Mormonism

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one of the fastest growing religious groups in the world, has a long and rich cultural tradition of deaf inclusion. The Church records deaf members as early as 1835. Deaf Mormons thrive as general members of the Church and maintain a distinct empowering community. The Church is both restorative and missionary. The impulse to serve the deaf is motivated by the belief that all people will hear the Gospel in their own language. Missionaries evangelize in native languages, and the Church considers sign a distinct language.

The Church was first officially organized by founder Joseph Smith (1805–1844) in western New York in 1830 as the “Church of Christ.” Members of the Church believe themselves to be members of the restored and perfect Christian Church. They also believe the modern Church to be the only true church and that leaders of other Christian denominations derived from the early Christian church strayed from the truth and corrupted the scriptures. At the age of 14, Joseph experienced a vision in which God the Father and his son Jesus revealed the second coming of Christ and the corruption of the Christian denominations of his day. Three years later, Smith was visited by the angel Moroni, who directed him to mysterious gold tablets that recorded the truth and became the primary scripture for the Church, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The Church recognizes four canonical writings. Along with The Book of Mormon, the Church accepts The Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price, and the Christian bible as the inspired word of God. The Church observes the principle of continuous revelation. In the ancient Church, God called prophets to lead his people; now, in the restored Church, this tradition continues. The current prophet and president of the Church is Thomas S. Monson. The hierarchy includes two counselors and twelve additional men, the twelve apostles. Mormons reject the mainstream Christian belief in the Trinity. The restoration is both the original teachings of Jesus and the two lines of priesthood. The Church teaches that Joseph Smith and his friend Oliver Cowdery were initiated into the Aaronic priesthood by a resurrected John the Baptist and later into the higher or Melchizedek priesthood by the apostles James, John, and Peter, restoring priestly authority. After the restoration, Joseph Smith officially changed the church’s name to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Church began reaching out to the deaf early in its history. Sunday school classes for deaf and mute students began in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1892. Thomas Griggs, who had a deaf daughter, began teaching classes to deaf students in Salt Lake City in 1896. The school was later moved to Ogden, Utah. The first branch for the deaf was organized in Ogden, Utah, in 1917. The modern Church reaches out to the Deaf community in multiple ways. Family is the cornerstone of the Church, and the Church recognizes the marginalization that communication barriers can cause at home and church. The deaf programs promote education for hearing and deaf parents of deaf children to help promote healthy family life.

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