The most important place of worship for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Temple. It is seen as the house of the Lord. Ordinances such as eternal marriage are held in the Temple. Only those who follow strict requirements of faithfulness are issued ‘Temple recommends’ after interviews with the ecclesiastical leaders of their ward and stake. They can then enter the Temple and receive the Temple ordinances, starting with washing and anointing. Those who have not achieved this level, and non-Latter-day Saints, are not allowed in the Temples. Members do not talk about some of the details of what goes on in Temples with non-Latter-day Saints, it is secret because it is sacred, so holy that it can be talked about only within the Temple. It is necessary to dress modestly to enter the Temple. Churches are smaller places of worship that anyone can go to. They are used for ordinary Sunday worship, and are open to all Latter-day Saints and any visitors who wish to go. They also usually include a recreation room, kitchen, classrooms, and more.

Temple garments are given after a Church member receives the Temple endowment. It is underclothing worn day and night except when not practical, for example while swimming. It is ordinary white underwear, with no physical significance, although it is a modest under garment that covers the entire torso, upper arms, and the legs to below the knee. It has a spiritual significance. Latter-day Saints see it as spiritual armour and wear it as an outward symbol of their inner commitment to Jesus Christ. It is a physical, permanent reminder of the covenants they have made with the Lord. It also symbolises the modesty of dress and living that is considered appropriate for believers.

Zion is a central symbol in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, referring to a group of followers, a place they live, but also a future place where equality and justice will reign. In the early Church history, Zion was identified with Independence, Missouri and then Nauvoo, Illinois and then the state of Utah. In founding the LDS colony in what became Utah, the Church saw itself as creating Zion. The establishment of Zion was a goal of the early Church which they believed would usher in the Second Coming of Christ and the millennium, or thousand year reign of Christ on Earth. However, in later years Zion became any group of believers in whatever geographical location they lived. Each stake is said to be ‘of Zion’ because they are for gathering and purifying a people of God.

As Christians, Latter-day Saints read and draw inspiration from Biblical stories. These are supplemented with Book of Mormon stories about the ancient peoples of the North American continent. Many of these stories concern Lehi, who went to North America in the time of Jeremiah (600BC – 400AD) and founded a colony there. After his death, Lehi’s followers split into two groups, the Lamanites and the Nephites. There was a series of battles between the two groups around four hundred years after the time of Jesus and, according to the Book of Mormon, only Lamanites survived. In early Latter-Day Saint history, the Lamanites were identified as the ancestors of the Native Americans, who were seen as descendants of the Biblical twelve tribes of Israel and therefore had a special place in the Church, and missions made Native American tribes a special aim of their proselytizing. However, more contemporary interpretations argue that the followers of Lehi were not the only people in North America, and while some (or all) of the Native Americans could be descendants of Lehi, these could also be from other older inhabitants of the continent.

The main holy day for Latter-day Saints is Sunday, which is considered the Sabbath. Orthodox Latter-day Saints will observe the spirit of the Sabbath Day, which means generally no work, no spending money, in some families no homework for school children, and usually no entertainment such as going to birthday parties or football games. It is a day ‘sanctified to the Lord’. For many Latter-day Saints families, Monday is reserved for Family Home Evening, when they spend the evening together in spiritual instruction, training, and participating in wholesome games and activities. Inaugurated by the Church in 1915, this is seen as a way to help parents prepare their children for responsible living.

Easter and Christmas are the main religious celebrations for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These dates commemorate the birth and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as in other Christian denominations. Though Latter-day Saints are avid participants in holiday ‘good cheer’, they tend to focus more on the religious aspects of these festivals than on their secular customs. In the United States, July 24 is celebrated as Pioneer Day, the date of the arrival of Brigham Young and his followers in the Great Salt Lake Valley. It is a celebration mainly among Utah Latter-day Saints, where it is a state and Church holiday, with parades, fireworks, rodeos, feasts, dances, and excursions.

Unlike many other Christians, Latter-day Saints do not practice infant baptism. Baptism is possible from the age of 8, which they consider the age of accountability when a child is generally sufficiently mature to distinguish right from wrong. A person must know what they are doing to be baptised, as it is considered a solemn promise made to the Lord to behave in a certain way. Converts are baptised even if they have been previously baptised into a different Christian denomination. Prior to baptism, a candidate is interviewed by their local Bishop or mission authority to make sure they understand and are willing to obey the laws of the Gospel, have repented of their sins, and that they have faith in Jesus Christ. The baptismal ceremony involves total immersion in water, accompanied by the saying of a prayer. Usually within a week of baptism the candidate is confirmed in the Church through the laying on of hands and prayers, which may be figuratively referred to as the ‘baptism by fire’ through which they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Reception of the Gift of the Holy Ghost following baptism confirms membership in the Church. Baptism symbolises faith in the death and rebirth of Jesus Christ, signifying a remission of sin, through which the individual is washed free of sin.

