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ThisWikipedia Manual of Style supplement has been created through the efforts and broad consensus of contributors toWikiProject Latter Day Saint movement. Please follow these conventions when you contribute toLatter Day Saints articles so that they areneutral and stylistically consistent for better and easier reader comprehension.

The first reference for any Latter Day Saints movement church (in the sense of "organization and congregation", not "building") should use the full name of that church rather than a shortened version such as "LDS Church" or "FLDS Church". The first reference should also contain a wikilink to that church's article. If you will later use a shortened name, add the shortened version in parenthesis after the first reference, e.g. "theFundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church)" or "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)." (When a Latter Day Saintschurch isnot being directly referenced, such as when an adherent's religious beliefs are given passing reference, the full denominational name can often be omitted.)

Avoid linking the alternate names. The first reference will already contain the alternate names, as well as a link to that church's article. Thus, a second link is unnecessary.

Generally, members of a Latter Day Saint denomination may be referred to asmembers,adherents, orfollowers of a particular church or organization.

Latter-day Saint

(And its variants). The termsLDS,LDS Church, andLatter-day Saint (Latter-day hyphenated, with lower-case "d") generally refer only to theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The termLatter Day Saint (note the capitalization and lack of a hyphen) refers to adherents during the lifetime of Joseph Smith.

Thus, in order to avoid ambiguity, do not use the form of the term with an upper-caseD to designate generic adherents across the pan-denominations; instead use a term appropriate to an individual's distinctive denomination or group: for example,Latter-day Saint for a member of the LDS Church.Latter Day Saint in a collective meaning used as an adjective is acceptable but consider recasting. Illustration:

The couple were raised devout members of localLatter Day Saint churches and although subsequently they became quite secular, worshipped at hers on occasion.

– note the accepted use of the bolded phraseology above; however, recasting for more clarity might produce:

The couple were raised devoutly within Mormonism locally, she Latter-day Saint and he fundamentalist Mormon; and although both subsequently became quite secular, they worshipped with her LDS congregation on occasion.

And so, also reserve the abbreviationLDS for the meaning of "Latter-day Saint" and not "Latter Day Saint."

Mormon

Several denominations, notably the two largest, theCommunity of Christ, and, as of 2018, theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, oppose the use of the wordMormon or its derivatives in reference to its members or theology. Nevertheless, the wordMormon can be used to refer to Latter Day Saint movement adherents in the following situations:

• In reference to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, the informal appellationMormon church should never be used outside of directly quoted material. Members of the LDS Church may accurately be referred to asLatter-day Saints or asMormons. It is usually best to follow the predominant form found in the sources used for a particular Wikipedia article.

• In reference to the culture of Latter Day Saint movement organizations originating inUtah. For example, one may refer toMormon fundamentalism,Mormon pioneer, orex-Mormon.

• When referring to common parlance before the death ofJoseph Smith, when the Latter Day Saint movement was widely referred to asMormonism. For example, one may refer toanti-Mormonism or theMormon War.

• In reference to theBook of Mormon or the various people and places in the book named "Mormon".

In writing about historical matters, editors should avoidanachronistic terminology that would be out-of-place or meaningless in the time period being discussed. The following are common examples:

1. When referring to the church established by Joseph Smith, Jr., it is generally inappropriate to refer to it asThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, since that particular name with its particular formatting was not adopted until after Smith's death. Smith's church had the following names during his lifetime: "Church of Christ" (1830–34); "Church of the Latter Day Saints" (1834–38); "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" (1838–44). It is appropriate to use the name of the church that existed at the time being referred to. If in doubt, you can always simply refer to the "Latter Day Saint church" as acommon (non-proper) noun. In each case, the name of the church should bepipe linked toChurch of Christ (Latter Day Saints) when it first occurs in the article.
2. When referring to the Community of Christ prior to 2001, it is appropriate to refer to it as the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints", and it may be abbreviated "RLDS Church". However, that name should bepipe linked toCommunity of Christ when it first occurs in an article.
3. In most contexts, it is appropriate to refer toJoseph Smith simply as the "founder of theLatter Day Saint movement" or, in Mormon contexts, the "founder ofMormonism". However, this practice may be departed from if an article ortemplate deals exclusively with an issue in a specific church. In such cases, it may be appropriate to refer to Smith as the founder or first president of that particular church. For example, it would be appropriate inRussell M. Nelson to state that Nelson is Smith's modern successor as president of the LDS Church. Similarly, it is appropriate to list Smith inTemplate:CofCpresidents as the first president of the Community of Christ. Smith and other early church leaders may appropriately appear in categories of leaders of both the LDS Church and the Community of Christ.
4. From 1850 to 1896, the LDS Church was based inUtah Territory;Utah did not exist until 1896.

