Democratic Republic of the Congo
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89,136
Total Church Membership
25
Stakes
255
Congregations
24
FamilySearch Centers
1
Temples
4
Missions |
History
In the 1960s, several Congolese converts who had been baptized outside the country returned to their homeland and began petitioning Church headquarters to send missionaries to their country. In 1979, after receiving several letters from the country, Church President Spencer W. Kimball sent Oscar McConkie, a Church attorney, to explore the possibility of organizing the Church in Zaïre (later renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Although legal registration took nearly seven years, early converts met together in small groups and shared their faith with neighbors. When the first missionaries, Ralph and Jean Hutchings, arrived in February 1986, there were several groups meeting each week. In June 1986 a district was organized, and the following year a mission was created in Kinshasa. On August 30, 1987, Elder Marvin J. Ashton of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles traveled to Kinshasa and dedicated the country for the preaching of the gospel.
Though the mission briefly closed in the early 1990s, members continued to share the gospel. In 1996 the first stake in Kinshasa was created, and in 1997 the first stake in Lubumbashi was formed. Church members kept the faith and ministered to each other through the conflict of the late 1990s and early 2000s, working to make the stakes of Zion “a refuge from the storm” in a time of trouble (Doctrine and Covenants 115:6). During the October 2011 general conference, Church President Thomas S. Monson announced plans for a temple to be built in Kinshasa. It was dedicated in 2019.
For Journalist Use Only
Mpho Mokgare
Phone: 00267 391 2667
Mobile: 00267 7279 6550
Africa
Total Church Membership
736,701
Members
2,476
Congregations
Missions
39Missions
FamilySearch Centers
Temples
5Temples
Asia
Total Church Membership
1,259,094
Members
2,110
Congregations
Missions
45Missions
FamilySearch Centers
Temples
8Temples
Europe
Total Church Membership
500,239
Members
1,350
Congregations
Missions
34Missions
FamilySearch Centers
Temples
14Temples
North America
Total Church Membership
9,489,479
Members
18,476
Congregations
Missions
174Missions
FamilySearch Centers
Temples
112Temples
Oceania (Pacific)
Total Church Membership
587,462
Members
1,301
Congregations
Missions
18Missions
FamilySearch Centers
Temples
10Temples
South America
Total Church Membership
4,232,425
Members
5,602
Congregations