Sealing

The practice of sealings became one of the most important and controversial developments in the history of the Latter Day Saint movement. Unlike baptism or the sacrament, which existed from the beginning of Joseph Smith’s church, sealing theology emerged gradually during the Nauvoo period in the 1840s and eventually expanded into a system connecting marriage, priesthood authority, exaltation, eternal families, and salvation for both the living and the dead. 

Because sealings developed late in Joseph Smith’s life, Mormon groups later divided sharply over whether the ordinance represented an authentic ancient restoration, a symbolic covenant system, a theological innovation, or a corrupted expansion of earlier Mormon teachings. Some groups preserved sealing theology and built entire temple systems around it. Others rejected it almost entirely.

The LDS Church (Brighamites)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that sealings are sacred temple ordinances performed through priesthood authority that bind relationships beyond death. In LDS theology, marriages performed by civil governments last only for mortality, while marriages sealed in temples can continue eternally. The doctrine became deeply tied to the church’s teachings regarding exaltation, eternal progression, celestial glory, and the continuation of family relationships after death.

Modern LDS sealing ceremonies take place inside temples and are considered among the highest ordinances of the church. Couples kneel across an altar while an officiator invokes priesthood authority said to extend beyond mortality itself. Parent-child sealings also became central to LDS temple theology, creating what the church views as eternal family units connected across generations. The modern church places enormous emphasis on the idea that families can remain together forever through temple sealing ordinances.

Historically, sealing theology was closely intertwined with plural marriage during the Nauvoo period. Joseph Smith introduced celestial marriage and plural marriage within the broader framework of priesthood sealings, and Brigham Young later expanded the system after the migration to Utah. Early sealing practices were often far more complex than modern LDS temple sealings. Some involved dynastic relationships between priesthood families, adoption sealings, and large covenant networks designed to bind believers together into eternal priesthood structures.

Over time, the LDS Church simplified many earlier sealing concepts and increasingly emphasized monogamous nuclear families. Modern sealings are presented primarily through the lens of eternal marriage and family continuity rather than the broader priesthood dynastic systems that existed in early Utah Mormonism. The church also performs proxy sealings for deceased individuals, teaching that the dead may choose whether to accept or reject ordinances performed on their behalf in the spirit world.

Because temple theology occupies such a central role in LDS doctrine, sealings eventually became one of the clearest dividing lines between the Utah-based church and many other Mormon denominations.

Community of Christ (RLDS Tradition/Josephites)

Community of Christ rejected the Nauvoo sealing system after the succession crisis following Joseph Smith’s death. Historically, RLDS leaders argued that many late Nauvoo teachings regarding celestial marriage, eternal family structures, and priesthood sealings either appeared too late to represent foundational Restoration doctrine or reflected theological corruption that expanded after Joseph Smith’s earlier ministry.

As a result, Community of Christ does not practice temple sealings, eternal marriage ordinances, or proxy family sealings for the dead. Marriage within the church functions more as a traditional Christian covenant rather than an ordinance tied to exaltation or eternal priesthood structures. Community of Christ temples developed along entirely different lines than LDS temples and function primarily as public worship spaces, centers for peace ministry, and places for prayer and reflection.

Over time, Community of Christ theology moved progressively closer to broader Protestant Christianity and away from many uniquely Nauvoo-era theological developments. While the church preserved sacraments such as baptism and communion, it rejected the expansive temple-centered sealing theology that became foundational within Utah Mormonism.

Fundamentalist Mormon Groups

Various Mormon fundamentalist groups preserved sealing theology much more closely aligned with older Utah Mormonism. In many of these communities, celestial marriage sealings remain central to exaltation theology, priesthood authority, and eternal family structure. Groups associated with figures such as Lorin C. Woolley often viewed the abandonment of plural marriage by the mainstream LDS Church as evidence of apostasy, making the preservation of “true” sealing authority central to their identity.

Within some fundamentalist traditions, sealings remain deeply connected to plural marriage and patriarchal family systems. Older theological concepts that largely disappeared from mainstream LDS teaching may still be emphasized more openly, including priesthood lineage structures, eternal increase, and hierarchical family networks extending into the afterlife. Ceremonies are frequently conducted privately and public documentation remains limited, partly because many groups maintain strict secrecy surrounding temple rites and priesthood authority claims.

The Church of Christ (Temple Lot)

Church of Christ (Temple Lot) rejects the Nauvoo sealing system entirely. Although the church believes a temple should eventually be built in Independence, Missouri, its understanding of temple worship differs dramatically from LDS temple theology. The church does not practice eternal marriage sealings, proxy ordinances for the dead, or priesthood-based family sealing systems. Its theology generally reflects a simpler form of Restoration Christianity that rejects many of the later ceremonial and doctrinal developments introduced during the Nauvoo period.

Strangite Mormonism

James Strang introduced ceremonial and kingship-oriented religious structures within his movement, and some historians have noted parallels between Strangite ritual theology and broader Nauvoo-era temple concepts. The movement retained interest in sacred ritual, priesthood hierarchy, and covenant structures, though surviving evidence regarding formal sealing systems remains limited.

Because the Strangite movement fragmented and declined relatively early, little detailed ceremonial documentation survives publicly today. Modern Strangite communities are extremely small, making it difficult to determine how extensively sealing theology continued to develop after Strang’s death.

Cutlerites

Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) preserves some of the closest surviving continuities to older Nauvoo temple traditions outside the mainstream LDS Church. Historically, the church maintained temple rites, priesthood covenant theology, and ceremonial practices tied to Joseph Smith’s final teachings.

Because the Cutlerites see themselves as preserving legitimate priesthood authority connected directly to the Nauvoo period, sealing theology remained tied to broader questions of succession and legitimacy. Public information regarding modern Cutlerite sealing practices remains extremely limited due to the church’s small size and highly private nature.

Bickertonites

The Church of Jesus Christ rejects most Nauvoo temple theology and does not practice sealing ordinances. Like several non-Utah branches of Mormonism, the Bickertonite tradition rejected many later theological developments associated with temple worship, celestial marriage, and eternal family structures. Marriage functions as a standard Christian ordinance rather than a priesthood sealing extending into eternity.

Remnant and Restorationist Groups

Independent restorationist movements and remnant Mormon fellowships vary dramatically in how they approach sealing theology. Some attempt to reconstruct early Nauvoo practices through historical documents, diaries, temple records, and reconstructionist theology. Others reject institutional temple systems entirely while still preserving symbolic ideas about covenant families and eternal relationships.

Groups influenced by Denver Snuffer and broader independent restorationism sometimes reinterpret sealings less as fixed institutional ordinances and more as symbolic spiritual covenants, mystical relationships, or personal revelation experiences. Because these movements are highly decentralized, no universal sealing model exists across independent restorationist Mormonism.