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

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tennessee refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its members in Tennessee. The first branch in Tennessee was organized in 1834. It has since grown to 57,422 members in 112 congregations.

Official church membership as a percentage of general population was 0.75% in 2014. According to the 2014 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey, roughly 1% of Tennesseans self-identified most closely with the LDS Church.^[3] The LDS Church is the 10th largest denomination in Tennessee.^[4]

On March 27, 1835, Wilford Woodruff, then a priest, came to assist Parrish. When Warren Parrish was called as a Seventy in July 1835, he ordained Woodruff as an elder and placed him in charge of the work in Tennessee. Woodruff was assisted by Abraham O. Smoot and Benjamin L. Clapp.

In 1836, there were about 100 members in seven branches. By 1839, 12 branches existed in the state and by 1846,

By the 1890s, public opinion became more tolerant. The oldest existing meetinghouse in the Southeast was dedicated in Northcutts’ Cove on October 24, 1909, by Charles A. Callis.[10] Ten years later, branches were listed in Chattanooga and Memphis. On November 16, 1925, a chapel in Memphis was dedicated by George F. Richards of the Quorum of the Twelve. By 1930, about 2832 members lived in the Middle and East Tennessee Districts.

On April 18, 1965, the Memphis Stake, Tennessee's first, was created by

Following

As of January 2024, the following stakes were located in Tennessee:^{[16][17][18][19]}

The Southern States Mission was formally organized in 1875 with its headquarters in Nashville. In 1882, the headquarters moved to Chattanooga, until it moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1919. Tennessee remained in the Southern States Mission until the creation of the East Central States Mission in 1928. In 1975, the Tennessee Nashville Mission was organized. In 1993, the Tennessee Knoxville Mission was organized from the Tennessee Nashville Mission.

On November 12, 1994, a letter sent to priesthood leaders announced plans to build a temple in Nashville. However, after three unsuccessful years of trying to gain approvals, church leaders announced on April 25, 1998, they would move ahead with plans to build a temple somewhere else in the Nashville area and said the temple would be substantially smaller in size. That fall, on September 17, 1998, the First Presidency announced it would build a second temple in Tennessee, this one in Memphis. The temple, in the suburb of Bartlett, was dedicated on April 23, 2000. The next month, on May 21, 2000, the Nashville Tennessee Temple, in the suburb of Franklin, was dedicated.

On April 3, 2022, church president Russell M. Nelson announced plans to build a temple in the Knoxville area. The exact location has not yet been announced.

Knoxville

Memphis

Nashville

Atlanta

Temples in Tennessee

= Operating
= Under construction
= Announced

= Temporarily Closed