The history of Mormonism is considerably more complicated than a single church headquartered in Salt Lake City. The broader Latter Day Saint movement resembles a large family tree: one enormous branch receives most of the sunlight, while dozens of smaller branches twist through Missouri, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Utah, and other corners of the United States.
Most divisions began with a familiar religious question: who has the authority to lead? After Joseph Smith was killed in 1844, several prominent followers presented competing answers. Some supported Brigham Young and traveled west. Others followed Smith’s son, Joseph Smith III. Still others trusted James Strang, Sidney Rigdon, Alpheus Cutler, or later prophets who claimed new revelations.
The result was not one tidy Mormon schism but a continuing series of disagreements over prophetic succession, scripture, priesthood authority, communal living, temple ordinances, plural marriage, and the location of Zion. Some surviving groups are peaceful international denominations. Others consist of one tiny congregation. A few have become associated with troubling criminal cases and authoritarian leadership.
Why Did Mormonism Produce So Many Factions?
Joseph Smith organized the original Church of Christ in New York in 1830. The movement subsequently changed its official name, developed new priesthood offices, built communities, published additional revelations, and gathered converts in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Rapid theological development made the young religion energetic, but it also created plenty of material for disagreement.
Smith’s sudden death created what historians call the Mormon succession crisis. Brigham Young argued that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles possessed the necessary authority to guide the church. Sidney Rigdon claimed a leadership role as Smith’s surviving counselor. James Strang produced a letter he interpreted as proof that Smith had personally appointed him. Other believers expected Smith’s family, particularly his eldest son, to inherit the prophetic office.
These arguments unfolded alongside disputes about plural marriage, communal economics, temple rituals, the nature of God, and whether newer teachings represented divine progress or an abandonment of the original Restoration. The largest body followed Young, but the smaller Mormon denominations never simply evaporated. Some survived by becoming tightly organized communities with remarkably durable identities.
1. Community of Christ
The Midwestern Heir Led by Joseph Smith III
Community of Christ is the best-known organization on this list, yet many Americans remain surprised that it belongs to the same religious family as the Utah-based LDS Church. It was organized in 1860 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly shortened to RLDS. Joseph Smith III, the founder’s eldest surviving son, became its first president.
The denomination gathered believers who had remained in the Midwest and rejected Brigham Young’s leadership. Historically, the RLDS Church opposed plural marriage and emphasized lineal succession through the Smith family. It eventually established its headquarters in Independence, Missouri, a city with enormous symbolic importance throughout the Latter Day Saint movement.
The church adopted the name Community of Christ in 2001. Today, its public identity emphasizes Jesus Christ, peacebuilding, social justice, responsible interpretation of history, and inclusive Christian community. It continues to use the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, but its theology and worship have moved much closer to mainline Protestant Christianity than those of most Restoration churches. It is basically the relative who attended the same family reunion, inherited some of the furniture, and redecorated the entire house.
2. The Strangite Church
The Mormon Kingdom of James J. Strang
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints associated with James J. Strang may have the most cinematic story of any Mormon offshoot. Strang claimed that Joseph Smith had written a “Letter of Appointment” naming him as the next prophet. He also said angels had ordained him, giving his succession claim a supernatural résumé that was difficult to fit on one business card.
Strang attracted several prominent converts and established a gathering place at Voree, near present-day Burlington, Wisconsin. He later led followers to Beaver Island in Lake Michigan. There, Strang created an unusual religious community and was crowned kingnot king of the United States, fortunately for Washington, but king over his religious kingdom.
Strang was mortally wounded by former followers in 1856. His death caused much of the movement to scatter, yet a small Strangite remnant survived. The modern church remains headquartered in Burlington and considers Strang Joseph Smith’s legitimate successor. Its members observe Saturday as the Sabbath and distinguish themselves from both the Salt Lake City church and Mormon fundamentalist organizations.
3. Church of Christ (Temple Lot)
The Small Church Guarding a Very Important Piece of Land
The Church of Christ, informally called the Temple Lot church, is headquartered on a modest parcel in Independence, Missouri. To a casual visitor, the property may look like an open field. Within Restoration history, however, it is prime theological real estate. Joseph Smith identified the area as the location for a future temple in the anticipated city of Zion.
