Church, Name of
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It may be that the name of the Church will change. Only in our dispensation has it borne its present name. It may become The Church of Jesus Christ of Millennial Saints. No matter, it will always be his church and his kingdom; it will always carry his name. It may be that we shall cease speaking of the Melchizedek Priesthood and call the Holy Order by its ancient name, ‘‘the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.’’ (D&C 107:3.) No matter, it will be the same power and the same authority, and it will serve the same purpose. We see no reason why the name of the gospel should change. It was called the gospel of God in the preexistent eternities, meaning it was the plan of salvation ordained and established by God the Father to save his children. It is known to us as the gospel of Jesus Christ because our Lord put all of its terms and conditions into full operation when he bore the sins of men in Gethsemane and laid down his life on the Golgothan cross. No doubt the new dispensation will be called the millennial dispensation rather than the dispensation of the fullness of times, as at present. Again, no matter, for all dispensations have their own names, each indicative of the age of the earth involved, but all are dispensations of the same eternal gospel, given from God in heaven and received by man on earth. As the Adamic dispensation merged into the Enochian, so shall our dispensation grow into the great millennial outpouring of divine grace.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
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Today I feel compelled to discuss with you a matter of great importance. Some weeks ago, I released a statement regarding a course correction for the name of the Church. I did this because the Lord impressed upon my mind the importance of the name He decreed for His Church, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As you would expect, responses to this statement and to the revised style guide have been mixed. Many members immediately corrected the name of the Church on their blogs and social media pages. Others wondered why, with all that’s going on in the world, it was necessary to emphasize something so “inconsequential.” And some said it couldn’t be done, so why even try? Let me explain why we care so deeply about this issue. But first let me state what this effort is not: It is not a name change. It is not rebranding. It is not cosmetic. It is not a whim. And it is not inconsequential. Instead, it is a correction. It is the command of the Lord. Joseph Smith did not name the Church restored through him; neither did Mormon. It was the Savior Himself who said, “For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Even earlier, in AD 34, our resurrected Lord gave similar instruction to members of His Church when He visited them in the Americas. At that time He said: “Ye shall call the church in my name. … “And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church.” Thus, the name of the Church is not negotiable. When the Savior clearly states what the name of His Church should be and even precedes His declaration with, “Thus shall my church be called,” He is serious. And if we allow nicknames to be used or adopt or even sponsor those nicknames ourselves, He is offended. What’s in a name or, in this case, a nickname? When it comes to nicknames of the Church, such as the “LDS Church,” the “Mormon Church,” or the “Church of the Latter-day Saints,” the most important thing in those names is the absence of the Savior’s name. To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan. When we discard the Savior’s name, we are subtly disregarding all that Jesus Christ did for us—even His Atonement. Consider this from His perspective: Premortally, He was Jehovah, God of the Old Testament. Under the direction of His Father, He was the Creator of this and other worlds. He chose to submit to the will of His Father and do something for all of God’s children that no one else could do! Condescending to come to earth as the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh, He was brutally reviled, mocked, spit upon, and scourged. In the Garden of Gethsemane, our Savior took upon Himself every pain, every sin, and all of the anguish and suffering ever experienced by you and me and by everyone who has ever lived or will ever live. Under the weight of that excruciating burden, He bled from every pore. All of this suffering was intensified as He was cruelly crucified on Calvary’s cross. Through these excruciating experiences and His subsequent Resurrection—His infinite Atonement—He granted immortality to all and ransomed each one of us from the effects of sin on condition of our repentance. Following the Savior’s Resurrection and the death of His Apostles, the world plunged into centuries of darkness. Then in the year 1820, God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith to initiate the Restoration of the Lord’s Church. After all He had endured—and after all He had done for humankind—I realize with profound regret that we have unwittingly acquiesced in the Lord’s restored Church being called by other names, each of which expunges the sacred name of Jesus Christ! Every Sunday as we worthily partake of the sacrament, we make anew our sacred promise to our Heavenly Father that we are willing to take upon us the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. We promise to follow Him, repent, keep His commandments, and always remember Him. When we omit His name from His Church, we are inadvertently removing Him as the central focus of our lives. Taking the Savior’s name upon us includes declaring and witnessing to others—through our actions and our words—that Jesus is the Christ. Have we been so afraid to offend someone who called us “Mormons” that we have failed to defend the Savior Himself, to stand up for Him even in the name by which His Church is called? If we as a people and as individuals are to have access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ—to cleanse and heal us, to strengthen and magnify us, and ultimately to exalt us—we must clearly acknowledge Him as the source of that power. We can begin by calling His Church by the name He decreed. For much of the world, the Lord’s Church is presently disguised as the “Mormon Church.” But we as members of the Lord’s Church know who stands at its head: Jesus Christ Himself. Unfortunately, many who hear the term Mormon may think that we worship Mormon. Not so! We honor and respect that great ancient American prophet. But we are not Mormon’s disciples. We are the Lord’s disciples. 