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


The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Missouri refers to the [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] and its members in Missouri.
The official church membership as a percentage of general population was 1.14% in 2014. According to the 2014 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey, roughly 1% of Missourians self-identify themselves most closely with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The LDS Church is the 8th largest denomination in Missouri.
Stakes are located in Branson, Cape Girardeau, Columbia, Far West, Hazelwood, Independence, Joplin, Kansas City, Lake St Louis, Liberty, Monett, Platte City, St Louis, St Robert, Springfield, Warrensburg, and West Plains.

History

In 1831, Joseph Smith told LDS Church members that Independence, Missouri, was to be the gathering spot for the church.
There were many Mormons in Missouri and it served as one of the headquarters of the [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] in the 1830s. In 1838, Lilburn W. Boggs issued the Extermination Order to drive Mormons from the state, and for a time there was no organized Church presence here.
Later in the 1840s, members of the Church, both immigrants from Britain and migrants from Nauvoo, Illinois moved to St. Louis, Missouri and a branch was organized there in 1844. In 1852 the steamship Saluda exploded near Lexington, Missouri with many of those killed being Latter-day Saints headed towards Fremont, Nebraska to then outfit to go to Utah.
By 1849, there were over 3,000 Latter-day Saints in the St. Louis area, and in 1854, a stake was organized there with Milo Andrus as president. Among those baptized in Missouri about this time was Henry Eyring a German immigrant who would later lead Latter-day Saint missionary efforts among the Cherokee in Oklahoma and many of whose descendants would be prominent later in the LDS Church. In 1858, the stake was dissolved and most of the Mormons migrated to Utah.
In the late 19th century, there was limited missionary presence. However, from 1904, a mission was headquartered in Independence. In 1911, a branch was organized there with Joseph F. Smith dedicating a chapel in 1914. Shortly after this Spencer W. Kimball, later president of the Church, served a mission in Missouri.
The church began to expand in the 1920s with five new chapels dedicated in 1926 and 1927. The first Missouri stake was organized in Kansas City in 1956 with another organized in St. Louis in 1958. Columbia, Missouri got a stake in 1970, the Independence Stake was split from the Kansas City stake in 1971 and a stake was organized in Springfield in 1973. The first LDS temple in Missouri was dedicated by Gordon B. Hinckley in the St. Louis area in 1997.
For much of the early 20th century, Liahona The Elders' Journal was published in Independence, Missouri this was the main LDS publication aimed at church members living in the United States outside of the Mormon corridor.
In 2010, the Kansas City Missouri Temple was dedicated—the temple stands not far from Liberty, Missouri where LDS Church founder Joseph Smith Jr. was incarcerated in the winter of 1838–39.

Stakes

As of December 2025, Missouri was home to the following stakes:
StakeOrganizedMissionTemple
Branson Missouri27 Apr 2025Arkansas BentonvilleBentonville Arkansas
Cape Girardeau Missouri20 Oct 1985Missouri St LouisSt Louis Missouri
Chariton River Missouri05 Nov 2023Missouri St LouisSt Louis Missouri
Columbia Missouri19 Apr 1970Missouri St LouisSt Louis Missouri
Far West Missouri18 Oct 2025Missouri IndependenceKansas City Missouri
Grand River Missouri27 Apr 2025Missouri IndependenceKansas City Missouri
Hazelwood Missouri04 Jun 2017Missouri St LouisSt Louis Missouri
Independence Missouri25 Mar 1971Missouri IndependenceKansas City Missouri
Joplin Missouri28 Aug 1977Arkansas BentonvilleBentonville Arkansas
Kansas City Missouri21 Oct 1956Missouri IndependenceKansas City Missouri
Lake St Louis Missouri15 Mar 1987Missouri St LouisSt Louis Missouri
Liberty Missouri14 Oct 1979Missouri IndependenceKansas City Missouri
Monett Missouri26 Oct 2014Arkansas BentonvilleBentonville Arkansas
Platte City Missouri09 Mar 1997Missouri IndependenceKansas City Missouri
Springfield Missouri29 Apr 1973Arkansas BentonvilleBentonville Arkansas
Springfield Missouri South21 May 1995Arkansas BentonvilleBentonville Arkansas
St Louis Missouri4 Nov 1854Missouri St LouisSt Louis Missouri
St Louis Missouri South16 Mar 1980Missouri St LouisSt Louis Missouri
St Robert Missouri18 May 1997Arkansas BentonvilleSt Louis Missouri
Warrensburg Missouri05 Dec 2004Missouri IndependenceKansas City Missouri
West Plains Missouri24 Nov 2013Arkansas BentonvilleSt Louis Missouri

Temples

Missouri currently has two operating temples and three in which construction has been indefinitely suspended.

Efforts Suspended

The following temples had been announced and in some stage of development, but whose construction is not actively being pursued at this time.