The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published a statement of belief today regarding a Mother in Heaven. The statement makes it clear that Heavenly Mother is Mormon doctrine. The following is the beginning paragraph:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that all human beings, male and female, are beloved spirit children of heavenly parents, a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother. This understanding is rooted in scriptural and prophetic teachings about the nature of God, our relationship to Deity, and the godly potential of men and women. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.

The statement was published in the series of Gospel Topics Essays on LDS.org. In 2013, the Church began to publish a series of straightforward, in-depth essays to provide accurate information about some of the Church’s teachings, practices and history. These essays—13 published to date—were prepared through extensive research by men and women Church scholars and carefully reviewed by members of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and other General Authorities and women leaders to provide official, authoritative, and transparent information.

The essay explains the following:

• While there is no record of a formal revelation to Joseph Smith on this doctrine, some early Latter-day Saint women recalled that he personally taught them about a Mother in Heaven.
• Eliza R. Snow wrote a poem that is now known as the hymn “O My Father,” which declares: “In the heav’ns are parents single? / No, the thought makes reason stare; / Truth is reason—truth eternal / Tells me I’ve a mother there.”
• Subsequent Church leaders have affirmed the existence of a Mother in Heaven.
• The Family: A Proclamation to the World declares that “Each [person] is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.”
• Latter-day Saints direct their worship to Heavenly Father, in the name of Christ, and do not pray to Heavenly Mother.

Read the Church’s official statement “Mother in Heaven.”