The Mormon Religion Hierarchy is described by the LSD Hierarchy which depicts the structural organization of the Mormon religion. A person named Joseph Smith asserted that he had a private vision of God and Jesus Christ due to which he thought to start a Mormon church.
Earlier it was just a religion of few groups and families but later many followers were added to this religion and form a complete Mormon religion. Joseph smith also claimed that god has given him certain gold plates which when translated formed a complete Book of Mormon. This led to the existence of Mormon religion and contributes towards the Mormon Religion Hierarchy.
The Mormon Church was originally set up in 1830 however some practices of this religion began in 1828. Quinn was responsible to maintain the privileges of the church. Mormon religion is based on the Latter Day Saint movement. After the demise of Joseph Smith, the followers started following Brigham Young.
Most of the Mormons reside in Utah and North America and practice their religions in these areas. Early Mormons were very strict about their diet and avoided addictive substances. The two main ranks in the church were patriarch and bishop. Joseph Smith’s father and Edward Partridge became the first patriarch and bishop of the church respectively.
There are various groups made within the Mormon Religion Hierarchy and these groups are as follows:
- Latter-day Saints: Individuals with the membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints are referred as Latter Day Saints. Majority of the Mormons are Latter Day Saints of the church. Members who do not exercise the practices of the church in regular intervals are called less active Latter Day Saints. The less activity may be due to the social standards of the people.
- Fundamentalist Mormons: Those members of LDS church who practice the Polygamy or plural marriage are referred as Fundamentalist Mormons. Besides this, they also follow Christian communalism also known as the United Order. Since the ideologies of Fundamentalist Mormons and the LDS church are wide apart, as a result LDS church has started ignoring the Fundamentalist Mormons.
- Liberal Mormons: Liberal Mormons forms an integral part of the Mormon Religion Hierarchy. They are depictive in nature and try to identify and understand the teachings of the church and the scriptures. They make good relationships with others and are benign to all.
- Cultural Mormons: These are the individuals with different believes as compared to other Mormons in the Mormon Religion Hierarchy. They do not follow the track of the principles of LDS church but instead they identify themselves as unique Mormons who have their own path and follow it. They directly or indirectly serve as the members of the LDS community.
- Ex-Mormons: An Atheist individual who does not identify themselves as a part of the Mormon religion or has left the religion comes in the category of Ex-Mormons under the Mormon Religion Hierarchy. Ex-Mormons either provide their support to Mormons or are completely deviated from the path of Mormonism or do not accept the religion.