Welfare Square is a complex in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), to provide material assistance to poor and otherwise needy individuals and families. Welfare Square is part of the Church's Church Welfare System. It includes a 178-foot (54 m) grain silo, fruit orchards, a milk-processing plant, a cannery, a bakery, a Deseret Industries thrift store, a private employment office, and the LDS Church's largest [1] Bishop's storehouse, as well as associated administrative offices. [2]
Welfare Square provides regular employment for approximately 50 people, in addition to the 200 rotating volunteers needed to provide its services and run its operations. Fast offerings from local LDS congregations fund its operations. [2]
Welfare Square was created in 1938, [2] under the direction of the Church's General Welfare Committee, which itself had been formed just two years earlier. [3] Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, as the United States was experiencing the Great Depression Welfare Square became the flagship of the Church's Welfare Program.
A four-year renovation started in the late 1990s, and was completed in 2001. The 1940 granary building was the only structure on the site that was not significantly refurbished or newly built at that time. [4] The concrete grain elevator can hold 318,000-US-bushel (11,200 m3) of wheat (about 19 million pounds). [5]
In 2011 the Utah legislature passed, and the governor signed, a bill commemorating the founding of the LDS Church's Welfare System, [6] of which Welfare Square is the centerpiece. [5]
As part of the LDS Church's larger Welfare Program, all aid received at Welfare Square is based on personal responsibility, thrift, and work; recipients of aid may be asked to volunteer their time after receiving help. [7] [8]
Deseret is a term derived from the Book of Mormon, a scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Latter Day Saint groups. According to the Book of Mormon, "deseret" meant "honeybee" in the language of the Jaredites, a group in the Book of Mormon that were led by God to the Americas after the construction of the Tower of Babel. Latter-day Saint scholar Hugh Nibley suggested an etymology by associating the word "Deseret" with the ancient Egyptian dsrt, a term referring to the "bee crown" of the Lower Kingdom.
The Latter Day Saint movement is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s.
Russell Marion Nelson Sr. is an American religious leader and retired surgeon who is the 17th and current president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nelson was a member of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for nearly 34 years, and was the quorum president from 2015 to 2018. As church president, Nelson is recognized by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator.
Deseret Industries is a non-profit organization and a division of the welfare services provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Below is a chronological list of temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with sortable columns. In the LDS Church, a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord and considered by church members to be the most sacred structures on earth. Upon completion, temples are usually open to the public for a short period of time, and then each is dedicated as a "House of the Lord," after which only members with a current temple recommend are permitted to enter. Thus, they are not churches or meetinghouses, but rather specialized places of worship. The LDS Church has 335 temples in various phases, which includes 188 dedicated temples, 52 under construction, and 95 others announced. Within temples, members of the LDS Church make covenants, receive instructions, and perform rituals and ordinances. Additionally, members consider the temple a place to commune with God, seek God's aid, understand God's will, and receive personal revelation.
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.
Richard Eyring "Rick" Turley Jr. is an American historian and genealogist. He previously served as both an Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as managing director of the church's public affairs department.
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 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a presence in Mexico since 1874. Mexico has the largest body of LDS Church members outside of the United States. Membership grew nearly 15% between 2011 and 2021. In the 2010 Mexican census, 314,932 individuals self-identified most closely to the LDS Church.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Utah. Utah has more church members than any other U.S. state or country. The LDS Church is also the largest denomination in Utah.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nevada refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Nevada. Nevada has the 7th most church members of any U.S. state, and the fifth-highest percentage of members. The LDS Church is the 2nd largest denomination in Nevada, behind the Roman Catholic Church.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wyoming refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Wyoming. The church's first congregation in Wyoming was organized in 1877. It has since grown to 67,797 members in 172 congregations.
Although the media has always been important in the church's growth, public relations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has become increasingly important since the church's growth internationally after World War II. By the 1960s and 1970s, the LDS Church was no longer primarily an Intermountain West-based church, or even a United States-based church. The church's organized public relations efforts have deep roots. The Bureau of Information, the predecessor of the Temple Square Visitors Centers was started on Temple Square in Salt Lake City with Le Roi Snow, a son of Lorenzo Snow, as the first director.
The Barranquilla Colombia Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Puerto Colombia, Colombia.
The Provo City Center Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the same site as the former Provo Tabernacle in Provo, Utah. Completed in 2016, the temple utilizes much of the external shell of the tabernacle, all that remained of the original building after a fire in December 2010.
The Durban South Africa Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Durban, South Africa. The intent to construct the temple was announced by church president Thomas S. Monson on 1 October 2011. The temple was announced concurrently with the Barranquilla Colombia, Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo, Star Valley Wyoming, and Provo City Center temples. When announced, this increased the total number of temples worldwide to 166 and the number in South Africa to two.
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.
The McAllen Texas Temple is temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under construction in McAllen, Texas.
The Taylorsville Utah Temple is a temple awaiting dedication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Taylorsville, Utah. Plans to construct the temple were announced on October 5, 2019 by church president Russell M. Nelson, during the church's general conference. The temple is the first in the city of Taylorsville, the fifth in Salt Lake County, and the twenty-third in the state of Utah.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Republic of the Congo refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in the Republic of the Congo. The country was opened to the church's missionaries in 1991. Since then, the church has grown to 11,481 members in 32 congregations.