- United States - 1830
- Canada - 1830
- United Kingdom - 1837
- Australia - 1840
- French Polynesia - 1844
- Denmark - 1849
- France - 1849 (missionaries served inconsistently in France until 1946)
- Switzerland - 1850
- Germany - 1851 (first branch created in 1843)
- Norway - 1851
- Sweden - early 1850s
- Ireland - 1850s (missionary work began in late 1830s but closed due to famine and emigration)
- New Zealand - 1854
- Netherlands - 1861
- Finland - 1870s (more permanent, consistent missionary activity began in 1947)
- Mexico - 1875
- Austria - 1883 (year first Austria baptized in Austria; missionaries periodically visited years earlier)
- American Samoa - 1888 (previous attempt to establish church in 1862 but unsuccessful)
- Belgium - 1888
- Samoa - 1888 (previous attempt to establish church in 1862 but unsuccessful)
- Tonga - 1891 (missionaries removed from 1897 to 1907)
- Syria - late 1890s-1951 (closed due to political conditions and emigration of Armenian converts)
- Japan - 1901 (mission closed in 1924 and reopened in 1946)
- South Africa - 1903 (missionaries also served from 1853-1865)
- Argentina - 1925
- Brazil - 1928
- Czech Republic - 1929 (missionaries removed in 1950; reintroduced in 1990)
- Israel (Palestine) - 1933-1939, 1946-1951, 1970s-mid-1980s (closed due to BYU-Jerusalem agreement with government)
- Cook Islands - 1946 (previous attempt to established church in 1899 unsuccessful)
- Costa Rica - 1946
- Guatemala - 1947
- Uruguay - 1947
- El Salvador - 1949
- Hong Kong - 1949 (previous attempt to establish church in 1853 unsuccessful)
- Paraguay - 1950
- Zimbabwe - 1950 (missionary visits began as early as 1930)
- Honduras - 1952
- Niue - 1952
- Nicaragua - 1953 (missionaries withdrawn for most of the 1980s)
- Fiji - 1954
- South Korea - 1954
- Chile - 1956 (previous attempt to establish church in early 1850s unsuccessful)
- Taiwan - 1956
- Peru - late 1950s (first branch created in 1956)
- Philippines - 1961
- Luxembourg - 1963 (no missionaries appeared to be assigned in the 1970s)
- Bolivia - 1964
- Macau - 1964
- India - 1960s (exact year missionaries assigned unknown; some missionary activity in 19th century)
- Ecuador - 1965
- Lebanon - 1965-1975 (LDS presence remains, but no proselytism missionary at present)
- Panama - 1965 (first LDS presence established in 1940s among military)
- Bermuda - 1966
- Colombia - 1966
- Italy - 1966 (some missionary activity occurred in the mid-19th century)
- Venezuela - 1966
- New Caledonia - 1968 (first branch created in 1961)
- Singapore - 1968 (missionaries removed for much of the 1970s)
- Thailand - 1968 (missionaries briefly assigned in 1854, LDS presence established in 1950s)
- Spain - 1968-1969
- Indonesia - 1970
- Malaysia - 1972
- Puerto Rico - early 1970s (time when Puerto Rico assigned to a mission; missionaries visited in 1940)
- Portugal - 1974
- Iceland - 1975 (LDS presence and missionaries assigned from 1851-1914; reintroduced in 1975)
- Iran - 1975-1979 (missionary work closed due to Iranian Revolution)
- Kiribati - 1975
- Northern Mariana Islands - 1975 (LDS presence among military first established in 1940s)
- Vanuatu - 1975 (first branch organized in 1973)
- Federated States of Micronesia - 1976
- Guam - 1977 (year first native baptized; LDS presence since 1944 but among military)
- Marshall Islands - 1977
- Trinidad and Tobago - 1977
- Croatia - late 1970s (at the time part of Yugoslavia; dedicated for missionary work in 1985)
- Serbia - late 1970s (first missionary visited in 1899)
- Curacao - 1978 (missionaries removed same year, reassigned in 1982; first branch created in 1979)
- Ghana - 1978
- Jamaica - 1978 (previous attempt to establish church in 1840s and 1850s unsuccessful)
- Namibia - 1978
- Nigeria - 1978
- Palau - 1978
- US Virgin Islands - 1978 (first convert baptisms occurred in 1976)
- Bahamas - 1979
- Barbados - 1979
- Dominican Republic - 1979 (country dedicated, first branch organized in 1978)
- Mauritius - 1979 (one missionary was assigned for two months in 1856)
- Papua New Guinea - 1979 (year first branch was organized; first converts baptized in 1980)
- Reunion - 1979
- Belize - 1980
- Haiti - 1980 (first convert baptisms occurred in 1978)
- Kenya - 1980 (first convert baptisms occurred in 1979)
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - 1980
- Saint Martin/Sint Maarten - 1983
- Antigua and Barbuda - 1984
- Guadeloupe - 1984 (first branch created in 1982)
- Martinique - 1984
- Saint Kitts and Nevis - 1984
- Grenada - 1985
- Tuvalu - 1985 (year first branch and convert baptisms occurred; missionaries removed 2005-2010)
- Cayman Islands - 1985 (church services began in 1982)
- Greece - 1986 (first branch created in the 1960s; (some limited missionary activity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries)
- Aruba - 1987 (first branch created in 1986)
- Democratic Republic of the Congo - 1987
- Liberia - 1987 (missionaries removed in 2014 due to Ebola and anticipated to return in 2015)
- Swaziland - 1987 (first branch created in 1986)
- Cote d'Ivoire - 1988
- Guyana - 1988
- Malta - 1988 (previous attempts to establish church occurred in the 1850s and 1979)
- Poland - 1988 (sporadic missionary efforts occurred for nearly 100 years before this time)
- Sierra Leone - 1988 (missionaries removed in 2014 due to Ebola and anticipated to return in 2015)
- Suriname - 1988
- Cape Verde - 1988-1989
- Hungary - 1988-1989 (sporadic missionary presence around 1900, first convert baptisms in 1988)
- French Guiana - 1989
- Lesotho - 1989
- Botswana - 1990
- Bulgaria - 1990
- Estonia - 1990
- Romania - 1990 (missionaries were assigned periodically from 1903-1933)
- Russia - 1990
- Slovakia - 1990 (some missionary activity occurred in the 1930s and 1940s).
