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

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oregon refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its members in Oregon. Oregon has the 9th most members of the church of any U.S. state.The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership statistics (United States) Members have had considerable influence in the state throughout its contemporary history and many influential Latter-day Saints have come from Oregon, including Senator Gordon H. Smith.

History

Early history

Missionaries were sent into Oregon from California as early as 1855. The Northwestern States Mission was created in 1897 under the Oneida Stake with George C. Parkinson, who was also the Oneida stake president, as president, and was headquartered in Portland in 1901, where missionaries had arrived in 1857. The mission was expanded to include the state of Montana in 1898, with the Montana Mission being dissolved and Franklin S. Bramwell being called as president.

The establishment of the Oregon Lumber Company by Charles W. Nibley, the creation of a lumber mill by David Eccles on the North Powder River, and the purchase of sugar beet farms led to the migration of Latter-day Saint families to the Baker area. The first branch in Oregon was created in Baker City on July 23, 1893. The first stake was organized from various branches of the Church in Eastern Oregon on June 9, 1901, as the Union Stake (later the La Grande Stake), centered primarily in Union and Baker counties.

The branches in the stake were organized into the first wards in Oregon in La Grande, Mount Glen, Alicel, Baker, Imbler, and Nibley. Bramwell was called to serve as president of the Union Stake, with him serving as both stake and mission president for about a year until he was released as president of the Northwestern States Mission in 1902. Bramwell served as stake president until 1914.

Early 20th century

E. Kimbark MacColl's analysis of Portland history states, "Portland was well endowed with churches, with approximately one for every 600 residents" in the 1890s. In his survey of six leading denominations and all 25 missions, no mention was made of LDS Church denominations or missions.

In 1898, missionaries George and Sam Parkinson of Idaho were sent to Portland to determine whether missionaries should be sent to the city. Jens Christensen Westergaard found out about the missionaries' visit when reading a copy of The Oregonian. Westergaard, who with his wife Petrine had been baptized years before in Sweden but had been unable to practice due to the lack of Church presence in Portland, went to multiple hotels until he found the one with the missionaries. He left a note asking them to come to his house. The next day the missionaries visited with Westergaard and his wife and informed him that they would be writing an unfavorable report about sending missionaries to Portland. The Westergaards asked the elders to send missionaries to Portland and they soon arrived. The Westergaards were later re-baptized in the Willamette River.

The Portland Branch was created on December 19, 1899, and met in a rented room in the Alisky Building at the corner of Morrison and Third. Westergaard was called as Branch President. A permanent chapel, the Portland Tabernacle, was built in 1929, ready for an open house on February 15–17. The building "carried the architectural scheme of an old English manor, being constructed of dense lava stone and bricks of the clinker type, and is declared particularly suited to western Oregon climate and surroundings." It included a maternity room and a basement with 14 classrooms. The architect was C. R. Kaufman, and construction had begun on August 1, 1928.

The completion of the Oregon Short Line Railroad helped bring additional Church members into Oregon, as did the defense industry from World War I and World War II. In 1930 the only wards in Oregon were La Grande 1st and 2nd, Baker, Union, Imbler, and Mt. Glen, with branches in Bend, Eugene, Klamath Falls, Medford, Portland, Hood River, and Salem and total membership of 3,226. A stake was created in Portland on June 26, 1938, with four more in the 1950s, thanks to membership increase with the post-World War II boom. The Medford Stake became the Church's 400th in 1964, and the Portland Temple was dedicated in 1989.

Contemporary history The Medford Temple was dedicated in 2000, with the Willamette Valley Temple being announced in 2021 and dedicated in 2026. In 2023, a temple was announced for Vancouver, Washington which is likely to serve some members in Oregon. A Visitors Center was added on the ground of the Portland Temple in 2012. Oregon is now home to 3 temples, the latest of which is the Willamette Valley Temple.

In 2026, Oregon was home to 233 wards, 45 branches, 34 stakes, and 153,936 Church members. Oregon currently has 76 FamilySearch Centers.

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 PopulationBaker41,3638.45Benton62,8923.38Clackamas2914,0583.74Clatsop21,4834.00Columbia52,4775.02Coos42,6264.17Crook21,0274.90Curry39944.45Deschutes95,1743.28Douglas74,5404.22Gilliam0Grant24626.21Harney26789.14Hood River16893.08Jackson158,4714.17Jefferson1584 26.892.69Josephine74,1435.01Klamath83,1334.72Lake24125.22Lane2412,6873.61Lincoln31,5633.40Linn114,2243.62Malheur134,28413.68Marion2510,2013.24Morrow27857.03Multnomah2516,7212.27Polk114,6486.16Sherman0Tillamook28793.48Umatilla134,7486.26Union72,3489.12Wallowa13304.71Wasco21,0844.30Washington4523,7634.49Wheeler1483.33Yamhill104,4464.48

