The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nigeria
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nigeria refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its members in Nigeria. At year-end 1983, there were 2,255 members in Nigeria.[4] In 2019, there were 192,144 members in 722 congregations making it the largest body of LDS Church members in Africa.
History
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1983 | 2,255 |
| 1985 | 5,500 |
| 1989 | 12,000 |
| 1995 | 28,000 |
| 1999 | 42,746 |
| 2004 | 68,777 |
| 2009 | 88,374 |
| 2012 | 103,898 |
| 2015 | 142,033 |
| 2019 | 192,144 |
| *Membership was published as a rounded number. Source: Wendall J. Ashton; Jim M. Wall, Deseret News, various years, Church Almanac Country Information: Nigeria[1] | |
In the 1950s and 1960s, several thousand native Nigerians became interested in joining the LDS Church, despite the church having no formal presence in the country. In November 1962, LeMar Williams was set apart as a mission president in Nigeria. However, he was not able to get a visa as an American. N. Eldon Tanner, a Canadian, went to Nigeria and began negotiations with the Nigerian government. While he was there, he dedicated Nigeria for the preaching of the gospel.[5]: 85 Ambrose Chukwuo, a Nigerian college student studying in California, read Mormonism and the Negro and sent a letter to a Nigerian newspaper condemning the LDS Church's teachings on blacks. The newspaper published Chukwuo's letter and the letters of other students with similar opinions. The Nigerian government did not give the LDS Church a permit to proselyte and church president David O. McKay postponed proselyting plans.[5]: 85–87 [6]: 24 In 1965, Williams obtained a visa to go to Nigeria and began preparing to set up a mission in Nigeria. Since black Nigerians couldn't hold the priesthood, Williams was going to baptize those who were ready and set up auxiliary organizations that could function without the priesthood.[5]: 91 Black Nigerians would be allowed to pass, but not bless the sacrament.[6]: 23 However, several members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles expressed concern about teaching black people and called for the program to be terminated. After a unanimous vote, they decided to end the program. They contacted Williams and told him to leave Nigeria immediately.[5]: 93 The Biafran war in 1967 further postponed church work there.[5]: 94
With the 1978 Revelation on Priesthood, plans were again began to start the church in Nigeria. Ted Cannon and his wife, Janath, along with Rendell N. Mabey and his wife, Rachel, were sent to Nigeria, arriving in November 1978, five months after the revelation. They based their operations out of Enugu, and the first branch they organized was with Anthony Obinna as president. Most of the earliest converts they baptized were in various villages throughout south-eastern Nigeria and had been meeting and seeking church membership for years, if not decades.[7]
At first Nigeria was administered by the church's International Mission. In 1983 a Nigerian, mission was organized, which originally also covered Ghana.
In 1988, the church's first stake in Nigeria was organized in Aba, with David W. Eka as president. In 1993, the second stake in Nigeria was organized in Benin City.
In 1998, Gordon B. Hinckley became the first church president to visit Nigeria, presiding at a large meeting in Port Harcourt. In 2000, Hinckley announced plans to build a temple in Aba. The temple was dedicated by Hinckley in 2005. In 2009, the temple was closed as foreign temple worker missionaries were withdrawn due to violence in the area. The temple was reopened in 2010 with a Nigerian as temple president and all temple workers being Nigerian.
By 2018, there were over 50 stakes in Nigeria. In that year church president Russell M. Nelson announced plans to build a temple in Lagos, Nigeria. The first stake in Lagos had been organized in 1995, and in 2015 it had gone from 3 to 5 stakes. The LDS Church was still most heavily concentrated in south-east Nigeria, with Akwa Ibom State alone having 12 stakes.
Much of northern Nigeria had no LDS Church presence and many areas in mid-Nigeria had only begun to have significant organizational presence of the church in the mid-2010s.
By mid-2019 there were 58 stakes in Nigeria, with the 58th stake being the 3rd based in the capital city of Abuja. The Abuja stakes were far and away the most northern in Nigeria, with the district in Jos containing the only other units of the church even close to that far north. The growth had in some places been very fast, with Yorubaland (not including heavily Yoruba Lagos State) having gone from no stakes in 2013 to 5 by 2019.
Other states that saw significant growth were Delta State, that went from a few branches in a district outside the state in 2015 to three districts and a stake in 2019. Benue State in the more central area of the country had one branch in 2015, and did not get a district until 2017. By 2019 the state had 3 districts.
Missions
- Nigeria Benin City Mission (created July 2013).[8]
- Nigeria Enugu Mission
- Nigeria Ibadan Mission
- Nigeria Lagos Mission
- Nigeria Owerri Mission
- Nigeria Port Harcourt Mission
- Nigeria Uyo Mission
The LDS Church announced creation of new Owerri mission in Nigeria in 2016.[9]
Temples
Red = Operating
Blue = Under Construction
Yellow = announced
Black = Closed for Renovations
Nigeria currently has 1 operating temple and 3 temples that have been announced.
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Dedicated: Size: Style: | Aba, Nigeria 2 April 2000 by Gordon B. Hinckley 23 February 2002 by H. Bruce Stucki 7 August 2005 by Gordon B. Hinckley 11,500 sq ft (1,070 m2) on a 6.3-acre (2.5 ha) site Classic modern, single-spire design - designed by Adeniyi Coker Consultants Limited | ||
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: | Lagos, Nigeria 7 October 2018 by Russell M. Nelson[10][11] | ||
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: | Benin City, Nigeria 5 April 2020 by Russell M. Nelson[12] | ||
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: | Eket, Nigeria 2 October 2022 by Russell M. Nelson[13][14] | ||
See also
References
- ^ a b "Facts and Statistics: Statistics by Country: Nigeria", Newsroom, LDS Church, retrieved 4 June 2021
- ^ Total Congregations is the sum of wards and branches and does not include member groups which is a smaller and/or more temporary congregation of members than wards and branches.
- ^ Category:Nigeria Family History Centers, familysearch.org, retrieved April 24, 2022
- ^ "Deseret News 1985 Church Almanac: Country Information: Nigeria", Church News, Deseret News
- ^ a b c d e Prince, Gregory A.; Wright, William Robert (2005). David O. McKay and the rise of modern Mormonism. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press. ISBN 0-87480-822-7.
- ^ a b Richard E. Turley Jr. and Jeffrey G. Cannon. "A Faithful Band: Moses Mahlangu and the First Soweto Saints". BYU Studies Quarterly. 55 (1).
- ^ LDs Church Newsroom article on Nigeria
- ^ New mission presidents by area for 2013
- ^ "Mormon Church announces in missions in Vietnam and Africa".
- ^ "Twelve Temples Announced as October 2018 General Conference Closes: Number of temples operating, announced or under construction now above 200", Newsroom, LDS Church, 7 October 2018
- ^ LDS Church announces plans to build 12 new temples worldwide, pioneer generation temples will be renovated, KSTU Fox 13, 7 October 2018
- ^ "Prophet Announces Eight New Temples at General Conference: The Church will build its first temple in the Middle East", Newsroom, LDS Church, 5 April 2020
- ^ "President Nelson announces 18 new temples, including 4 near Mexico City, as conference closes", Deseret News, Deseret News, 2 October 2022
- ^ "The Church of Jesus Christ Will Build 18 New Houses of the Lord", Newsroom, LDS Church, 2 October 2022
External links
- Official site of the Church