- Slovenia - 1990
- Uganda - 1990
- Ukraine - 1990
- Armenia - 1991 (year country dedicated for missionary work; first branch organized in 1994)
- Madagascar - 1991 (first convert baptisms occurred in 1988)
- Republic of the Congo - 1991-1992
- Albania - 1992
- Andorra - 1992 (first convert baptism; unclear exact year first missionaries were assigned)
- Cameroon - 1992 (young missionaries not assigned until mid-2000s)
- Latvia - 1992 (some missionary activity briefly occurred in 1903)
- Lithuania - 1992
- Mongolia - 1992
- Tanzania - 1992
- Zambia - 1992 (missionaries briefly assigned in 1960s)
- Belarus - 1993
- Cyprus - 1993 (year country dedicated for missionary work; unclear when first missionaries assigned)
- Ethiopia - 1993
- Pakistan - 1993 (first LDS presence established in 1970s)
- Cambodia - 1994
- Solomon Islands - 1995 (year first senior missionaries assigned; missionaries withdrawn for much of the 2000s
- Moldova - 1997 (missionaries withdrawn from 2004 to 2007)
- Sri Lanka - late 1990s (time when first proselytizing missionaries from Singapore Mission assigned, no young, full-time missionaries assigned from 2008 to 2014)
- Benin - 1998 (year senior missionaries first assigned and first baptism; first branch organized in 2003)
- Malawi - 1999 (first convert baptisms occurred in 1992)
- Mozambique - 1999 (first branch created in 1996)
- Togo - 1999
- Saint Lucia - 2003 (year branch was reestablished; brief missionary presence from 1983-1986)
- Kazakhstan - mid-2000s (exact year unknown; country dedicated in 2003)
- Vietnam - mid-2000s
- Dominica - 2006
- Georgia - 2006
- Laos - 2006 (young missionaries removed same year; young missionaries returned in 2013)
- Angola - 2008 (first branch created in 1996)
- Turks and Caicos Islands - 2008-2009
- Burundi - 2010 (young missionaries briefly served in 1993)
- Kosovo - 2011
- Bosnia and Herzegovina - 2012 (first branch created in 2011)
- Macedonia - 2012
- Montenegro - 2012
- Turkey - 2012 (some limited missionary activity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries)
- Rwanda - 2012 (some limited missionary activity from 2008-2012)
- Burma (Myanmar) - 2014 (very brief missionary activity occurred in the mid-nineteenth century)
- Gabon - 2014
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Updated List of Countries of the World and Year Opened to LDS Missionary Work
The opening of several additional countries to full-time missionaries within the past few years has prompted me to update the list of countries that have had LDS missionaries assigned. Any corrections or feedback would be appreciated. Countries that no longer have an LDS presence are
listed in red and provided with the last year of an LDS presence. Notes
are provided clarifying when an LDS presence was first established, any
previous attempts to begin missionary activity earlier on, and setbacks
requiring the removal of all missionaries.
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57 comments:
Fantastich. It would be cool to see how many per language, and percent members per nation per year present.
The Turkish Mission was one of 13 missions when it was organized in 1884 to cover the Ottoman Empire and one of 22 when it was discontinued in 1909. In no way was missionary limited except that proselytizing focused in the Christian Palestinians, Lebanese, and Syrians who were larger minorities of Christians in those parts of the Turkish Empire there then than now, and Armenians there who then as now were majority Christian. My former wife’s great grandfather was one of many missionaries in Jerusalem, Beirut, Damascus, and Aleppo, and Istanbul. Only in Istanbul was missionary work limited
After they became separate countries the Armenian Mission functioned in what is now Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria from 1909 to 1933 and was renamed the Palestine-Syrian Mission from 1933 to 1939 when it was closed at the start of World War II. That mission was reopened from 1947, renamed Near East Mission in 1950 until it was closed in 1951.
