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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Alaska

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Alaska
The Anchorage Alaska Temple
AreaNA West
Members33,574 (2022)[1]
Stakes9
Wards60
Branches21
Total Congregations81
Missions1
Temples1 Operating
1 Announced
2 Total
Family History Centers15[2]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Alaska refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its members in Alaska. The first congregation of the Church in Alaska was organized in 1938. It has since grown to 33,574 members in 81 congregations.

Official church membership as a percentage of general population was 4.53% in 2014. According to the 2014 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey, 5% of Alaskans self-identify themselves most closely with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[3] The LDS Church is the 2nd largest denomination in Alaska behind the Roman Catholic Church.[4]

History

[edit]
Membership in Alaska
YearMembership
1941300
19613,051
19706,744
198014,414
199021,410
199925,340
200930,169
201933,495
Source: Windall J. Ashton; Jim M. Wall, Deseret News, various years, Church Almanac State Information: Alaska[1]

The first members of LDS Church came to Alaska with the gold rush in 1898.[1] One of these was Edward G. Cannon (1824-1910), a man originally from Kentucky who had served in the Mexican war and converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on traveling to Utah in 1871. From 1871-1881 Cannon lived in Wanship, Utah. He then lived for nearly 20 years with a son of his in Indiana before migrating to Nome, Alaska. Cannon had worked as a farmer and medical doctor previously. He held various mining claims in the Nome area while there. He very vigorously sought to establish The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nome. In June 1902 Cannon baptized Kedzie N. Winnie (1874- ) a man born in Walton, New York. Winnie had come to Nome in the 1890s. In September 1902 Cannon ordained Winnie an Elder with the authorization of Melvin J. Ballard who as Northwestern States Mission president held ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the church over Alaska. Winnie worked closely with Cannon in preaching the gospel until Cannon's death in 1910. He then carried on his own vigorous campaign of preaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and regularly contributing articles on it to Nome newspapers until he chose to migrate to the body of the Church in Utah in 1913.[5]

After Winnie left the Church had no organized presence in Alaska for 15 years. In 1927 William R. Sloan became president of the Northwestern States Mission and shortly after during a tour of the mission John A. Widstoe of the quorum of the 12 recommended to Sloan that missionary work be extended to Alaska. Sloan gave the assignment to open missionary work in Alaska to Alvin Englestead, a 36-year-old widower from Kanab, Utah who was serving in the Northwest states mission as a 2nd mission having previously served in Australia. Englestead recruited his stake president from Kanab, 59-year old Heber J. Meeks, to lead the effort, and 48-year old James Judd to also join the effort.[6]

In 1981, special Church buildings designed for the Arctic weather were built.[1]

One of the first smaller LDS Church temples was built in Anchorage in 1999.[1] In 2016, the Alaska Bush Branch was formed with approximately 200 members from 36 families, and they meet Sunday mornings over the phone.[7]

In January 2023, the church announced plans to rebuild the Anchorage Alaska Temple. This new building would be approximately 30,000 square feet, an increase from the 11,930 square foot temple that existed at the time of the announcement.[8]

Borough Statistics

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List of LDS Church adherents in each county as of 2010 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives:[9]

Borough Congregations Adherents % of Population
Aleutians West 1 106 1.91
Anchorage 28 13,867 4.75
Bethel 1 172 1.01
Denali 1 82 4.49
Dillingham 1 44 0.91
Fairbanks North Star 10 4,525 4.64
Haines 1 81 3.23
Juneau 4 1,711 5.47
Kenai 5 2,929 5.29
Ketchikan 1 731 5.42
Kodiak 1 439 3.23
Matanuska-Susitna 11 5,378 6.04
Nome 1 119 1.25
North Slope 1 111 1.18
Northwest Arctic 1 64 0.85
Sitka 1 344 3.87
Southeast Fairbanks 2 404 5.75
Valdez-Cordova 3 457 4.74
Yakutat 1 57 8.61

Stakes

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A meetinghouse for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located along the Seward Highway, just north of Seward, Alaska.
A meetinghouse for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nenana, Alaska

As of January 2024, there were 9 stakes in Alaska.[10] A branch in Whitehorse, Yukon is part of the Juneau Alaska Stake.

