelations from John the Baptist; web site: elijahmessage.com
Zion's Order, Inc.	Merl Kilgore	1951	Aaronic Order and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Headquartered in Mansfield, Missouri; approximately 100 members	Formerly known as Zion's Order of the Sons of Levi; use all of the scriptures of the LDS Church except section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants, plus 650 revelations to Kilgore
Church of Jesus Christ (Drewite)	Theron Drew	1965	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)	Extant; one congregation led by Richard Drew, Theron's son	Drew organized the church after being excommunicated from the Strangite church on account of Drew's promotion of Merl Kilgore as the "One Mighty and Strong" and a potential successor to James Strang
Restored Church of Jesus Christ	Eugene O. Walton	1980	Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)?	25 members; headquartered in Independence, Missouri
Church of Jesus Christ (Toneyite)	Forrest Toney	1980	Community of Christ	headquartered in Independence, Missouri
Independent RLDS / Restoration Branches	various	1980s	Community of Christ	Approx. 12,000 members in 200+ branches and study groups; movement centered in Independence, Missouri but each branch is relatively autonomous	RLDS Church branches that became independent of the RLDS Church individually throughout the 1980s due to opposition to the changing of RLDS Church doctrines and practices. Web site: centerplace.org Most priesthood of these branches soon became affiliated with the Conference of Restoration Elders. Later in 2005 some branches organized into a Joint Conference of Restoration Branches. Web site: conferenceofbranches.org
Church of Jesus Christ Restored 1830	Nolan W. Glauner	mid-1980s	Community of Christ	Members in Missouri and Africa; headquartered in Tarkio, Missouri	Regards Wallace B. Smith as a "fallen prophet" of the RLDS Church for opening the priesthood to women and for choosing to build the Independence Temple as opposed to the city of Zion
Lion of God Ministry	David B. Clark	1985	Community of Christ	Headquartered in Oak Grove, Missouri	Web site: lionofgod.com.
Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	several RLDS entities	1989	Community of Christ	Headquartered in Independence, Missouri	Web site: restorationchurch.net.
Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	Frederick Niels Larsen	2000	Community of Christ	1000-2000 members; headquartered in Independence, Missouri	Chiefly composed of former members of the Community of Christ who oppose what they consider to be recent doctrinal innovations, especially the passing of the church presidency to someone not descended from Joseph Smith, Jr. (Larsen is a descendant of Joseph Smith, Jr. through his grandson Frederick Madison Smith.) Web site: theremnantchurch.com