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. Brothers and sisters, there are many worldly arguments against restoring the correct name of the Church. Because of the digital world in which we live and with search engine optimization that helps all of us find information we need almost instantly—including information about the Lord’s Church—critics say that a correction at this point is unwise. Others feel that because we are known so widely as “Mormons” and as the “Mormon Church,” we should make the best of it. If this were a discussion about branding a man-made organization, those arguments might prevail. But in this crucial matter, we look to Him whose Church this is and acknowledge that the Lord’s ways are not, and never will be, man’s ways. If we will be patient and if we will do our part well, the Lord will lead us through this important task. After all, we know that the Lord helps those who seek to do His will, just as He helped Nephi accomplish the task of building a ship to cross the sea. We will want to be courteous and patient in our efforts to correct these errors. Responsible media will be sympathetic in responding to our request. In a previous general conference, Elder Benjamín De Hoyos spoke of such an event. He said: “Some years ago while serving in the office of public affairs of the Church in Mexico, [a companion and I] were invited to participate in a radio talk show. … [One of the program directors] asked [us], ‘Why does the Church have such a long name? …’ “My companion and I smiled at such a magnificent question and then proceeded to explain that the name of the Church was not chosen by man. It was given by the Savior. … The program director immediately and respectfully responded, ‘We will thus repeat it with great pleasure.’” That report provides a pattern. One by one, our best efforts as individuals will be required to correct errors that have crept in through the years. The rest of the world may or may not follow our lead in calling us by the correct name. But it is disingenuous for us to be frustrated if most of the world calls the Church and its members by the wrong names if we do the same. Our revised style guide is helpful. It states: “In the first reference, the full name of the Church is preferred: ‘The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.’ When a shortened [second] reference is needed, the terms ‘the Church’ or the ‘Church of Jesus Christ’ are encouraged. The ‘restored Church of Jesus Christ’ is also accurate and encouraged.” If someone should ask, “Are you a Mormon?” you could reply, “If you are asking if I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, yes, I am!” If someone asks, “Are you a Latter-day Saint?” you might respond, “Yes, I am. I believe in Jesus Christ and am a member of His restored Church.” My dear brothers and sisters, I promise you that if we will do our best to restore the correct name of the Lord’s Church, He whose Church this is will pour down His power and blessings upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints, the likes of which we have never seen. We will have the knowledge and power of God to help us take the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people and to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord. So, what’s in a name? When it comes to the name of the Lord’s Church, the answer is “Everything!” Jesus Christ directed us to call the Church by His name because it is His Church, filled with His power.
President Russell M. Nelson
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To his counselors and to us in the Quorum of the Twelve, President Russell M. Nelson said of this matter, "While acknowledging we have no control over what other people may call us, we cannot call ourselves by any other than the name the Lord has prescribed. To the degree that we tolerate our own use of Mormon or Mormonism," he continued, "we will be held accountable for this error in nomenclature." To a public audience just weeks ago, he said "The name of the Church is not negotiable." So, dear friends, when coming from our own tongues, the use of Mormonism is anathema and so is Mormon if it pertains to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a title per se. President Nelson understands fully that renaming Mormon Studies is a concern. He wrote to me, he was concerned enough to write to me an email and said, and I quote, "Part of the challenge at the Maxwell Institute will it be its identity never more obvious than in the subset titled Mormon Studies. Is this an institute for studies of the Book of Mormon or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the restoration of the gospel?" We need to help, we need to help them know who they are and why they exist. He continued, "I truly believe that if they can claim the name of the Lord Jesus Christ some way in their name, the Lord will bless them in their mission." It's a very private email, but he gave me permission to share it. "Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, 'The Maxwell Legacy in the 21st Century' (2018 Neal A. Maxwell Lecture)." video, 33:35, YouTube, posted by Maxwell Institute, January 25, 2019. https://youtu.be/qpUN29orJmM?si=7VI-1dYqCxGgqKws. Credit: Catherine Morrison
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
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