The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Washington (state)

The U.S. state of Washington has the sixth most members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United States.The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership statistics (United States) The LDS Church is the 2nd largest denomination in Washington, behind the Roman Catholic Church. Note:While it's the 2nd largest denomination in Washington, it's the third largest denomination when "nondenominational" is considered as a denomination.

History

The first branch in Washington was created at Tacoma near the end of 1899, with its first stake being created at Seattle in 1938.LDS Church News - United States information: Washington Washington's first temple was built in Bellevue in 1980. There are now also temples in Spokane, Richland, and Moses Lake. Temples have been announced in Tacoma and Vancouver.Washington - LDS Statistics and Church Facts | Total Church Membership

Early membership The first known member of the Church moved to Washington in 1852, with missionaries arriving in Washington Territory from California as early as 1854. Enough converts were baptized along the Lewis River in the southwest portion of the state that a congregation was created in that area. Tensions escalated to the death of one member in 1911, who was given a secret burial at night.

Members of the Church helped construct the Oregon Short Line Railroad in the 1880s. By 1930, nearly two thousand members lived within the state with chapels located in the Puget Sound Region and in Spokane.

In the 1920s and 1930s, local members participated in annual caravans, traveling to attend the Cardston Alberta Temple in Canada, which was the closest temple to the region at the time. Some caravan participants would travel more than . With the completion of the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple in 1945 temple attendance shifted that direction until the temple near Seattle was dedicated in 1980.

Central Washington development Irrigation projects by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in Central Washington saw many members move to the state. Initially, these members settled in the Yakima Valley with branches forming in Yakima and Toppenish drawn by a new Utah-Idaho Sugar Company factory. A branch in Walla Walla was part of the Stake in Union, Oregon.

In 1940, a Spokane businessman and church member was called to be the leader of the Northwestern States Mission. Scattered missionary work had occurred in the region prior to this, but more concentrated missionary activity didn't begin until closer to this time.

As part of the development around the White Bluffs area, a local real estate agent traveled to the Cache Valley in Utah to sell plots of farmland. Some Cache Valley residents had been interested in moving out of the area to farm because farming plots had become too small or scarce to be economically productive. About 15 families moved to White Bluffs and formed a branch there around 1940.

Shortly after settling, church members and others around White Bluffs were forcibly relocated when the U.S. Government confiscated the land to build the Hanford Site as part of the Manhattan Project. Many of the relocated residents moved to nearby farming communities. Meanwhile, construction and wartime activity at Hanford became another means to bring Latter-day Saints into the state.

A large branch formed in Richland and after the war was over, the church was granted a lease from the U.S. Government to build a church building within the city. This church building, located near the city center, was the first non-government construction in Richland since the start of the Hanford Project in 1943. Groundbreaking was in 1949 and the Richland Stake formed as the third stake in Washington a few years later.

After World War II, the Columbia Basin Project resumed to bring water from the Columbia River to the arid land north of Pasco. Many Latter-day Saints from Idaho and Utah settled on this land as new irrigated tracts were opened from the 1950s to the 1980s. Church members were particularly successful because many had prior experience farming in states where they came from, which are also fairly arid. A stake was organized in Moses Lake in 1954 to accommodate this increased membership and Adams County continued to hold the highest rate of church membership in Washington in 2010.

Church owned farmland In the 1960s the church-owned Utah and Idaho Sugar Company worked with local investors to acquire and build irrigation infrastructure for farmland in Walla Walla County. This enterprise expanded Benton County in the 1970s and came to be known as AgriNorthwest in 1986 and is an investment property of the church as well as a contributor to the Church Welfare System and other philanthropic activity. AgriNorthwest expanded in the 21st Century by buying more properties in Washington and Oregon.

County statistics List of LDS Church adherents in each county as of 2010 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives: Note: Each county adherent count reflects meetinghouse location of congregation and not by location of residence. Census count reflects location of residence which may skew percent of population where adherents reside in a different county as their congregational meetinghouse.

County Congregations Adherents % of PopulationAdams92,24511.99Asotin21,4576.74Benton3114,2948.16Chelan72,7773.83Clallam73,1024.34Clark3720,7934.89Columbia12867.01Cowlitz74,5134.41Douglas37972.07Ferry12963.92Franklin197,3389.39Garfield0Grant197,5628.49Grays Harbor63,2544.47Island42,3352.97Jefferson28762.93King11056,9852.95Kitsap1911,0934.42Kittitas51,7024.16Klickitat29454.65Lewis74,3045.70Lincoln12152.03Mason42,5874.26Okanogan41,1532.80Pacific28063.85Pend Oreille11120.86Pierce5233,1524.17San Juan13232.05Skagit63,8703.31Skamania14093.70Snohomish4122,6843.18Spokane4824,2465.15Stevens41,8294.20Thurston1810,7744.27Wahkiakum12125.33Walla Walla62,4684.20Whatcom105,4382.70Whitman51,7924.00Yakima178,2433.39

