Mormon family organizations (''i.e.'', family organizations or associations) are entities created by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to accomplish the basic purposes of family life as understood within the church, in order to establish and strengthen family unity and identity across multiple generations.

Importance

As the basic unit of society, the family is also the fundamental organization within the LDS Church.

LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

members tend to be very family-oriented, and have strong connections across generations and with extended family, often through regular

family reunion A family reunion is an occasion when many members of an extended family congregate. Sometimes reunions are held regularly, for example on the same date of every year. A typical family reunion will assemble for a meal, some recreation and discussi ...

s. For LDS Church members a knowledge and appreciation of one's lineage and heritage is closely connected to the sacred ordinances conducted in LDS temples. In its most general sense, the term "family organization" as used within the church refers to the fundamental concept of eternal family structure encompassed by the Plan of Salvation. More specifically, "family organization" refers to organizations created to provide structure and direction in meeting immediate and long-term family objectives and purposes. In connection therewith, LDS Church leaders have regularly taught the importance of establishing and supporting family organizations. During the 20th century as part of the church's semi-annual General Conferences, a "Priesthood Genealogy Seminar" was conducted by LDS Church leaders in which the importance of family organizations was frequently emphasized. " tablishing and maintaining family organizations for the immediate and extended family" has been expressly listed as an appropriate way to observe the importance of the Sabbath day in General Conference addresses and other church publications.

Purpose and organization

In 1978 the church asked all families to organize themselves at three levels: as "immediate" families, "grandparent," and "ancestral.": "From the early days of the Church, LDS families have regularly established family organizations, held reunions, and worked to make strong family identity." Individual or immediate families are regularly encouraged to hold weekly

Family Home Evening Family Home Evening (FHE) or Family Night, in the context of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), refers to one evening per week, usually Monday, that families are encouraged to spend together in religious instruction, pra ...

and participate in family councils. More formal family organizations consist of the descendants of a common

ancestor An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...

. The purposes of such family organizations may include coordinating family efforts in promoting welfare, education, conducting family history research, holding reunions, compiling family newsletters and publications, and other family-related LDS practices. Commemorating family heritage and legacy is another typical purpose and activity for family organizations. In September 2016, LDS Ancestral Families Association (LDSAFA) was established as a "free registration, publication and support consortium for LDS Ancestral Family Organizations (AFOs)."

Influence

Formally constituted family organizations figure prominently among descendants of some

Mormon pioneer The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...

s and other early converts to the LDS Church. The longevity of and degree of organization found among many Mormon ancestral family organizations is noteworthy. For example, the Jared Pratt Family Organization was founded in 1881, making it one of the oldest family organizations in the United States in continuous existence. In 1971 the Internal Revenue Service of the United States issued a Revenue Ruling determining that non-profit family organizations that are expressly "formed to compile genealogical research data on its family members in order to perform religious ordinances in accordance with the precepts of the religious denomination to which family members belong" are exempt under Section

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

. Given their extensive documentation of lineages connecting many thousands of living individuals to a single common ancestor, their relatively larger extended family size (attributable in part to the early Mormon practice of plural marriage), relatively larger immediate family size, religious emphasis on "clean" or healthy living, and relative longevity, the genealogical data maintained by many Mormon ancestral family organizations have also been instrumental in medical research of genetic disorders. The University of Utah has made unique contributions to the study of genetics due in part to long-term

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinsh ...

efforts of the

, which has allowed researchers to trace genetic disorders through several generations. The relative homogeneity of Utah's population also makes it an ideal laboratory for studies of population genetics. The university is home to the Genetic Science Learning Center, a resource which educates the public about genetics through its website. There are several large Mormon ancestral family organizations, notable for their longevity, quality or degree of organization, or connection to well-known deceased or currently living persons. A non-exhaustive list appears below.

LDS Ancestral Family Organizations (alphabetized by male progenitor surname)

;A *Allred (Rocky Mtn.) Family Organization *

Milo Andrus Milo Andrus (March 6, 1814 – June 19, 1893) was an early leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Biography Andrus was born in Wilmington, New York, to Ruluf Andress and Azuba Smith. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat ...

