The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sierra Leone

Last updated
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sierra Leone
Flag of Sierra Leone.svg
Area Africa West
Members 26,108 (2021) [1]
Stakes 9
Districts 1
Wards 62
Branches 24
Total Congregations [2] 86
Missions 1
Temples 1 Under Construction
Family History Centers 8 [3]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sierra Leone refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its members in Sierra Leone. At year-end 2009, there were 8,054 members in 17 branches in Sierra Leone. In 2021, there were 26,108 members in 86 congregations. In 2019, Sierra Leone ranked as having the second most LDS Church members per capita in Africa, behind Cape Verde.

Contents

History

Membership in Sierra Leone
YearMembership
198812
1989*200
1995*2,400
19993,564
20045,712
20098,054
201413,078
201922,787
*Membership was published as a rounded number.
Source: Wendall J. Ashton; Jim M. Wall, Deseret News, various years, Church Almanac Country Information: Sierra Leone [1]

The first official meeting of the LDS Church in Sierra Leone was held in Goderich in January 1988, with the first LDS missionaries arriving in May of that year. They were under the Liberia Monrovia Mission. A district was organized in Freetown in 1990. At various times in the 1990s, missionaries were withdrawn due to the civil war in the country. In 1991, the Liberia Monrovia Mission was discontinued and Sierra Leone was placed under the Accra Ghana Mission. The first LDS-built meetinghouse in the country was completed in Bo in 2004. In 2007, the Sierra Leone Freetown Mission was created covering both Sierra Leone and Liberia. [4] In December 2012, Jeffrey R. Holland created the first LDS stake in Sierra Leone in Freetown. In 2013, Liberia was split off to be its own separate mission.

A brief history can be found at Deseret News 2010 Church Almanac (Country Information: Sierra Leone)

Stakes and districts

The Freetown Sierra Leone Stake was organized on December 2, 2012, making it the 3,000th stake in the LDS Church. [5] [6] As of February 2023, Sierra Leone had the following stakes and districts: [7]

Stakes and Districts

Stake/DistrictOrganized
Bo Sierra Leone East Stake1 Jun 2014
Bo Sierra Leone North Stake27 Nov 2016
Bo Sierra Leone West Stake28 Feb 1992
Freetown Sierra Leone Stake5 Nov 1991
Freetown Sierra Leone East Stake3 Dec 2017
Kenema Sierra Leone Stake25 Nov 2012
Kissy Sierra Leone Stake21 Aug 2011
Kossoh Town Sierra Leone Stake16 Mar 2014
Makeni Sierra Leone District21 May 2017
Moriba Town Sierra Leone District26 Jun 2022
Wellington Sierra Leone Stake10 Oct 2021

Congregations in Sierra Leone not part of a stake or district include:

The Sierra Leone Freetown Mission Branch serves families and individuals in Sierra Leone that is not in proximity of a meetinghouse.

Missions

2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak

After two of its members died during the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the LDS Church required its missionaries to remain in their apartments as a precautionary measure. [9] [10] Then on August 1, 2014 the LDS Church announced that it would transfer all of its 274 missionaries out of Sierra Leone and Liberia, thereby closing the Sierra Leone Freetown Mission for the duration of the outbreak. [9] [10] [11]

Temples

On October 5, 2019, the Freetown Sierra Leone Temple was announced by church president Russell M. Nelson.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sierra Leone
edit
Location:
Announced:
Groundbreaking:
Size:		 Freetown, Sierra Leone
5 October 2019 by Russell M. Nelson [12]
19 March 2022 by Hugo E. Martinez
18,000 sq ft (1,700 m2) on a 2.9-acre (1.2 ha) site

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References

  1. 1 2 "Facts and Statistics: Statistics by Country: Sierra Leone", Newsroom, LDS Church, retrieved 24 February 2023
  2. ↑ Excludes groups meeting separate from wards and branches.
  3. ↑ Sierra Leone Family History Centers Map, familysearch.org, retrieved 24 February 2023
  4. ↑ Church News, 2010 Edition, p. 571
  5. ↑ Historic milestone: Sierra Leone stake marks LDS Church's 3,000th, Deseret News, December 2, 2012, retrieved 2012-12-03
  6. ↑ "Country information: Sierra Leone", Church News , Deseret News, December 2, 2012, retrieved 2012-12-03
  7. ↑ "Accra Ghana Temple District", churchofjesuschristtemples.org, retrieved February 21, 2022
  8. ↑ "New missions bring total to 347 missions", Church News , Deseret News, February 10, 2007, retrieved 2012-12-03
  9. 1 2 "Official Statement: Missionaries Serving in Two African Nations are Reassigned". Church News. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  10. 1 2 Stack, Peggy Fletcher (August 2014). "Mormon missionaries leaving Sierra Leone and Liberia". The Salt Lake Tribune . Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Walch, Tad (1 August 2014). "Ebola outbreak prompts evacuation of LDS missionaries from two African nations". Deseret News . Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "President Nelson Announces Eight New Temples at October 2019 General Conference", Newsroom, LDS Church, 5 October 2019
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