First District Created in the Central African Republic

The Church recently organized its first district in the Central African Republic (CAR). The new Bangui Central African Republic District was created from the three mission branches in the capital city—Bangui 1st, Bangui 2nd, and Bangui 3rd (the latter two organized only a few months ago). The district is supervised by the Cameroon Yaoundé Mission. It is unclear when the new district was organized, but it appears to have been created on August 3rd or 10th. The Church has maintained a branch in Bangui for over 30 years and has experienced essentially stagnant growth for most of this time due to remote location, infrequent mission leader visits, and no assigned proselytizing missionaries until 2025.

This milestone makes the CAR the second nation in 2025 to receive its first district, following the creation of the Conakry Guinea District in March. Districts function similarly to stakes, with a district presidency overseeing multiple branches within their boundaries.

The organization of the Bangui Central African Republic District marks significant progress for the Church in the country. The creation of the district suggests that there is sufficient local leadership to staff both branch and district callings, with perhaps ambitions in the near term to organize additional branches in Bangui (population 1.68 million). As of year-end 2024, Church membership in the CAR totaled 281.

Two New Branches Created in the Central African Republic (CAR); First Young Full-time Missionaries to be Assigned to the CAR

In a major development, the Church has organized two new branches—Bangui 2nd and Bangui 3rd—in the capital and most populous city of the Central African Republic (CAR), Bangui, where a single branch has operated since 1993. This marks the first time in over 30 years that more than one congregation has functioned in the country. During the 2000s and early 2010s, mission presidents visited the isolated branch approximately once every two to three years. In October 2012, Apostle Elder Jeffrey R. Holland dedicated the CAR for missionary work, just two months after the Church received provisional recognition from the government. Plans to assign full-time missionaries to Bangui were ultimately canceled after the mission president at the time felt spiritually impressed not to proceed with the assignment, despite approval from the Area Presidency. Weeks later, rebel forces captured the city.

The Church briefly operated a second branch in Bangui in the early 1990s; however, the two congregations were soon consolidated into a single unit. The CAR was initially under the jurisdiction of the Ivory Coast Abidjan Mission, but in 2005, administrative responsibility shifted to the newly created Ghana Cape Coast Mission. Oversight was transferred shortly thereafter to the Democratic Republic of the Congo Kinshasa Mission. In 2014, the country was reassigned to the newly organized Republic of Congo Brazzaville Mission, and in 2020, it was transferred to the Cameroon Yaoundé Mission. The creation of the Africa Central Area in 2020, which included the CAR, signaled increased institutional focus on strengthening the Church in underreached regions of the continent.

The CAR government requires religious groups to have at least 1,000 members to formally register. As of year-end 2023, there were 278 Latter-day Saints in the country. Senior missionaries serving in the Cameroon Yaoundé Mission have reported imminent plans to assign full-time missionaries to Bangui which have either recently arrived or will soon arrive to begin more formalized missionary efforts.

The population of the CAR is approximately 5.3 million, with nearly 1.7 million residing in Bangui alone. Around 90% of the population identifies as Christian. The country has remained largely unreached for decades due to its remote location, limited accessibility from other African cities with significant Latter-day Saint populations, political instability, and historically few Church resources allocated to Central Africa. Few Church materials are currently available in Sango, the national language, which further limits member engagement and missionary outreach. In contrast to neighboring Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo—both of which have seen more consistent growth and missionary presence—the Church in the CAR remains in the early stages of development. Prospects for growth appear favorable; however, challenges such as low literacy rates, a lack of experienced local leadership, and ongoing political instability continue to pose major obstacles to long-term, sustainable Church development.

Updated Country Profile - Central African Republic

Click here to access the updated Reaching the Nations country profile for the Central African Republic. The Church has maintained a continuous presence in the country for almost 30 years although young, proselytizing missionaries have never been assigned due to political instability. low living conditions, and geographical isolation from the nearest mission headquarters. See below for the Future Prospects section of this article:

The opening of the Cameroon Yaoundé Mission and the Africa Central Area in 2020 present good opportunities for more member and leader support and resources to explore options to begin deliberate missionary efforts in Bangui. Ongoing political instability, low living standards, and geographical isolation from the nearest cities with a Latter-day Saint presence remain major barriers to assign foreign, full-time missionaries. It is unlikely the Church will assign young, full-time missionaries until greater peace and political stability is established and maintained. Mobilization of local members and leaders to find, teach, baptize, and retain new converts appears the most appropriate method to help the Church grow in the immediate future. Translations of basic missionary and gospel study materials and the Book of Mormon into Sangho is greatly needed given the widespread use of this creole language throughout the country. The assignment of a senior missionary couple presents good opportunities to explore humanitarian and development projects to help alleviate suffering, especially in regards to literacy classes and medical care, although this may not be possible until conditions in Bangui become safer for foreigners to live in the city for extended periods of time.

