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

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began in Michigan in the 1830s. It did not have an organized presence in the state from the late 1850s into the 1870s. However missionary work was reopened by Cyrus Wheelock and has progressed steadily since then.

Today there are over 40,000 church members in the state, and the Detroit Temple that was dedicated in 1999.

Current statistics

As of year-end 2006, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported 42,514 members, 8 stakes, 62 wards, 1 district, 34 branches, and 43 Family History Centers in Michigan. The Michigan Detroit Mission, Michigan Lansing Mission and the Detroit Temple are also in the state.

History

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan began with the Mack family. Almira Mack Scobey had gone to Kirtland, Ohio, to visit her cousin Joseph Smith, and there they joined the church.

On June 7th, 1831, Doctrine and Covenants, Section 52 was received which among other things commanded another one of Mack Scobey's cousins Hyrum Smith and also John Murdock to go to Detroit and preach the gospel on the way to Jackson County, Missouri. These two brethren went to Michigan in company with Mack Scobey and Hyrum's (and Joseph's) mother, Lucy Mack Smith. They were also accompanied by Lyman Wight and John Corrill. The missionaries eventually went to Pontiac, Michigan, where they had much success, baptizing several people, including David Dort, the husband of one of the Mack sisters.

In 1833 Joseph Wood and Jared Carter were sent as missionaries to Michigan. Besides Pontiac they also preached in Rochester, Michigan, and Auburn Hills, Michigan. Another notable early convert was Samuel Bent, who was a deacon in the Congregational Church in Pontiac.

In 1834 Joseph Smith went to Pontiac and preached in the area. Among those who accompanied him on this trip, besides his brother Hyrum, were Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Martin Harris, Frederick G. Williams and Robert Orton (LDS Church Almanac, 2008 Edition, p. 236).

In 1834 a branch of Zion's Camp was organized that set out from Pontiac and eventually met with the main part of Zion's Camp in Illinois. This company was organized by Lyman Wight and Hyrum Smith, who had returned to Michigan to organize the company. Elijah Fordham served as the historian and kept a journal of the company.

In 1839 on their way to serve as missionaries in the British Isles, Parley P. Pratt and his brother Orson Pratt stopped in Detroit and stayed with their parents and their brother Anson and his family. While in Detroit they preached several sermons and published a few tracts. One of these was History of the Late Persecution by the State of Missouri upon the Mormons. Mephibosheth Serrine was among the missionaries serving at that time, and engaged in debates with representatives of other faiths in such locations as Royal Oak, Michigan.

Missionaries operated in Wayne County, Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Lapeer County, and Lenawee County. Branches were organized in such places as Lapeer, Van Buren Township, and Livonia. In February, 1841, a conference was held in Brownstown Township, where Serrine presided and 140 members attended. By 1845 there were over 25 branches with 12 branches in Oakland County alone.

After the death of Joseph Smith, most members either moved to Nauvoo and then to Utah or joined break away groups such as the one lead by James Strang.

James J. Strang had been baptized in Nauvoo by Joseph Smith on 25 February 1844, ordained an Elder and instructed to create a Stake of the Church in Voree, Wisconsin, located near present day Burlington in extreme southeastern Wisconsin. After Joseph’s death in June 1844, he claimed to be Joseph’s successor and continued leading his group in Voree until 1848 when he re-established the group on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan. James J. Strang produced a letter, supposedly written and signed by Joseph Smith, designating him as Joseph’s successor after his death. One individual who thought the letter might be legitimate, for a time, was Joseph’s mother Lucy Mack Smith. Brigham Young ignored James J. Strang and his letter. James J. Strang was shot by dissidents of his group on 16 June 1856 and died 9 July 1856. At one time it was said he had as many as 12,000 followers. Some small remnants of this group still exist today (2008).

Resumption of Missionary work

In May 1876 William Palmer began preaching the Mormon gospel in Michigan. He had been called as a missionary by Brigham Young. Palmer focused on Mecosta County, Isabella County, and Montcalm County.

In 1877 Cyrus Wheelock was sent to Michigan as the Mission President. Several missionaries came with him. Among these were John Hafen, a Swiss immigrant who mainly taught German immigrants, and Niels Hendrickson who taught Swedish immigrants.