Any time these guidelines are violated when being used as parts of quotations from church leaders or members and the context is clear, theyshould not be altered. It may be best for reduction of both confusion and potential inter-faith strife to follow these guidelines on talk pages as well.

Summary of naming conventions:

• Articles wholly pertaining to the Latter Day Saint movement should be parenthesized "(Latter Day Saints)", unless the article name is unambiguous without the parenthetical.
• Articles should not be limited to a single Latter Day Saint denomination, unless including the entire Latter Day Saint movement is impractical or awkward. For example, instead naming an article "Restoration (Community of Christ)" or "Restoration (LDS Church)", the article should be calledRestoration (Latter Day Saints).
• Mid-sentence and mid-article-title references to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should not capitalize the initialthe^[1] and should include a hyphen and a lower-case "d". Example:History ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints notHistory ofThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• When a leader of theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the same name as people outside theLatter Day Saint movement, the person may be disambiguated with the parenthetical(Mormon). See, for example,John W. Taylor (Mormon) andGeorge Reynolds (Mormon).

Editors should always avoid use of Mormon jargon, which includes any terms used by many adherents to the Latter Day Saint movement that the general public might not understand, might misinterpret, or might find offensive. For example:

• Never refer to theindigenous peoples of the Americas by the termLamanites, as this implies the controversial belief that such peoples have a historical connection to the nation of Lamanites described in theBook of Mormon.
• Never use the termthe Gospel orthe Restored Gospel to refer toLatter Day Saint theology, because it implies agreement with Latter Day Saint principle ofrestoration and is inconsistent with aneutral point of view. Alternatives that may be used includeMormonism,teachings of the church, andLatter Day Saint teachings.
• Avoid the use of controversial capitalizations such as "the Church" or "The Church" when referring to any specific Latter Day Saint church, since there is general disagreement concerning its appropriateness. For all such churches, "the church" is acceptable when the wordchurch is an uncapitalizedcommon noun, but capitalized "Church" should be used only when it is part of a longer reference to a specific church (as in "LDS Church"). Use "The Church of Jesus Christ" only when it is the full name of a church (as in the case with the group commonly known as the "Bickertonites"). Also be aware that the full official name of other churches within the movement is the "Church of Jesus Christ" (omitting the article "The"). Though the LDS Church'sstyle guide recommends referring to it as the "Church of Jesus Christ" or the "restored Church of Jesus Christ", this usage is not appropriate due to the potential ambiguity and resultant confusion.
• Do not capitalize priesthood offices (apostle,elder,bishop,high priest,seventy, etc.) or leadership positions in the church (general authority,mission president,regional representative, etc.), unless they are being used to specify a particular organizational group, such as theQuorum of the Twelve Apostles or theFirst Quorum of the Seventy, or in front of a person's name(but see next item).
• Do not use ecclesiastical titles such as "Elder", "President", "Brother" or "Sister" when referring to leaders of a church, except in thelead section at first occurrence of the name. For example, write "McConkie published a book entitledMormon Doctrine ..." not "Elder McConkie published a book entitledMormon Doctrine ..." After first occurrence, the use of an article subject's surname is sufficient and conforms to general encyclopedic style.

These recommendations apply mainly to article text. When these terms are used as part of quotations from church leaders or members and the context is clear, theyshould not be altered. It may be best for reduction of both confusion and potential inter-faith strife to follow these guidelines on talk pages as well.

• Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Latter Day Saints)
• WikiProject Latter Day Saint movement – for more information or to contribute to this Manual of Style supplement
• Wikipedia:LDS/RS – a list of the reliability of various Latter Day Saint movement sources

• Niebuhr, Gustav (February 19, 2001),"Adapting 'Mormon' to Emphasize Christianity",The New York Times
• Taylor, Scott (April 2, 2011),"LDS or Mormon? It Depends: Church Prefers Full Name But Is Accepting More Mormon Uses",Deseret News, retrieved2012-11-29
• "Style Guide — The Name of the Church",Newsroom,The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, retrieved2021-12-01 — lists preferred naming conventions and word usages.
  • Note that the Wikipedia style guide does not always coincide with these preferences.
• Community of Christ Multimedia Publishing Style Guidelines(PDF),Herald House,Community of Christ, September 23, 2011, archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2012-05-10, retrieved2012-11-29

• Wikipedia Manual of Style (religion)

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