Terminology is a persistent problem in the Latter Day Saint movement. Most Latter Day Saints use the word church to refer to the denomination, and to the words ward, branch, mission or congregation to the local fellowship entity located in a specific geography. Most other Christians refer to the church, with a small "c", as the universal fellowship of all Christians, or that ideal which is led by Christ, and to Church, with a large "C", as the local fellowship identity, or congregation. Denomination is just that - denomination.

In Joseph Smith's time, there were no real denominations, per se, as we have come to understand them in the United States. Churches organized themselves into associations in local areas, mainly to address issues of stability. It was these local associations that evolved into denominations (Richey, 1977, p.59). We must also remember that prior to the American Revolution, churches were supported by the government, and in many cases, each colony had an official church, or religion. So challenging was the upheaval in losing state support, that it took the churches until about 1800 to regroup. And by then, the churches had to persuade the citizeny to not only join the church voluntarily, but also to support the church financially on a voluntary basis (McAlister & Tucker, 1975, pp.40-42, 47).

This may help to explain why Smith's followers organized "branches" instead of other independent churches, because it seems apparent from the records of the church and the revelations recorded in the Doctrine & Covenants Section 27 (RLDS edition/LDS 28) that by mid-1830, Joseph Smith, Jr. had decidedly assumed primary leadership of the Latter Day Saint movement (which, by the way, is probably not an accurate name for the movement in its earliest years, but has become a commonly accepted descriptive phrase).