The denomination emerged from congregations united under Granville Hedrick during the 1850s and 1860s. It sought to return to what its members regarded as the simple organization and doctrine of the church restored in 1830. Unlike the LDS Church, it rejects plural marriage, baptism for the dead, a First Presidency, and several theological developments associated with the Nauvoo period.
The church is governed through apostles rather than one worldwide prophet-president. It accepts the Bible and Book of Mormon while rejecting many later writings treated as scripture by other Latter Day Saint bodies. Its possession of the Temple Lot has repeatedly placed this comparatively small denomination near the center of much larger debates about prophecy, property, and who represents the original church.
4. The Church of Jesus Christ, Sometimes Called Bickertonite
A Pennsylvania-Based Restoration Church
The Church of Jesus Christ headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, traces its leadership history through Sidney Rigdon and William Bickerton. Outsiders frequently call its members Bickertonites, although the denomination prefers its official name. This distinction is understandable. Few people enjoy having their entire religion labeled as though it were a neighborhood softball team.
William Bickerton organized the church in 1862 after concluding that neither Brigham Young’s followers nor other successor movements had preserved the original gospel correctly. The denomination accepts the Bible and Book of Mormon as complementary scripture, practices baptism by immersion, lays hands on members for the Holy Spirit, washes feet, blesses children, and maintains an unpaid ministry.
It strongly rejects plural marriage and teaches that marriage is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman. It also does not adopt every later doctrinal development associated with Utah Mormonism. The organization has expanded beyond Pennsylvania and presents itself as a global Restoration church centered on Jesus rather than as a nostalgic historical society devoted to nineteenth-century disputes.
5. The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)
One of the Smallest Surviving Restoration Bodies
Alpheus Cutler was a trusted associate of Joseph Smith, a member of the Council of Fifty, and an experienced leader during the Nauvoo era. After Smith’s death, Cutler initially remained connected with Brigham Young’s followers but eventually rejected Young’s authority. He formally reorganized his church in 1853.
Cutler’s followers established a settlement in Minnesota before relocating their institutional center to Independence, Missouri. The Cutlerite tradition preserved a distinctive interpretation of priesthood authority, communal economics, and selected Nauvoo-era practices. Members believed Cutler had received a special commission from Joseph Smith that remained unfinished and could not simply be canceled by another claimant.
Today, the denomination is exceptionally small. Its official website states that only one active church remains, located in Independence, and that prospective members generally need to live nearby to participate fully. That makes the Cutlerites a fascinating example of religious survival. A movement does not need megachurch lighting, a stadium-sized congregation, or even a second ZIP code to maintain a continuous identity.
6. The Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
A Conservative Break From the RLDS Tradition
Religious movements do not stop dividing merely because the first generation has passed. The Remnant Church emerged from disagreements inside the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the organization now known as Community of Christ.
During the late twentieth century, some conservative RLDS members opposed changes that included women’s ordination, revised theological interpretations, and a reduced emphasis on building a literal Zion in Independence. Many began worshipping in independent Restoration branches. In 1999, leaders issued a proclamation inviting believers to renew a centralized church organization. The Remnant Church began functioning formally in 2000.
Frederick Niels Larsen, a descendant of early RLDS president Frederick M. Smith, became the denomination’s prophet-president in 2002. The church views itself not as a newly invented faith but as a continuation of the original Restoration through the RLDS tradition. It emphasizes prophetic leadership, traditional scripture, priesthood offices, and preparation for God’s kingdom. Community of Christ moved in one theological direction; the Remnant Church responded by reaching firmly for the historical emergency brake.
7. Church of Christ With the Elijah Message
New Revelations From John the Baptist
The Church of Christ with the Elijah Message grew from an earlier division within the Temple Lot tradition. Its origins involve Otto Fetting, an apostle who reported a series of angelic visitations beginning in the 1920s. Fetting identified the messenger as John the Baptist, understood in this tradition as fulfilling the prophetic role of Elijah.
