Gathering has been an important part of life in

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church), from gathering as

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

to gathering for worship services. In the early days of the church, members were asked to gather together many times in specific locations from all over the world, including traveling across the United States to the

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th st ...

. In the modern era, members are able to gather in the stakes of

Zion Zion (; ) is a placename in the Tanakh, often used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole. The name is found in 2 Samuel (), one of the books of the Tanakh dated to approximately the mid-6th century BCE. It o ...

located in their local areas and to build the Kingdom of God wherever they are, often via technology.

Doctrine

LDS Church members are commanded to meet together often, to uplift each other and strengthen their faith in God.

Historic examples

Historically,

Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

have gathered in many locations, including: *

Kirtland, Ohio Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,937 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Kirtland is known for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement from 1831 to 1837 and the site of ...

Independence, Missouri Independence is a city in and one of two county seats of Jackson County, Missouri, United States. It is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020 Unite ...

Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its h ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

and the surrounding

Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Utah, Murray, Sandy, Uta ...

* Various sites within the

Mormon Corridor The Mormon corridor are the areas of western North America that were settled between 1850 and approximately 1890 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), who are commonly called "Mormons". In academic literatu ...

* Laie, Hawaii

Modern practices

In the modern era, members are asked to gather in the stakes of Zion in their local areas. The members gather with their local

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

or branch (smaller congregation) for weekly worship services in meetinghouses. Twice a year there is a stake conference for each stake, where the members of the several wards that make up each stake meet as a group. These were previously held in stake tabernacles, but now normally will occur in stake centers.

District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

and

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

conference also happen periodically. Latter-day Saints gather twice each year for general conference, currently held in the

Conference Center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

, but available via broadcast through a variety of outlets. In high schools, primarily through the western United States, Latter-day Saint students can gather for released-time (or early-morning)

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

to learn more about the teachings found in the

Standard Works The Standard Works of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, the largest in the Latter Day Saint movement) are the four books that currently constitute its open scriptural canon. The four books of the standard works are: * ...

. In colleges and other areas throughout the world, students gather together to take

institute An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

classes which teach these same topics at a collegiate level.

Gathering of Israel

In the Old Testament, Israel had the blessings of being God's covenant people, but they were scattered because of rebellion. God promised that the

Children of Israel Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanite populations and other peoples.Mark Smit ...

would be gathered. Missionaries are sent by the church worldwide to gather the children of God. Peter and Paul prophesied that all things were to be restored during this last dispensation, which includes gathering the scattered. Latter-day Saints are taught that one of the main purposes for gathering is to make all of the saving ordinances available, especially those that are limited to a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

Patriarchal Blessings

Members of the church are able to receive a patriarchal blessing in which they are declared a member of a particular tribe of Israel, either by lineage or adoption. They receive the responsibilities and blessings of that tribe as well as guidance for their own lives. This is similar to the blessings given by Jacob to his sons in Genesis 49. The purpose is to help the individual know their role in the gathering of Israel.

House of Joseph

The LDS Church teaches that many of its members today are of the tribe of

Ephraim Ephraim (; , in pausa: ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath, as well as the adopted son of his biological grandfather Jacob, making him the progenitor of the Tribe of Ephrai ...

, which it views as fulfilling the promise that Ephraim would have the birthright in the last days, as well as the responsibility to gather Israel. It also teaches that the tribe of

Manasseh Manasseh () is both a given name and a surname. Its variants include Manasses and Manasse. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Ezekiel Saleh Manasseh (died 1944), Singaporean rice and opium merchant and hotelier * Jacob Manasseh ( ...

will assist the tribe of Ephraim in gathering of Israel. Together, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh will be gathered in the Americas.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gathering (Lds Church) Latter Day Saint terms Nauvoo, Illinois Kirtland, Ohio Independence, Missouri Salt Lake City