By Eric Johnson
While The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is by far the largest group that claims Joseph Smith, Jr. as its founder, there have been more than 100 splinter groups over the past two centuries. While many of them no longer exist, some do.
Although the purpose of Mormonism Research Ministry focuses on the LDS Church, we think it’s important to publish overview articles on this website. The following are the Top 7 churches that we are reviewing, with these chosen because they have been determined to be the largest. Four of the churches (with websites) are monogamous churches, while the other three are polygamous and the leaders are more secretive about their beliefs and practices. It should be noted that the majority of splinter groups from Mormonism are polygamous.
We encourage you to click on the name of each church and read more on this particular movement still active today. (This series began in June 2020 and will upload one new church per week through early August.)
| Church name | Other name | Founder | Date | Current leader | Est. members | Where | Website |
| Community of Christ | RLDS | Joseph Smith III (1832-1914) | 1860 | Steven Veazey (2005- present) | 250,000 | Independence, MO | cofchrist.org |
| The Church of Jesus Christ | Bickertonites | William Bickerton (1815-1905) | 1862 | Apostles | 26,000 | Monongahela, PA | thechurchofjesuschrist.org |
| The Church of Christ with the Elijah Message | N/A | Otto Fetting (1871-1933) | 1930 | Apostles | 12,500 | Independence, MO | Elijahmessage.net
|
| Apostolic United Brethren | Allred Group
AUB The Work The Group The Priesthood |
Rulon C. Allred (1906-1977) | 1954 | Lynn A. Thompson (2014-present) | 7,500 | Bluffdale, UT
|
No site |
| Church of Christ | Temple Lot
Hedrickites |
Granville Hedrick (1814-1881) | 1863 | Apostles | 7,300 | Independence, MO | churchofchrist1830.org |
| Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints | FLDS | Leroy S. Johnson (Uncle Roy) (1888-1986) | 1952 | Warren Jeffs (in prison, serving a life sentence + 20 years) | 3,000 | Hildale, UT / Colorado City, UT | No site |
| Latter Day Church of Christ | Kingston Clan
United Order Davis County Cooperative Society |
Elden Kingston (1909-1948) | 1935 | Paul Elden Kingston (1987-present) | 7,500 | Davis County, UT | dccsociety.org |