Let me first say that if you have any transcripts of the Endowment from any time or any group PLEASE email me at Gileriodekel@Gmail.com and I will add it to this article.
The Endowment is a ritual which developed over time. This history is perhaps best recounted in “The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship” by David J. Buerger. What was initially the Kirtland Endowment was later retooled to be “The Initiatory”, which was standardized a bit more than it was in the Kirtland era. The Initiatory came to be seen as a prelude to the ceremony which was introduced on May 4, 1842 and this is what is commonly referred to as “The Endowment” today.
There are very few accounts of what the Endowment looked like before the succession crisis was in full swing. However, there are a few:
- “Order Lodge” in “The History of the Saints” by John C. Bennett
- History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842], p. 1328
These are accounts of Endowment after Joseph Smith’s death in the Nauvoo temple:
- Emeline’s “Mormon Endowments” on April 15th, 1846
- Increase McGee Van Deusen’s expose in 1847
- Catherine Lewis’s “Narrative of Some of the Proceedings of the Mormons” in 1848
- Increase and Marie Van Deusen’s revised expose in 1849.
- Mary Ettie V. Smith in 1858
After the death of Joseph Smith Jr. the endowment continued to develop amongst several branches of the Restoration, namely the Brighamites, Wightites, Cutlerites, and a couple of independent groups. However, the Wightites have since gone extinct and no reliable information remains regarding their Endowment ceremony. Additionally, a transcript of the Cutlerite Endowment has not been made available to the public. In terms of independent groups a couple have been made available, and will be discussed on an individual basis.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mainline Brighamite)
The history of the main Brighamite branch is perhaps best detailed in the article “Changes to the Temple Endowment” by Mormonr, “Evolution of the Mormon Temple Ceremony 1840–1990” by Jerald and Sandra Tanner, “Chronology of Temple Endowment Versions & Films” by Further Light, and ldsendowment.org. The Endowment began to be standardized in 1877 and wasn’t fully standardized across all temples for about 2 more decades. While there would be occasional exposés, a full transcript did not make its way to the public until 1906 during the Reed Smoot Hearings. The purpose my page isn’t to reiterate the fantastic research they’ve developed, but add to it in ways that they weren’t able to, namely with giving transcripts of the ceremony.
John Hyde’s 1857 expose “Mormon Mysteries,” Mormonism: Its Leaders and Designs”. He also noted in this that the Endowment was not standardized and was constantly changing.
Ann Eliza Young’s 1876 expose “Wife Number 19”
Salt Lake Tribune’s February 9th, 1906 transcript which was a result of the Reed Smoot Hearings.
After the Reed Smoot Hearings – between 1919-1927 – the church opted to rephrase the wording to make it a little less violent, remove a choir from the preacher’s portion of the Endowment, and simplified how the robes are worn. There are some versions that purport to be this version, such as this one, but as far as can be seen these are an earlier version of the endowment. If you find a transcript from this time please email me at Gileriodekel@Gmail.com.
In 1984 a man named Larry Cozad Jr. secretly recorded the Endowment and made a transcript.
There were many large changes in 1990 such as the removal of death penalties, the lecture at the veil, and the final remnants of the Adam-God Doctrine. The transcript of this can be read here and a video can be watched here.
In 2014 3 new versions of the film were released (one of which can be watched here), but the script was unaltered. Live performances of the Endowment still occurred, one of which can be watched here.
In 2019 the Endowment was adjusted to make it less sexist – women now covenant to obey God instead of their husbands and Eve has a more equal role in the ceremony. Additionally, there were some grammatical changes. Lastly, some references to God were changed to “The Lord”, which is more synonymous with Jesus. The transcript can be read here or listened to here.
There were slight changes in 2020 due to covid-19, but a full transcript was not obtained and it has since reverted back.
The church then again modified the endowment in 2023, this time emphasizing the symbolic nature of the Endowment. This modification also added a portion which touched on the war in heaven, rearranged certain portions, focuses more on Jesus, and no longer promise to avoid loud laughter. This transcript can be read here.
The LDS church once again modified the Endowment on August 13th, 2024, and it reduced the ceremony by about 20-30 minutes. At this time a video/audio has not been leaked, and thus a transcript has not been created.
True And Living Church Of Jesus Christ Of Saints Of The Last Days
A copy of their Endowment can be found on Archive.org here.
Latter-day Church of Christ
(Kingston Clan)
This endowment was leaked on Archive.org on May 10th, 2025, and represents the endowment as it was in 2015.
The Mentinah Archives / Nemenhah Band
(Philip R. Landis)
This endowment was published in “The Sacred Records of the Nemenhah” sometime between 2004 and 2011. You can read it here.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Wightites)
John Hawley explained the differences between the Wightite and Brighamite Endowments in a letter to Joseph Smith III in 1884 which was published in the Herald here. Hawley again spoke on the Endowment in the Temple Lot Case, which can be read here.
The Wightite Endowment is also talked about and examined in “Polygamy on the Pedernales: Lyman Wight’s Mormon Villages in Antebellum Texas, 1845-1858” by Mel Johnson.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)
The Strangite “Endowment” was called the “Illumination”. Most of what we know about this ceremony comes from the exposes of William Smith after he defected from the Strangites.
Here is the first and second expose, along with Strang’s first and second rebuttals to these exposes.
Church of Jesus Christ in Christian Fellowship
This church is a Mormon non-denominational church which accepts scriptures, prophecies, and Endowments from many branches of the Restoration. They firmly believe in not having secret combinations, and so they have talked extensively about their version of the Endowment, which can be found in their scripture “The Book of Remembrance“.
Reform Mormon
While a full-fledged script of their Endowment has not been posted online a great deal about it has been. For example, they have a rather cavalier history posted, the garden dialogue posted, the details of the covenants they make (1, 2, 3, 4).