Latter-day Saint

A Latter-day Saint is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The British spelling "Latter-day Saint" with the hyphen originated in 1852 when the LDS Church was incorporated in Salt Lake City, Utah, but a similar term "Latter Day Saint" was used in reference to members of the church from its conception in 1830. Some have used the term "Latter Day Saint" to refer to any members of any of the churches involved in the movement of Mormonism which began in the 1830's and had small groups break away from the main body of saints, but such usage is much less common. The The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fourth largest church in the United States. They are sometimes referred to as Mormons, although a few other groups which stem from the same movement also refer to themselves as Mormons a term that began as a nickname in reference to the "Book of Mormon." Due to a large number of incidents in which mis-identification has been made in regards to LDS Church, confusing the church with its much smaller schisms, the church strongly prefers that if the term is used that it be applied solely to the LDS Church while at the same time encouraging the increased use of official and historic self-designations such as "Latter-day Saints", "Saints", and "Church of Jesus Christ" instead of Mormon. (See LDS Style Guide).

There are more than 12 million Latter-day Saints in the world today, the majority of which reside outside the United States (approximately 45 percent reside within the US). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the fastest growing religions in the world today, having more than doubled in membership since 1982. It is the most far reaching world religion originating in the United States.

The most doctrinally accurate description of their beliefs can be found on the links listed on this page.

Contents

See also

External links

Official Church Websites

Official Country Sites

Argentina Australia Austria Belgium
Brazil Chile Columbia Denmark
Ecuador England Finland Germany
Hong Kong Iceland Japan Netherlands
New Zealand Northern Ireland Norway Poland
Republic of Ireland Romania Russia Scotland
South Africa South Korea Sweden Venezuela
Wales

Unofficial Church Sites

Further Reading

See also: Latter-day Saint, 1852, Book of Mormon, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Latter Day Saint, Mormon, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States