As noted, in Temples, baptism is also performed for the dead, those in the spirit world who did not ‘hear the Gospel’ in their lifetimes. It is baptism by proxy, or a proxy ordinance. It is available to all, regardless of their race, religion, or morality in life. It is up to the deceased individual whether they accept it, and does not force conversion on unwilling individuals who continue to have rights of agency and choice after death. As noted, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that early Christians performed this ritual, using 1 Corinthians 15:29 as scriptural justification. This practice has proved controversial to some, however. For example both victims and perpetrators of the Holocaust have been baptised which has been objected to by Jewish groups. They consider it insensitive to the living and the dead. Thus Church policy since the 1990s is that proxy baptism can only be requested for one’s own ancestors and to request permission from the nearest surviving next-of-kin of those who died in the past 95 years. The Church takes this commitment seriously and, at one point, hundreds of improperly submitted names that did not follow this policy were stricken from Church records.

Marriage is a sacred ordinance ordained by God that seals together the couple and all of their children, born, unborn, and adopted. Marriage is central to Latter-Day Saints doctrine, which states that marriage between one man and one woman is part of God’s plan. It is very important for Latter-day Saints to get married and have children, if possible. It is not unusual for Latter-day Saints to have larger families than the societal norm in the developed world. God wants human beings to have children so that spirits can have their time on earth in physical bodies for testing and learning. Birth draws spirits from pre-mortal existence into the mortal realm, in which they live life on earth before returning to the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the three kingdoms. Marriage is essential to salvation, and persons who remain unmarried by choice cannot reach the highest level of the Celestial Kingdom after death. Mormons have been known to say that the most important thing in life is to ‘marry the right person, in the right place, by the right authority’. Marriage is only sealed for eternity if it is performed in a Temple by a person with priesthood authority to do so. Still, the couple must keep the covenants of fidelity, love, and obedience for marriage to be eternal.

For funerals, burial is generally preferred to cremations except in jurisdictions where this is not allowed. Embalming is accepted and allowed. If the deceased has a Temple endowment they will be buried in their Temple garments. Funerals take place in an Latter-Day Saint chapel or mortuary, officiated by an bishop or other proper authority. Family members give the family prayer, and family priesthood holders usually dedicate the grave. Grief is tempered by belief in eternity together as a family; Latter-day Saints believe they will eventually meet again in the spirit world. No one knows exactly where that spirit world is. The second prophet, Brigham Young, taught that the spirit world is ‘around us’, but the precise meaning of that remains unclear. However, Latter-day Saints teach that spirits have the same identity and basic form as during their mortal existence; they have the same families and continue with their work.

Rituals are called ordinances. These are physical actions that symbolise spiritual experience or convey spiritual significance. They are performed by someone with priesthood authority. There are two types of ordinance: those necessary for salvation or exaltation and those performed to comfort and guide people. Exaltation ordinances include baptism, confirmation, the sacrament, and conferral of the Melchizedek priesthood (for men only), Temple endowment, and Temple marriage. These are considered necessary for salvation and are also called ‘saving ordinances’. They involve entering a solemn covenant with the Lord. Ordinances for comfort and guidance include the naming and blessing of children, administering to the sick, patriarchal blessings (blessings for long-range life guidance performed by a patriarch), fathers’ blessings for their children, blessings of guidance and comfort, and the dedication of graves. These formal blessings are ordinances performed under priesthood authority. They involve the laying on of hands by the member of the priesthood, the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ and the authority of the level of priesthood, and then words of blessing as inspired by the Holy Ghost.

The Temple ordinances are key to the greatest blessings available. They can only take place in Temples, are reserved for ‘worthy’ members, and include washing and anointing, endowment, sealing of families including adopted children, and proxy ordinances. Washing and anointing is an initiatory ritual that cleanses and sanctifies the person in preparation for the further Temple ordinances of endowment and marriage. Men and women are symbolically washed and anointed by members of their own gender in separate ceremonies. After the ceremony, they receive their white Temple garments. Endowments were revealed exclusively to Joseph Smith, and form a set of rituals that are unique to Latter-day Saints. The Temple endowment involves receiving instruction in the Temple concerning God’s plan for salvation and participants make covenants with God, promising truthfulness, purity, righteous service, and devotion. Temple endowment is an initiation ceremony in which members make pledges called covenants affirming those made in baptism. Sealing rituals are those that ‘seal’ in heaven relationships formed on earth, principally a man and a woman in marriage, all children born and unborn, and any they adopt, for eternity. It is also called Temple marriage. Proxy ordinances are those performed on behalf of the dead, who did not have the opportunity to learn of the restored Gospel in life. Temple ordinances are considered necessary for eternal life, which is why Latter-day Saints consider proxy ordinances in Temples as important acts of service, faith, and personal renewal that convey gifts and opportunities on those who did not have these opportunities for the ordinances during their life.

