United Order. Early versions of the Order beginning in 1831 attempted to fully implement the law of consecration, a form of Christian communalism, modeled after the New Testament church which had "all things in common". These early versions ended after a few years. Later versions within Mormonism, primarily in the Utah Territory,...
The United Order was also practiced by the liberal Mormon sect called the United Order Family of Christ and the Cutlerite sect the Church of Jesus Christ .
Membership in the United Order was voluntary, although during a period in the 1830s, it was a requirement of continued church membership.
United Order. At the end of each year, any excess that the family produced from their stewardship was voluntarily given back to the Order. The Order in each community was operated by the local bishop .
United Order. In the Latter Day Saint movement, the United Order (also called the United Order of Enoch) was one of several 19th-century church collectivist programs. Early versions of the Order beginning in 1831 attempted to fully implement the law of consecration, a form of Christian communalism, modeled after the New Testament church which had ...
Originally, the United Order was intended to be "an everlasting order for the benefit of my church, and for the salvation of men until I come". In practice, however, the Order was relatively short-lived during Smith's life.
This United Order was an attempt to eradicate poverty and promote a sense of unity and brotherhood within Latter Day Saint communities. The LDS Church's view is that the doctrine and the various attempts at practicing it should not be seen as part of the 19th-century utopian movement in the United States, and is distinct from both Marxist communism and capitalism.
Each man owned his portion, or inheritance, or stewardship, with an absolute title, which he could alienate, or hypothecate, or otherwise treat as his own. The church did not own all of the property, and the life under the United Order was not a communal life. ...
The sharing of goods, often cited as communalism, was voluntary. Members of the church who chose to participate in the United Order voluntarily deeded their properties to the church, which would then give all or a portion of it back to the original property owner as a stewardship.
The cooperative plan was used in at least 200 Mormon communities, most of them in rural areas outlying the central Mormon settlements near the Great Salt Lake.
It was not until 1874 that Young initiated the United Order of Enoch, beginning in St. George, Utah, on February 9, 1874. There were a number of differences between the United Order of Enoch and United Order communities established years earlier by Joseph Smith.