The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in the United States in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, it has over 17 million members and 62,544 full-time volunteer missionaries. Based on these numbers, the church is the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States as of 2012, and reported over 6.7 million US members as of 2021. It is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the early 19th-century period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening.
The Passion Play or Easter pageant is a dramatic presentation depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ: his trial, suffering and death. The viewing of and participation in Passion Plays is a traditional part of Lent in several Christian denominations, particularly in the Catholic and Evangelical traditions; as such Passion Plays are often oecumenical Christian productions.
Temple Square is a 10-acre (4.0 ha) complex, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah. The usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities that are immediately adjacent to Temple Square. Contained within Temple Square are the Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake Tabernacle, Salt Lake Assembly Hall, the Seagull Monument, and two visitors' centers. The square was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1964, recognizing the Mormon achievement in the settlement of Utah.
The Mesa Arizona Temple is the seventh operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in the city of Mesa, Arizona, it is the first of six LDS temples built or planned in the state.
The Joseph Smith Memorial Building, originally called the Hotel Utah, is a social center located on the corner of Main Street and South Temple in Salt Lake City. It is named in honor of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. It houses several restaurants and also functions as a venue for events. Several levels of the building also serve as administrative offices for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints departments such as FamilySearch. On January 3, 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Hotel Utah.
The Washington D.C. Temple is the 18th constructed and 16th operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is located in Kensington, Maryland, United States, just north of Washington, D.C., near the Capital Beltway. The temple was dedicated in 1974 after an open house that attracted over 750,000 people, including several international dignitaries. The temple was the first temple built by the church east of the Mississippi River since 1846, when the original Nauvoo Temple was dedicated.
The Oakland California Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located in the hills of Oakland, California. It was built in the early 1960s, as part of a project announced by church president David O. McKay.
The Preston England Temple is the 52nd operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The temple is located in the town of Chorley, 10 miles (16 km) south of Preston, in Lancashire, England.
The Portland Oregon Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located on 7 acres (28,000 m2) of land near the intersection of Highway 217 and I-5 in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The temple's architecture features six white spires and a white marble exterior accented with green marble trim and topped with a green slate roof. It is 80,500 square feet (7,480 m2) in area, with four ordinance rooms and fourteen sealing rooms.
Symbolism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the process whereby objects or actions have been invested with an inner meaning expressing church ideas. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its membership have adopted a number of symbols that differ from those typically used in Christianity.
The basic beliefs and traditions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a cultural impact that distinguishes church members, practices and activities. The culture is geographically concentrated in the Mormon Corridor in the United States, and is present to a lesser extent in many places of the world where Latter-day Saints live.
Baptism for the dead, vicarious baptism or proxy baptism today commonly refers to the religious practice of baptizing a person on behalf of one who is dead—a living person receiving the rite on behalf of a deceased person.
The Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant is an annual production of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints entitled Jesus the Christ and staged on the grounds of the Mesa Arizona Temple. One of the six LDS pageants, the Mesa Pageant is now the largest annual outdoor Easter pageant in the world.
Eric Dennis Huntsman is a religion professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) and coordinator of the university's ancient near eastern studies program.
Christus is an 1833 white Carrara marble statue of the resurrected Jesus Christ by Bertel Thorvaldsen located in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was commissioned as part of a larger group, which includes 11 of the original 12 apostles and Paul the Apostle. It has been widely reproduced. Images and replicas of the statue were adopted by the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 20th century to emphasize the centrality of Jesus Christ in its teachings.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Pennsylvania refers to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Pennsylvania. Joseph and Emma Smith lived in Northern Pennsylvania near the Susquehanna River just prior to the organization of the Church. Much of the translation of the Book of Mormon and revelation of the Priesthood occurred here during that time.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Maryland refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Maryland. The official church membership as a percentage of general population was 0.72% in 2014. According to the 2014 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey, roughly 1% of Marylanders self-identify themselves most closely with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The LDS Church is the 8th largest denomination in Maryland.
Garth William Smith is a pianist/composer/musician accomplished in several styles of music including rock, country, classical and jazz. His current endeavor is creating spiritually uplifting piano arrangements of popular LDS Hymns. After living for many years in Oceanside, California, he currently resides in Bella Vista, Arkansas, and is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A visitors' center is a building often near a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where missionaries teach visitors about the tenets of their faith and other community events are held. Visitors' centers often include a replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen's Christus statue, exhibits, musical performances, devotionals, and a Family History Center.