Source: Joseph Fielding Smith, Essentials in Church History.
I suggest you have the start date for missionary work in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Armenia be changed to 1884 or perhaps 1890s for the latter 4.
The new Central Eurasian Mission, established July 1, 2015, includes, I believe, missionaries, servicemen and women and members in Turkey and Kazakhstan with other former Soviet Republics as possible future mission areas.
The 1st Missionaries visited Lithuania in 1907. In 1909, the 1st members where baptized and a branch organized in Klaipėda, Lithuania. The branch continued until about 1934: http://saints.lt/baznycia-lietuvoje/
Here is another more offical source on Lithuania: http://www.lds.lt/about
I was reading up on some Indonesian provinces in Borneo. Some of them have populations that are 15% of so Christian. With the success of the Church in growing in the Malaysian parts of Borneo I was thinking that the Indonesian parts of Borneo would be a good place for the Church to try and start missionary work.
These provinces are further divided into Regencies. In one case the Gunung Mas Regency has a population of just over 100,000 which is 62% Protestant.
What countries have missionaries but do not allow North American missionaries?
Well, some are issues of not allowing North American missionaries, and in other countries the Church could in theory send in North American missionaries but chooses not to either because it is felt that growth will work better without having missionaries who have such huge cultural differences to overcome or because of concerns living standards would be too low, or North American missionaries would drive up the cost for non-north Americans, or fear of kidnappings, or targeted violence.
Venezuela for a time and at present may still be all internal missionaries. There was no government policy, but with increased anti-American rhetoric and Chavez claiming some foriegn missionaries (I think he meant Evangelical Christians, but it was not specificed) were really spies, it was felt best to remove Americans.
So what's the deal with Madagascar? Seems it had some of the strongest membership and congregational growth in the Church, but there haven't been any updates on it in over four years now. Did all that suddenly just stop?
Haiti has all Haitian missionaries, and since the end of Presaident and Sister Moody presiding over the mission at least 6 years ago, a Haitian mission president.
I beleive Liberia and Sierra Leone are fully staffed by missionaries from Africa, at least among young missionaries. I was going to say the same was true of The Democratic Republic of the Congo but then I remembered that Bruce and Margaret Blair Young while serving as senior missionaries in the MTC had a district of largely Americans who went to The Democratic Republic of the Congo.
For a time there were no North American missionaries in Columbia, but I am not sure that is still the case. At one point Indonesia banned all foriegn clerics, I think primarily because their presence interferred with the continuation of the Javanese Imperial project that is the best way to describe modern Indonesia, where the Javanese essentially keep all non-Janvanese as subjected peoples. I am not sure what the status of non-Indonesian missionaries is at present. Places like Papua New Guinea have a large portion of their missionaries from Oceania, but I am not sure there are no North Americans there.
Greece is essentially covered by missionaries from the EU because they can go there without visas. I know for a time the Church stopped sending American missionaries to Russia, but I am not sure what the current policies in that regard are.
I am working on creating a Wikipedia article on Hugo Montoya. The Church News article on him says "he was raised in a tiny town in the Sanoran Deseret" it does not name the town. Urga-schnerga. It does however say it is now home to a District with 4 branches. Any clue what town that would be?
Looking at LDS maps I am 90% sure it is the Caborca District. The whole northern part of Sanoara along the US Border is made up of districts. South of that is the 2 Hermosillo stakes which both consist of 7 wards in Hermosillo and 1 branch in the outlying areas that covers at least 7 times the area. I have to wonder if it might be good to split up the outlying branches . In the south-east corner of Hermosillo Mission is the area covered by the Hermosillo Mission Branch. Actually on further inspection Caborca is the only district in Northern Sanora with 4 branches. The 2 to the east both have 5 and the one to the west has 3. I hope that Sierra Madre and Nogales get made stakes soon.
As for the countries you mentioned, here are current updates on the status of foreign (particularly North American) Missionaries in some of the countries you mentioned:
Liberia and Sierra Leone had North American Missionaries assigned in large numbers, at least before the Ebola outbreak.
The DR Congo has never had young North American Missionaries assigned in its history. All non-African Missionaries called to Kinshasa have exclusively worked in Cameroon and, in much less common cases, in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo - all of which now pertain to the Brazzaville Mission. The Lubumbashi Mission has never had non-African Missionaries assigned, although the current Mission President is from Canada. The new President of the Kinshasa Mission is from France.
Indonesia Jakarta is mostly staffed by North American Missionaries. Papua New Guinea is entirely administered to by Missionaries from Oceania, like you said. Your information on Greece is also current.
There are other countries that are currently not served by North American Missionaries: Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Mongolia, Switzerland, Cyprus and Venezuela. At least those are the ones I can currently think of.
I pray every day for those in North Korea, that one day the regime in that country may collapse and that they can receive the gospel. Unlike the south, they will be very receptive.