The reported messages instructed believers about church organization, repentance, authority, baptism, and the future construction of a temple in Independence. When disputes arose over the messages, Fetting and supporters separated from the Temple Lot church. Later, William A. Draves claimed to receive additional communications from the same heavenly messenger, producing another institutional branch.
Members accept the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and a collection of modern messages as authoritative religious guidance. The church maintains the Restoration belief that God can continue revealing instructions rather than leaving humanity with a permanently closed filing cabinet. To outsiders, the multiple layers of Fettingite and Elijah Message divisions can seem confusing. To participants, they concern the most important question imaginable: where is God speaking now?
8. Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
The Best-Known Polygamous Mormon Offshoot
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS, must not be confused with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The organizations are unaffiliated, and the Salt Lake City church has prohibited new plural marriages for well over a century.
The FLDS developed from Mormon fundamentalists who believed plural marriage remained a divine command despite the LDS Church’s 1890 Manifesto and later enforcement measures. Followers established a strong presence in the neighboring communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, formerly known collectively as Short Creek.
Under Warren Jeffs, the organization became increasingly authoritarian. Jeffs was convicted in Texas in 2011 of sexually assaulting two underage girls and received a life sentence. A federal jury also found that the border towns had discriminated against non-FLDS residents in housing, utilities, and policing. Court intervention eventually removed much of the church’s control over local government.
These documented abuses should be discussed directly without treating every current or former member as personally responsible. Many people raised inside the FLDS have experienced family separation, loss, and difficult transitions into outside society. Recent changes in the former stronghold communities demonstrate how dramatically a place can evolve when religious and municipal authority are disentangled.
9. Apostolic United Brethren
A Less-Isolated Mormon Fundamentalist Tradition
The Apostolic United Brethren, commonly abbreviated AUB, is another Mormon fundamentalist organization that preserves plural marriage. Its institutional roots extend into the early twentieth-century fundamentalist movement, but it developed a distinct identity under Rulon C. Allred during the 1950s.
The AUB historically differed from the FLDS in organization and everyday culture. Its members have generally lived among the broader population rather than concentrating almost entirely in one isolated town. They may attend public schools, operate ordinary businesses, and wear conventional clothing. This does not make the group identical to mainstream society, but it makes casual identification considerably harder. There is no mandatory prairie-dress uniform flashing above members like a theological notification icon.
The denomination teaches that plural marriage and other early Mormon principles should be preserved by a specially authorized priesthood. Some adherents have viewed the mainstream LDS Church as a legitimate institution that temporarily abandoned certain higher teachings rather than as a completely false church. The AUB therefore occupies an unusual position: separate from the LDS Church, committed to Mormon fundamentalism, but historically less separatist than the FLDS.
10. Latter Day Church of Christ, or the Kingston Group
A Religious Community Built Around a Cooperative Order
The Latter Day Church of Christ is closely associated with the Davis County Cooperative Society. It is commonly called the Kingston Group, the Co-op, or simply the Order. Its roots reach back to the 1930s, when Elden Kingston and relatives organized a community centered on plural marriage, consecrated property, and shared economic activity.
Unlike the geographically concentrated FLDS communities, Kingston-affiliated families and businesses have been integrated throughout Utah’s Wasatch Front. The cooperative model is central to the group’s identity. Members are expected to contribute labor and resources to an economic system understood as an expression of the United Order taught in early Mormon history.
The organization has also faced serious allegations and criminal cases involving some prominent members, including unlawful marriages, abuse, fraud, and financial misconduct. These cases are important, but careful reporting should distinguish proven acts, allegations, institutional teachings, and the experiences of ordinary members.
The Kingston Group demonstrates that a religious faction can be both socially hidden and economically visible. Neighbors may interact daily with its businesses without recognizing the theological network behind them. In this case, the offshoot is not living on a distant island or guarding an empty temple site. It may be operating a company a few exits down the freeway.
What These Mormon Denominations Reveal About Religious Schisms
These ten groups did not divide over one simple issue. Polygamy explains some Mormon fundamentalist factions, but it does not explain Community of Christ, the Strangites, Cutlerites, Bickertonites, or the Temple Lot tradition. The deeper recurring issue is authority.
