The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in North Dakota

Last updated

Flag of North Dakota.svg
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in North Dakota
BismarckTempleChapel.jpg
A meetinghouse next to the Bismarck North Dakota Temple
Area NA Central
Members 11,896 (2024) [1]
Stakes 3
Wards 20
Branches 7
Total Congregations27
Missions 1
Temples 1
Family History Centers 7 [2]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) held its first congregation in North Dakota in 1919. In 2022, there was 11,487 members in 26 congregations.

Contents

Official church membership as a percentage of general population was 1.49% in 2017. [3] According to the 2014 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey, less than 1% of North Dakotans self-identify themselves most closely with the LDS Church. [4] The LDS Church is the 7th largest denomination in North Dakota. [5]

History

Membership in North Dakota
YearMembership
19833,529
1989*4,500
19995,070
20096,140
201911,550
202411,896
*Membership was published as a rounded number.
Source: Wendall J. Ashton; Jim M. Wall, Deseret News, various years, Church Almanac State Information: North Dakota [1]

The first missionaries of the LDS Church arrived in North Dakota in 1885, and the first LDS meetinghouse was built in 1919 in Sully Lake. [6] However the first stake in North Dakota was not organized until 1977 in Fargo. [7] North Dakota was the final US state to have a stake within its boundaries. [6]

During the North Dakota oil boom, the LDS Church in North Dakota saw significant growth in multiple communities in the western part of the state. [8] [9] The growth was largely driven by the influx of out-of-state oil field workers and their families from other nearby western states with high Latter-day Saint populations. In some of the communities, church membership doubled during the oil boom necessitating the construction of multiple new meetinghouses, chapels, and other church facilities. [10]

The number of missionaries from the church sent to the Dakotas doubled during the pandemic, as many sent to other countries returned to the US. [11]

Stakes

As of May 2025, the following stakes had congregations located in North Dakota:

StakeOrganizedMissionTemple District
Bismarck North Dakota22 Sep 1996North Dakota BismarckBismarck North Dakota
Fargo North Dakota7 Aug 1977North Dakota BismarckBismarck North Dakota
Minot North Dakota4 May 2014North Dakota BismarckBismarck North Dakota
Glendive Montana4 May 1997North Dakota BismarckBillings Montana

Missions

The South Dakota Rapid City Mission was consolidated into the North Dakota Bismarck Mission in 2015, which includes entire state of North Dakota.[ citation needed ] As of 2020, the mission was one of the larger missions in the LDS Church. [11]

Temples

The Bismarck North Dakota Temple was dedicated on September 19, 1999, by LDS Church president Gordon B. Hinckley. It was built at a cost of $4 million. [6] The Watford City Ward in the Glendive Montana Stake is located in the Billings Montana Temple District. In 2020, a new statue of the Angel Moroni was installed on the temple to replace the weathered original statue. [12]

BismarkTemple7.jpg
edit
Location:
Announced:
Groundbreaking:
Dedicated:
Size:
Style:		 Bismarck, North Dakota, United States
July 29, 1998 by Gordon B. Hinckley
October 17, 1998 by Kenneth Johnson
September 19, 1999 by Gordon B. Hinckley
10,700 sq ft (990 m2) on a 1.6-acre (0.65 ha) site
Classic modern, single-spire design - designed by Ritterbush–Ellig–Hulsing and Church A&E Services

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Facts and Statistics: Statistics by State:North Dakota", Newsroom, LDS Church, retrieved 28 May 2023
  2. ↑ Category:North Dakota Family History Centers, familysearch.org, retrieved March 28, 2022
  3. ↑ Martinich, Matt. "Percent LDS by US State". Growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  4. ↑ "Adults in North Dakota: Religious composition of adults in North Dakota". Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Pew Research Center . Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  5. ↑ "The Association of Religion Data Archives | State Membership Report". Thearda.com. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 "Counting the faithful: Mormon church thrives". Inforum. March 29, 2003. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  7. ↑ Vatnsdal, Emma (6 January 2019). "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grows to third Fargo congregation". Inforum. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  8. ↑ Horwath, Bryan (5 April 2013). "Growing the faith: Some Dickinson churches see surging congregations". The Dickinson Press. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  9. ↑ "New ward, leadership established for Mormon congregations in region". minotdailynews.com. Minot Daily News. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  10. ↑ Dalrymple, Amy (16 April 2016). "With influx of people from western states, Mormon congregations in Oil Patch have swelled". Inforum. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  11. 1 2 Griffith, Michelle (October 11, 2020), "Number of Latter-day Saints missionaries in Dakotas double amid COVID-19 pandemic", Grand Forks Herald, retrieved May 25, 2021
  12. ↑ Miller, Alan (29 June 2020). "New angel atop Bismarck temple of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints". KFYR. Retrieved 26 October 2022.


Ovalportrait-josephsmith-Carter.jpg

This article related to the Latter Day Saint movement is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.