Stake Organized
Anchorage Alaska August 13, 1961
Anchorage Alaska North September 17, 1978
Eagle River Alaska November 24, 2002
Fairbanks Alaska May 27, 1979
Juneau Alaska October 8, 1995
North Pole Alaska March 28, 2021
Palmer Alaska March 20, 2016
Soldotna Alaska December 9, 1984
Wasilla Alaska November 13, 1983

Missions

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The first two missionaries arrived in Juneau in 1913 where they worked for a few weeks. The next missionaries, Elders Heber J. Meeks, Alvin Englestead, James Judd, and Lowell T. Plowman arrived in Alaska in 1928, under the direction of President William R. Sloan of the Northwestern States Mission.[11] From then on, there have been missionaries in Alaska.

Alaska has been part of several missions. Alaska was part of the Northwestern States until 1941, when the Western Canadian was organized. In 1960, the Alaska-Canadian Mission was organized. It was renamed the Alaska-British Columbia Mission in 1970. On October 15, 1974, the Alaska Anchorage Mission was organized - being the first mission to be based in the state.

Mission Serving Alaska Effective Date
Northwestern States 1913
Western Canadian September 15, 1941
Alaska-Canadian Mission November 21, 1960
Alaska-British Columbia Mission June 10, 1970
Alaska Anchorage Mission October 15, 1974

Temples

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Temples in Alaska (edit)
  • = Operating
  • = Under construction
  • = Announced
  • = Temporarily Closed
Main article: Anchorage Alaska Temple

On January 9, 1999, the Anchorage Alaska Temple was dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley. After remodeling, President Hinckley rededicated the temple on February 8, 2004. In January 2023, the church announced plans to rebuild the Anchorage Alaska Temple. This new building would be approximately 30,000 square feet, an increase from the 11,930 square foot temple that existed at the time of the announcement.[8]

edit
Location:
Announced:
Groundbreaking:
Dedicated:
Rededicated:
Size: 		Anchorage, Alaska, United States
October 4, 1997 by Gordon B. Hinckley
April 17, 1998 by F. Melvin Hammond
January 9, 1999 by Gordon B. Hinckley
February 8, 2004 by Gordon B. Hinckley
11,937 sq ft (1,109.0 m2) on a 5.4-acre (2.2 ha) site - designed by McCool Carlson Green
Map
edit
Location:
Announced:
Size: 		Anchorage, Alaska, United States
23 January 2023 by Russell M. Nelson[12]
30,000 sq ft (2,800 m2) on a 5.4-acre (2.2 ha) site
edit
Location:
Announced: 		Fairbanks, Alaska
1 October 2023 by Russell M. Nelson[13][14]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Facts and Statistics: Statistics by State: Alaska", Newsroom, LDS Church, retrieved 19 May 2021
  2. ^ Category:Alaska Family History Centers, familysearch.org, retrieved March 28, 2022
  3. ^ "Adults in Alaska: Religious composition of adults in Alaska". Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Pew Research Center. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  4. ^ "The Association of Religion Data Archives | State Membership Report". Thearda.com. Retrieved May 21, 2021. Note:While it's the 2nd largest denomination in Alaska, it's the third largest denomination when "nondenominational" is considered as a denomination.
  5. ^ Fred E. Woods. "More Precious Than Gold: Mormonism Comes to Nome (1900-1913)" in Alaska History No. 2. Fall 2016. P. 28-45. Also see Fred E. Woods. Melting the Ice: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Alaska Provo, Utah: BYU Studies, 2018. Chapter 1.
  6. ^ Woods. Melting the Ice Chapter 2
  7. ^ Knight, JoAnne. "Attending church by phone in rural Alaska", Anchorage Daily News, 28 September 2016. Retrieved on 31 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b Hill, Victoria (January 23, 2023), "Plans announced to rebuild, relocate Anchorage Alaska Temple", KUTV CBS Channel 2, retrieved January 24, 2023
  9. ^ "The Association of Religion Data Archives | State Membership Report". Thearda.com. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  10. ^ "Anchorage Alaska Temple District", churchofjesuschristtemples.org, retrieved 2021-05-23
  11. ^ Walther, Barbara Jean. The History of the Mormons in Alaska
  12. ^ Hill, Victoria (January 23, 2023), "Plans announced to rebuild, relocate Anchorage Alaska Temple", KUTV CBS Channel 2, retrieved January 24, 2023
  13. ^ Where the 20 new Latter-day Saint temples will be built as Russell Nelson’s record tally continues to rise, Salt Lake Tribune, 1 October 2023
  14. ^ "The Church of Jesus Christ Will Build 20 New Temples", Newsroom, LDS Church, 1 October 2023
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