The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oregon refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its members in Oregon. Oregon has the 9th most members of the church of any U.S. state. Members have had considerable influence in the state throughout its contemporary history and many influential Latter-day Saints have come from Oregon, including Senator Gordon H. Smith.

History

Early history

Missionaries were sent into Oregon from California as early as 1855. The Northwestern States Mission was created in 1897 under the Oneida Stake with George C. Parkinson, who was also the Oneida stake president, as president, and was headquartered in Portland in 1901, where missionaries had arrived in 1857. The mission was expanded to include the state of Montana in 1898, with the Montana Mission being dissolved and Franklin S. Bramwell being called as president. The establishment of the Oregon Lumber Company by Charles W. Nibley, the creation of a lumber mill by David Eccles on the North Powder River, and the purchase of sugar beet farms led to the migration of Latter-day Saint families to the Baker area. The first branch in Oregon was created in Baker City on July 23, 1893. The first stake was organized from various branches of the Church in Eastern Oregon on June 9, 1901, as the Union Stake (later the La Grande Stake), centered primarily in Union and Baker counties. The branches in the stake were organized into the first wards in Oregon in La Grande, Mount Glen, Alicel, Baker, Imbler, and Nibley. Bramwell was called to serve as president of the Union Stake, with him serving as both stake and mission president for about a year until he was released as president of the Northwestern States Mission in 1902. Bramwell served as stake president until 1914.

Early 20th century

E. Kimbark MacColl's analysis of Portland, history states "Portland was well endowed with churches, with approximately one for every 600 residents" in the 1890s. In his survey of six leading denominations and all 25 missions, no mention was made of LDS Church denominations or missions. In 1898, missionaries George and Sam Parkinson of Idaho were sent to Portland to determine whether missionaries should be sent to the city. Jens Christensen Westergaard found out about the missionaries' visit when reading a copy of The Oregonian. Westergaard, who with his wife Petrine had been baptized years before in Sweden but had been unable to practice due to the lack of Church presence in Portland, went to multiple hotels until he found the one with the missionaries. He left a note asking them to come to his house. The next day the missionaries visited with Westergaard and his wife and informed him that they would be writing an unfavorable report about sending missionaries to Portland. The Westergaards asked the elders to send missionaries to Portland and they soon arrived. The Westergaards were later re-baptized in the Willamette River. The Portland Branch was created on December 19, 1899, and met in a rented room in the Alisky Building at the corner of Morrison and Third. Westergaard was called as Branch President. A permanent chapel, the Portland Tabernacle, was built in 1929, ready for an open house on February 15–17. The building "carried the architectural scheme of an old English manor, being constructed of dense lava stone and bricks of the clinker type, and is declared particularly suited to western Oregon climate and surroundings." It included a maternity room and a basement with 14 classrooms. The architect was C. R. Kaufman, and construction had begun on August 1, 1928. The completion of the Oregon Short Line Railroad helped bring additional Church members into Oregon, as did the defense industry from World War I and World War II. In 1930 the only wards in Oregon were La Grande 1st and 2nd, Baker, Union, Imbler, and Mt. Glen, with branches in Bend, Eugene, Klamath Falls, Medford, Portland, Hood River, and Salem and total membership of 3,226. A stake was created in Portland on June 26, 1938, with four more in the 1950s, thanks to membership increase with the post-World War II boom. The Medford Stake became the Church's 400th in 1964, and the Portland Temple was dedicated in 1989.

Contemporary history

The Medford Temple was dedicated in 2000, with the Willamette Valley Temple being announced in 2021. In 2023, a temple was announced for Vancouver, Washington which is likely to serve some members in Oregon. A Visitors Center was added on the ground of the Portland Temple in 2012. In 2022, Oregon was home to 248 wards, 48 branches, 35 stakes, and 150,207 Church members. Oregon currently has 76 FamilySearch Centers.

County statistics

List of LDS Church adherents in each county as of 2010 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives: Note: Each county adherent count reflects meetinghouse location of congregation and not by location of residence. Census count reflects location of residence which may skew percent of population where adherents reside in a different county as their congregational meetinghouse.

Stakes

As of January 2024, Oregon had the following stakes:

Missions

On July 26, 1897, the Northwestern States Mission was organized to search out Latter-day Saints who had moved to Oregon and Washington. On June 10, 1970, its name changed to the Oregon Mission and ultimately the Oregon Portland Mission on June 20, 1974. On July 1, 1990, the Oregon Eugene Mission was organized; and in July 2013, the Oregon Salem Mission was organized. In addition to these missions, the Idaho Boise Mission covers the eastern portion of the state while the Washington Kennewick, Washington Vancouver, and Washington Yakima missions cover portions of Northern Oregon.

Notable Oregonian members

See Also: List of Latter Day Saints and Category:Latter Day Saints from Oregon

Temples

Oregon currently has two operating temples and one under construction. The Columbia River and Meridian Idaho temples serve portions of Eastern Oregon.

Gallery