Who may receive revelation? Does authority pass through apostles, a prophet’s descendants, a written appointment, an angelic ordination, or a newly called messenger? Can a church alter earlier teachings and still remain the same church? When does adaptation become apostasy? Every denomination on this list answers those questions differently.
The divisions also reveal the experimental energy of nineteenth-century American religion. The early Latter Day Saint movement combined restorationism, prophecy, communal economics, new scripture, sacred geography, and millennial expectation. That mixture could inspire intense loyalty, but it also made disagreements explosive. When everyone believes eternity is involved, even committee meetings can become succession crises.
Experiencing the Hidden Geography of Mormon History
What Researchers, Travelers, and Curious Readers Often Discover
Exploring lesser-known Mormon factions is a very different experience from reading a simple timeline of presidents and westward migration. The first surprise is geographical. Popular culture places Mormon history almost entirely in Utah, but many of the most revealing sites are in the Midwest. Independence, Missouri, is especially striking because several competing Restoration traditions occupy the same religious landscape.
A visitor can encounter Community of Christ’s dramatic spiral temple, the quiet Temple Lot, small Restoration churches, archives, and congregations representing different interpretations of the same founding events. The buildings may stand only minutes apart, yet their occupants disagree about scripture, priesthood, succession, and the future of Zion. It feels less like touring unrelated denominations and more like walking through multiple endings to the same historical novel.
Burlington, Wisconsin, offers another kind of experience. The surviving Strangite church is small enough that its continued existence can feel improbable. Learning about James Strang’s movement, then traveling toward Beaver Island, turns an obscure succession dispute into a physical story involving migration, settlement, political power, conflict, and isolation. Historical actors stop looking like names in footnotes and start looking like people who crossed lakes, built homes, printed newspapers, and reorganized their entire lives around prophetic claims.
Researching these groups also teaches the value of reading each denomination’s own account before reaching conclusions. Official histories reveal how communities understand themselves. The Temple Lot church describes preservation of original doctrine. Community of Christ emphasizes an evolving sacred story. The Remnant Church presents itself as a restoration of continuity. Strangites describe a lawful prophetic succession. Reading these narratives side by side is illuminating because the same event can function as triumph, tragedy, apostasy, or divine rescue depending on who is speaking.
Conversations with members or former members require additional care. A person’s religious identity is not a museum exhibit, and curiosity does not create permission to interrogate strangers about marriage, garments, abuse, or family relationships. Respectful questions focus first on belief, community, worship, and history. Difficult subjects can still be addressed, especially when crimes and institutional power are involved, but they should not be used as entertainment.
The experience becomes particularly complicated when studying fundamentalist communities. Public reporting documents real abuse and coercion in certain organizations, yet former members often describe childhoods that also contained affection, shared work, faith, and close family bonds. Those realities can exist together. Serious analysis does not require turning every memory into either propaganda or horror. It requires allowing people to describe what happened while maintaining clear moral and legal standards.
Finally, exploring Mormon offshoots changes how religious history itself looks. Large institutions often appear inevitable after they become successful. Smaller factions remind us that history was once undecided. In 1844, nobody possessed a flowchart showing which claimant would eventually lead millions and which church would end up with one congregation in Missouri. People made choices with limited information, intense spiritual conviction, personal loyalties, and practical fears.
That may be the most valuable experience this topic offers. It replaces a flat story about one church and a few strange splinters with a living map of American religious creativity. The map includes inspiring communities, failed experiments, peaceful congregations, charismatic leaders, painful abuses, sacred buildings, empty lots, and enough competing names to make any genealogist request a stronger cup of coffee.
Conclusion
The unknown offshoots and factions of Mormonism show that the Latter Day Saint movement has never been monolithic. Its history contains competing prophets, family dynasties, apostolic councils, angelic messages, communal orders, progressive reformers, conservative restorations, and several organizations insisting that everyone else took a wrong turn somewhere near Nauvoo.
Studying these denominations does more than satisfy historical curiosity. It reveals how religious communities preserve authority, respond to change, reinterpret founding stories, and survive after losing the competition for size or public recognition. The largest church may dominate the familiar narrative, but the smaller branches preserve alternative possibilitiesand sometimes warningsthat make the history of Mormonism far richer, stranger, and more human.
