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    New Zealand Click here for the Pacific Newsroom

    117,319

    Total Church Membership

    1-in-

    30

    Stakes

    101010

    228

    Congregations

    177 Wards
    51 Branches

    55

    FamilySearch Centers

    55

    1

    Temples

    3

    Missions | 2 Districts

    History

    In 1854 Martha Holder of Karori became the first person baptized in New Zealand. Her son Thomas, who had previously been converted during Australia’s gold rush, was among New Zealand’s first missionaries. Early branches were established in Karori, near Wellington on the North Island, and Kaiapoi, near Christchurch on the South Island, but large congregations did not develop until the 1880s. At that point, many Māori recognized Latter-day Saint missionaries’ efforts as the fulfillment of earlier prophecies by Māori prophets, and they embraced the restored gospel. The Book of Mormon was first published in Māori in 1889. For much of the next century, the Church in New Zealand owed much of its growth to faithful Māori converts.

    Around the turn of the 20th century, the Church worked to provide greater educational opportunities for members, first building the Maori Agricultural College and later the Church College of New Zealand. In the 1950s, many members were called as labor missionaries to help construct educational and religious buildings, including a temple in Hamilton, which was dedicated in 1958. That same year, the Auckland Stake was organized, the first in New Zealand.

    With the dedication of the Hamilton Temple in 1958, New Zealand became the place to which many Saints from the South Pacific gathered to worship in a house of the Lord (see Isaiah 2:2–3). Additionally, the opening of a missionary training center in New Zealand in 1977 attested to the maturity and growth of the Church in New Zealand and the Pacific. As members and missionaries worked to share the gospel, the Church grew. In 2016, the 30th stake in New Zealand was established in Dunedin, and in 2018 a second temple was announced to be built in Auckland.

    Africa

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    791,837

    Members

    2,559

    Congregations

    Missions

    40Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    421

    Temples

    6Temples

    Asia

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    1,281,560

    Members

    2,103

    Congregations

    Missions

    45Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    368

    Temples

    8Temples

    Europe

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    503,692

    Members

    1,318

    Congregations

    Missions

    36Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    660

    Temples

    14Temples

    North America

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    9,551,107

    Members

    18,426

    Congregations

    Missions

    175Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    2,819

    Temples

    113Temples

    Oceania (Pacific)

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    591,950

    Members

    1,308

    Congregations

    Missions

    18Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    317

    Temples

    11Temples

    South America

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    4,269,273

    Members

    5,616

    Congregations

    Missions

    97Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    1,119

    Temples

    24Temples