In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, most often simply referred to as the sacrament, is the ordinance in which participants eat bread and drink water in remembrance of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Normally, the sacrament is provided every Sunday as part of the sacrament meeting in each LDS Church congregation.
The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, United States, and has more than 7 million members in over 188 countries and territories. The Relief Society is often referred to by the church and others as "one of the oldest and largest women's organizations in the world."
The status of women in Mormonism has been a source of public debate since before the death of Joseph Smith in 1844. Various denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement have taken different paths on the subject of women and their role in the church and in society. Views range from the full equal status and ordination of women to the priesthood, as practiced by the Community of Christ, to a patriarchal system practiced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to the ultra-patriarchal plural marriage system practiced by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and other Mormon fundamentalist groups.
The Primary is the children's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It acts as a Sunday school organization for the church's children.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Priesthood Correlation Program began in 1908 as a program to reform the instruction manuals and curriculum of the different organizations of the church. Its scope quickly widened and Correlation came to have large effects on almost every aspect of the church including doctrines, organizations, finances, and ordinances. A significant consequence was to centralize decision making power in the priesthood, particularly the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. More recently, the function of the correlation department has shifted to planning and approving church publications and curriculum and keeping unorthodox information, doctrines and other undesired concepts from being introduced or revived.
Russell Marion Nelson Sr. is an American religious leader and retired surgeon who is the 17th and current president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nelson was a member of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for nearly 34 years, and was the quorum president from 2015 to 2018. As church president, Nelson is recognized by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator.
Sacrament meeting is the primary weekly Sunday worship service in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and community service. Missionaries of the LDS Church may be male or female and may serve on a full- or part-time basis, depending on the assignment. Missionaries are organized geographically into missions, which could be any one of the 411 missions organized worldwide. This is one of the practices that the LDS Church is well-known for.
Ministering is the term for Christian service given to fellow congregants, known as "ward members," within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Prior to April 1, 2018, a somewhat similar program within the church was termed "home teaching", "block teaching", and "ward teaching", when performed by male priesthood holders and "visiting teaching," when performed by female members of the church's Relief Society. The previous dual home- and visiting-teaching programs had been designed to allow families to be provided spiritual instruction in their own homes, in addition to weekly church services. The present joint program deemphasizes teaching, replacing it with prayerful consideration given to the needs of one's assigned congregants, finding ways to serve and fellowship them.
Worship services of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints include weekly services, held in meetinghouses on Sundays, in geographically based religious units. Once per month, this weekly service is a fast and testimony meeting. Twice each year, the LDS Church holds a worldwide general conference. LDS Church adherents also worship in temples, which are open only to members in good standing.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the priesthood is the power and authority to act in the name of God for the salvation of humankind. Male members of the church who meet standards of worthy behavior and church participation are generally ordained to specific offices within the priesthood.
The Young Women is a youth organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The purpose of the Young Women organization is to help each young woman "be worthy to make and keep sacred covenants and receive the ordinances of the temple."
Sunday School is an organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All members of the church and any interested nonmembers, age 11 and older, are encouraged to participate in Sunday School.
Stake and ward councils are meetings of local congregations within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints focuses its doctrine and teaching on Jesus Christ; that he was the Son of God, born of Mary, lived a perfect life, performed miracles, bled from every pore in the Garden of Gethsemane, died on the cross, rose on the third day, appeared again to his disciples, and now resides, authoritatively, on the right hand side of God. In brief, some beliefs are in common with Catholics, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. However, teachings of the LDS Church differ significantly in other ways and encompass a broad set of doctrines, so that the above-mentioned denominations usually place the LDS Church outside the bounds of orthodox Christian teaching as summarized in the Nicene Creed.
Gospel Principles is a book that sets out some of the basic doctrines and teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The book is published by the LDS Church and is provided to its members as a personal study guide and as a church lesson manual.
President is an honorific title in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints given to members who hold certain leadership positions.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, marriage between a man and a woman is considered to be "ordained of God". Marriage is thought to consist of a covenant between the man, the woman, and God. The church teaches that in addition to civil marriage, which ends at death, a man and woman can enter into a celestial marriage, performed in a temple by priesthood authority, whereby the marriage and parent–child relationships resulting from the marriage will last forever in the afterlife.
General Conference is a gathering of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, held biannually every April and October at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. During each conference, church members gather in a series of two-hour sessions to listen to the faith's leaders. It consists of five general sessions. From April 2018 to April 2021, the priesthood session was held during the April conference, with a General Women's Session held during October's conference. The Saturday evening session was changed to a general session in October 2021. The conference also generally includes training sessions for general and area leaders. Although each general conference originates from Salt Lake City, the conference is considered an international event for the church. The sessions are broadcast worldwide in over 90 languages, primarily through local and international media outlets, and over the Internet.
A meetinghouse is a place of worship for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
