The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Massachusetts
Church in Massachusetts
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Massachusetts
A stake center and meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 36,000 s/f, two-story building includes 2 chapels, a multi-purpose recreation hall, classrooms, and local church offices.
Official church membership as a percentage of general population was 0.39% in 2014.[3] According to the 2014 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey, roughly 1% of Bay Staters self-identify themselves most closely with the LDS Church.[4] The LDS Church is the 11th largest denomination in Massachusetts.[5]
History
Membership in Massachusetts
Year
Membership
1930
350
1950
637
1970
5,253
1979
6,639
1989*
13,000
1999
21,106
2009
24,689
2019
28,040
*Membership was published as a rounded number. Source: Wendall J. Ashton; Jim M. Wall, Deseret News, various years, Church Almanac State Information: Massachusetts[1]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2012)
The nightly preachings of George J. Adams brought an audience of some 1,200 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1843. At that time, there were some 14 branches (small congregations) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Boston area. Eleven years prior, the first missionaries for the Church arrived in Boston to organize congregations. Church President Joseph Smith passed through Boston on his way to Washington, D.C., in 1839. After President Smith was martyred in 1844, several members in Massachusetts joined the mass exodus west, and missionary work in the state slowed.
In 1894, one year after the area was reopened to missionaries, Church membership was 96. A decade later, missionaries encountered hostilities toward the Church during the highly publicized United States Senate hearings on Church leader and Senator-elect Reed Smoot, and police disallowed missionaries to hold open-air meetings. By 1930, membership was nearly 360, some of whom were recently returned missionaries studying at Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts, became the headquarters for the New England States Mission. A Church building was dedicated in the area in 1956.[6]
The Church completed and dedicated the Boston Massachusetts Temple in 2000, marking the 100th operating temple in the Church.
Temples in and near Massachusetts Red = Operating Blue = Under Construction Yellow = announced Black = Closed for Renovations
As of January 2024, Massachusetts had the following stakes (with the stake center in Massachusetts):[7][8]
Stake
Mission
Temple District
Blackstone Valley Massachusetts
Massachusetts Boston
Boston Massachusetts
Boston Massachusetts
Massachusetts Boston
Boston Massachusetts
Cambridge Massachusetts
Massachusetts Boston
Boston Massachusetts
Hingham Massachusetts
Massachusetts Boston
Boston Massachusetts
North Shore Massachusetts
Massachusetts Boston
Boston Massachusetts
Springfield Massachusetts
New Hampshire Manchester
Hartford Connecticut
Worcester Massachusetts
New Hampshire Manchester
Boston Massachusetts
Missions
The Eastern States Mission was organized May 6, 1839. On September 24, 1937, the New England Mission was organized as a division of the Eastern States Mission. The mission was renamed Massachusetts Boston Mission on June 20, 1974 and is the only mission based in Massachusetts. Western portions of the state is served by the New Hampshire Manchester Mission.[9]
Belmont, Massachusetts, United States September 30, 1995 by Gordon B. Hinckley June 13, 1997 by Richard G. Scott October 1, 2000 by Gordon B. Hinckley 69,600 sq ft (6,470 m2) on a 8-acre (3.2 ha) site Classic modern, single-spire design - designed by Tsoi/Kobus & Associates and Church A&E Services
^Mortimer, Wm. James (2000), 1999-2000 Church Almanac, Deseret Morning News, pp. 414 & 418, ISBN1573454915
Further reading
Berrett, LaMar C., ed. (1999). New England and Eastern Canada. Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites. Vol. 1. Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft. ISBN1-57008-644-3.
Kuehn, Elizabeth (June 1, 2015). "More Treasures Than One: D&C 111". Revelations in Context. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church History Department.