Christianity and Freemasonry - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church) has a longstanding policy of maintaining no official position on Freemasonry. However, some people see links between the two movements in practice, structure, and symbolism, which go back to the church's origins.

It can be said the early Latter Day Saint movement and Freemasonry had an amicable relationship. While the impact of Freemasonry in church doctrine is the subject of intense debate, it is known that the family of the church's founder and first president, Joseph Smith, Jr., was active in Freemasonry as early as 1816. When the church was headquartered in Nauvoo, Illinois, Smith and several of his followers – including his first four successors as church president – became Freemasons. Many features of the church's temple endowment ceremony as established by Smith in Nauvoo parallel rituals and ceremonies practiced in Freemasonry. When the church relocated to Utah in the 1840s after Smith's death, there was even talk of forming a "Mormon Grand Lodge." However, this notion was ultimately rejected by church President Brigham Young.

However, many non-Mormon Freemasons harbored strong anti-Mormon sentiments. Soon after Smith and his followers were initiated, the Grand Lodge of Illinois was compelled to revoke the charters of several predominantly Mormon Lodges. In 1872 the Grand Lodge of Utah was formed as an openly anti-Mormon organization. Over time the hostility increased, ultimately leading to the Grand Lodge of Utah banning Mormons from joining its constituent Lodges altogether. While the church never banned Freemasons from its ranks, it did at one time prohibit Freemasons from holding leadership positions in the church priesthood.

In 1984 the Grand Lodge of Utah and church leadership under President Spencer W. Kimball mutually agreed to drop their antagonistic positions against each another. While some suspicion remains on both sides, today there is no formal barrier preventing a male Mormon from becoming a Freemason or vice versa.