Speaking of communist regimes in Asia, is there any deeper insight into if China will ever open up?
In Switzerland we do have North American Missoinaries. But only such, that also have a Swiss or European passport. There is quite a number of them.
Don't know a ton about Madagascar, but I have a friend who just got back from there. Haven't really read her blog to see if there was any updates on the members and such, but you can comb through it if you'd like.
http://cecilymadagascar.blogspot.com/
I know this is an old article, but it talks about the new Central Eurasian Mission, and briefly describes what could happen in each nation.
http://thisweekinmormons.com/2015/04/get-ready-kyrgyzstan-new-central-eurasian-lds-mission-slated-to-open-in-july/
The Sonoran Desert, or "el desierto de Sonora", straddles the US/Mexico border, mostly contained in the states of Arizona and Sonora. It seems Caborca is the only town that fits the decription of 4 branches. How many are in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico?
Best of luck with the search for Hugo.
The biggest problem with foreign missionaries in any country is getting a Visa. If that destination country is upset with USA for any reason, they will reject or significantly delay Visas. (A host of other politial internal and external reasons impact this.)
Also Russia made news recently about attempting to write a law to block the LDS and other foreign based church from sending money into a country. That would stop support for missionaries and building construction of new churches.
Maybe it would be easier to compile a list of countries we are not in since there are very few left. I would think Cuba is the only country over in this part of the world that we are not proselyting. I imagine most of the countries are in the Middle East, N Africa, and Asia.
I like how people are dissecting different areas and units of Indonesia. It would be cool to see countries like Mexico, Chile, Brazil or nations broken down that way.
Or for that matter, counties of the US, too. For example, in my home state of Indiana, Monroe County has 3 wards and a branch, which probably puts the percentage at a higher level than some counties that do not have any ward or branch. This may be impossible to tally since, say one branch in southern Indiana may have members attending from 2 or more counties and it is difficult to track where each member of the respective unit.
But these stats would be fascinating to see. I bet Monroe County has a higher percentage of LDS membership than any other IN county, but it would be fantastic to compare.
Well, the article said a district with 4 branchs, I believe Nogales District has 5. Plus Nogales being right on the US border does not seem to resonate with the way the place was described in the article.
Nogales, Arizona is part of the Sahuarita Stake, and I think it has at least one ward or branch.
The five branches on the Mexico side are easily part of a district. Hermosillo is not that far down from that though. It's possible they are working on making a Nogales stake at some point on the Mexico side, the city on that side supposedly has about 150,000 people, while the Arizona side has around and likely more than 20,000, along with Rio Rico and some other stuff near I-19 between SR-82 and the town.
It's also very much m ore hispanic than it even was in the 70s or 80s. Those were the days when we would drive down, and simply walk across, and come back in declaring verbally citezenship. Probably not now.
According to ARDA (google theARDA), Monroe County, Indiana, in late 2010 had the following largest denominations:
Religious Bodies Tradition Family Congregations Adherents Adherence Rate†
Catholic Church Catholic Catholicism 3 10,350 75.0
United Methodist Church, The Mainline Protestant Methodist/Pietist 15 5,406 39.2
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ Evangelical Protestant Baptist 9 4,988 36.2
Non-denominational Evangelical Protestant ----18 4,844 35.1
American Baptist Churches in the USA Mainline Protestant Baptist 7 1,774 12.9
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Other Latter-day Saints 4 1,723 12.5
Churches of Christ Evangelical Protestant Baptist 18 1,652 12.0
Assemblies of God Evangelical Protestant Pentecostal 8 1,390 10.1
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Mainline Protestant Baptist 2 1,040 7.5
Church of the Nazarene Evangelical Protestant Holiness 5 1,030 7.5
Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod Evangelical Protestant Lutheran 3 890 6.5
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations Other Liberal 1 642 4.7
Muslim Estimate Other Other Groups 1 600 4.3
Episcopal Church Mainline Protestant Episcopalianism/Anglicanism 1 574 4.2
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Mainline Protestant Presbyterian-Reformed 2 568 4.1
Right, so based on 2010 statistics, 1 out of 80 Monroe County residents are LDS, not counting the IU students... (which is a significant factor considering there are some 40,000 of them, some of whom attend the above faiths and churches).
Also, what about the Jewish? There is a sizable Jewish community in B-town. Some of them might not attend the local Beth Shalom temple. There are also Hindus and Buddhists that are not counted. There is a Tibetan monastery on the outskirts of Bloomington.
Is there an Indiana county that might have more than this 1:80 ratio? Could there be a few with 1:300 or more?
Would it be time for a new member/population ratio post? The last one was done in 2009.It would be nice to see how much has changed in the past 6 years, particularly for the States, and each country.
I thought there was a post about the ratio in the States, but I can't seem to find it. I have made a county map for the Western U.S. based on ARDA numbers.
2009 post quick link:
http://ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com/2009/06/ratio-of-church-membership-to-country.html
I found the States post (it would help if I read the first paragraph of the post.
