Second Anointing

In the Latter Day Saint movement, the second anointing, also known historically and in Latter Day Saint scripture as the fulness of the priesthood, is an obscure and relatively rare ordinance usually conducted in temples as extension of the Nauvoo Endowment ceremony. Founder Joseph Smith, Jr. cited the "fulness of the priesthood" as one of the reasons for building the Nauvoo Temple (D&C 124:28). In the ordinance, a participant is anointed as a "priest and king" or a "priestess and queen", and is sealed to the highest degree of salvation available in Mormon theology. Those who participate in this ordinance are said to have their "calling and election made sure", and their celestial marriage "sealed by the holy spirit of promise". They are said to have received the "more sure word of prophecy".

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the largest Latter Day Saint denomination, has performed the ceremony for nominated couples from the 1840s to at least the mid-1900s. Current information about the practice by that denomination, or whether the ordinance is still in use, has not been made public. A former LDS stake president, Tom Phillips, claims he participated in the ritual in 2002. He described his experience anonymously here in 2008, and exposed his true identity in 2012. The ordinance is also performed by many Mormon fundamentalist groups. However, it is not performed by denominations, such as the Community of Christ, who historically never practiced the Nauvoo Endowment ceremony.