The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Liberia
As of 2016, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) reported 8,929 members in one mission, with 24 branches[1] in Liberia.[2]
Contents
History
The LDS Church gained a formal presence in Liberia on 3 July 1987 with the arrival of J. Duffy Palmer and his wife, Jocelyn Palmer, as the first full-time missionaries of the LDS Church in the country.
The origins of the LDS Church in Liberia go back about two years farther. Joe C. Jarwhel received the address of a missionary at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah from a fellow Liberian who had just returned from a visit to Salt Lake City for a police convention. Jarwhel sent a letter seeking more information about the LDS Church; this letter was forwarded to John K. Carmack, who was at the time president of the LDS Church's International Mission. Carmack sent Jarwhel a copy of the Book of Mormon. Jarwhel was a school teacher and used the Book of Mormon in his teaching.
Jarwhel's associate, John Tarsnoh, also learned of the Book of Mormon and created an organization called the Temple of Christ's Church, which began teaching the doctrines found in the book. Sometime in 1986, Thomas Peihopa, a Latter-day Saint from New Zealand who was employed in Monrovia, came in contact with this group. Peihopa taught them more of the doctrines of the LDS Church.
Due to the preparation for preaching that was laid by Jarwhel, Tarsnoh and Peihopa, the Palmers were able to quickly establish the LDS Church when they arrived in Liberia. Tarsnoh was baptized on 22 August 1987 and 47 others, mainly fellow members of his Temple of Christ's Church, were baptized in the next week. The following day two branches of the church were organized, one presided over by Peihopa and the other presided over by Steven Wolf, an American citizen working in Monrovia on a military assignment. The country was not formally dedicated for the preaching of the gospel until the next month by Apostle Marvin J. Ashton.
In February 1988, Joseph Forkpah became the first Liberian citizen to serve as a branch president. In March 1988, the Liberia Monrovia Mission was organized with J. Duffy Palmer as president.
As civil war broke out in 1990, missionaries were transferred to Sierra Leone. Most of these missionaries were Liberians, but conditions were so bad in the country that it was felt to be safer to send them elsewhere. In 1991, the Monrovia mission was combined with the Ghana Accra Mission. Dr. A. Tarr, who had been a member less than four years and had been serving as the first counselor in the district presidency, became the church's presiding leader in Liberia with the departure of the mission president and most foreign nationals. In 1999, missionaries were able to return to Liberia. At the height of the civil war in 1992 about 70% of church members had fled the country. LDS Church leaders instructed those remaining to only hold small gatherings. Over the next seven years many church members returned, most of the eight branches that had existed at the time the war broke out were reorganized, and 43 Liberians managed to serve full-time missions in other countries, primarily Sierra Leone and Ghana.
In June 2000, the Monrovia Liberia Stake was organized with Toby wleboe Tweh Sr. as president. Tweh had been among the members of Tarsnoh's Temple of Christ Church prior to joining the LDS Church.
In June 2007, the Monrovia Stake was discontinued and divided into two mission districts. The next July a new mission, the Freetown Sierra Leone Mission, which covered Sierra Leone and Liberia, was organized.
Membership History
| Year | Membership[3] |
|---|---|
| 1993 | 1,400a |
| 1995 | 1,600a |
| 1997 | 2,000a |
| 1999 | 2,694b |
| 2001 | 3,394b |
| 2003 | 4,016b |
| 2005 | 4,357b |
| 2007 | 4,910b |
| 2009 | 5,039c |
| 2011 | 5,447c |
| 2012 | 5,863c |
| 2013 | 6,709 |
| 2014 | 8,081 |
| 2015 | 8,929[4] |
- a Estimated membership for December 31 of the respective year
- b Actual Membership for December 31 of the respective year
- c Actual Membership for January 1 of the respective year
Districts
- Monrovia Liberia District
- Monrovia Liberia Bushrod Island District
- Paynesville Liberia District
Mission
The Liberia Monrovia Mission was announced to be created July 2013.[5]
2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak
After two LDS Church members died during the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the LDS Church required its missionaries remain in their apartments as a precautionary measure.[6][7] Then on August 1, 2014 the LDS Church announced that it would transfer all of its 274 missionaries out of Sierra Leone and Liberia, thereby closing the Liberia Monrovia Mission for the duration of the outbreak.[6][7][4]
External links
- Deseret News 2010 Church Almanac (Liberia)
- LDS Newsroom: Country Profile: Liberia
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Official Site
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Visitors Site
See also
References
- ↑ LDS Meetinghouse Locator
- ↑ LDS Newsroom (Statistical Information)
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- ↑ New mission presidents by area for 2013
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- 2010 Deseret News Church Almanac (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News, 2009) pp. 518–519, 571.
- E. Dale LeBaron. "Liberia" in Arnold K. Garr, Donald Q. Cannon and Richard O. Cowan, ed., Encyclopedia of Church History (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000) p. 662.
see also http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/facts-and-statistics/country/liberia
