  the church of christ was the original name of the latter day saint church founded by joseph smith. organized informally in 1829 in northwestern new york and then as a legal entity on april 6, 1830, it was the first organization to implement the principles found in smith's newly published book of mormon, and thus represents the formal beginning of the latter day saint movement. later names for this organization included the church of the latter day saints (by 1834 resolution),"minutes of a conference", evening and morning star, vol. 2, no. 20, p. 160 (may 1832). the church of jesus christ,joseph smith (b. h. roberts (ed.)) history of the church vol. 3, p. 24, footnote. the church of god, the church of christ of latter day saints,richard lloyd anderson, "i have a question: what changes have been made in the name of the church?", ensign, january 1979.susan easton black, "name of the church" in daniel h. ludlow ed., encyclopedia of mormonism (macmillan: new york, 1992) p. 979. and the church of jesus christ of latter day saints (by an 1838 revelation).manuscript history of the church, lds church archives, book a-1, p. 37; reproduced in dean c. jessee (comp.) (1989). the papers of joseph smith: autobiographical and historical writings (salt lake city, utah: deseret book) 1:302â03.h. michael marquardt and wesley p. walters (1994). inventing mormonism: tradition and the historical record (salt lake city, utah: signature books) p. 160. smith and his associates asserted that the church of christ was a restoration of the 1st-century christian church, which smith claimed had fallen from god's favor and authority because of what he called a "great apostasy". after smith's death in 1844, there was a crisis of authority, with the majority of the members following brigham young to utah territory, but with several smaller denominations remaining in illinois or settling in missouri and in other states. each of the churches that resulted from this [[schism (religion)|sch
1830_establishments_in_New_York Church_of_Christ_(Latter_Day_Saints) History_of_the_Latter_Day_Saint_movement Kirtland,_Ohio Nauvoo,_Illinois Religious_organizations_established_in_1830