A historical study of the Church of Christ, 1829–1834
This site is a historical study of the Church of Christ in its first years, from its formation in 1829 to the change of its name in 1834. It analyzes and indexes the record the church left of its own organization: the councils, quorums and presidencies it recorded; the Law of 1831; and the Plat of the City of Zion and the plan of the House of the Lord, both from 1833.
The study works from the documents of the period themselves. Its aim is to set out what those documents say, in the order they were written, so that readers can follow how the church described and organized itself at the time.
Why “Church of Christ”
Throughout these years the church was known as the Church of Christ, the name under which it was organized on April 6, 1830. That name remained in use until a conference of elders at Kirtland, Ohio, voted to change it on May 3, 1834. Because this study covers the years before that vote, it uses the name the church used for itself, and the names of offices, bodies and documents as they appear in the record of the time.
Scope
The study covers the six years from 1829 to 1834 and focuses on the church’s organizational, legal and architectural record:
- the offices, councils and presidencies the church created, and how they changed
- the Law of February 9, 1831, and the institutions it established
- the Plat of the City of Zion and the House of the Lord, both of 1833
- the year-by-year events that shaped them, from 1829 to the 1834 name change
Later developments fall outside the period and are mentioned only where a document from these years points toward them.
Approach to sources
Every account on this site traces back to a primary document. Pages link out to the originals, most often at the Joseph Smith Papers, rather than reproducing them at length, so that readers can consult each source directly.
Where the date of a manuscript is in question, the study dates it by what the manuscript itself says about its place in a sequence of events, not by a heading added when it was later copied or filed. The reasons for that rule, with a worked example, are set out on the Methodology page. The Source Index gathers the people, places and documents referred to across the site, each with a link to the original record.
Editorial principles
The study follows four principles in presenting the record:
- Documents speak in the language of their own time. Names, titles and terms are given as the record uses them.
- The record and its interpretation are kept apart. What a document says is stated first; analysis follows and is marked as analysis.
- Disagreements between sources are shown, not smoothed over. Where accounts differ, both are given, with the reasons for preferring one.
- Every claim can be checked. Each page links to the sources it relies on.
Contributed papers
The Papers section brings together longer studies of single documents, events and questions from the period. Each paper is credited to its author. Where a paper is published elsewhere under its own copyright, this site gives a summary and links to the original rather than reproducing it.
How to cite this site
To cite a page, give its title, the site name, its address and the date you consulted it. For example:
“Methodology.” Church of Christ, 1829–1834. https://churchofchrist.org/methodology/. Accessed November 5, 2026.