The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Carolina

As of year-end 2007, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported 36,141 members in 6 stakes, 46 wards, 14 branches, 1 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...

, 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 South Carolina.

History

The first LDS member in South Carolina is believed to be Emmanual Masters Murphy, who was baptized in Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

in 1836. When Elder Lysander M. Davis arrived in South Carolina in 1839 (nine years after the Church was organized in New York), he found the Murphys had people prepared for baptism. Seven of these were baptized.

Opposition arose and Davis was briefly jailed. Murphy had reportedly spoken with Church President Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith was founder of what later became known as the Latter Day Saint movement or Mormons.Joseph Smith may also refer to:-Latter Day Saints:* Joseph Smith, Sr. , father of Joseph Smith...

in the late 1830s, and was told to warn South Carolinians of the destruction soon to hit their state, "the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls ... the Southern states will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

..." This warning saw reality in 1861, when the Confederates

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

attacked Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.- Construction :...

, and the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

commenced.

Catawba Tribe

The South Carolina Conference was organized on March 31, 1882. Some of the earliest branches were established at King’s Mountains beginning March 3, 1882, and among the Catawba Indian community beginning July 31, 1885. Conference headquarters were established at the plantation of John Black, a man who remained unbaptized in order to provide refuge for the Church. Many converts, including Indians, moved onto his plantation to escape persecution. The Catawbas also shielded missionaries from persecutions. Most of the Catawbas joined the Church and remained faithful in South Carolina.

One of the more known LDS members of the Catawba tribe was Samuel Taylor Blue

Samuel Taylor Blue

Samuel Taylor Blue was a chief of the Catawba Tribe from 1931 to 1959, although not for all of the years in this time frame. Blue has been called the last native speaker of the Catawba language....

(Chief Blue). Blue was baptized in 1897. A few years later he served as branch president of the branch of the LDS Church on the Catawba Reservation. In the early 20th century he would often help missionaries escape mobs. In 1950 Blue traveled to Salt Lake City and gave a talk at General Conference

General Conference

In the United Nations system of specialized agencies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency or UNESCO, General Conferences are the recurring meetings of Member States. General Conference sessions are usually held yearly or biennially at the headquarters of the Agency...

on April 9.

Church Growth

Progress and persecution continued in the 1890s. Mobs often gathered to persecuted missionaries. In 1897, mobs burned one of South Carolina's first Latter-day Saint meetinghouses in Centerville

Centerville, South Carolina

Centerville is a census-designated place in Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 5,181 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Centerville is located at ....

. It was rebuilt and burned again in 1899.

Branches organized included Society Hill

Society Hill, South Carolina

Society Hill is a town in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 700 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Florence Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, Columbia

Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...

, Charleston

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

, and Fairfield. However, as converts migrated to the West, branches dwindled, and some were reorganized later with new converts. The South Carolina conference included six branches (four with meetinghouses) and 10 Sunday Schools.

On November 20-21 2004, President Hinckley

Gordon B. Hinckley

Gordon Bitner Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 12, 1995 until his death...

spoke to nearly 12,000 Church members in Columbia, S.C., with proceedings carried to 11 meetinghouses in 11 other stakes in South Carolina and Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

Humanitarian Efforts

LDS Church in South Carolina have been involved in a number of humanitarian services. Some of these include disaster relief, aid to the needy and sick, along with other services. Some of the more significant relief given by the church or its members in South Carolina are mentioned in this section.

The Church has provided relief to many natural disasters including: Hurricane Hugo

Hurricane Hugo

Hurricane Hugo was a classical, destructive and rare Cape Verde-type hurricane which struck the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St. Croix, Puerto Rico and the USA mainland in South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane during September of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season...

, Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew was the third Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States, after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Camille in 1969. Andrew was the first named storm and only major hurricane of the otherwise inactive 1992 Atlantic hurricane season...

, flooding from Tropical Storm Alberto

Tropical Storm Alberto (1994)

Tropical Storm Alberto was the first storm of the 1994 Atlantic hurricane season. It hit Florida across the Southeast United States in July, causing a massive flooding disaster while stalling over Georgia and Alabama. Alberto caused $1 billion in damage and 30 deaths.-Meteorological history:A...

in Georgia, Hurricane Opal

Hurricane Opal

Hurricane Opal was a Category 4 hurricane that formed in the Gulf of Mexico in September 1995.Opal was the ninth hurricane and the strongest of the abnormally active 1995 Atlantic hurricane season...

, and Florida's Hurricane Jeanne

Hurricane Jeanne

Hurricane Jeanne was the deadliest hurricane in the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the tenth named storm, the seventh hurricane, and the fifth major hurricane of the season, as well as the third hurricane and fourth named storm of the season to make landfall in Florida...

.

Following 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...

in 2005, several thousand Latter-day Saint volunteers from South Carolina and other areas, went to Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

and Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. Many of them taking time out of their jobs or came down on the weekends to help anyone needing assistance.

In 1996, the LDS Church authorized $100,000 and service to help rebuild 28 of the predominately black churches across the South (including in South Carolina) that burned in the previous 18 months. These funds were divided according to need.

In 1996, the LDS Church donated 41,000 pounds of food to the Crisis Ministries Center in the Charleston area.

Membership History

Year	LDS Membership
1900	1,200
1930	3,343
1974	10,755
1980	17,012
1990	23,731
1999	27,399
2007	36,141

Stakes

South Carolina’s first stake was created in Columbia on October 19, 1947. It included the entire state with wards in Columbia, Greenville, Charleston, Gaffney, Hartsville, Ridgeway, and Spartanburg. It’s branches included Augusta (Georgia), Sumter, Society Hill, Winnsboro, and Darlington.

The South Carolina West Stake (Later known as Greenville South Carolina East Stake), was organized 1963. In 1968, the South Carolina East Stake was organized which later became known as the Florence South Carolina Stake. The Charleston Stake was then organized in 1972.

Stake	Organized
Charleston South Carolina	August 20, 1972
Columbia South Carolina	October 19, 1947
Florence South Carolina	February 5, 1978
Greenville South Carolina	November 19, 1972
Greenville South Carolina East	November 16, 2003
West Columbia South Carolina	February 3, 2002

Charleston South Carolina Stake - Originally named Charleston Stake when organized in 1972.
Columbia South Carolina Stake - Originally named South Carolina Stake (S.C., Georgia)
Florence South Carolina - Originally named South Carolina East (South Carolina) when it was organized on April 21, 1968. The name was then changed to the Columbia South Carolina East Stake. It was finally reorganized and named the Florence South Carolina on February 5, 1978.
Greenville South Carolina - Originally named Greenville Stake when it was organized in 1972.
Greenville South Carolina East - Originally named South Carolina West (S.C, N.C.) when it was organized on January 37, 1963. It was then reorganized and named the Greenville South Carolina East Stake on November 16, 2003.

Missions

South Carolina was originally part Southern States Mission when it was opened in 1876. In June 1971, the Southern States mission was divided and renamed the Georgia-South Carolina Mission. On June 20, 1974, it was renamed the Georgia Atlanta Mission in accordance to the new church naming policy for missions. On July 1, 1975, the South Carolina Columbia Mission organized.

Temples

On 16 Oct. 1999 the Columbia South Carolina Temple was dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley