The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oklahoma
Encyclopedia
Mission (LDS Church)
A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area...
, and 1 temple
Temple (LDS Church)
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord, and they are considered by Church members to be the most sacred structures on earth. Upon completion, temples are usually open to the public for a short period of time...
in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
.
History
In the late 1840s, George MillerGeorge Miller (Latter Day Saints)
-External links:**...
, a former bishop who delayed going to the West, traveled from Winter Quarters
Winter Quarters, Nebraska
Winter Quarters was an encampment formed by approximately 2,500 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they waited during the winter of 1846–47 for better conditions for their trek westward. It followed a preliminary tent settlement some 3½ miles west at Cutler's Park. The...
to visit his son in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. He and two other members with him, Joseph Kilting and Richard Hewitt, found construction work available in the Cherokee Nation
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
. They arrived in Tahlequah
Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Tahlequah is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It was founded as a capital of the original Cherokee Nation in 1838 to welcome those Cherokee forced west on the Trail of Tears. The city's population was 15,753 at the 2010 census. It...
on July 9, 1847, and began to build houses. They also began to teach others about the Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
faith, but antagonism forced Miller to leave in December. Hewitt and Kilting remained to work.
In 1855, Orson Spencer
Orson Spencer
Orson Spencer was a prolific writer and prominent member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in several highly visible positions within the church and left an extensive legacy of theological writings...
and James McGaw visited the Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
from St. Louis, Mo., and on April 8, five more missionaries
Missionary (LDS Church)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
were sent from Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, and four from St. Louis. The Indian Territory Mission was created and placed under the leadership of Miller on June 26, 1855.
The missionaries met and reconverted followers of Lyman Wight
Lyman Wight
Lyman Wight was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the leader of the Latter Day Saints in Daviess County, Missouri in 1838. In 1841, he was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. After the death of Joseph Smith, Jr...
. One of these was Jacob Croft who had met missionaries earlier and started for Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. After hearing misconceptions about conditions there, his party settled in Indian Territory and built a gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
.
As early as July 1855, missionaries preached to about 400 Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, and the Cherokee Branch was started at Croft’s Spavinaw Creek mill. This became Mission
Mission (LDS Church)
A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area...
headquarters. Croft later lead a party of 56 including other former followers of Wight and some re-converted "Strangites
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement with around three hundred members as of 1998...
" to Utah.
Later in the year, missionaries were sent from St. Louis to southern portions of the Cherokee Nations
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
. In 1856, the Princess Creek Branch was organized. The Lehi
Lehi (Book of Mormon prophet)
According to the Book of Mormon, Lehi was a prophet who lived in Jerusalem during the reign of king Zedekiah . Lehi was an Israelite of the Tribe of Manasseh, and father to Nephi, another prominent prophet in the Book of Mormon...
and Nephi
Nephi
According to the Book of Mormon, Nephi was the son of Lehi, a prophet, founder of the Nephite people, and author of the first two books of the Book of Mormon, First and Second Nephi.- Early life :Nephi was the fourth of six sons of Lehi and Sariah...
Branches were organized in 1858.
Illness was a problem in the Indian Territory Mission for many years. At least four missionaries died including Orson Spencer
Orson Spencer
Orson Spencer was a prolific writer and prominent member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in several highly visible positions within the church and left an extensive legacy of theological writings...
.
The Remaining Members Migrated to Utah in 1858-1859. By 1860, all the missionaries but John A. Richards, who had married an Indian wife, returned to Utah and the mission was discontinued.
When Matthew Dalton and John Hubbard returned to begin missionary work in 1877, they found John Richards was still faithful, and they received assistance from him. Later that year, Elder Hubbard died and the mission was closed. In 1883, Matthew Dalton and Elder George Teasdale
George Teasdale
George Teasdale born in London, England, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....
of the Quorum of the Twelve reorganized the mission. Tracts in the Cherokee language were printed.
Andrew Kimball, father of President Spencer W. Kimball
Spencer W. Kimball
Spencer Woolley Kimball was the twelfth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1973 until his death in 1985.-Ancestry:...
, presided over the mission in 1885. Although he had contracted malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, he carried on the work and was assisted by John Richards, and later by additional full time missionaries. In 1892, the first meetinghouse was built in Manard
Cherokee County, Oklahoma
Cherokee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 42,521. Its county seat is Tahlequah.Cherokee County was established in 1907.-Geography:...
