The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ukraine

As of December 31, 2018, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported 10,153 members in one stake and four districts, 48 congregations (eight wards[1] and 40 branches[1]), three missions, and one temple in Ukraine.[2]

History

Since 1922, Ukraine was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) under communist control, which restricted most religious institutions. Near the end of the Soviet Union, a new law was passed granting freedom of individual religious practice and allowing independent religious organizations.[3] During this time of change, the first LDS missionaries arrived in Ukraine.[4] The president of the Austria Vienna East Mission, Howard L. Biddulph, visited in June 1991 and Ukraine's first branch was organized in Kyiv with 40 members. In September of that year, Boyd K. Packer and Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited, so that Packer could dedicate the nation for missionary preaching, and the LDS Church was officially registered with the Ukrainian government.[2][4][3] In early 1992, shortly after Ukraine's withdraw from the Soviet Union, the Ukraine Kyiv Mission was created with 35 missionaries, and Biddulph serving as its first president. Another mission was created in Donetsk in July 1993.[2]

Until September 2001 the LDS Church did not have its own meetinghouses in Ukraine, so church services were held in rented buildings with baptisms being performed in the Dnieper River or in swimming pools. In the early years, the church sought to offer aide to the Ukrainian nation by organizing humanitarian donations of food and clothing from members the United States and Germany in 1992–1993, and a large donation of medical supplies in 1995.[2]

The church announced in 1998 that it planned to construct a temple somewhere in Kyiv. This would be the second temple in Eastern Europe, after the Freiberg Germany Temple, which was the closest temple for Ukrainian members.[2] However, construction was postponed due to delays in acquiring the needed land.[5] Ground was finally broken in 2007,[6] and the temple was completed and dedicated in August 2010. The Kyiv Ukraine Temple was to accommodate members from Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine.[7]

On May 30, 2004, the Kyiv Ukraine Stake, Ukraine's first, was organized.[8]

During the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, all missionaries of the Ukraine Donetsk Mission were removed from the country and reassigned elsewhere.[9]

The rate of convert baptisms in Ukraine slowed significantly in recent years, leading the Ukraine L'viv Mission to be closed in 2018.[10]

In 2020, the LDS Church canceled services and other public gatherings indefinitely in response to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.[11]

Missions

Kyiv Ukraine Temple

The Kyiv Ukraine Temple was announced in 1998, then completed and dedicated in 2010.

 134. Kyiv Ukraine Temple

Location:
Announced:
Dedicated:
 Size:

Kyiv, Ukraine
20 July 1998
29 August 2010 by Thomas S. Monson[12]
10,700 sq ft (990 m2) and 137.8 ft (42 m) high on a 12.35 acre (5 ha) site

See also

References
  1. LDS Meetinghouse Locator. Nearby Congregations (Wards and Branches).
  2. "Facts and Statistics: Statistics by Country: Ukraine", Newsroom, LDS Church, 31 December 2018, retrieved 2018-04-24
  3. Rands, Tania (Spring 1997). "Mormonism in a Post-Soviet Society: Notes from Ukraine" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 30 (1): 71–96. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  4. Biddulph, Howard L. (2000). "Ukraine". Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History. Deseret Book.
  5. Moore, Carrie A. (September 28, 2002). "LDS Church making inroads in Ukraine". Deseret News. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  6. "Ground broken for first Eastern Europe temple". Church News. July 7, 2007. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  7. Avant, Gerry (August 30, 2010). "President Monson dedicates Kyiv Ukraine Temple, first in former Soviet Union". Church News.
  8. "Country information: Ukraine", Church News Online Almanac, Deseret News, February 1, 2010, retrieved 2012-10-18
  9. Hicken, Jackie (May 9, 2014). "LDS Church to reassign missionaries serving in, formerly assigned to Ukraine". Deseret News. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  10. Mims, Bob (February 1, 2018). "Fewer missionaries mean few missions for Mormon church; former Utah Jazz executive Dave Checketts to oversee London Mission". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  11. Lovett, Ian. "Mormon Church Cancels Services World-Wide Amid Coronavirus Crisis", The Wall Street Journal, 12 March 2020. Retrieved on 3 April 2020.
  12. "Kyiv Ukraine Temple Details", Church News, September 4, 2010, retrieved 2012-10-15
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