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    New Zealand Click here for the Pacific Newsroom

    108,912

    Total Church Membership

    2.14% 1-in-47

    Population vs. Church Members

    30

    Stakes

    101010

    211

    Congregations

    177 Wards
    52 Branches

    49

    FamilySearch Centers

    49

    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

    736,701

    Members

    2,476

    Congregations

    Missions

    39Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    343

    Temples

    5Temples

    Asia

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    1,259,094

    Members

    2,110

    Congregations

    Missions

    45Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    363

    Temples

    8Temples

    Europe

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    500,239

    Members

    1,350

    Congregations

    Missions

    34Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    658

    Temples

    14Temples

    North America

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    9,489,479

    Members

    18,476

    Congregations

    Missions

    174Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    2,621

    Temples

    112Temples

    Oceania (Pacific)

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    587,462

    Members

    1,301

    Congregations

    Missions

    18Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    314

    Temples

    10Temples

    South America

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    4,232,425

    Members

    5,602

    Congregations

    Missions

    97Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    1,106

    Temples

    21Temples