In 1880 Wheelock was released as mission president and was a short time later replaced by Palmer. Palmer remained Mission President until 1889. In 1884 the church received a welcome increase in its number of members in Michigan, but since some were being held in Detroit on polygamy charges at the Federal Prison, it did not help the Church. Among these were such early church leaders as David K. Udal] and Ammon M. Tenney.

Establishment of the Church

By 1887 Michigan was part of the Indiana Conference. In 1890 Michigan was not officially included in any of the three conferences of the Northern States Mission.

The Church dedicated a chapel in Detroit in 1928. This was the only building the Church owned in the state. There were also branches at Flint, Grand Rapids, Jackson, Saginaw and Lansing.

About 1940 the Church organized the East Michigan District with a district council to prepare for the shift to becoming a Stake. The District President, Jonathan Snow, had primarily grown up in Michigan, because the Church had sent his father to work in the salt mines in Detroit when Jonathan was a very young child. The first stake in Detroit was formed in 1952 with George Romney as President. A second stake was formed in Lansing in 1960.

In the 1970s the Detroit Stake, now renamed the Bloomfield Hills Michigan Stake, had John R. Pfiefer as President. Under his presidency the calling of Elders Quorum Presidents was made as deliberative a process as the calling of Bishops. Ensign, Apr. 1974, 13]>

Further Detroit History

The 1967 Detroit race riot fueled a continuing “White flight” exodus of white people from Detroit. Coupled with this, the building of Interstate Highway 96 lead to the destruction of the only chapel the Church owned inside the boundaries of the city of Detroit.

With the Stake Center for the Detroit Stake on Woodward Avenue in Bloomfield Hills, dedicated by David O. McKay in 1959, and a later chapel built on Nine Mile Road in Southfield Michigan just east of Telegraph Road the Church began a decline in the city proper. In 1969 the Detroit Stake was split, and a new Dearborn Stake was formed. Both stakes included parts of Detroit. In 1974 when the Church renamed all stakes, the Detroit Stake became the Bloomfield Hills Michigan Stake.

The Michigan Lansing Mission was split in 1978. The new mission was named the Michigan Dearborn Mission. Michael J. Lantz, a convert to the LDS Church who had joined while serving in the US military in Vietnam during the Vietnam War (Detroit News, June 18th, 2007) became the bishop of the Royal Oak Ward by the mid-1980s. His ward was at that point one of four in the Bloomfield Hills Stake that included parts of Detroit. Partly at his urging, a new effort was made to send missionaries into the city of Detroit. W. E. Barry Mayo, the President of the Bloomfield Hills Michigan stake, who was an immigrant from Canada and had previously served as the first President of the Church's Branch in Windsor, Ontario, also was involved with these efforts. Starting in 1987 missionaries were assigned to work inside Detroit.

By 1989 a branch had been organized in Detroit. In 1991 it was formed into a Ward. The Ward met in a former Greek Orthodox building just north of Highland Park and just south of Palmer Park. Its first bishop was James Edwards, who thus also became the first African American to serve as a bishop in the Michigan Church. In 1995 the Detroit ward was split into several Branches. There were also two other branches formed in parts of Detroit in the Westland Stake. One of these Branches, the New Center Branch, named after Detroit's historic New Center, was presided over by Jim Viland, a European-American whose wife was African American. The branches generally met in rented locations, often with bars over the windows (Ensign, Dec. 195, p. 47).

In 1997 the Detroit-based branches in the Westland and Bloomfield Hills stakes were formed into a District. During the year 2000, Lamenais "Monte" Louis, an immigrant from Haiti who had lived for many years in Detroit, became the President of the Detroit District. The year before, his son Gregory had been the first person endowed in the Detroit Michigan Temple, before he went on his mission to the California Arcadia Mission.

The Detroit Michigan Temple was dedicated during 2000 by President Gordon B. Hinckley. President Hinckley's son, Clark Hinckley, had lived for several years in Michigan.

In 2005 the Detroit District was realigned with the Bloomfield Hills and Westland Stake. This allowed for more progress, such as the 2008 realignment of the Ward and Branch boundaries between Detroit, Warren, Eastpointe, Harper Woods, and Roseville, which allowed for a Ward that was almost half in Detroit for the first time since the Detroit Ward had been split. A chapel for the Belle Isle Branch which covered much of Detroit east of Interstate 75 and south of Interstate 94 as well as the Grosse Pointes was dedicated in June 2008. The dedication was performed by the Bloomfield Hills Stake President, the above mention Michael Lantz. This was the first chapel the Church had in the city of Detroit that had built since Interstate 96 had taken the last chapel. Also in June 2008 a chapel was built and dedicated for the Detroit River Branch, and served most of Detroit south of Interstate 94 and west of Interstate 75. This Branch not only had several African American members but also many Latino members.

