| | Term | Definition |
| | Branch | A branch was the local congregation that would meet to worship together. Each branch had a branch president who was a priest or elder and would preside over the meetings and affairs of the branch. Sometimes a branch president was called to preside over more than one branch. Although in a few rare instances reference has been made to a branch that had only a member or two, most branches had at least 6-12 members. As transportation became easier, more people moved to the cities as part of industrialization, and many of those from rural villages had left for America, many of the small branches were discontinued and consolidated into fewer but larger branches which could provide more services to members such as Relief Society, Sunday School, and youth organizations (MIA). |
| | Branch President | This was the officer who had charge of the local congregation. He would plan meetings and assign responsibilities to other members. In Scandinavia the branch presidents were generally missionaries and were often called for six months at a time, whereas in the British Isles the branch president was often a local member who was called for as many as 20 or more years. Another term for branch president was the presiding elder in the branch. The branch president generally held the office of an elder, however may have also been a priest. |
| | Conference | This word is a bit confusing because it was frequently used with two meanings. Conferences were generally held twice a year, but sometimes quarterly. These were meetings where members, missionaries, and priesthood leaders would meet together. Such conference were held on several levels. Branches, conferences, districts, mission, and regional conferences were held. The other meaning used frequently was a jurisdiction term for an area made up of several branches. For example the British or Danish Missions were divided up into several conferences, each which contained anywhere from about 4-40 branches. Each conference had a conference president and held conference meetings generally twice a year where the branch presidents and missionaries could report conditions in each of their areas and new assignments and changes could be made. |
| | Council meeting | Council meetings were generally held on the branch level. For small branches they may have been held once or twice a month. In well established branches they were often held weekly. During these meetings the priesthood would discuss matters of the branch and receive instruction. Discussions of membership and excommunications were handled during these meetings. They were not open to the general public. |
| | Deacon | Unlike other protestant churches, a deacon in this church is the lowest level of the priesthood and the first level a man is generally ordained to when they are new members. Deacons often were called as ushers at meetings to keep the peace, do errands, and pass the sacrament to the congregation. |
| | District | This term has been used to refer to a jurisdiction and the exact meaning has changed from time to time and in different places. It generally referred to the area assigned to a missionary companionship. There could be several missionary districts within one branch or several branches within one missionary district. The names and designations of the districts changed frequently. Later in the 20th century the term Conference was changed to District so that the hierarchy of organization in the mission was branch, district, and mission, where earlier it had been branch, conference, and mission. |
| | Elder | This was a level in the priesthood, but also a title for a missionary or apostle. Most branch presidents had the office of an elder which was the main office that most faithful adult men in the church were eventually ordained to. |
| | Excommunication | The official action of dropping a person from membership in the church. Although it implies action from the church, it was often done on request of the individual. Whenever people began joining the church, the established religion began a sort of counter-reformation to try to win back the new converts. After visits from the local clergy and pressure from the community a new convert might ask to be removed from the church and go back to their former church. Other reasons for excommunication include transgression (adultery or fornication), intoxication, Unchristian-like conduct, or disobedience/lack of respect for the priesthood or church doctrine/leaders. Many who were excommunicated for these reasons still believed in the church and were later accepted back into fellowship, some going through the process more than once. Wherever the church baptized new members, there was always a percentage that subsequently left the church or were dropped from membership. From 1850-1912 this number comes to 23 percent of those baptized in the Scandinavian countries. From 1858-1869, the period of largest growth in Scandinavia, the average ratio of excommunications to baptisms was 43 percent, while from 1895-1912, the lowest period of baptisms, the percentage was at 8 percent. It seems although there were not as many baptisms in the later years, the retention of members was considerably better. Because of the extremely sensitive nature, it has been decided to avoid focusing on the excommunications on this site. For those who came back into the church later it does not seem fair to show them in a poor light. It is not fair for us to judge people since we do not know all the circumstances. The word excommunication is a taboo term and in some cases "left the church" or, "was no longer a member" are more politically correct. |
