Second anointing

rdf:langString Second anointing

rdf:langString In the Latter Day Saint movement, the second anointing, or second endowment, is the pinnacle ordinance of the temple and an extension of the endowment ceremony. Founder Joseph Smith taught that the function of the ordinance was to ensure salvation, guarantee exaltation, and confer godhood. In the ordinance, a participant is anointed as a "priest and king" or a "priestess and queen", and is sealed to the highest degree of salvation available in Mormon theology. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Mormonism's largest denomination, the ordinance is currently only given in secret to a few select couples chosen by top leaders. The LDS Church regularly performed the ceremony for nominated couples from the 1840s to the 1920s, and continued less regularly into the 1940s. By 1941, about 15,000 second anointings had been performed for the living, and over 6,000 for the dead. The practice became much less common thereafter, but continues to this day, though, presently most LDS adherents are unaware of the ritual’s existence. The ordinance is also performed by many Mormon fundamentalist groups. However, it is not performed by denominations such as the Community of Christ (formerly RLDS), who historically did not practice the Nauvoo endowment ceremony.