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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Date Founded: 1830
Membership 6,157,238 Number of Clergy: 45,330 as of 2010
Headquarters: 47 East South Temple St., Salt Lake City, UT 84150
Schools & Seminaries: Seminary is for high school age students to learn more about their religion. It does not replace high school. College students attend an Institute as well as their regular college classes. The church runs Brigham Young University, an accredited university with undergraduate and graduate programs.
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr. These are the main church pages; there are dozens of other pages for different age groups, elders, bishops, other leaders, and special interests.
Core Beliefs: The Church uses both the Bible and the Book of Mormon as its scripture. The Book of Mormon is a record of God's dealings with the people of North America from 600 B.C.E to 421 C.E. In addition, the Doctrine and Covenants is the transcription of the revelations received by Joseph Smith and some later Presidents of the Church. For more in-depth information about the Mormon religion, history, and culture please see the LibGuide created by Gerrit van Dyk at Brigham Young University.
Short History: Joseph Smith received revelations from God and was given the engraved plates of the Book of Mormon in western New York. He translated the book into English and published it in 1830. That same year he organized the Church of Christ as a restoration of the Early Church and its practices. In 1831 the Church and its followers moved to Kirtland, OH, and then later to Nauvoo, IL, with an outpost in Independence, MO. Smith was both the spiritual and political leader in Nauvoo where he had a falling out with a number of followers who left the church to found another denomination. A great deal of contentiousness followed and Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were jailed in Carthage, IL in 1844 on charges of inciting a riot and treason. An angry mob shot and killed both men before they could stand trial. During the succession crisis after Smith's death, the majority of Church members voted to elect Brigham Young to the presidency. It was Brigham Young who led the church migration from IL to Salt Lake City, NV.
Local Churches: The closest meetinghouse to campus is the Louisville First Ward, 1333 Eastern Parkway, Louisville, KY 40204. This is part of the Crestwood, KY Stake, and the Louisville Temple at 116 W Highway 22, Pewee Valley, KY 40056
