Joshua Steed returns to Missouri a wealthy man with a beautiful wife; however, the past has a way of catching up. Soon Joshua is tangled in a web of rumors, deception and betrayal that threatens to tear his family apart. Back in Kirtland, financial trouble riddles the foundations of the fledgling Church causing a division, and questioning of the Prophet Joseph Smith's divine calling. Has he lost his prophetic gift? Hundreds of Saints immigrate to Missouri, where Governor Boggs raises an army - with Joshua at its head - to address the "Mormon Problem." When the militia receives orders to attack the Mormon settlement, only Joshua can save his family from the gathering mob.
The Work and the Glory is a 2004 historical fiction drama film directed by Russell Holt, from a script co-written by Gerald N. Lund and Russell Holt. Based on Lund's novel titled The Work and the Glory: Pillar of Light, the movie stars Sam Hennings, Brenda Strong, Eric Johnson, Alexander Carroll, Tiffany Dupont, and Jonathan Scarfe. It tells the story of the fictional Steed family in the 1820s and their struggles trying to adopt the new Mormon religion, and it explores their relationship with their community, with its founder, Joseph Smith and the rest of the Smith family.