The United Brethren were a group of former Primitive Methodists in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, England, that converted en masse to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1840.
In the mid-1830s, a group of approximately 600 Primitive Methodists led by Thomas Kington [1] left the Primitive Methodism movement and established an independent religious organization, which they called the United Brethren. The church was divided into many small congregations scattered among the Three Counties, with 50 designated preachers for the group. In 1836, the United Brethren built the Gadfield Elm Chapel, near Ledbury.
In March 1840, Latter Day Saint missionary and apostle Wilford Woodruff was brought to Hill Farm, Fromes Hill by William Benbow, a recent English convert to Mormonism. Benbow introduced Woodruff to his brother John Benbow, who was a member of the United Brethren. Woodruff received permission to preach to United Brethren congregations, and in the first 30 days he had baptized 45 preachers and 160 members of the United Brethren into the Latter Day Saint church. By December 1840, 300 members of the church had been converted to Mormonism, and ultimately all the members of the United Brethren except one became Latter Day Saints. Woodruff and other Latter Day Saint missionaries also had success among the non-United Brethren in the area, baptizing a total of 1800 people by January 1841.
The United Brethren's Gadfield Elm Chapel was converted into a Latter Day Saint chapel, and today it is the oldest extant chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the world. [2]
Wilford Woodruff Sr. was an American religious leader who served as the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1889 until his death. He ended the public practice of plural marriage among the members of the LDS Church in 1890.
Lorenzo Snow was an American religious leader who served as the fifth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1898 until his death. Snow was the last president of the LDS Church in the 19th century and the first in the 20th.
Abraham Owen Woodruff was an American missionary who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was also the son of LDS Church president Wilford Woodruff.
David Wyman Patten was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was killed at the Battle of Crooked River and is regarded as a martyr by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is referred to twice in the Church of Jesus Christ's Doctrine and Covenants—once in section 114 and posthumously in section 124.
Parley Parker Pratt Sr. was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement whose writings became a significant early nineteenth-century exposition of the Latter Day Saint faith. Named in 1835 as one of the first members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Pratt was part of the Quorum's successful mission to Great Britain from 1839 to 1841. Pratt has been called "the Apostle Paul of Mormonism" for his promotion of distinctive Mormon doctrines.
Erastus Snow was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1849 until his death. Snow was also a leading figure in Mormon colonization of Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.
The Mormon Reformation was a period of renewed emphasis on spirituality within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a centrally-directed movement which called for a spiritual reawakening among church members. It took place during 1856 and 1857 and was under the direction of church president Brigham Young. During the Reformation, Young sent his counselor, Jedediah M. Grant, and other church leaders to preach to the people throughout Utah Territory and surrounding Latter-day Saint communities with the goal of inspiring them to reject sin and turn towards spiritual things. During this time, some of the most conservative or reactionary elements of LDS Church doctrine came to dominate public discussion. As part of the Reformation, almost all "active" or involved LDS Church members were rebaptized as a symbol of their commitment. The Reformation is considered as being split into three phases: a structural reform phase, a phase of intense demand for a demonstration of spiritual reform, and a final phase during which an emphasis was placed on love and reconstruction.
George Darling Watt was the first convert to Mormonism baptized in the British Isles. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Watt was a secretary to Brigham Young, the primary editor of the Journal of Discourses and the primary inventor of the Deseret Alphabet.
Thomas Bullock was a Mormon pioneer and a clerk in the Church Historian's Office of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Zera Pulsipher was a First Seven Presidents of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In that capacity, he provided leadership to the early Mormon community, most notably in the exodus of a large group of Saints from Kirtland, Ohio. He was also an active missionary who baptized Wilford Woodruff into the LDS Church.
Since its organization in New York in 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a presence in Canada. The first Latter Day Saint missionaries to preach outside of the United States preached in Upper Canada; the first stake to be established outside of the U.S. was the Alberta Stake; and the Cardston Alberta Temple was the first church temple to be built outside of the current boundaries of the United States.
Thomas Kington III was the leader of the United Brethren in England who converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and after emigrating to Utah Territory became a bishop and patriarch in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was charged by Brigham Young to build Kington Fort in Weber County, Utah.
The Gadfield Elm Chapel near the village of Pendock in Worcestershire, England, is the oldest extant chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
William James Barratt was an English convert to Mormonism and became the first Latter Day Saint to live in Australia when he was sent there as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. However, he ultimately apostatized from Mormonism.
Janne Mattson Sjödahl was a Swedish convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was the author of influential commentaries on LDS Church scriptures. Sjödahl was among the first commentators to advance a "limited geography model" for the theorized geography of the Book of Mormon.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England refers to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in England. England has 36 of the 45 stakes, four of the five missions, and both temples in the United Kingdom.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Scotland refers to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Scotland.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wales refers to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Wales.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and a topical guide to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.