Baptism

Baptism is one of the most important ordinances across the broader Latter Day Saint movement. Nearly every Mormon denomination descending from the movement founded by Joseph Smith teaches that baptism is necessary for entering into a covenant relationship with God and becoming part of the church community. Yet while many sects share a common foundation, the meaning, authority, method, and requirements surrounding baptism developed differently over time. 

Questions surrounding valid priesthood authority, rebaptism, age of accountability, apostasy, and covenant theology all contributed to major differences between Mormon groups. While baptism remained nearly universal across the movement, churches often disagreed sharply over who possessed the authority to perform it and what the ordinance actually accomplished.

The LDS Church (Brighamites)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that baptism by immersion is essential for salvation and entrance into the church. The ordinance is performed by a male priesthood holder holding Aaronic Priesthood authority, usually a priest or Melchizedek Priesthood holder. Candidates are baptized by full immersion after reaching what the church calls the “age of accountability,” which is set at eight years old. The LDS Church rejects infant baptism, teaching that young children are innocent before God and do not require repentance.

The baptismal prayer is fixed and must be recited exactly before the person is fully immersed beneath the water. In LDS theology, baptism serves as remission of sins, entrance into the church, acceptance of covenants with God, and preparation to receive the Holy Ghost. Shortly afterward, a separate ordinance called confirmation is performed, in which Melchizedek Priesthood holders lay hands on the baptized person to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The LDS Church also practices baptism for the dead inside temples. Living members are baptized by proxy on behalf of deceased individuals, giving the dead the opportunity to accept or reject the ordinance in the afterlife according to LDS theology. This doctrine became one of the major theological distinctions separating Utah Mormonism from most other Christian traditions and many other branches of the Latter Day Saint movement.

The church generally does not recognize baptisms performed by other Christian denominations because it teaches that valid baptism requires priesthood authority restored through Joseph Smith. Questions surrounding authority and priesthood legitimacy therefore became central to LDS baptismal theology.

Community of Christ (RLDS Tradition/Josephites)

Community of Christ practices baptism by immersion and historically retained many early Latter Day Saint teachings regarding baptismal authority and covenant commitment. Like the LDS Church, Community of Christ rejects infant baptism and traditionally performs baptism beginning around age eight, though practices may vary somewhat between congregations and cultural settings.

Community of Christ views baptism primarily as a public covenant with God, entry into the Christian community, and a response to faith and discipleship. Over time, however, the church moved toward a more ecumenical and broadly Christian understanding of baptism than the LDS Church. In some circumstances, baptisms from other Christian traditions may be recognized depending on the theology and context involved.

Women may perform baptisms in Community of Christ because the church began ordaining women to the priesthood in the 1980s. Unlike the LDS Church, Community of Christ does not practice baptism for the dead and generally moved away from the expansive temple-related baptism theology that developed in Utah Mormonism.

Fundamentalist Mormon Groups

Various Mormon fundamentalist groups descended from early polygamist movements generally preserve baptismal practices close to older LDS patterns, though practices vary significantly between sects. Groups associated with traditions stemming from figures such as Lorin C. Woolley and organizations such as Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints typically continue practicing baptism by immersion through male priesthood authority.

Fundamentalist theology often places especially strong emphasis on priesthood lineage and succession. Because many of these groups believe the mainstream LDS Church lost divine authority after abandoning plural marriage, baptism itself becomes tied directly to questions about which priesthood line remained legitimate after the 1890 Manifesto.

Some fundamentalist groups also preserve stronger traditions of rebaptism than the modern LDS Church. During parts of nineteenth-century Utah Mormonism, rebaptism was relatively common for spiritual recommitment, covenant renewal, healing rituals, or entering new phases of religious life. While the mainstream LDS Church gradually abandoned the practice, some fundamentalist communities retained it.

Because many fundamentalist groups are highly insular, baptism may also function as entrance into tightly controlled communal life rather than simply membership in a congregation.

The Church of Christ (Temple Lot)

Church of Christ (Temple Lot) practices baptism by immersion and strongly emphasizes Restorationist Christianity rooted in the New Testament. Temple Lot theology rejects many later LDS doctrinal developments, so baptism is generally framed more simply as obedience to Christ, remission of sins, entry into the church, and acceptance of the restored gospel.

The church teaches that valid baptism requires proper authority, but it places less emphasis on the expansive covenant theology and temple connections that developed later in Utah Mormonism. Temple Lot adherents often stress continuity with what they view as the earliest and simplest form of the Restoration movement before later doctrinal developments emerged.

Strangites

James Strang and his followers continued practicing baptism by immersion after the succession crisis following Joseph Smith’s death. Strangites maintained priesthood-centered authority claims and viewed themselves as the legitimate continuation of Joseph Smith’s original church.

Within Strangite theology, baptism functioned both as remission of sins and as entrance into the true restored church. Historically, some Strangite communities also practiced rebaptism in certain situations, reflecting broader nineteenth-century Mormon traditions in which rebaptism symbolized recommitment, renewal, or spiritual purification.

Cutlerites

Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) preserves highly conservative forms of early Mormon worship and ordinance theology. The church practices baptism by immersion and maintains strict beliefs regarding priesthood authority and legitimacy.

Because the Cutlerites see themselves as preserving original priesthood keys and authority structures from the Nauvoo period, baptism remains closely connected to institutional continuity and proper authorization. Public information regarding baptismal procedures is limited because the church is extremely small and relatively private.

Bickertonites

The Church of Jesus Christ teaches baptism by immersion for the remission of sins and entrance into the church. Bickertonite theology tends to focus more heavily on New Testament Christianity, spiritual gifts, repentance, and apostolic restoration than many later LDS theological developments.

The church rejects infant baptism and emphasizes conscious faith and repentance prior to baptism. Unlike the LDS Church, Bickertonites do not incorporate baptism for the dead into their theology or worship.

Remnant and Independent Restorationist Groups

Many independent restoration branches and newer Mormon movements administer baptism in highly decentralized ways. Groups influenced by Denver Snuffer and broader independent restorationism often place strong emphasis on personal revelation, covenant renewal, restoration of primitive Christianity, and recovery of original Mormon teachings.

Some fellowships allow baptisms outside formal institutional control, including baptisms performed in homes, rivers, lakes, or private gatherings. Authority claims vary widely. Some insist on priesthood ordination, others emphasize divine calling over institutional recognition, and some rebaptize individuals leaving mainstream LDS congregations as a symbolic rejection of centralized church authority.

Because many of these movements formed partly in reaction to institutional control within mainstream Mormonism, baptism often becomes both a theological ordinance and a statement about authority, restoration, and independence.