Here is the states post, also from 2009:
http://ldschurchgrowth-us-canada.blogspot.com/2009/05/change-in-ratio-of-lds-members-to-non.html
There is no reason to think that Indiana University students were not counted in the census. The census seeks to count everyone based on where they are living at the time. People living in college dormitories are supposed to be counted there.
I have seen maps showing the % of LDS for every county in the US, but I believe they are based on where the units are. Even more complex is my ward, the Sterling Heights Ward. In 2000 the Sterling Heights ward included parts of both Oakland and Macomb County. In 2010 it was all in Macomb County. However the building we meet at is in Oakland County. I am not sure which county the map in question would assign to my ward. Of the 9 wards and 2 branches in my stake, only 7 are entirely in one county. Back in 2010 it was 7 of 12 units.
One state that would be especially hard to track this way is Virginia where many of the cities are not part of any county.
I didn't post all of Monroe County, but is the full list:
Religious Bodies Tradition Family Congregations Adherents Adherence Rate†
Catholic Church Catholic Catholicism 3 10,350 75.0
United Methodist Church, The Mainline Protestant Methodist/Pietist 15 5,406 39.2
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ Evangelical Protestant Baptist 9 4,988 36.2
Non-denominational Evangelical Protestant ---- 18 4,844 35.1
American Baptist Churches in the USA Mainline Protestant Baptist 7 1,774 12.9
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Other Latter-day Saints 4 1,723 12.5
Churches of Christ Evangelical Protestant Baptist 18 1,652 12.0
Assemblies of God Evangelical Protestant Pentecostal 8 1,390 10.1
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Mainline Protestant Baptist 2 1,040 7.5
Church of the Nazarene Evangelical Protestant Holiness 5 1,030 7.5
Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod Evangelical Protestant Lutheran 3 890 6.5
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations Other Liberal 1 642 4.7
Muslim Estimate Other Other Groups 1 600 4.3
Episcopal Church Mainline Protestant Episcopalianism/Anglicanism 1 574 4.2
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Mainline Protestant Presbyterian-Reformed 2 568 4.1
Reform Judaism Other Judaism 1 537 3.9
Salvation Army Evangelical Protestant Holiness 1 486 3.5
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Mainline Protestant Lutheran 1 333 2.4
Southern Baptist Convention Evangelical Protestant Baptist 4 284 2.1
Missionary Church, The Evangelical Protestant Holiness 1 250 1.8
United Church of Christ Mainline Protestant Presbyterian-Reformed 1 241 1.7
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, The Orthodox Eastern Liturgical (Orthodox) 1 225 1.6
Free Methodist Church of North America Evangelical Protestant Holiness 1 207 1.5
Seventh-day Adventist Church Evangelical Protestant Adventist 1 207 1.5
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. Black Protestant Baptist 1 201 1.5
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) Evangelical Protestant Pentecostal 1 197 1.4
Buddhism, Vajrayana Other Other Groups 2 156 1.1
Vineyard USA Evangelical Protestant Pentecostal 1 142 1.0
Buddhism, Mahayana Other Other Groups 2 127 0.9
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America Evangelical Protestant Presbyterian-Reformed 1 119 0.9
Hindu, Post Renaissance Other Other Groups 2 102 0.7
Bahá'í Other Other Groups 1 100 0.7
American Baptist Association, The Evangelical Protestant Baptist 1 97 0.7
Friends General Conference* Mainline Protestant European Free-Church 1 85 0.6
Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) Evangelical Protestant Holiness 2 76 0.6
Wesleyan Church, The Evangelical Protestant Holiness 2 72 0.5
African Methodist Episcopal Church Black Protestant Methodist/Pietist 1 69 0.5
Mennonite Church USA Evangelical Protestant European Free-Church 1 14 0.1
Calvary Chapel Fellowship Churches Evangelical Protestant Pentecostal 1 --- ---
Church of Christ, Scientist Other Christian Science 1 --- ---
Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship Black Protestant Baptist 1 --- ---
General Association of Regular Baptist Churches Evangelical Protestant Baptist 2 --- ---
Jehovah's Witnesses Other Adventist 1 --- ---
United Pentecostal Church International Evangelical Protestant Pentecostal 9 --- ---
Unity Churches, Association of Other Other Groups 1 --- ---
Interesting, there are 3 Catholic congregations as opposed to 4 Mormon ones in Monroe County, even though there are about 4 times as many Catholics.
Yes, as a plurality Methodists have been the biggest in the Hoosier state while Roman Catholics are not well represented in many counties. I don't know as of this year but not long ago there were more Methodists in Indiana than there were LDS in California, which is amazing considering that LDS are the second biggest faith in our most populous state, while Indiana only has @ 6.5 million.
Eduardo, is that Methodists of any of the multiple denominations of Methodists, or is that those in one particular denomination?
