What are gospel ordinances?
An “ordinance” in the Church is any ceremony the Church deems necessary for salvation.
Encyclopedia of Mormonism, pg. 1033; “In harmony with biblical precedent and latter-day commandment, all saving and exalting ordinances, from baptism to temple marriage, are performed in the presence of witnesses, and a proper and faithful record is made and kept in the archives of the Church (2 Cor. 13:1; cf. D&C 128:2-5). Thus, ordinances become “a law on earth and in heaven” and, unless the covenants are violated, they cannot be annulled, “according to the decrees of the great Jehovah” (D&C 128:6-10).”
