Some of the earliest meetings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in North Carolina “caused the greatest stirs imaginable,” recalled missionary Elder John Eldridge about his time in the state in 1844. “I never thought that one poor mortal could make such a stir.”
The first missionary to North Carolina, Jedediah M. Grant, had traveled to the state five years before Eldridge. By 1845, missionaries had organized seven congregations of more than 200 Church members. When Grant left the state, membership had increased to 350. Missionary work was interrupted in the late 1840s as many Church members traveled west to escape persecution, and it came to a halt in the state during the Civil War and in its immediate aftermath before resuming in the mid-1870s.
In November 1894, Church leaders encouraged members to stay in their state rather than migrating west to Utah. During the next five years, nearly 700 people were baptized, seven Church buildings constructed, 30 Sunday Schools organized, and 20 congregations established. Despite this growth, opposition to the Church did not fully subside. A newly completed meetinghouse on Harker’s Island was burned and missionaries were driven out by a mob in 1906. Harsh attitudes gradually moderated in the 20th century, and missionaries discovered more freedom to preach.
In 1948, the Church began a five-year construction project in North Carolina resulting in 16 new Church buildings. By 1973, North Carolina had nearly 16,400 members in 53 congregations with a growth rate of nearly 400 new members per year. In 1999, the Church dedicated a temple in Raleigh. Today, there are more than 95,000 Church members in North Carolina organized into 20 stakes. The Church and its members in the state are engaged in ongoing service to the communities in which they live, including efforts to provide food for those experiencing food insecurity.