This is Indiana overall for 2010, those with the most adherents:
Religious Bodies Tradition Family Congregations Adherents Adherence Rate†
Catholic Church Catholic Catholicism 449 747,706 115.3
Non-denominational Evangelical Protestant ---- 1,179 396,576 61.2
United Methodist Church, The Mainline Protestant Methodist/Pietist 1,183 355,043 54.8
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ Evangelical Protestant Baptist 568 199,088 30.7
Southern Baptist Convention Evangelical Protestant Baptist 424 112,064 17.3
Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod Evangelical Protestant Lutheran 224 107,846 16.6
American Baptist Churches in the USA Mainline Protestant Baptist 338 94,067 14.5
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Mainline Protestant Baptist 185 66,307 10.2
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Mainline Protestant Lutheran 171 57,417 8.9
Church of the Nazarene Evangelical Protestant Holiness 269 55,725 8.6
Assemblies of God Evangelical Protestant Pentecostal 257 54,710 8.4
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Mainline Protestant Presbyterian-Reformed 237 48,969 7.6
Amish Groups, undifferentiated* Evangelical Protestant European Free-Church 300 45,144 7.0
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Other Latter-day Saints 99 41,290 6.4
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. Black Protestant Baptist 62 38,955 6.0
Churches of Christ Evangelical Protestant Baptist 334 34,152 5.3
United Church of Christ Mainline Protestant Presbyterian-Reformed 132 32,503 5.0
Wesleyan Church, The Evangelical Protestant Holiness 217 23,891 3.7
Missionary Church, The Evangelical Protestant Holiness 87 23,420 3.6
Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) Evangelical Protestant Holiness 143 20,618 3.2
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) Evangelical Protestant Pentecostal 111 16,698 2.6
Episcopal Church Mainline Protestant Episcopalianism/Anglicanism 83 14,998 2.3
Muslim Estimate Other Other Groups 33 14,573 2.2
Seventh-day Adventist Church Evangelical Protestant Adventist 99 14,147 2.2
Salvation Army Evangelical Protestant Holiness 36 13,744 2.1
Mennonite Church USA Evangelical Protestant European Free-Church 61 13,010 2.0
Church of the Brethren Evangelical Protestant European Free-Church 91 12,250 1.9
African Methodist Episcopal Church Black Protestant Methodist/Pietist 54 12,011 1.9
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. Black Protestant Baptist 24 12,008 1.9
Evangelical Free Church of America, The Evangelical Protestant Methodist/Pietist 24 11,783 1.8
Church of God in Christ Black Protestant Pentecostal 77 11,729 1.8
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Orthodox Eastern Liturgical (Orthodox) 8 10,791 1.7
Reformed Church in America Mainline Protestant Presbyterian-Reformed 11 9,487 1.5
Friends United Meeting* Mainline Protestant European Free-Church 94 8,631 1.3
Vineyard USA Evangelical Protestant Pentecostal 17 8,511 1.3
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church Black Protestant Methodist/Pietist 18 6,476 1.0
Reform Judaism Other Judaism 16 6,419 1.0
John, it is not uncommon for Catholic parishes to have thousands of members.
I believe the majority of Hoosier Methodists are United Methodist (the one you commonly see with the red flame). I am not sure what the source was, but I remember maybe in the early 2000s that there were 800,000 Methodists (roughly 1 in 5 Hoosiers) while California had around 750,000 LDS (me being one of them on the West Coast).
California has lost a lot of people over the years due to job losses, but then again it has a lot of good members that are permanent plus a lot of active missions, temples.
We are really excited for the new temple on the north side of Indy in Carmel this summer. It has attracted protestors form many places. Must be doing something right. Open house now in effect if anyone can make it.
I can see Catholics being the number one single faith in Indiana and to a greater extent the entire midwest, as it is in the whole nation ... I have to check my old references.
Thanks for the list. It makes me wonder if many of the non-denominational members and a few others have left Methodism in Indiana.
Also, it is notable that LDS are gaining (despite the constant growth in North America) of the Amish, as there as at least 4 counties that have sizable Amish and Mennonite communities. Also, FYI, the "Church of the Brethren" are like the third head of the more fundamental peoples that have their old world traditions and beliefs, as I met a few up around Lancaster, PA. Good stuff.
Indiana continues to grow with the rest of the country, and I think the temple could open up some new doors. We have been hoping for decades that Terre Haute would create its own stake, but the development of the units have not been as good as hoped, as seen in former branches in Clinton, Brazil, and Spencer in the Bloomington Stake.
As already mentioned, some counties are difficult to get much foothold in. Urban centers show more promise than many rural areas.
Eduardo, FYI, I flew out to Indianapolis to take my friend through the temple open house (her husband was also supposed to come, but he cancelled). Congrats on something in your neck of the woods!
I know the Catholic Church has a very different method of creating congregations and sizing them than the LDS Church. However there are also lots of very small Catholic congregations.
A note on the actual post. Burma was dedicated for the preaching of the gospel in 1987 by Gordon B. Hinckley, but the coup in 1988 stopped LDS Church growth for a time.
I just started reading Reed B. Haslam's book "The Light Breaks on Southeast Asia: A History of the LDS Church in Asia's Ancient Kingdoms." It is a huge book, with just under 800 pages. However it is horribly edited.