Stakes

As of January 2026, Washington had the following stakes: StakeOrganized Mission TempleArlington Washington24 Oct 2010Washington EverettSeattle WashingtonAuburn Washington28 Nov 1982Washington SeattleSeattle WashingtonBellevue Washington South15 Mar 1981Washington SeattleSeattle WashingtonBellevue Washington1 Dec 1963Washington SeattleSeattle WashingtonBellingham Washington10 May 1981Washington EverettVancouver British ColumbiaBothell Washington22 Nov 1981Washington SeattleSeattle WashingtonBremerton Washington19 Jun 1960Washington TacomaSeattle WashingtonCentralia Washington10 Sep 1978Washington VancouverPortland OregonColville Washington18 Oct 1981Washington SpokaneSpokane WashingtonElma Washington28 Aug 1983Washington VancouverSeattle WashingtonEnumclaw Washington13 Mar 2016Washington SeattleSeattle WashingtonEphrata Washington15 Jun 1980Washington YakimaMoses Lake WashingtonEverett Washington25 Oct 1970Washington EverettSeattle WashingtonFederal Way Washington20 Nov 1977Washington SeattleSeattle WashingtonGig Harbor Washington28 Sep 1952Washington TacomaSeattle WashingtonGraham Washington18 May 2003Washington TacomaSeattle WashingtonKennewick Washington East31 Oct 1982Washington KennewickColumbia River WashingtonKennewick Washington24 Oct 1976Washington KennewickColumbia River WashingtonKent Washington14 Oct 1984Washington SeattleSeattle WashingtonLacey Washington14 Sep 1997Washington TacomaSeattle WashingtonLakewood Washington20 Oct 1985Washington TacomaSeattle WashingtonLewiston Idaho North19 Oct 1958Idaho Coeur d'AleneSpokane WashingtonLongview Washington4 Feb 1973Washington VancouverPortland OregonLynnwood Washington14 May 1978Washington EverettSeattle WashingtonMaple Valley Washington22 Mar 1998Washington SeattleSeattle WashingtonMarysville Washington29 Mar 1981Washington EverettSeattle WashingtonMoses Lake Washington East1 Jun 2025Washington YakimaMoses Lake WashingtonMoses Lake Washington18 Apr 1954Washington YakimaMoses Lake WashingtonMount Vernon Washington30 Jun 1963Washington EverettSeattle WashingtonOak Harbor Washington23 Apr 2017Washington EverettSeattle WashingtonOlympia Washington27 Aug 1967Washington TacomaSeattle WashingtonOthello Washington12 Aug 1979Washington YakimaMoses Lake WashingtonPasco Washington North20 Feb 2011Washington KennewickColumbia River WashingtonPasco Washington21 May 1967Washington KennewickColumbia River WashingtonPort Angeles Washington23 Feb 1992Washington TacomaSeattle WashingtonPullman Washington29 Sep 2024Washington SpokaneSpokane WashingtonRainier Oregon8 Mar 1992Washington VancouverPortland OregonRenton Washington3 May 1970Washington SeattleSeattle WashingtonRichland Washington South26 Feb 2023Washington KennewickColumbia River WashingtonRichland Washington25 Jun 1950Washington KennewickColumbia River WashingtonRidgefield Washington24 Jan 2016Washington VancouverPortland OregonSammamish Valley Washington29 May 1977Washington SeattleSeattle WashingtonSeattle Washington North19 May 1957Washington EverettSeattle WashingtonSeattle Washington31 Jul 1938Washington SeattleSeattle WashingtonSelah Washington29 Apr 1979Washington YakimaMoses Lake WashingtonSilverdale Washington26 Aug 1979Washington TacomaSeattle WashingtonSnohomish Washington28 Jun 1992Washington EverettSeattle WashingtonSouth Hill Washington28 Nov 1982Washington TacomaSeattle WashingtonSpokane Washington East17 Oct 1971Washington SpokaneSpokane WashingtonSpokane Washington Mount Spokane18 Jun 2016Washington SpokaneSpokane WashingtonSpokane Washington North7 Jan 1979Washington SpokaneSpokane WashingtonSpokane Washington29 Jun 1947Washington SpokaneSpokane WashingtonSpokane Washington Valley3 Jun 2001Washington SpokaneSpokane WashingtonSpokane Washington West12 Jan 1992Washington SpokaneSpokane WashingtonSumner Washington17 Jan 1971Washington TacomaSeattle WashingtonTacoma Washington19 Aug 1979Washington TacomaSeattle WashingtonThe Dalles Oregon26 Jun 1977Washington YakimaPortland OregonVancouver Washington1 Dec 1963Washington VancouverPortland OregonVancouver Washington East17 May 1998Washington VancouverPortland OregonVancouver Washington North3 Nov 1985Washington VancouverPortland OregonVancouver Washington West5 Nov 1978Washington VancouverPortland OregonWalla Walla Washington11 Mar 1979Washington KennewickColumbia River WashingtonWenatchee Washington29 Jan 1967Washington YakimaMoses Lake WashingtonWest Richland Washington4 Nov 2012Washington KennewickColumbia River WashingtonYakima Washington24 May 1959Washington YakimaColumbia River Washington

Missions On July 26, 1897, the Northwestern States Mission was organized to search out Latter-day Saints who had moved to Washington, Oregon, and Montana. On January 1, 1968, The Pacific Northwest Mission was created with Joe E. Whitesides as president. On June 10, 1970, its name changed to the Washington Mission and ultimately the Washington Seattle Mission on June 20, 1974. As of 2023, Washington is home to seven missions, three of which are east of the Cascade Mountains, and four are on the west side.

MissionOrganizedWashington Everett MissionWashington Everett Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Retrieved April 10, 2016July 1, 2001Washington Kennewick MissionWashington Kennewick Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Retrieved April 10, 2016July 1, 2002Washington Seattle MissionJanuary 1, 1968Washington Spokane MissionWashington Spokane Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Retrieved April 10, 2016July 1, 1978Washington Tacoma MissionWashington Tacoma Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Retrieved April 10, 2016July 1, 1990Washington Vancouver MissionWashington Vancouver Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Retrieved April 10, 2016July 1, 2013Washington Yakima MissionWashington Yakima Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Retrieved April 10, 2016July 1, 2015

Temples