Polygamous families live by a variety of values and standards. Members of organized fundamentalist Mormon groups are often influenced by the traditions or expectations of the larger religious body with whom they identify. There are a number of different fundamentalist Mormon communities centered in and around Utah, including two large groups, several small groups, and the independent fundamentalist Mormons, who are not affiliated with any organized group:

FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Membership: 8,000-10,000, with that number decreasing.

Locations: Colorado City, AZ/Hildale, UT; Eldorado, TX; Colorado, South Dakota, Nevada, and California.

Note: They should not be confused with fundamentalist Mormons in general. The terms FLDS & fundamentalist Mormon are not synonymous.

AUB (Apostolic United Brethren, or commonly known as the Allred group)

Membership: 7,500

Locations: Bluffdale, Utah; Utah and Salt Lake counties; Rocky Ridge, Cedar City, Eagle Mountain, Utah; Pinesdale, Montana.

The Work of Jesus Christ (Centennial Park)

Membership: 1,500

Locations: Centennial Park, Arizona; Salt Lake City, Utah

Note: They separated from the Colorado City community about 1986, before the FLDS Church was organized. Education is a high priority.

Davis County Co-operative (commonly known as the Kingston group)

Membership: 1,500+

Locations: Salt Lake Valley and northern Utah

Other smaller groups

Nielsen/Naylor group: approx. 300 members, mostly in the Salt Lake valley.

Winston Blackmore group: separated from FLDS in 2002, 400 members, Bountiful, B.C., Canada.

The True and Living church of Saints of the Latter Days): approx. 200 members, Manti, Utah.

Missouri communities: a melting pot of fundamentalist Mormons: approx. 600 people, southern Missouri.

Independent Fundamentalist Mormons

No specific leader or organization.

Membership: approximately 15,000

Locations: predominantly scattered throughout the western United States.

Note: These people range from active LDS Church members who remain quiet about their fundamentalist beliefs, to those who have been excommunicated from the mainstream church, to a few who have never belonged to the LDS Church. Also, the term “FLDS” is not synonymous nor interchangeable with “fundamentalist Mormon.”