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| School of the Prophets (Latter Day Saints) | |
|---|---|
| Name | School of the Prophets |
| Established | 1833 |
| Founder | Joseph Smith Jr. |
| Location | Kirtland, Ohio; Nauvoo, Illinois |
| Affiliated | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
School of the Prophets (Latter Day Saints) was an early institutional initiative associated with Joseph Smith Jr. and the formative decades of the Latter Day Saint movement. Conceived amid the Kirtland period and later active in Nauvoo, Illinois, the School sought to prepare leaders for roles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, integrate revelation with practice, and address social issues of the 1830s and 1840s. Its participants and influences intersected with many prominent figures, locales, and events in early Mormonism.
The School emerged during the Kirtland, Ohio era following revelations received by Joseph Smith Jr. and administrative needs experienced after the First Vision narratives and the organization of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints). Prompted by visits from leaders like Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Parley P. Pratt, the School formalized as a setting for theological instruction, covenant renewal, and practical planning in proximity to the Kirtland Temple project and the banking experiment of the Kirtland Safety Society. Its establishment connects to conferences held at the Kirtland Temple and to doctrinal developments recorded in early editions of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Administratively, the School drew on leadership from the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and met in spaces associated with the Kirtland Temple and later Nauvoo Temple activities. Curriculum items included scriptural exegesis of the Book of Mormon, instruction in revelations attributed to Joseph Smith Jr., and study of liturgical practices linked to the Endowment (Latter Day Saints). Sessions addressed legalistic and communal schemes related to the Law of Consecration, economic questions implicated by the Kirtland Safety Society, and missionary strategy informed by leaders such as Heber C. Kimball and Orson Pratt. The School integrated ritual instruction paralleling temple rites and administrative training relevant to ward and stake organization, missionary deployment, and publication projects like the Times and Seasons.
Prominent participants included Joseph Smith Jr., Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Martin Harris, Hyrum Smith, and later Nauvoo-era leaders such as Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, Orson Hyde, John Taylor, and Willard Richards. Other attendees and associates encompassed Parley P. Pratt, George A. Smith, William Law, Charles C. Rich, Jedediah M. Grant, Amasa Lyman, Erastus Snow, Orson Pratt Jr., Orson Spencer, Stephen Markham, and W. W. Phelps. The School’s influence extended to converts and missionaries from regions represented by figures like Thomas B. Marsh, Lyman Wight, Samuel Smith, Ezra T. Benson, Wilford Woodruff, and to Nauvoo civic actors including John C. Bennett and Thomas Ford.
Activities included covenant-making, scriptural study, leadership instruction for missionary work in contexts like the British Mission, and preparation for temple ordinances associated with the Nauvoo endowment. Teachings blended prophetic revelation from Joseph Smith Jr. with practical guidance on publishing Times and Seasons and managing community temporal affairs implicated by the United Order. Dialogues in the School engaged with contemporary American religious movements such as Campbellite movement influences and debated social controversies involving figures like Alexander Campbell and doctrinal trends traced back to the Second Great Awakening. The School also functioned as a forum for instructing about persecution episodes tied to the Missouri Mormon War and the Extermination Order issued by Lilburn Boggs, with planning referencing mobilization events like the Battle of Crooked River and the Haun's Mill massacre.
The School operated as both a theological incubator and a leadership pipeline that shaped the structure of institutions including the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the First Presidency, and temple organizations centered on the Kirtland Temple and later the Nauvoo Temple. Its teachings influenced missionary expansion into United Kingdom missions under leaders such as Heber C. Kimball and Parley P. Pratt, administrative reforms tied to the Law of Consecration and the United Order, and doctrinal codification appearing in compilations like early editions of the Doctrine and Covenants. The School’s intersections with publishing projects, including texts produced by Oliver Cowdery and W. W. Phelps, aided dissemination of teachings that affected migration episodes toward Winter Quarters and ultimately to Salt Lake Valley under Brigham Young.
After the Kirtland financial crises, the School’s activity waned amid schisms leading to groups like the Community of Christ lineage and dissident movements associated with Sidney Rigdon and William Law. Revival occurred in the Nauvoo era with renewed instruction tied to the Nauvoo endowment and to ordinances administered under Joseph Smith III-era debates and later Brigham Young administration. The legacy persists in modern temple and leadership training practices within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, historical studies by scholars of Mormonism and institutions such as Brigham Young University and Community of Christ (formerly RLDS Church), and public memory preserved in sites like the Kirtland Historic District and Nauvoo Historic District. The School’s model informed later educational structures including seminaries, institutes, and leadership training programs across Utah and other global congregations, while its controversies continue to be examined in works addressing the Kirtland Safety Society and succession crises after Joseph Smith Jr..