Family Organization ;B * Israel Barlow Family Association * Belnap Family Organization *The Bennion Family Organization of Utah *Bluth Family Association *Braithwaite Family Organization *Brough Family Organization *Orson Pratt Brown Family ;C *Anson Bowen Call Family *George Q. Cannon Family Association *Cazier Family Organization *Ezra Thompson Clark Family Organization *Samuel Clark Family Organization *Phineas Wolcott Cook Family Organization ;D *Dastrup Family Organization ;E *Major Howard Egan Family Foundation *Bishop David Evans Family Association ;F *Winslow Farr, Sr. Organization *Peter Fullmer Family Organization ;G *Gardner and Brooks Family Organization *Henry Grow Family Association ;H *Hale Family Organization * Ephraim Hanks Family *Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham Family *Hatch Family Association *John and Jane Hayes Family Organization *Martin Heiner Family Organization *Henry Hendricks Family Organization *Abraham Heslington Family Organization ;J *Jackson and Flint Family Foundation * Benjamin F. Johnson Family Organization *George Jarvis and Ann Prior Family Association *Joel Hills Johnson Family Organization ;K *

Heber C. Kimball Heber Chase Kimball (June 14, 1801 – June 22, 1868) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement. He served as one of the original twelve Apostle (Latter Day Saints), apostles in the early Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints), Church ...

Family Association *Joseph Knight Sr. and Polly Knight Family Organization ;L *Leo C. and Relia Shaw Larsen Family Organization *Western Association of Leavitt Families *

John Doyle Lee John Doyle Lee (September 6, 1812 – March 23, 1877) was an American pioneer and prominent early member of the Latter Day Saint Movement in Utah. Lee was later convicted as a mass murderer for his complicity in the Mountain Meadows massacre, se ...

Family Association ;M *John Marriott Historical Society *Hugh McKenna Family Organization *John Morse Family Organization *Joseph Stacy Murdock Family Organization ;N *

Alexander Neibaur Alexander Neibaur (January 8, 1808 – December 15, 1883) was the first dentist to practice in Utah and first Jew to join the Latter Day Saint movement. He was educated for the profession at the University of Berlin and was a skilled dentist befo ...

Family Organization *Nichols and Booth Family Organization ;O *Osmond Family Organization ;P *

John Pack John Pack (May 20, 1809 – April 4, 1885) was a member of the Council of Fifty and a Mormon missionary, missionary in the early days of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Biography Pack was born in Saint John, New ...

Family Association *Francis Martin Pomeroy Family Organization *Sanford Porter Family Organization *

Jared Pratt Family Association The Pratt family is made up of the descendants of the Mormon pioneer brothers, Parley Parker Pratt and his brother Orson Pratt, whose father was Jared Pratt (1769–1839). It has many members in Utah, and other parts of the U.S. There are many ...

;R *John Hardison Redd and Elizabeth Hancock Family Organization *

Charles C. Rich Charles Coulson Rich (August 21, 1809 – November 17, 1883) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He led one of the first groups of Mormon pioneers west from Illinois under the leadership of Brigham Young after Joseph Smith's mur ...

Family Association ;S *Justus Azel Seelye Family Organization *Hyrum Smith Family Association * Jesse N. Smith Heritage Foundation *

Joseph Smith, Sr. Joseph Smith Sr. (July 12, 1771 – September 14, 1840) was the father of Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Joseph Sr. was also one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, which Mormons believe was translat ...

and

Lucy Mack Smith Lucy Mack Smith (July 8, 1775 – May 14, 1856) was the mother of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. She is noted for writing the memoir, '' Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many ...

Family Association * Joseph Smith, Jr. and Emma Hale Historical Society *

Joseph F. Smith Joseph Fielding Smith Sr. (November 13, 1838 – November 19, 1918) was an American religious leader who served as the sixth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was the nephew of Joseph Smith, the founde ...

Family Association *Abraham Owen Smoot Family Organization *Sorensen Family History Organization *John Martin Steiner and Anna Barbara Schmied Family Organization *Joseph Stout Family Organization *Jacob Strong Family Organization ;T *George Washington Taggart Family Organization *Joseph Taylor, Sr. Family Association *Tolman Family Organization *Theodore Turley Family Organization ;W *Workman Family Organization

References

Sources