(Cherokee County). Another was built in Massey
Sayre, Oklahoma
Sayre is a city in and the county seat of Beckham County, in Western Oklahoma, the United States. It is half-way between Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Amarillo, Texas on Interstate 40 and the former U.S. Route 66. The population was 4,375 at the 2010 census....
(Choctaw Nation).
On November 7, 1911, a branch was established at Gore
Gore, Oklahoma
Gore is a town in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 850 at the 2000 census...
with 113 members but was later dissolved. It was not until May 1, 1960 when the branch was again organized in Gore. A Sunday School that began in Bartlesville
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville is a city in Osage and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 43,070 at the 2010 census. Bartlesville is located forty-seven miles north of Tulsa and very close to Oklahoma's northern border with Kansas. It is the county seat of Washington County, in...
in 1924 became a branch on October 13, 1945. Membership increased slowly as many converts moved to Utah.
Membership increased in the 1950s and 1960s. Two stakes were created in 1960. The Tulsa Stake was created on May 1, 1960, and the Oklahoma City Stake on October 23, 1960.
The Latter-day Saint community reached out to those in need after a bomb destroyed the nine-story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was a United States Federal Government complex located at 200 N.W. 5th Street in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. The building was the target of the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, which killed 168 people, including 19 children...
in downtown Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
on April 19, 1995.
In 1999, thousands of Latter-day Saints volunteers from Oklahoma and surrounding areas came to Oklahoma in response to the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak to provide rescue, relief, and recovery for the victims of the storm.
Latter-day Saints in Oklahoma provided relief to victims of other disasters including floods in 2007
Floods in the United States: 2001-present
Floods in the United States: since 2001 is a list of significant floods which have struck the United States since 2001. Floods are generally caused by excessive rainfall, excessive snowmelt, storm surge from hurricanes, and dam failure...
, the Mid-May 2008 tornado outbreak sequence
Mid-May 2008 tornado outbreak sequence
The Mid-May 2008 tornado outbreak sequence is a series of tornado outbreaks that affected the Southern Plains, the southeastern and Middle Atlantic region of the United States. The storm has produced 147 confirmed tornadoes starting on May 7 and lasting until late on May 15. The outbreak sequence...
, and provided aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
.
Oklahoma Membership History
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1974 | 10,105 |
| 1980 | 20,819 |
| 1990 | 26,596 |
| 1999 | 33,721 |
| 2008 | 41,547 |
Stakes
There are 7 stakes with their stake center located in Oklahoma. Since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have no paid clergy, stake presidents, bishops, etc. have their own occupation.Stakes with their stake center in Oklahoma and their current stake presidents are as follows:
| Stake | Organized | Stake President | Occupation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawton Oklahoma | Oct 31, 1976 | Robert H. Petersen | Corporate President of First Bank & Trust. |
| Norman Oklahoma | Oct 18, 1970 | Robert Christopher Keyes | President and Owner of Associated Environ. |
| Oklahoma City Oklahoma | Oct 23, 1960 | Kevin Ronald Graves | Strategic Account Executive for Quest Diagnostics |
| Oklahoma City Oklahoma South | Nov 14,1982 | Gordon James Bean | Doctor of Podiatric Medicine |
| Stillwater Oklahoma | June 14, 1981 | Don Ray Hansen | Professor of Accounting at Oklahoma State University |
| Tulsa Oklahoma | May 1, 1960 | Gerald Alan Roberts | Assistant Superintendent at Dewey Public Schools |
| Tulsa Oklahoma East | April 30, 1978 | James Forrest Johnson | Information Technician Manager at EDS |
Missions
The Oklahoma Mission was created on June 10, 1970, and was renamed the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission in 1974. The Oklahoma City Mission was created in 1990.Temples
On 29 March 1898, Oklahoma became part of the Southwestern States mission, and it was included n the Central States Mission on April 4, 1904. The Oklahoma City Temple was dedicated on July 30, 200 by President James E. FaustJames E. Faust
James Esdras Faust was an American religious leader, lawyer, and politician. Faust was Second Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1995 until his death, an LDS Church apostle for 29 years, and a general authority of the church for 35...
of the First Presidency.
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External links
- LDS Newsroom (Oklahoma)
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Official Site
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Visitors Site