The Church in Africa

The Church in Africa

The first Latter-day Saint missionaries assigned to Africa were called in 1852. Church growth was slow because of the Church’s practice of restricting men of African descent from receiving priesthood ordination. A revelation ending that practice in 1978 allowed for increased growth rates across the continent. Today, Latter-day Saint congregations exist in many African countries and experience continued growth.

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History of the Church in Africa

The first African Latter-day Saints were baptized by missionaries in present-day South Africa in 1853. Around that time, Church leaders in the United States began a practice of restricting men of African ancestry from receiving priesthood ordination, which limited Church growth outside white communities in southern Africa.

In the mid-20th century, other African groups learned about the Church and began corresponding with Church leaders. A revelation given to President Spencer W. Kimball in 1978 once again made priesthood ordination available to all men without regard to race, and many of these believers became leaders in the Church.

In countries like Nigeria and Ghana, independent congregations that embraced the Church’s teachings before 1978 laid the foundation for more rapid Church growth. Latter-day Saints who had joined the Church while living overseas also introduced the faith to countries like Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Côte d’Ivoire, and Uganda. Africa’s first stake, the Transvaal Stake, was organized in South Africa in 1970. The Aba Nigeria Stake, the first in West Africa, was organized in 1988, and East Africa’s first stake was organized in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2001.

The 1978 revelation on priesthood had also opened temple worship to men and women of African ancestry. With the dedication of the Johannesburg South Africa Temple in 1985, temple spires began punctuating African skylines. Additional temples have been built in South Africa and in Cape Verde, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria, with others announced or under construction.

Through the Church, African Latter-day Saints, like the Saints in other parts of the world, have found ways to serve others. They have embraced education and vocational training programs, worked on community-service projects, and organized relief during pandemics, famine, and natural disasters. African Saints have also launched projects to collect oral genealogies and stories to link past and future generations. Millions of Africans have benefited. Church members from Africa have served as missionaries around the world, spreading the gospel among all peoples. And across Africa, Latter-day Saints contribute to their societies through government service, in business, and in culture.