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Religious institutions establish collective identities through the production of a usable past, and thereby provide adherents with a sense of heritage. This article examines how this process functions in a Mormon pilgrimage site, Nauvoo, Illinois, where not one but two competing institutions, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and Community of Christ, have established alternative narratives of identity. I focus on the thousands of (almost exclusively) LDS pilgrims who visit the town each summer. I argue that the presence of multiple interpretations raises significant anxieties for many of these pilgrims. In an attempt to mediate these anxieties a vernacular religious site, a willow tree, is employed to point pilgrims to a Saint figure, Emma Smith, Joseph Smith Jr.’s widow, in order to fortify an alternative narrative existing outside of either official representation of Nauvoo’s past. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the integration of the private and esoteric layer of the Nauvoo theology of Mormonism founder Joseph Smith into James Strang's Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, with specific focus on the coronation on Beaver Island. Topics discussed include the beginning of Mormon ideas of theocracy, or theo-democracy, in Nauvoo, Illinois, contests over Nauvoo esotericism in Voree, Wisconsin, and the expansion of symbols of theocracy following Strang's coronation.

The article discusses the practice of polygamy among members of the Mormon Church. Particular focus is given to the history of the Cutlerite branch of Mormonism named after Alpheus Cutler and its stance on polygamy prior and after its organization as a church. Cutlerites’ relations with other Mormon denominations including the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (RLDS) and the followers of Brigham Young are also discussed.

This article examines the growing scholarship on scripture in American new religious movements, specifically on exemplary studies on African–American Islam, Mormonism, and Satanism. After reviewing the state of the scholarship, I seek to encourage additional work in this inchoate subfield at the intersection of new religious movements, American religious history, and scriptural studies by offering potential trajectories and publication venues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]