The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hawaii
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) was established in the Hawaiian Islands in 1850, 11 years after the Edict of Toleration was decreed by Kamehameha III, giving the underground Hawaii Catholic Church the right to worship, and at the same time allowing other faith traditions to begin establishing themselves.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hawaii | |
---|---|
Area | NA West |
Members | 74,952 (2022)[1] |
Stakes | 16 |
Wards | 127 |
Branches | 16 |
Total Congregations | 143 |
Missions | 2 |
Temples | 2 |
Family History Centers | 26[2] |
The church's first missionary to have success among the Hawaiians was George Q. Cannon. Among his earliest converts were men well-versed in the Hawaiian language, such as Jonatana Napela and Uaua. After the construction of the Hawaii Temple, the Latter-day Saints founded the Church College of Hawaii, now Brigham Young University-Hawaii (BYU-Hawaii), along with the associated Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC), the state's largest living museum, and an entertainment center;[3] which draws a million visitors annually. As the Latter-day Saint population in Hawaii continued to increase, a second church temple for the islands, the Kona Hawaii Temple, was completed in Kailua Kona on the island of Hawaii in 2000.
Hawaii has the highest concentration of Latter-day Saints of U.S. states that do not border Utah.[4] The LDS Church is the 2nd largest denomination in Hawaii, behind the Roman Catholic Church.[5]