Cover image via Gospel Media Library.
I have lived on the East Coast of the United States for 36 years. When my friends discover I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, they inevitably ask, “Are you a Mormon?” I have learned to respond, “No. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” This response has led to some delightful conversations and has often cleared up misconceptions about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Before President Nelson reminded us how critical it is to use the correct name of the church in his October 2018 conference talk, I was always a bit ashamed when people learned I belonged to the “Mormon” church. I understood that they held misconceptions about the Church. These misconceptions colored their opinion of me, and my inquirers seldom wanted to know more.
In the most recent General Conference President Nelson reminded us that we have “retired” the name “Mormon Church.” It is not to be used to describe those who belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, not by members and not by inquirers. President Nelson said, “In the early days of the restored Church, terms such as Mormon Church and Mormons were often used as epithets—as cruel terms, abusive terms—designed to obliterate God’s hand in restoring the Church of Jesus Christ in these latter-days.” (October 2018 General Conference)
Disparaging nicknames have long been used to embarrass or marginalize certain ethnic groups. However, these groups have stood up for themselves, insisted that they not be referred to by these denigrating nicknames. For some reason members of The Church of Jesus Christ embraced the nickname that obliterated God’s hand in restoring The Church of Jesus Christ in these latter-days.
Correcting the name of the church is in no way a slight to Mormon, the historian who abridged the book we zealously embrace. Mormon was a great man. He was an amazing general, a brave warrior, a superb and very gifted historian. There is not a writer in all history I admire more than Mormon; but Mormon was a man.
Who Mormon Wasn’t
Mormon was not born of a virgin. A new star did not appear in the heavens when Mormon was born. Prophets did not prophecy of his birth for centuries. He did not heal lepers or give the blind their sight. He did not raise his soldiers from the dead. He did not take upon himself our sins. The earth did not shake at his passing. Mormon was not the ONLY begotten son of God the Father.
Mormon worshipped Jesus Christ. Of Jesus Christ Mormon said, “I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus” (Mormon 1:7). Mormon spent his life recording the words of other prophets who testified of Christ. He read first-hand reports of the Savior’s involvement with the people in the Americas. He had access to all kinds of testimonies we don’t have because he had to read all the records and choose what to include in his abridgement.
I am certain Mormon would have agreed with the apostle John who said regarding Christ, “His shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.” Mormon probably cringes to note that the Savior’s church is being called by his name.
Fear of Offense
It takes a lot of courage to use the correct name of the Church, as President Nelson counseled. We might fear we will offend people if we inform them that it is not “politically correct” to use the offensive nickname. However, I have found that people are grateful for the correction. I was grateful that my sister informed me it was politically correct to refer to her husband as “Asian.” I was grateful to my daughter who informed me it is politically correct to refer to her daughter as child with Down Syndrome and not a Down Syndrome child. People generally don’t want to be seen as uninformed, and when kindly corrected, they respond well.
Another reason we might be reluctant to use the correct name of the Church is because it is quite a mouthful. It takes a lot longer to say, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It doesn’t roll off our tongue as easily as “Mormon.” I like to use this obvious fact to connect with my listeners. I will usually make a joke about the long name of the Church and speculate about why Jesus Christ chose such a long name for his restored Church. My listeners and I often enjoy a good laugh together.
President Nelson made this correction about using the correct name of the Church during the time my husband and I were serving as mission leaders. It was helpful to have the missionaries to practice using the correct name of the Church until it rolled off their tongue with ease. We invited them to say the correct name over and over again until they felt no embarrassment taking up an extra second of someone’s time when they used the entire name of the Church.
Hidden Benefits
I believe President Nelson was inspired to remind us to use the proper name of the Church for several reasons. For sure, this practice will help non-members recognize that we worship God the Father and Jesus Christ and nobody else. However, in addition, his inspired counsel reminds us, as members, whose we are.
Imagine the difference remembering the correct name of the Church will make when we invite someone to come to church. We will be careful not to say, “Hey, why don’t you come to my church this Sunday,” Or “We are having a party at my church…”.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not my church. It is not President Nelson’s church or Joseph Smith’s church. You and I are beyond privileged to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ— The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Consider the following invitation: “I am going to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-ay Saints this Sunday. Will you come with me?” or “There is an activity at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this Saturday. Will you come with me?”
Using the correct name of the Church reminds us how blessed we are to be members of the actual Church of Jesus Christ, how fortunate we are to have Jesus Christ himself leading this church, how reassuring it is to be learning correct doctrine, and what a privilege it is to have access to those with authority to help us make sacred covenants.
Old Habits Die Hard
My husband and I conducted an experiment in our stake mission prep class. We pulled several high school students aside and separately asked them how they would tell a stranger what church they belonged to. Each one of them said, “I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” This made me wonder if the reluctance to “retire” the inappropriate name of the church is due to old habits. Our young people know the correct name of the Church and are using it.
