LDS stands for Latter-day Saints. In many contemporary sources, LDS Church and Mormon Church refer to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which traces its origins to the church Joseph Smith organised in 1830. The terms have different histories. One abbreviates part of the church’s name. The other comes from a book and has been used by outsiders and by members themselves. Older sources can also use similar names for churches that developed separately.
Why the Book of Mormon supplied a nickname
The title page of the first edition of the Book of Mormon, published in 1830, describes a record compiled by a figure named Mormon. In the book, Mormon abridges records of earlier peoples. The title page presents the book as a testimony meant to persuade readers that Jesus is the Christ. In accounts of the early movement, the title identifies a particular scripture and helps explain why people associated with it came to be called Mormons. The word can refer to the figure within the book or, in a different context, to people known by the nickname. 1830 Book of Mormon title page Russell M. Nelson’s October 2018 address
The names recorded in 1830, 1834 and 1838
The early church initially used Church of Christ. On May 3, 1834, elders meeting in Kirtland, Ohio, voted to use Church of the Latter Day Saints. The minutes say that the motion passed unanimously and that leaders recommended using the name in the records of other congregations and conferences. Contemporary editorials treated the name as a way of distinguishing the community. The words latter day also placed its members in a sacred history in which they expected Christ to return. Minutes of the 1834 conference April 1838 revelation in the Joseph Smith Papers
A revelation dictated by Smith on April 26, 1838, specified the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It combines elements of both earlier names and is now printed as section 115 of Doctrine and Covenants. The manuscript and the modern official title use slightly different punctuation and capitalisation. If you are reading a nineteenth-century document, the wording and the date can help identify the community that produced it. The spelling alone may be too little evidence, especially where two groups claimed continuity with the same early church. April 1838 revelation in the Joseph Smith Papers Church style guide
The transition was visible in ordinary correspondence. A December 1838 letter from Smith to members in Caldwell County still uses the earlier form in its address. The editors of the Joseph Smith Papers note that the former name continued to appear after the April revelation. In a letter from this period, the older name can therefore identify the same community even after the newer wording was announced. December 1838 letter in the Joseph Smith Papers
From the “I’m a Mormon” campaign to the current style
The church itself used the nickname in a public campaign launched in selected U.S. cities in 2010. In New York City the following year, advertisements showed individual members and directed viewers to profiles and videos on Mormon.org. A person seeing the campaign encountered “Mormon” as an identity its organisers encouraged members to explain in their own words. Church announcement of the 2011 New York campaign
In October 2018, church president Russell M. Nelson urged members and the public to use the full name. He appealed to the revelation in section 115 and to 3 Nephi 27, where the resurrected Jesus instructs his followers about the name of his church. Nelson argued that using the name of Jesus Christ expressed whom members understood to be the head of the church. The change was visible online in 2019, when LDS.org gave way to ChurchofJesusChrist.org and Mormon.org to ComeUntoChrist.org. Russell M. Nelson’s October 2018 address Church announcement of the 2019 website changes
The church’s style guide prefers the full name on first mention and Latter-day Saints or members of the Church of Jesus Christ for its members. It retains the word Mormon in proper names such as the Book of Mormon and historical phrases such as the Mormon Trail. Quoting a 2011 campaign slogan and naming the present-day church are two different uses of language. Church style guide
When similar names refer to different churches
After Joseph Smith’s death in 1844, different groups followed different leaders. One of those churches ordained his son Joseph Smith III as its president at Amboy, Illinois, in 1860. It was known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and adopted the name Community of Christ in 2001. Its official history explains that change in terms of its mission to proclaim Christ and build communities of peace. The two institutions have parts of their early history in common. A document labelled RLDS points to the Reorganized Church’s history and needs to be read in that context. Community of Christ’s history Community of Christ library and archives
Conclusion
Use The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when identifying the present institution that published the 2018 name guidance. Read LDS as an abbreviation and Mormon in the context of the source, whether it is scripture, a newspaper or a campaign. In records from the wider movement, the date, the full institutional name and the people involved help you tell which community a document describes. Latter-day Saint beliefs and practices
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