| | MIA | Mutual Improvement Association. It was written as the YMMIA (Young Men MIA) or YWMIA (Young Woman MIA) in the older records. These were youth organizations in the church for the young men or young women. They would often hold a monthly or bi-monthly, or in some cases weekly lesson or activity. The small branches generally did not have a MIA organization and in most places the MIA was not organized until after other auxillary organizations, and after 1870. Most began functioning in the 1890s and after. |
| | Mission | This was a level of jurisdiction presided over by a mission president and generally included several conferences. The European Mission with headquarters in England had jurisdiction over all of the missions of Europe and would hold conferences for the mission presidents of each of the countries in order to coordinate efforts and give uniformed instructions. Within a mission, such as the British mission, there might be more than one area that was also referred to as a mission with its own administration as in the Irish and Welsh missions. Another meaning for mission is the area where a local missionary might be called to serve. A local missionary was often called on a mission to a particular region or island. This mission might last from a few weeks to several months. He might then be called to another mission. For example one missionary could be called to the island of Bornholm on a mission for several months, then later be called to go to Norway, and finally be sent to Lolland-Falster. He then served three missions to these three areas over a period of a year and a half or so. He might then ask for permission to emigrate to Zion. |
| | Pastor | The office of pastor is referred to in 19th century but is no longer used. It seems to be similar to that of a patriarch or a father of the church in a large area. The pastor often had more than one conference or many branches in a conference that they would watch over. There was a pastor referred to on the island of Sjælland in Denmark as well as in several conferences of England. |
| | Prayer Meetings | Often prayer meetings were held in addition to the regular weekly church services and council/priesthood meetings. Prayer meetings were often held on an evening of the week other than Sunday, in some areas on Thursday or Saturday evening. A local member might be in charge of the prayer meetings. These were probably informal, social meetings with a message and prayer, and opportunities to visit between members and their friends or the missionaries' investigators. |
| | Presiding Elder | See: Branch President |
| | Priest | The third level of the priesthood. Many priests were called to serve local missions or serve as branch presidents prior to being called as an elder. They could baptize new members, but could not confirm them members which had to be done later by an elder. |
| | Priesthood | After being baptized, a worthy man could be ordained to the priesthood. Almost all active men over the age of 12 in the church hold an office in the priesthood. The first office is deacon, followed by teacher and priest. With each higher office come additional responsibilities. Deacons and teachers can instruct, but not baptize. A priest can baptize but not confirm. Deacons, teachers, and priests are the three levels of the Aaronic Priesthood. Elders, High Priests, Seventies, and Patriarchs are offices of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Most members in Europe during this time period were eventually ordained as elders or priests. |
| | Relief Society | This was a women's organization within the local branch and comprised a president, counselors, secretary, treasurer, and sometimes other officers. They would hold their own meetings and activities. Although the president was called by the branch president, other officers and planning within the Relief Society was generally all done by women. |
| | Saints | Where this word has been encountered in historical records, it has generally been changed on this site to "members" except in quotations. The last part of the official name of the church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, refers to Latter-day Saints (hence initials LDS). This is meant in the context of comparing the members of the church at the time of Christ as the earlier saints and member of the church in this modern era as latter-day saints. |
| | Sunday School | The Sunday School was an extra organization within the branch with a superintendent and often other officers: 2 assistant superintendents, secretary, treasurer, teachers, and organist. The Sunday School was extra instruction in the scriptures and gospel in addition to the weekly worship services. In larger branches there may have been several classes with different levels for people new to the church, children, or the general membership. This was often also used as a way to introduce the church to non-members. Sunday Schools were not common to begin with and only in the larger branches. They became more common after about 1870 and fairly universal in all the branches by the 1890s and after. |
| | Teacher | A teacher included more than one meaning as it might refer to a missionary, however it is often used in the context of the second level of the priesthood between a Deacon and Priest. |
| | Traveling Elder | This was a missionary who had an assignment to travel more extensively throughout a region, often working with several other missionaries and branches to coordinate the missionary efforts. The area of a traveling elder might have been a region, district, conference, or entire mission. |
| | Zion | Where this word has been encountered in historical records, it has generally been changed on this site to "Utah" or "America" except in quotations. The New Jerusalem or Zion was being built up in America and that was where the new members wanted to emigrate. The missionaries or elders from Zion were the missionaries from the American west. People were often relieved of their local church responsibilities, "with permission to go to Zion". |
Glossary
