A biblical doctrine clarified by Book of Mormon and modern revelations, the “gathering” refers to a promise that in the last days scattered Israel will be gathered to Jerusalem and to a New Jerusalem. Much of that gathering will take place when believers seek safety during the destruction initiating the Millennium. These gatherings have a spiritual as well as a geographical component (D&C 133:14). Two preliminary gathering efforts have already taken place—Jewish people to the Holy Land, and early Latter-day Saint converts from among scattered Israel “leaving sinful Babylon” and gathering to centers in Ohio, Missouri, Nauvoo, and then the Rocky Mountains.
In Jerusalem on 24 October 1841, Elder Orson Hyde of the Twelve dedicated Palestine for the gathering of the Jews. In 1873 Elder George A. Smith of the First Presidency rededicated the land. Jewish migration to Palestine began in the late nineteenth century. British forces took Palestine from the Turks during World War I. By the Balfour Declaration of 1917, Britain committed itself to fostering a national home for Jewish people, despite Palestinian Arabs’ opposition. During the 1930s and 1940s, Jewish refugees fled there in large numbers. In 1947 the United Nations partitioned Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. The Republic of Israel came into being on 14 May 1948. By the mid-1990s, Israel’s population was 5.4 million out of 14 million Jewish people worldwide.
The “gathering” has been a practice, operational in the LDS Church from 1830 to the 1890s, wherein converts were commanded to relocate to where the Church was gathering. It was initiated by a September 1830 revelation stating that “the decree hath gone forth from the Father that they shall be gathered into one place upon the face of the land, to prepare their hearts and be prepared in all things against the day when tribulation and desolation are sent forth upon the wicked” (D&C 29:8). Saints gathered to Jackson County, Missouri, a place designated in revelations as Zion, where a New Jerusalem would be built. Persecution thwarted their efforts and drove them out, forcing them to gather elsewhere.
In 1836 at Kirtland, Joseph Smith received from Moses “the keys of the gathering of Israel” (D&C 110:11). Nauvoo replaced Kirtland and Missouri as the gathering center until persecutions pushed the Saints to the Intermountain West. There the gathering fulfilled prophecy that the house of the Lord would be established in the “top of the mountains” (Isa. 2:2).
During the nineteenth century, gathering was the next step after baptism. Converts first gathered from the United States and Canada. From 1840 to 1846 Church-sponsored immigrant companies moved some 4,000 British converts to Nauvoo. In 1844 Joseph Smith pronounced that “the whole of America is Zion” and that “henceforth wherever the Elders of Israel shall build up churches and branches unto the Lord throughout the States, there shall be a stake of Zion” (Smith, 6:318-19).
After relocating in the West, the Church sponsored large-scale emigration, giving assistance that included Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company loans (after 1849). In 1848 Saints in Europe were told to “emigrate as speedily as possible” (Millennial Star, 81-88). In 1852 the First Presidency said of Saints abroad: “It is time for them to gather, without delay, to Zion” (Clark, 2:98). The gathering had two primary purposes: to give the Church a strong, permanent base and to provide a place of refuge from persecution and sin. They sang with joy, “Oh Babylon, oh Babylon, we bid thee farewell” and “Israel, Israel, God is calling thee from lands of woe.” The trek across sea, plains, and mountains required faith and sacrifice—leaving homes, jobs, and unconverted family members behind.
Between 1840 and 1890, some 85,000 converts emigrated from Europe during 333 emigrant voyages on Latter-day Saint-chartered sail and steam ships—perhaps 50,000 from the British Isles, 20,000 from Scandinavia, and 6,000 from continental Europe. From 1847 to 1868, at least 329 wagon and handcart companies moved more than 60,000 believers to Utah; afterward those gathering to Zion came by train.
By the 1890s the Church had ceased promoting the gathering to Utah. Latter-day Saint settlements could no longer absorb and support large numbers of newcomers. Further, emigration sapped mission- field branches of strength, hampering proselyting efforts. Saints were asked to “stay and build up the work abroad,” and that policy is still in effect.
SOURCES
Clark, James R. comp. Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 6 vols. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-75.
Hafen, LeRoy R., and Ann W. Hafen. Handcarts to Zion: 1856-60. Glendale, Calif.: Arthur H. Clark, 1960.
Hartley, William G. “Coming to Zion: Saga of the Gathering.” Ensign 5 (July 1975): 14-18.
Larson, Gustive O. Prelude to the Kingdom. Francestown, N.H.: Marshall Jones, 1947.
Millennial Star 10 (15 March 1848): 81-88.
Mulder, William. Homeward to Zion: The Mormon Migration from Scandinavia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1957.
“Religious Information.” World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997. Mahwah, N.J.: World Almanac Books, 1996. 644-46.
Smith, Joseph. History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Edited by
B. H. Roberts. 2d ed. rev. 7 vols. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932-51.
Sonne, Conway B. Saints on the Seas: A Maritime History of Mormon Migration, 1830-1890. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1983.
Stegner, Wallace. The Gathering of Zion. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971.
Taylor, P. A. M. Expectations Westward: The Mormons and the Migration of Their British Converts in the Nineteenth Century. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1966.
WILLIAM G. HARTLEY