Sunday, the Latter-day Saints Sabbath, usually includes attending a three-hour block of services in churches and meeting houses. The most important of these is the sacrament meeting, which involves the taking of the sacrament as a renewal of personal covenants, and receiving spiritual instruction. The sacrament meeting is the heart of Sunday activity, it lasts about 70 minutes, and involves the whole community, including children. Those who have been baptised receive bread and water, in remembrance of the Last Supper and the Atonement of Jesus Christ as well as their own baptismal promises to serve the Lord and keep his commandments. The service is informal in the sense that it is conducted by lay members of the congregation. However, those who attend will dress smartly and respectfully for services. Non-Latter-day Saints are welcome to attend. There are many other social activities throughout the week but no other worship services. These are community events that support and integrate the congregation as a community. Other Sunday meetings include a Sunday School and priesthood and Relief Society meetings.

The responsibility of all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to follow God’s plan throughout their life. The Church describes God as generally having a simple pattern for revealing his plan: the prophets, as witnesses of God, testify of Christ and Christian principles, the Holy Ghost confirms the truth of these teachings to those who seriously contemplate them, and then the faithful are invited to obey. In practice, this is translated by Mormons as living a life of simplicity, including simple morality and evangelism, keeping faithful to their promises to God and, where appropriate, telling others of his Gospel. It is a choice by individuals that they make after study, contemplation, and prayer through which they interpret confirmation of God’s plan as taught by his prophets and revealed by the Holy Ghost. The gift of the Holy Ghost, which requires sensitivity and serenity to operate, is considered to be a spiritual compass that provides guidance throughout life. Individuals are called to repent of their sins, which are moral deviations from God’s plan. God’s plan is believed to work best through the family, which involves adults getting married and having children. It is also worked out through the way one’s life is lived. The 13th Article of Faith calls on Church members to be “honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men”. Among other things, this has led to an emphasis on economic self-reliance and economic welfare as important elements in religious salvation. Latter-day Saints still believe in the Second Coming and the Millennium (the thousand-year reign of Christ on Earth). Early Latter-day Saints expected it imminently; however, its time of occurrence is less of a focus for the contemporary Church. Members are called upon to prepare for judgement whether this occurs sooner or later. Faith in Christ and good works prepare one for Judgement Day, which means keeping God’s commandments as understood through scripture, the teachings of Church leaders, and the rigorous demands of individual conscience.

The singing of hymns is an important form of religious expression and worship in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Latter-day Saints sing many traditional Christian hymns, but also have a strong repository of their own hymns. Many of these focus on the Saviour, while others explore the truths of their faith, for example “An Angel on High” tells the story of the angel Moroni’s message as received by Joseph Smith:

An angel from on high
The long, long silence broke;
Descending from the sky,
These gracious words he spoke:
‘Lo! in Cumorah’s lonely hill
A sacred record lies concealed.’
Sealed by Moroni’s hand,
It has for ages lain
To wait the Lord’s command,
From dust to speak again.
It shall again to light come forth
To usher in Christ’s reign on earth.
Parley P. Pratt

The concept of eternal identity finds expression in the simple children’s hymn, “I Am a Child of God” and the notion of the eternal family is venerated in another children’s hymn, “Families Can Be Together Forever”:

I have a family here on earth.
They are so good to me.
I want to share my life with them
Through all eternity.
Fam’lies can be together forever
Through Heav’nly Father’s plan.
I always want to be with my own family,
And the Lord has shown me how I can.
While I am in my early years, I’ll prepare most carefully,
So I can marry in God’s temple for eternity.
Ruth M. Gardner (© 1980 LDS)

Worship is an important concept for Latter-day Saints that goes beyond songs and services. Everyday life is an opportunity for worship of the Lord. It is not something restricted to ritual occasions: it is a way to show respect for and commitment of oneself to the Lord. In Doctrine and Covenants (133:39-40) it states that true disciples “worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters—calling upon the name of the Lord day and night.” Worship can be enacted through the way one does one’s job, the relationships one has with family and community, and the service given to the Church, all are opportunities for showing faithfulness and respect to God and love for his children who comprise humanity.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lacks a distinctive style of art and music. As noted, hymns are important for expressing Latter-day Saints stories and themes. Art by members expresses Christian themes as well as distinctively Latter-day Saints ones, such as the visions of Joseph Smith or scenes from the early pioneer days in Utah. Latter-day Saintsl iterature and cinema is developing, drawing in wider Latter-day Saints themes. The Church makes or funds a number of films that are used in seminaries (for adolescents) and institutes of religion (for university age students) to teach Church history, doctrine and general kindness. However, the personal nature of the spiritual quest of following God’s plan is reflected in the diversity of Latter-day Saints artistic production. It is unified by representation of distinctive themes and ideas from Latter-day Saints history and theology rather than by a particular style or aesthetic.