When we follow the example of these youth and accept the invitation of President Nelson, it will entirely change others’ perception of the restored Church. It will also change the attitudes of those of us who are blessed to be members of the church that Jesus Christ himself restored to the earth in the latter-days. We will constantly be reminded that we belong to a church that is not a church of men; it is the church established by the Son of God.
JeaNette Goates Smith is a retired Marriage and Family Therapist and the author of four books about family relationships. She and her husband Bret served as mission leaders in the Dominican Republic from 2017 to 2020. For more information go to www.smithfamilytherapy.org.
annamarieMay 27, 2025
THE NAME ‟MORMON” The following quotes from the book: The Divine Origin of the Restoration, pp. 57-59 by F. Edward Butterworth Copyright © 1989 Cosmic Press – Chico, California [The point of Brother Butterworth’s quotes was that people outside the original church used that term for its members primarily derogatorily.] The names ‟Mormon,” ‟Mormonite,” and ‟Mormonism” were nicknames given to the original Latter Day Saint Church by its enemies in the early 1800s. Joseph Smith Jr. strongly opposed accepting these names as a proper designation for the church. Other early church leaders also rejected these names as the following documentation clearly shows. Joseph Smith Jr. said early in his ministry: The name Mormon, and Mormonism, was given to us by our enemies, but Latter Day Saints was the real name by which the church was organized (Times and Seasons 1:54). In another church paper, Joseph wrote: We thought no harm in advising the Latter Day Saints, or Mormons, as they are reproachfully called, to gather to this place (Messenger and Advocate 1:180). Oliver Cowdery disliked the nickname ‟Mormonite”: It is now more than four years since this church was organized in these last days, and though the conferences have always shown by their minutes, that they took no other name than the name of Christ, the church has, particularly abroad, been called ‟Mormonite.” As the members of this church profess the book of Mormon, the world, either out of contempt and ridicule, or to distinguish us from others, have been very lavish in bestowing the title of ‟Mormonite”… but WE do not accept the above title, nor shall we wear it as OUR name, though it may be lavished out upon us double to what it has hitherto been (Evening and Morning Star 2:158). Later, Oliver Cowdery spoke very emphatically against the name “Mormons”: ‟Latter Day Saints” [are] vulgarly styled ‟Mormons” (Messenger and Advocate 2:294). Parley P. Pratt wrote the following in May 1840: As to party names, we shall acknowledge no name as belonging to the people of God but that of Saints; a name which is older than the flood. In relation to the Church of God in this age of the world, we shall acknowledge no name but “the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter-Day Saints” (Millennial Star 1:7) This early practice of resisting the use of the name ‟Mormon” to designate the original Latter Day Saint church has continued in the Reorganization. President Israel A. Smith, grandson of Joseph Smith, Jr., wrote: We of the Reorganized church are not Mormons and…should reject its use…. In Lucy Smith’s history of Joseph Smith, she made use of the term, but explained that she did not approve of it (Saints’ Herald, September 16, 1944, p. 5). Lucy Smith made the following statement: ‟I told you that we were ‛Mormons,’” I replied, ‟because that is what the world calls us, but the only name we acknowledge is Latter Day Saints” (Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith the Prophet and His progenitors; p. 188). President Israel A. Smith continued his explanation about the use of the name ‟Mormon”: Not only did the founder of the church reject the word, but the church in his day repudiated it as applicable to themselves. In an epistle prepared by the High Council of the church (which certainly was authoritative) dated July 3, 1834, we find the following: ‟Whereas the church of Christ recently styled the Latter Day Saints, contumeliously called Mormons, or Mormonites.” Thus there was ample justification in the action of the Reorganized church (Gen. Conf. Resolution No. 301) in discouraging the use of the word ‛Mormons’ as applying to our members (Saints’ Herald, Sept. 16, 1944; p. 5). Other leaders of the original church also regarded the name ‟Mormon” in the title of the church as a ‟vulgar” term, because it cast derision on one of the sacred books of the church, the Book of Mormon. These included W. W. Phelps, Isaac Morley, John Corrill, A.S. Gilbert, and John Whitmer (Evening and Morning Star 2:114). Since the Utah church has chosen to use the term ‟Mormon” as a semi-official designation of that institution, it should not be used to describe the original Latter Day Saint Church, which will be referred to in this manuscript as the ‟Restoration.” _________________
EricMay 23, 2025
The "I'm a Mormon" campaign was an attempt to meet people on their own level. President Monson and President Hinckley had backgrounds in publishing and public relations, so that approach made sense to them. There's some merit to that, but there's more merit to owning our identity as the Church of Jesus Christ. There's also more merit in following the guidance of the living prophet than there is in using past prophets to justify ourselves. I look forward to the time when calling a Latter-day Saint a Mormon will sound just as backwards and provincial as it does when Muslims are called Mohammedans.