The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Dominican Republic

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has had a presence in the Dominican Republic since 1978. The church claims a membership of 106,243 in the country, representing just over 1% of the population.

The Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple

History
The Plan of salvation in Spanish.

On 7 December 1978, the Dominican Republic was dedicated for the preaching of Mormonism by Apostle M. Russell Ballard.[1] The first person baptized in the country was Rodolfo N. Bodden.[1] Bodden had been introduced to the LDS Church by his friends Eddie and Mercedes Amparo, Dominican Mormons who had joined the LDS Church in New York City and had since returned to their home country, and John and Nancy Rappleye, an expatriate American couple from Utah.[1] After his baptism, Bodden held several leadership callings in LDS Church in the Dominican Republic. He was a counselor to the country's first branch president and Bodden was the first district president in the Dominican Republic.[1]

The first mission of the church in the Dominican Republic—the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo Mission—was created in 1981 when there were 2500 members in the country.[1] By 1986, there were 11,000 members and the first stake of the church in the Dominican Republic was organized in Santo Domingo, with Bodden as the country's first stake patriarch.[1] The second mission in the Dominican Republic was organized in Santiago on 1 July 1987.[1]

In 2020, the LDS Church canceled services and other public gatherings indefinitely in response to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.[2]

Temple
Main article: Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple

On 16 November 1993, the LDS Church announced that it would construct a temple in Santo Domingo.[3] On 17 September 2000, church president Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple; it was the church's 99th operating temple and the first temple built in a Caribbean country.[3]

 99. Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple

Location:
Announced:
Dedicated:
 Size:
Style:

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
November 16, 1993
September 17, 2000 by Gordon B. Hinckley
67,000 sq ft (6,200 m2) on a 6.42 acre (2.6 ha) site
Classic modern, single-spire design - designed by Scott Partnership and Church A&E Services

Status

In 2008, the church claimed over 106,000 members of the church in Dominican Republic.[4] There are 194 congregations in 3 missions that meet in 80 church meetinghouses across the country.[4]

Notes
  1. Dario Caminero, “Membership Milestone Reached in Dominican Republic,” Ensign, January 1996, pp. 78–79.
  2. Lovett, Ian. "Mormon Church Cancels Services World-Wide Amid Coronavirus Crisis", The Wall Street Journal, 12 March 2020. Retrieved on 3 April 2020.
  3. Santo Domingo Dominican Republic LDS (Mormon) Temple, ldschurchtemples.com, accessed 2008-09-29.
  4. Deseret Morning News 2008 Church Almanac (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Morning News, 2007) s.v. "Dominican Republic".

Further reading
  • Rubalcava, Boanerges (1992), "Mexico and Central America, The Church in", in Ludlow, Daniel H (ed.), Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New York: Macmillan Publishing, pp. 897–902, ISBN 0-02-879602-0, OCLC 24502140.
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