Stakes

As of June 2026, Oregon had the following stakes:

Stake Organized Mission Temple District Beaverton Oregon10 Nov 1963Oregon PortlandPortland Oregon Beaverton Oregon West12 Nov 1995Oregon PortlandPortland Oregon Bend Oregon15 Dec 1968Oregon SalemWillamette Valley Oregon Caldwell Idaho Snake River26 Mar 2023Idaho BoiseMeridian Idaho Cedar Mill Oregon31 Oct 1982Oregon PortlandPortland Oregon Central Point Oregon7 Mar 1982Oregon EugeneMedford Oregon Coos Bay Oregon14 Sep 1969Oregon EugeneWillamette Valley Oregon Corvallis Oregon3 Nov 1963Oregon EugeneWillamette Valley Oregon Eugene Oregon Santa Clara17 Apr 1983Oregon EugeneWillamette Valley Oregon Eugene Oregon12 Sep 1976Oregon EugeneWillamette Valley Oregon Forest Grove Oregon20 May 2007Oregon SalemPortland Oregon Grants Pass Oregon31 Oct 1976Oregon EugeneMedford Oregon Gresham Oregon26 May 1974Oregon PortlandPortland Oregon Hermiston Oregon26 Oct 1980Washington KennewickColumbia River Washington Hillsboro Oregon12 Oct 1975Oregon PortlandPortland Oregon Keizer Oregon8 Feb 1976Oregon SalemPortland Oregon Klamath Falls Oregon22 Mar 1953Oregon EugeneMedford Oregon La Grande Oregon9 Jun 1901Idaho BoiseColumbia River Washington Lake Oswego Oregon29 Apr 1984Oregon PortlandPortland Oregon Lebanon Oregon3 Feb 1980Oregon SalemWillamette Valley Oregon McMinnville Oregon25 Oct 1981Oregon SalemPortland Oregon Monmouth Oregon24 Aug 1980Oregon SalemPortland Oregon Mount Hood Oregon10 Oct 1982Oregon PortlandPortland Oregon Medford Oregon23 Aug 1964Oregon EugeneMedford Oregon Nyssa Oregon8 Jan 1950Idaho BoiseMeridian Idaho Ontario Oregon18 Nov 1984Idaho BoiseMeridian Idaho Oregon City16 Jan 1972Oregon PortlandPortland Oregon Portland Oregon26 Jun 1938Oregon PortlandPortland Oregon Rainier Oregon8 Mar 1992Washington VancouverPortland Oregon Redmond Oregon1 Mar 1981Oregon SalemWillamette Valley Oregon Roseburg Oregon15 May 1977Oregon EugeneWillamette Valley Oregon Salem Oregon22 Jan 1961Oregon SalemPortland Oregon Springfield Oregon2 Dec 1951Oregon EugeneWillamette Valley Oregon The Dalles Oregon26 Jun 1977Washington YakimaPortland Oregon Tualatin Oregon16 Aug 1992Oregon PortlandPortland Oregon Walla Walla Washington11 Mar 1979Washington KennewickColumbia River Washington

Missions On July 26, 1897, the Northwestern States Mission was organized to search out Latter-day Saints who had moved to Oregon and Washington. On June 10, 1970, its name changed to the Oregon Mission and ultimately the Oregon Portland Mission on June 20, 1974. On July 1, 1990, the Oregon Eugene Mission was organized; and in July 2013, the Oregon Salem Mission was organized.

MissionOrganized Oregon Eugene MissionJuly 1, 1990 Oregon Portland MissionJuly 26, 1897 Oregon Salem MissionJuly 1, 2013 In addition to these missions, the Idaho Boise Mission covers the eastern portion of the state while the Washington Kennewick, Washington Vancouver, and Washington Yakima missions cover portions of Northern Oregon.

Notable Oregonian members

See Also: List of Latter Day Saints and Category:Latter Day Saints from Oregon Danny Ainge, Basketball player and executive Ammon Bundy, Activist and leader of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge Standoff Tom Butler, Former State Representative, (R-HD60) Erin Chambers, Actress Jacoby Ellsbury, Professional baseball player (Boston, New York - Yankees) Jeremy Guthrie, Professional baseball player (multiple teams) Shawn Lindsay, Former State Representative, (R-HD30) Dale Murphy, Professional baseball player (Atlanta, Philadelphia, Colorado) Dennis Richardson, Oregon Secretary of State (R), 2017–19 Gordon H. Smith, US Senator (R), 1997–2009 Rich Vial, Former Deputy Secretary of State, Nonpartisan candidate for Oregon Secretary of State in 2020

Temples Temples in and near Oregon () = Operating = Under construction = Announced = Temporarily Closed Oregon currently has two operating temples and one under construction. The Columbia River and Meridian Idaho temples serve portions of Eastern Oregon.

Gallery

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

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