Perhaps the most famous artistic production is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, a massed-voice chorus of over 300 members, who are all volunteers receiving no remuneration for their participation. The Choir performs regularly in Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and at all the general conferences of the Church. It dates to the mid-19th century and its participation in the Chicago Columbian Exposition in 1893 arguably marked the entering of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into the American mainstream. It is now an established part of presidential inauguration ceremonies, having made appearances at six different inaugurations dating back to 1965.

A popular, recent Broadway musical called The Book of Mormon was not created by Latter-day Saints, but by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the animated TV series South Park, along with lyricist and composer, Robert Lopez. It is considered offensive by most Church members, but the Church has utilised the popularity of the play to market its faith, for example by advertising the Church’s services in the playbill with the headline, “you’ve seen the play, now read the book”. This is but one example of how the Church tries to work with the outside world and use engagement as an opportunity for teaching about the Latter-day Saints faith.

The style of architecture of Temples and churches reflects the local regulations and the customs of the country the buildings are in. There is not a set of religious ideas guiding the architecture. One of the articles of faith is to follow secular laws, and this includes not only building codes but also the general style of the wider community’s architecture. This means that Temples and churches have eclectic architecture around the world, and often do not stand out in a distinctive way. Exceptions are the large Temples in Utah and the Western United States. Many of these are built in crenellated Gothic or Renaissance style, with tall thin spires. The Salt Lake Temple is the most recognisable of all the Latter-day Saints Temples, and is an international symbol of the Church.

The identity of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints alternates between retrenchment from and assimilation to wider society. In the early history of the Church, the Latter-Day Saints lived separately from surrounding communities and relations could be hostile. They were persecuted because other Christians saw them as blasphemous, due to their non-Trinitarianism, and immoral, due to their practice of polygamy. They were driven out of Missouri and Illinois by violence. Laws and court rulings at the end of the 19th century almost destroyed the Church by stripping it of its assets and disenfranchising its members. The Church Americanised from the 1890s onwards with the end of plural marriage. Now Latter-day Saints have an identity as patriotic, family-oriented, and hard-working people who look after their own and are generally socially conservative.

They replicate their church structure and organisation exactly wherever they spread, regardless of local conditions. In ecclesiastical matters, the Church tends to work on its own, rather than in cooperation with other local or community organisations. The emphasis on missionary work, evangelism, and proselytizing spring from an understanding that they have a responsibility to share the true Gospel of Christ, but the other side of this can be that they are seen as ‘taking over’ other cultures with different religions and turning them into Latter-day Saints.

The Church has a culture of service and sacrifice, seen in the financial payments made to the Church, the voluntary humanitarian work and Church service. Contrary to its ecclesiastical work, in humanitarian and development work, the Church works closely with partners throughout the world. It is standard procedure for the Church to work with other Christian groups, or Muslim, Jewish, or secular relief agencies during disasters or in impoverished regions, to help provide assistance, often behind the scenes and with little fanfare.

Their wider sense of service can also be seen in Utah having had one of the highest rates of enlistment in World War I when the Church motivated its followers to use the notion of sacrifice to aid the war effort.

Education also plays a prominent role. Intelligence is seen as the glory of God. There is an emphasis on the life of mind. Joseph Smith founded an evening school for adults. The Church founded and operates Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, the third largest private higher educational institution in the United States, along with two campuses of the University in Hawaii and Idaho and smaller centres in Jerusalem and London. It also operates the LDS Business College in Salt Lake City. Latter-day Saints in general enjoy a higher than average level of educational attainment, and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reflects one of few religions where religious commitment tends to increase with higher levels of education. BYU has one of the strongest study abroad programmes in the United States, drawing heavily on the former missionaries, who are fluent in foreign languages, and on its strong tradition of international service.

Latter-day Saints are also at the forefront in globally promoting freedom of religion or belief through law and education. Each October the BYU Law School hosts preeminent scholars, government and NGO officers, religious leaders, and practising advocates, of any or no faith, at one of the world’s most important regularly recurring conferences on law and religion. They also help monitor religion-related cases before the European Court of Human Rights and other legal bodies.