Founding Meeting of the Church of Christ

On Tuesday, April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and others convened to organize the Church of Christ. They had anticipated this meeting since the summer of 1829, when revelations directed Joseph and Oliver to establish a church as soon as the Book of Mormon could be published and believers could be gathered. Soon before calling together “those who had already been baptized” and others “who were believing,” Joseph and Oliver received a commandment from the Lord to organize the Church on April 6 according to the laws of the land. No minutes of the meeting have survived, but a few sources, including a revelation received on the occasion, indicate some of what transpired. The meeting opened with prayer, and the assembly sustained Joseph and Oliver as elders and teachers in the Church. Joseph and Oliver then ordained each other as Church elders, the participants in the meeting partook of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, and Joseph and Oliver laid hands on the heads of those who had previously been baptized to give them the gift of the Holy Ghost and confirm them members of the Church, and Joseph also received the revelation now found in Doctrine and Covenants 21 at this meeting or shortly afterward.

A log home on the site of the Peter Whitmer Sr. farm in Fayette, New York.

Between April 6 and June 9, when the first Church conference was held, Joseph and Oliver organized branches in Fayette, Manchester, and Colesville, New York. Surviving firsthand accounts from attendees contradict one another on the location of the founding meeting, some reporting Fayette and others Manchester. For example, a history of the Church undertaken by Joseph Smith in 1839 mentioned Fayette. An article he wrote in 1842 on the history of the Church mentioned Manchester. While there is some question regarding the specific location in western New York the meeting took place, it is clear that Joseph and Oliver fulfilled the Lord’s commandment to organize the Church on April 6, 1830.

Church Resources

“Fayette Township, New York,” josephsmithpapers.org.

“Manchester Township, New York,” josephsmithpapers.org.

“Revelation, 6 April 1830 [D&C 21],” Historical Introduction, josephsmithpapers.org.

Bibliography

The following publication provides further information about this topic. By referring or linking you to this resource, we do not endorse or guarantee the content or the views of the author.

Michael Hubbard MacKay, Sacred Space: Exploring the Birthplace of Mormonism (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2016).

Related Topics: Palmyra and Manchester

Notes

1. “Revelation, June 1829–B [D&C 18],” in Book of Commandments, 34–39, josephsmithpapers.org; Joseph Smith, “History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834],” 27, josephsmithpapers.org.

2. “Articles and Covenants, circa April 1830 [D&C 20],” in “The Mormon Creed,” 4, josephsmithpapers.org; Joseph Smith, “History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834],” 37, josephsmithpapers.org. David Whitmer recalled how others insisted they “were not a regularly organized church” with “no right to officiate” as such, and so formally organizing by law had become necessary; see David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ: By a Witness to the Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon (Richmond, MO: the author, 1887), 31.

3. See historical introductions to “Articles and Covenants, circa April 1830 [D&C 20],” josephsmithpapers.org; “Revelation, 6 April 1830 [D&C 21],” josephsmithpapers.org; “Revelation, April 1830–A [D&C 23:1–2],” josephsmithpapers.org.

4. Rise and Progress of the Church of Christ,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Apr. 1833, 84; Whitmer, Address to All Believers, 31.

5. “Revelation, 6 April 1830 [D&C 21],” in Revelation Book 1, 28–29, josephsmithpapers.org; “Prospects of the Church,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Mar. 1833, 76; see also section headings in A Book of Commandments, for the Government of the Church of Christ: Organized According to Law, on the 6th of April, 1830 (Zion [Independence, MO]: W. W. Phelps, 1833), 43–45; “Communicated,” The Evening and the Morning Star, May 1834, 160; Joseph Knight Sr., Reminiscences, circa 1847, 6–7, MS 3470, Church History Library, Salt Lake City; and Whitmer, Address to All Believers, 31.

6. Joseph Smith, “History, circa June–October 1839 [Draft 1],” 1, josephsmithpapers.org; Joseph Smith, “Church History,” Times and Seasons, March 1, 1842, 708, josephsmithpapers.org.