Haslam's background is not that of a professional historian. While this is not neccesarily all bad, I think he could have done more to try and ground his work in the secondary literature. He also spends lots of time griping about Church achives access policies.
Haslam denounces others for writting what is best sumarized as "white-washed" Church history (he has a way of speaking too long on everything). So far I am to his coverage of the 19th-century missionaries in Burma. While some might find his indepth coverage of personal disputes between Elder Savage and Brother McCune not uplifting, that is not actually my objection. I find it just too much detail for a book that is meant to be a history.
While Haslam has read heavily in the LDS Church archieves info on Southeast Asia, although I wonder if it would have been wiser to seek harder to get more access, and he has also interviewed a lot of people from South-east Asia, my first impression is the book is a work of a former American missionary in Thailand relying too heavily on other former American missionaries to Thailand and a little on those who served in Cambodia. It has a place, but Someone who had been to South-east Asia other times than as a missionary might well be able to write a better work. This is not an example of local creation of LDS history as is say Emmanuel A. Kissi's "Walking in the Sand: The History of the LDS Church in Ghana." ALthough the fact that much scholarly work in Ghana is done in English is one issue.
Haslam's book is also 3 years old, having been published in 2012. Since then Buddhist South-east Asia has gone from 1 stake to 5. Plans to build a temple were announced. Burma and Laos both now have young full-time missionaries serving. The Church has also made progress in Vietnam.
That said, part of me is not convinced that Vietnam quite belongs with Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. The other four countries are majority Theravada Buddhists. Vietnam on the other hand is very hard to pin down. It is not Theravada Buddhist, but Mahayana Buddhist. However only between 12 and 17% of the population is clearly Buddhist. Another 45% or so practice folk religions, that combine elements of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and ancestor and local god and goddess worship. This is similar to the folk religious tradition in China. 30% of the population has no religious affiliation and a total of 73% are unaffiliated with an organized religion per government statistics. Almost 5% of Vietnam's population belongs to Caodaism. Cambodia is 95% Buddhist. Thailand is 93% but only that low because the southern provinces are majority Muslim. 0.9% of the population is Christian.
Laos's population is 2/3rds Buddhist, with 30% being followers of Satsana Phi (followers called Phiists). This is a polytheistic religion that includes shamanism. However the Lao Loum who predominate in low country Laos are overwhelmingly Buddhist. The Lao Theung or mid-land Lao are predominantly Phiist. This group makes up about 24% of Laos's population and are at times still designated with a term that translates as "slave".
The hill peoples of Laos also primarily practice religions that are designated as part of Stasana Phi. Many of these groups are small off-shots of larger ethnic gorups primarily in China. I was just reading about the Yi who number more than 8 million in China, and this caused me to wonder if the LDS Church has had any converts who are non-Han citizens of China.
I have learned that some of the sub-groups of the Yi are primarily Christian. I also learned that China's 55 official ethnic groups is much less than Burma's 135. Although to be fair in the US we have a lot because of so many different Native American ethnic groups.
John L.: I guess the good thing about having too much information is that others can redact and summarize it. I appreciate your reading it so others are aware and then we don't have too spend as much time in those weeds, but in the airy palms. I wrote a ten or so page report on my mom and step-dad's mission in Cambodia, 2000-2002. I should publish it on my blog.
While north-east states in India like Nagaland are majority Christian, the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there might not be an easy endevor. Nagaland has an active militarist movement that seeks an indeppedent nation of Nagalim, not just covering Nagaland, but the Naga areas in Burma and Naga regions in surrounding Indian states. At least some of the people in this movement want the Baptist Faith to be the only officially recognized faith in their proposed independent country.
Eduardo, I think I would read that report. I see your point about too much information being a good thing. However that only will work if I have the patience to read Haslam's book. I spent the money to buy a copy from the BYU bookstore (through online ordering) so I figure I should read it.
Haslam did not even get his footnote numbers to be super script. Also at times he makes comments like "apparently anyone who requested baptism was able to recieve it." I am not convinced that that was the case in the 19th-century. Even more so I am less than convinced he can deduce this when he is entirely relying on the accounts in two or three journals.
Boy Scouts of America. I think the church should not leave the Boy Scouts yet. The recent decision allows religious organizations to set their own criteria in choosing scout leaders, and I think this compromise is sufficient. We live in the world, but not of the world. Pulling out of scouting because of this would be more like trying to not live in the world, in my opinion.
However, given that more than half of church membership lives in areas where scouting is not available, I think now would be a good time to create a flexible, international, scout like program that is rolled out in countries where scouting is not present. This would allow the program to be built out, best practices set, fine tuned, and then at some point down the road it can be rolled out to other countries based on what makes sense.
The church could even go out of their way to encourage non-member youth participation in the scout troops based on ward boundaries.
Thoughts?
That sounds wise. Then again, after the courts repealed the pro-traditional marriage referendum in California, I was in favor of LDS pulling out of the public schools and establishing our own private system.