[edit] Rocky Mountain groups

Formed after 1844 and headquartered in the Rocky Mountains

Church Name	Organized by	Date Organized	Split off/Continuation of	Current Status	Notes
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Brigham Young	1844	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	The largest Latter Day Saint denomination, with 13 million members worldwide; headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah	Also commonly known as Mormon Church or LDS Church. Adherents are popularly called Mormons or Latter-day Saints. Resulted from Latter Day Saints that followed Brigham Young after succession crisis. Practiced plural marriage until the early 20th century. Web site: lds.org
Church of the Firstborn (Morrisite)	Joseph Morris	1861	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Probably defunct, remnants of this organization survived into the mid-20th century.	Involved in the Morrisite War; believe in reincarnation
Kingdom of Heaven	William W. Davies	1866	Church of the Firstborn (Morrisite)	Defunct	Lived a communal life near Walla Walla, Washington from 1867 to 1881
The Church of Zion	William S. Godbe	1868	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Defunct	Also known as Godbeites
Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Most High	John R. Eardley	1882	Church of the Firstborn (Morrisite)	Disbanded in 1969	Was the last surviving remnant of the "Morrisites"
Mormon fundamentalist movement	Lorin C. Woolley	1920s	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	originally headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah	Driven by rejection of end of plural marriage by LDS Church; later splintered into several groups, particularly upon death of Joseph W. Musser in 1954
Latter Day Church of Christ	Elden Kingston	1926	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Approximately 2000 members; headquartered in Davis County, Utah	Commonly known as the Kingston clan; also known as the Davis County Cooperative Society. Pracitices plural marriage. Part of Mormon fundamentalist movement.
Aaronic Order	Maurice L. Glendenning	1942	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints		Also called House of Aaron. Web site: houseofaaron.org
Apostolic United Brethren	Rulon C. Allred	1954	Mormon fundamentalist movement	5000-8000 members; headquarters in Bluffdale, Utah.	Practices plural marriage. Part of Mormon fundamentalist movement.
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	Leroy S. Johnson	1954	Mormon fundamentalist movement	Approximately 8,000-10,000 members; traditionally headquartered in Colorado City, Arizona; recently established a community of approximately 700 members near Eldorado, Texas.	Largest group of Latter Day Saints who practice plural marriage. Part of Mormon fundamentalist movement. Also called FLDS Church.
Perfected Church of Jesus Christ of Immaculate Latter-day Saints	William C. Conway	1955	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints		Also called Restored Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ of Immaculate Latter-day Saints; Conway claimed to be the reincarnation of Moroni and Joseph Smith; teaches transmutation of metals and the abolishment of menstruation; focuses on preaching among Native Americans; claims that a Nephite named Mulek designated Los Angeles as a holy site of gathering
Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times	Joel F. LeBaron	1955	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Defunct	Established in northern Mexico; part of Mormon fundamentalist movement; brother Ervil LeBaron split in 1972 and ordered Joel murdered
Church of the Lamb of God	Ervil LeBaron	1972	Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times	Probably continues in LeBaron family	Ervil LeBaron ordered his brother Joel killed in 1972; LeBaron ordered Apostolic United Brethren leader Rulon C. Allred killed in 1977; LeBaron was extradited to the United States and sentenced to life in prison; died in 1981
Church of the New Covenant in Christ	John W. Bryant	1975	Apostolic United Brethren	Headquartered in Salem, Oregon	Previously called the Church of Christ Patriarchal and the Evangelical Church of Christ. One of Bryant's estranged wives says Bryant converted temple ordinances into sexual rites and that he authorized a type of "free love" among the members
Confederate Nations of Israel	Alex Joseph	1977	Apostolic United Brethren	Approximately 400 members in the United States	Hybrid church–political organization patterned after the Council of Fifty; members can be from any religious denomination or atheist; approximately one-quarter of members practice plural marriage
Church of Jesus Christ (Bullaite)	Art Bulla	1983	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Size unknown; headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah	Bulla claims to be the "One Mighty and Strong" prophesied of by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the Doctrine and Covenants
Restoration Church of Jesus Christ	Antonio A. Feliz	1985	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Approximately 500 members in Utah and California. Majority of members are LGBT.	Commonly called the Gay Mormon Church or Liberal Mormon Church. Originally called the Church of Jesus Christ of All Latter-day Saints.
True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days	James D. Harmston	1994	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Approximately 500-750 members. Headquartered in Manti, Utah.	Practices plural marriage. Part of Mormon fundamentalist movement. Also called TLC Church.

[edit] Other groups

Formed after 1844 in other locations

Church Name	Organized by	Date Organized	Split off/Continuation of	Current Status	Notes
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Gibsonite)	Walter M. Gibson	1861	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	defunct	Organized in Pacific Islands; sold leadership offices to native peoples; gathering place established on Lanai
Church of the Messiah	George J. Adams	1861	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)	defunct	Led followers from Maine to Palestine
The Church of Christ: "Of Latter Day Saints"	Abinadi Smith	2007	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana	Mormon fundamentalist group formally known as “Latter day Church of Christ: With Signs and Wonders.” and “The Holy Cathar Church of Jesus Christ.”
Holy Church of Jesus Christ	Alexandre R. Caffiaux	1964	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)	congregations in France and New Mexico	Caffiaux claimed to be the rightful successor to James J. Strang
Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	Michael Bethel	1994	Various Latter Day Saint denominations	Headquartered in Kenner, Louisiana, about 30 adherents[1]	A group that accepts the Bible and the Book of Mormon, but rejects the Doctrine and Covenants and several other Mormon doctrines.
Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ	Matthew P. Gill	2007	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Organized in Derbyshire, England by former members of the LDS Church	Met informally as The Latter Day Church of Christ until formal organization. Added the Book of Jeraneck to scriptural canon. Web site: thelatterdaychurchofchrist.blogspot.com

[edit] References