LDS Developments in the Central African Republic

Mission leadership in the Republic of Congo Brazzaville Mission report several recent missionary developments in the Central African Republic. First, increased stability in the capital city, Bangui, has permitted more frequent visits by mission leadership to meet with members in the Bangui Branch. Second, the branch currently has seven branch missionaries who teach investigators and prepare them for baptism. Third, there are now five members from the Bangui Branch serving full-time missions outside of the country - the most that has ever appeared to serve from the branch at a single time. Although approval has not yet been granted to assign the first proselytizing missionaries to Bangui, mission leadership appears optimistic that this may occur in the foreseeable future.

For more information on the Church in the Central African Republic, click on the label for "Central African Republic" below.

Exciting LDS Church Developments in the Central African Republic

The mission president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Kinshasa Mission recently visited Bangui, Central African Republic to meet local members and church leadership, visit the President of the Central African Republic, and to assess conditions for opening the country to formal proselytism.  A news article with some more details on the visit can be found here.  The cumorah.com country profile and church growth analysis for the Central African Republic can be found here.

One of the poorest countries in the world, the Central African Republic supports a population of approximately five million and is landlocked in central Africa between Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The Church initially established a presence in the early 1990s due to the enthusiastic efforts of an isolated expatriate Latter-day Saint.  Due to political instability and isolation from established LDS missions there has been no formal missionary activity in nearly two decades.  One of the members of the President's cabinet is the branch president for the sole LDS congregation in the country that operates in Bangui.  The number of members serving missions has increased in recent years and the first sister missionary recently began her service in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Kinshasa Mission.

Mission leadership is hopeful that full-time missionaries can be assigned sometime in the next couple years to begin formal missionary activity in a process similar to the recent reopening of Burundi in 2010.

Other nontraditional Christian faiths have had an active presence in the Central African Republic.  In 2011, Jehovah's Witnesses reported 2,559 active members meeting in 53 congregations and Seventh Day Adventists reported 10,363 members meeting in 51 churches.  The LDS Church has a tiny presence limited to only 406 members and one branch.

Burundi Opening to Missionary Work In September

Missionaries serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo Lubumbashi Mission report that the country of Burundi will open for formal missionary work in September. Several exploratory trips have occurred in the past 18 months to assess conditions and locate members and prospective converts. On some of these trips, mission leaders reported hundreds meeting in the name of the LDS Church both in the capital Bujumbura and in remote areas of the country. These prospective Latter-day Saint converts have learned about the Church from members living in the country and from pastors who have obtained copies of the Book of Mormon and have begun teaching from LDS scripture. In late 2009, there were as many as a dozen unofficial congregations. The most recent exploratory trip occurred in the past few weeks in which mission leaders met with some members who have been waiting for years for the Church's official reestablishment.

In the early 1990s, Burundi opened to missionary work and had a branch established in Bujumbura in 1993. Due to ethnic conflict and political instability, the Church withdrew missionaries (who were assigned from the Ivory Coast Abijdan Mission) shortly thereafter and stopped reporting membership totals in 2001.

In September, eight young, full-time proselytizing missionaries and two senior missionary couples from the DR Congo Lubumbashi Mission will be assigned to Burundi and reside in Bujumbura. Few if any countries have opened to formal missionary activity in the past decade, let alone with so many missionaries. Neighboring Rwanda has had an official Church presence for about two years, yet only one senior missionary couple was assigned just in the past year. Other African nations which have received their first proselytizing missionaries in the past decade include Angola, Benin, Cameroon, and Togo. Formal missionary activity may begin soon in the Central African Republic.

Democratic Republic of Congo Kinshasa Mission to Split this Summer

Several missionaries serving in the Africa Southeast Area report that the Democratic Republic of Congo Kinshasa Mission will split this summer. In addition to the tremendous demands on the mission president administering to other nations like the Republic of Congo, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea, the mission has also been unable to serve all the needs of the DR Congo itself. Some districts in the interior have had attendance at district conference in the thousands. Several members live in areas without an organized congregation walk up to 200 miles for two weeks to attend Church meetings and gather additional Church literature and scriptures to share with fellow family and friends. Several groups and dependent branches also function throughout the country. Much of this growth occurs without missionaries permanently assigned to these areas. The Africa Southeast Area had over 10,000 convert baptisms in 2009.

A recent trip by the mission president to Burundi revealed hundreds of people meeting in congregations under the Church's name waiting for the reestablishment of the Church in the coming months. The Church had a branch in the 1990s in Bujumbura which was discontinued following many of the leaders emigrating out of the country. The return of the Church's presence will first occur in Bujumbura and in the coming years to unofficial congregations in rural areas. Situations likes these are approached carefully by the Church since the leaders of unofficial congregations of un-baptized members can often be more prone to apostasy. Furthermore conversion is stressed as an individual process and not a collective one. Similar reports have also come from Sudan in the couple years of large groups meeting and awaiting official Church establishment.

A new mission in Lubumbashi appears highly likely. The original DR Congo Kinshasa mission may be divided in three to create a Cameroon Yaounde Mission which could assist in the opening of missionary work in the Central African Republic (which has one branch) and Equatorial Guinea.