How much is the Southeast Asia book? I have held off buying the new mega almanacs...
In terms of the scouts, it could go 2 ways:
1. The Church remains with the BSA affirming the right to choose leaders as the Church sees fit.
2. The Church institutes a new program for all Boys 8-11 and Young Men 12-17 worldwide.
Exciting developments!!
New Stakes
-Tagbilaran Philippines (from district, so far 4 wards, 5 branches)
-Liberia Costa Rica (from district, 5 wards, 2 branches)
-Cartago Costa Rica (from SJ La Paz and Los Yoses Stakes, so far 4 wards. I can see the San Isidro General Branch going from the mission to this stake.)
-Guapiles Costa Rica (most likely entirely from SJ Los Yoses, and possibly the Limon District)
New districts
-Ondo Nigeria (3 branches thus far, may include the 2 Akure Branches and a district branch to be created)
-Moscow Russia South (5 branches, likely district branch to be created
The Abengourou Branch split into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Branches in the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan Mission.
It has been confirmed that the new stake in Valparaiso, the Valparaiso Chile West stake, has 5 wards. The new ward name is Almendral, problably split from the Hontaneda ward.
5 July
Inopacan Branch, Maasin Philippines District (5 Branches)
12 July
Abengourou 2nd Branch,
Abengourou 3rd Branch, Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan Mission (13 Branches, 4 Stakes)
Almendral Ward, Valparaíso Chile West Stake (5 Wards)
Morazan Branch, San Pedro Honduras El Progreso Stake (2 Branches, 9 Wards)
19 July
Azaguié Branch, Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan Mission (13 Branches, 4 Stakes)
Tiavea 2nd Branch, Upolu Samoa East Stake (1 Branch, 9 Wards)
26 July
Ondo Nigeria District (3 Branches)
Adeyemi College Road Branch
Ondo Branch
Yaba Branch
Haslet Ward, Alliance Texas Stake (8 Wards)
Pradera Ward, Querétaro México Stake (8 Wards)
Rio Abajo Branch, Comayaguela Honduras Torocagua Stake (4 Branches, 7 Wards)
28 July
Lumbia Branch, Cagayan de Oro Philippines Stake (2 Branches, 5 Wards)
YTD 349(11.63/week 30)
Africa 119, 34.1%
Asia 10, 2.9%
Europe 13, 3.7%
North America (w/ Caribbean) 93, 26.6%
Pacific 25, 7.2%
South and Central America 31, 8.9%
Utah & Idaho 58, 16.6%
Totals no-sensitive
Areas Temples Miss Stakes Dist Wards Branch Totals
Global 25 147 418 3,139 549 22,405 7,331 34,014
Us/Can 11 80 131 1,586 11 12,501 2,067 16,387
US n/a 72 124 1,539 8 12,165 1,915 15,823
Utah n/a 15 10 576 1 4,661 326 5,589
Canada n/a 8 7 47 3 336 152 553
Out 14 67 287 1,553 538 9,904 5,264 17,627
With Sensitive
Areas Temples Miss Stakes Dist Wards Branch Totals
Global 25 147 418 3,139 560 22,409 7,421 34,119
There are definite reasons why women and girls do not camp with Boy Scouts. Same gender attraction leaders would be similarly wrong. Talking about LDS/ Mormon standards: they are different and IMO higher than the laxer standards of secular governments. And good thing.
The problem with the Boy Scouts is that camp counselors will now be openly homosexual. Do we want 12-year-old boys exposed to this on a Church sponsored camp.
The whole "in the world but not of the world" is a couplet that has been attacked as false by some.
Beyond this the BSA has shown a total disregard for the interests of the LDS Church in its actions. It ram-rodded this policy change without explaining how it will work on the ground. A year ago Gates said there would be no change. At the rate things are going, BSA will end allowing individual units to keep out open homlosexual by Feb. 2017.
Beyond this the Boy Scouts snubbed the Church's request for a delay in the vote until after the General Authority vacation. There was absolutely no reason that the BSA could have not delayed.
Lastly, in some ways this is the straw that broke the camels back. 20 years ago the leaders of my troop were being criticized for praying in the name of Jesus at the start of meals at scout camp. The failure to allow people to express prayers in ways that are meaningful prayers to them shows a favorism towards the bland meaningless religion of the secularized, national Church instead of the living religion that is expressed differently for each that is at the core of American identity.
Studies on the matter suggest that homosexual males are about 10 times as likely to abuse male youths as non-homosexual males.
Beyond this, the issue is open and advocating homosexuals who have no regard for rules of chastity. Do we want such people to be the leaders of our youth in a religiously linked organization.
This may not seem a big issue in Utah where 99% of at least once councils troops are LDS sponsored. However here in Michigan and other similar states, this could lead to known violators of the law of chastity sitting on boards of review and other such things. It is just not workable to have such people serving over our youth in a religiously linked organization.
Ivory Coast continues to see wonderful growth. What would be truly impressive is a ward split into 3 at once, but a branch being so split is a good sign.
John, please provide a citation for your claim regarding abuse.
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