Michigan Membership History

|1891 || 47

|1930 || 972

|1945 || 7,183

|1980 || 22,607

|1990 || 28,245

|1999 || 36,888

|2006 || 42,514

see: ldshistoryblog.com

Stakes

Michigan is currently part of 10 stakes and 1 district. 8 stakes and 1 district are entirely within the state. 2 stakes, with stake centers outside the state, have wards or branches in Michigan. Since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have no paid clergy, stake presidents, bishops, etc. have their own occupations.

Stakes in Michigan

Stake	Organized	Original name	Original Stake President	Wards/ Branches in Michigan	Current Stake President	Occupation
Ann Arbor	14 Aug 1977	Ann Arbor	Duane Marvin Laws	10	Steven A. Headquist	Former CES Administrator
Bloomfield Hills	9 Nov 1952	Detroit	George W. Romney	12	Michael J. Lantz	Materials Manager at Lignon Brother mfr.
Grand Blanc	11 Jun 1978	Grand Blanc	Trent Picket Kitley	12	James R. Clough	senior manager, finance at DaimlerChrysler
Grand Rapids	2 Mar 1975	Grand Rapids	Glenn Goodwin	13	Kaplin S. Jones	partner at Varnum
Kalamazoo	9 Dec 1979	Kalamazoo	Donald Lee Lykins	13	John P. Anderson	V.P. of business devel't at Stryker Corp.
Lansing	18 Feb 1962	Lansing	Sylvan H. Wittwer	10	Bruce E. Dale	professor & chairman of chemical engineering department at MSU
Midland	1 Dec 1968	Mid-Michigan	E. Richard Packham	12	Mark Wilcox Jones	neurosurgeon
Westland	12 Jan 1969	Dearborn	Carl S. Hawkins	10	Marshall K Medley	surgeon

Districts in Michigan

• Traverse City Michigan District

Temples

Main article: Detroit Michigan Temple

On October 23, 1999, the Detroit Michigan Temple was dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley.

Notable church members in Michigan

• George W. Romney- Governor of Michigan 1962-1968.
• Lenore Romney- Republican nominee for United States senate in 1970.
• Mitt Romney- son of the above, grew up in Michigan.
• Scott Romney-member of Michigan State University board of regents.
• Arland Thornton- Head of the Center for Population Studies at the University of Michigan
• Kim S. Cameron- Professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
• Mario Facione- author of From Mafia to Mormon.
• Richard Stamps- professor of anthropology and archeology at Oakland University.
• Howard J. Stoddard- Founder of Michigan National Bank.
• Stanford C. Stoddard- succeeded his father Howard with Michigan National, latter directed other banks. He has also served for over thirty years on the Board of diectors of the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University.
• John Rakolta- businessman, owner of construction firm, Romanian consul and finance chair of Mitt Romney's for presidential campaign. Husband of Terry below.
• Terry Rakolta- Hollywood most unwanted person.
• Orrin Hatch- US Senator who served part of his mission in Michigan.
• Bruce R. McConkie- Apostle, born in Michigan.
• Richard Headlee- 1982 Republican Gubernatorial candidate, man behind the tax restricting "Headlee Admendment".
• Avard Fairbanks- was a professor at the University of Michigan and a freelance designer for Chrysler.
• Paul Pokorny- A University of Detroit Mercy Dental Professor and the President of the University of Detroit Mercy Dental School Alumni Association.
• Greg Geiger- Ford executive, leader in interfaith outreach.

See also

• Detroit Michigan Temple
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership statistics (United States)

References

• Browne, Hilda Faulkner. The Michigan Mormons: Their History from 1831 to 1952 and a little beyond. (Provo: No publisher lister, 1985) 210 pages in length.
• Free Press, July 24th, 2007
• Free Press, October 24, 2005
• Oakland Press, September 16th, 2007
• 2008 LDS Church Almanac, p. 236-237.