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Messenger and Advocate Messenger and Advocate The Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate (of- 3 Namesake ten shortened to Messenger and Advocate) was an early Latter Day Saint monthly newspaper published in The name “Messenger and Advocate,” or variations Kirtland, Ohio, from October 1834 to September 1837. thereof, has been used many times since the Kirtland It was the successor to The Evening and Morning Star and and Rigdonite newspapers. In 1977, a short-lived maga- the predecessor to the Elders’ Journal. zine, entitled The New Messenger and Advocate, was pub- lished. It was printed by the Guild of Mormon Writers as a means of disseminating their fiction, non-fiction, and 1 History poetical writings. The preliminary issue was released in June 1977. Discussions soon began of joining The New The Messenger and Advocate was established after a mob Messenger and Advocate with Sunstone Magazine. The had destroyed the printing press of the The Evening and merger became official with the release of the Novem- [7] the Morning Star in Independence, Missouri, on July 20, ber/December 1977 issue of Sunstone Magazine. 1833, causing the Star to relocate to Kirtland. After a From 1984 to 1989, Art Bulla published a newsletter for brief run, the Star was discontinued in favor of a uniquely his newly organized Church of Jesus Christ, a splinter sect Ohio newspaper, the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Advocate. Oliver Cowdery served as editor and the first newsletter carried the name of Zion’s Messenger and Ad- issue was printed in October 1834.[1] vocate. It was created as a “vehicle for the free expression The May 1835 issue was the last with Cowdery as edi- of news and views, concerning doctrine and events which tor, because there was “other business and other duties, in surround the coming forth of the Kingdom of Zion at this [8] which my services are requisite.” John Whitmer replaced time.” Cowdery as editor.[2] Whitmer may have been heavily as- Another sect of the Latter Day Saint movement, the In- sisted in his duties by W. W. Phelps.[3] dependent Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, In March 1836, Cowdery again became editor when both also published a periodical using the “Messenger and Ad- Whitmer and Phelps returned to Missouri. Cowdery’s vocate” title. The magazine, called the Independent Lat- brother Warren claimed that he was actually perform- ter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, was first pub- ing the editorial duties.[4] In February 1837, the printing lished in January 1987 with Christopher C. Warren as press was sold to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, and editor. It was meant to be the voice for the Independent Warren Cowdery became the editor. The last issue was Church, which was “divided into three self-governing published in September 1837 after LDS Church leaders and autonomous organisations known, respectively, as the became dissatisfied with Warren Cowdery’s efforts. In Church of the Firstborn, the Church of Christ, and the [9] October 1837 the newspaper was succeeded by the El- Restoration Christian Fellowships. ders’ Journal.[5] Currently, there is a popular Mormon-themed blog, part of the so-called Bloggernacle or community of Mormon blogs, that carries the name “Messenger and Advocate”. 2 Rigdonite Messenger and Advo- cate 4 See also In 1844, Sidney Rigdon asserted a claim to be the succes- • List of Latter Day Saint periodicals sor of Joseph Smith and he organized a group of Latter Day Saints in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[6] This group be- gan to publish a periodical in 1845 that revived the name, Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Ebenezer 5 Notes Robinson (founding publisher of the LDS newspaper Times and Seasons) became the printer of this Rigdonite [1] Cowdery, Oliver, "Address,” Latter Day Saints’ Messenger paper. After Rigdon changed the name of the church and Advocate, October 1834, pp. 1–2. back to the original "Church of Christ,” the periodical be- [2] Cowdery, Oliver, "Address to the Patrons of the Messen- came the Messenger and Advocate of the Church of Christ. ger and Advocate,” Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Ad- 1 2 7 EXTERNAL LINKS vocate, May 1835, pp. 120–22. [3] Crawley, Peter, (1997) A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church, Volume One 1830-1847, pp. 47. [4] Cowdery, W. A., "Valedictory,” Latter Day Saints’ Mes- senger and Advocate, September 1837, p. 569. [5] Rigdon, Sidney, "Prospectus,” Latter Day Saints’ Messen- ger and Advocate, September 1837, p. 571–74. [6] Savery, Richard, "Minutes of a Conference Held in Pitts- burgh, Oct. 12th 1844,” [Rigdon’s] Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, October 15, 1844, pp. 11–12. [7] Fairbanks, Merwin G., A Brief History of the Demise of The New Messenger and Advocate, Associated Collegiate Press Annual Convention, Houston Texas, October 25– 28, 1978. [8] Bulla, Art, Zion’s Messenger and Advocate, vol. 1 no. 1 (July 8, 1984): 1. [9] Warren, Christopher C., Independent Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, vol. 1 no. 1 (January 1987): 3. 6 References • Crawley, Peter (2005) [1997], A Descriptive Bib- liography of the Mormon Church, Volume One 1830-1847, Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, pp. 47–49, ISBN 1- 57008-395-9, OCLC 40429399 7 External links • Messenger and Advocate online source (HTML) at CenterPlace.org, courtesy of the Restoration Inter- net Committee • Messenger and Advocate vol. 1 online source (PDF scans) courtesy of the L. Tom Perry Special Collec- tions, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young Uni- versity • Messenger and Advocate vol. 2 online source (PDF scans) courtesy of the L. Tom Perry Special Collec- tions, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young Uni- versity • Messenger and Advocate vol. 3 online source (PDF scans) courtesy of the L. Tom Perry Special Collec- tions, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young Uni- versity • Rigdon’s Messenger and Advocate online source (HTML) at SidneyRigdon.com • Rigdon’s Messenger and Advocate vol. 1 online source (JPG scans) courtesy of the LDS Church His- tory Library 3 8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses 8.1 Text • Messenger and Advocate Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messenger_and_Advocate?oldid=711120913 Contributors: Jusjih, COG- DEN, Lachatdelarue, Alai, Sesmith, John Hamer, Tsiaojian lee, TrustTruth, SmackBot, Bluebot, WildKazoo, Fredeboulou, Appraiser, FishUtah, Johnpacklambert, Funandtrvl, Justmeherenow, Good Olfactory, Addbot, Dawynn, Rich jj, Lightbot, Jesse V., RjwilmsiBot, Mhiji, Helpful Pixie Bot, JayZeus and Anonymous: 5 8.2 Images • File:Christus_statue_temple_square_salt_lake_city.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Christus_ statue_temple_square_salt_lake_city.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ? • File:Wikisource-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Rei-artur Original artist: Nicholas Moreau 8.3 Content license • Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0.
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