Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Latter Day Saints

This Manual of Style has been created through the efforts of contributors to the Latter Day Saint movement WikiProject. Please follow these conventions when you contribute in order to produce Latter Day Saint articles that are neutral and stylistically consistent.

Naming Conventions

See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Latter Day Saints)

Summary of naming conventions:

• Articles wholly pertaining to the Latter Day Saint movement should be parenthesized "(Latter Day Saints)", unless the article name is unambiguous without the parenthetical.
• Articles should not be limited to a single Latter Day Saint denomination, unless including the entire Latter Day Saint movement is impractical or awkward. For example, instead of "Restoration (Community of Christ)" or "Restoration (LDS Church)", you would call the article Restoration (Latter Day Saints).
• In article names, references to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should capitalize the initial The and include a hyphen and a lower-case "d".

Referring to members of Latter Day Saint denominations

Generally, members of a Latter Day Saint denomination may be referred to as members, adherents, or followers of a particular church or organization.

The terms LDS, LDS Church, and Latter-day Saint generally refer only to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, the term Latter Day Saint (note the capitalization and lack of a hyphen) may refer to any church or theology within the Latter Day Saint movement.

Use of the term Mormon: Several denominations, including the Community of Christ, generally oppose the use of the word Mormon or its derivatives in reference to its members or theology. Therefore, the word Mormon should only be used in the following situations to refer to Latter Day Saint adherents:

• In reference to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, this denomination opposes the use of the term Mormon Church, a term that should not be used in Wikipedia articles in any case, since there are several churches that could be described as a Mormon church. When referring to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the term Latter-day Saint is more accurate than Mormon, and therefore preferred.

• In reference to denominations, organizations, or people with historic or cultural ties to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and related organizations originating in Utah. For example, one may refer to Mormon fundamentalism, Mormon pioneer, or ex-Mormon.

• When referring to common parlance before the death of Joseph Smith, Jr., when the Latter Day Saint movement was widely referred to as Mormonism. For example, one may refer to anti-Mormonism or the Mormon War.

Use full name of church in first reference

The first reference for any church should use the full name of that church rather than a shortened version such as "LDS Church" or "FLDS". The first reference should also contain a link to that church's article. If you will later use a shortened name, add the shortened version in parenthesis after the first reference, e.g. "the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS)" or "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the LDS or Mormon Church)"

Avoid linking the alternate names. The first reference will already contain the alternate names, as well as a link to that church's article. Thus, a second link is unnecessary.

See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style § Acronyms and abbreviations

Avoid use of "Mormonisms"

Editors should always avoid use of "Mormonisms": jargon used by many Latter Day Saints that the general public might not understand, may misinterpret, or might find offensive. For example:

• Never refer to Native Americans as Lamanites.
• Never use the term the Gospel to refer to Latter Day Saint theology.
• Never use "The Church" to refer to any specific church. Only use "The Church of Jesus Christ" when it is the full official name of a church. ("The Church of Jesus Christ" is the full legal name of what is commonly known as the "Bickertonites", the third largest church in the Latter Day Saint movement. Also be aware that the full official name of other churches within the movement is the "Church of Jesus Christ" (omitting the article "the").) Though the LDS Church's style guide recommends it, these usages are not appropriate for this church due to the potential confusion. For all churches, "the church" is acceptable when the word "church" is an uncapitalized common noun, but capitalized "Church" should only be used when it is part of a longer reference to a specific church (as in "Mormon Church", "LDS Church", etc.).

This recommendation applies mainly to article text. When these terms are used as part of quotations from church leaders or members and the context is clear, they are generally permissible.

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For more information or to contribute to the Manual of Style, please visit the Latter Day Saint movement WikiProject page.