Last updated Volunteers wearing yellow Mormon Helping Hands shirts and vests help clear thousands of used sand bags from a Moorhead, Minnesota property on April 25, 2009. Mike Moore/Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Mormon Helping Hands (or, more recently, simply Helping Hands) is a name under which members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) perform volunteer community service. The name and its logo are worn on t-shirts and vests worn by LDS Church members while providing the service. The shirts and vests are bright yellow or white.
The logos were used in 1992 in South Florida after Hurricane Andrew ravaged the city of Homestead and other parts of Miami-Dade County, Florida. [1] The church officially established the program in 1998[2] in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile to identify service being done by members of the LDS Church. That same year it was implemented on a large scale in Brazil as part of a country-wide day of service organized by the church. It has since been used in many countries.[3]
Mormon Helping Hands operates under the direction of local stake and district presidents and bishops. The activities are meant to provide community service and are not proselytizing in nature.
Mormon Helping Hands both responds to disasters such as hurricanes[4] and gives aid aimed at improving conditions caused by long-standing problems such as deterioration of parks that lack proper upkeep.[5] In 2017, Mormon Helping Hands was asked to assist local communities in cleaning up from Hurricane Harvey and were featured on the news.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a restorationist, nontrinitarian Christian denomination that is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The church is headquartered in the United States in Salt Lake City, Utah and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, it has over 17 million members and over 72,000 full-time volunteer missionaries. The church was the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States as of 2012, and reported over 6.8 million US members as of 2022.
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several groups following different leaders; the majority followed Brigham Young, while smaller groups followed Joseph Smith III, Sidney Rigdon, and James Strang. Most of these smaller groups eventually merged into the Community of Christ, and the term Mormon typically refers to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as today, this branch is far larger than all the others combined. People who identify as Mormons may also be independently religious, secular, and non-practicing or belong to other denominations. Since 2018, the LDS Church has emphasized a desire for its members be referred to as "members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", or more simply as "Latter-day Saints".
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the term ordinance is used to refer to sacred rites and ceremonies that have spiritual and symbolic meanings and act as a means of conveying divine grace. Ordinances are physical acts which signify or symbolize an underlying spiritual act; for some ordinances, the spiritual act is the finalization of a covenant between the ordinance recipient and God.
A temple garment, also referred to as garments, the garment of the holy priesthood, or Mormon underwear, is a type of underwear worn by adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement after they have taken part in the endowment ceremony. Garments are required for any individual who previously participated in the endowment ceremony to enter a temple. The undergarments are viewed as a symbolic reminder of the covenants made in temple ceremonies and are seen as a symbolic and/or literal source of protection from the evils of the world.
Latter-day Saint Charities is a branch of the welfare department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The organization's stated mission is to relieve suffering, to foster self-reliance for people of all nationalities and religions, and to provide opportunities for service.
Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and community service. Missionaries of the LDS Church may be male or female and may serve on a full- or part-time basis, depending on the assignment. Missionaries are organized geographically into missions, which could be any one of the 411 missions organized worldwide. This is one of the practices that the LDS Church is well-known for.
The finances of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Church) are not a matter of public record. In the absence of official statements, people interested in knowing the Church's financial status and behavior, including both members of the Church and others, have attempted to estimate or guess. According to the Church, their funding comes from the donations of its members and the principal expense is in constructing and maintaining facilities.
A bishop's storehouse in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints usually refers to a commodity resource center that is used by bishops of the church to provide goods to needy individuals. The storehouses stock basic foods and essential household items. The term can also be used figuratively to refer to all of the time, talents, skills, materials, compassion, and financial means of the members of the church that are available to be applied in the service of the needy.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Arkansas refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Arkansas. The first branch in Arkansas was organized in 1890. It has since grown to 35,405 members in 73 congregations.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tennessee refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Tennessee. The first branch in Tennessee was organized in 1834. It has since grown to 57,422 members in 112 congregations.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Texas refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Texas. Official church membership as a percentage of general population was 1.13% in 2007 and 1.21% in 2014. According to the 2014 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey in both years, roughly 1% of Texans self-identify themselves most closely with the LDS Church.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Alabama refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Alabama. The first small branch was established in 1842. It has since grown to 39,832 members in 76 congregations.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Florida refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Florida. The LDS Church represents about 1% of the population of Florida according to the Pew Research Center 2014 Religious Landscepe Survey. Official membership statistics show the church representing about 0.75% of the general population. Florida has the 8th largest membership population in the United States and the largest membership population east of the Mississippi. The LDS Church is the 6th largest denomination in Florida.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in California refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in California. California has the 2nd most members of the LDS Church in the United States, behind Utah. The LDS Church is the 2nd largest denomination in California, behind the Roman Catholic Church.
The Mwingi Water Project was a 2008 church sponsored project to supply clean potable water in the Mwingi District in Kenya. The project drilled 30 wells to provide water for 56,000 people. This effort is one of several ongoing water projects in the region, sponsored by both the Kenyan government and church based relief organizations.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Georgia refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Georgia. The first branch in Georgia was organized in 1876. It has since grown to 89,285 members in 164 congregations.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Carolina refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in South Carolina. The first small branch was established in 1882. It has since grown to more than 44,000 members in 79 congregations.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United Kingdom refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in the United Kingdom. In 2019, the United Kingdom had the 2nd most LDS Church members per capita among countries in Europe, behind Portugal.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a presence in Russia before the rise of the USSR, with the first baptisms occurring in 1895. Preliminary missionary efforts began before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the Russian government officially recognized the church in 1991. Membership increased in the 1990s and early 2000s. Missionary efforts were impacted by the 2016 Yarovaya law, which prohibited proselytizing outside of official church property. Current membership statistics are not available for Russia, but the church reported 19,946 members in 2009. As of February 2023, there were three stakes and three missions in Russia. In 2018, Russell M. Nelson announced that a temple would be constructed in a major city in Russia.
Philanthropies, formerly LDS Philanthropies, is a department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is responsible for facilitating donations to humanitarian and educational initiatives. The department works under the direction of the church's Presiding Bishop. The most widely known educational projects are the operation of church-owned schools, such as Brigham Young University (BYU). Humanitarian funds are given to Latter-day Saint Charities which sponsors and organizes relief efforts. In 2019, the church reported over 3,000 community-based projects with an excess of 2,000 partners, in locations around the world. A 2020 statistic reported a total of $2.3 billion that had been donated over Philanthropies' existence.
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