Historedia
Episode 1 of 2

Formal Organization of the Church of Christ

When
April 6, 1830
Where
Log home owned by Peter Whitmer Sr.
Part of
Church of Christ organized at Fayette

Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and approximately 30 believers formally organized the Church of Christ into a legal institution on April 6, 1830.

The meeting occurred in a log home owned by Peter Whitmer Sr. in Fayette, New York. Smith and Cowdery were ordained as apostles and elders. This event marked the formal beginning of the Latter Day Saint movement, implementing principles from the newly published Book of Mormon.

Sources

  1. Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-25
  2. Fayette, New York Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-06

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.