The change, which was approved by a vote of 1,979 in favor to 561 opposed,will begin sometime after Jan. 1, 2001.
Discussions about changing the name have gone on for years.
In a statement announcing the change, the church said its 1994 Joint Council decided the "Community of Christ" name was consistent with the church's theology and mission.
"It honors church heritage while offering a positive image for what the church is called to be in the future," the statement reads.
The new name failed to win approval at two earlier worldwide meetings of the church, in 1996 and 1998. Even now that the new name has been approved, the name "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" will be retained for some legal purposes.
Members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints trace their beginnings to the start of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830. Members of the "reorganized" body began their own church in 1860 under the leadership of Joseph Smith III, the son of the founder of the Mormon church.
