Zimbabwe Information

Zimbabwe Information
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AT A GLANCE

  • First Church presence in Zimbabwe: 1931
  • Zimbabwe dedicated for missionary work: 1950
  • Church registered in Zimbabwe: 1992
  • Current Church members: 26,156
  • Church congregations: 31

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN ZIMBABWE

1931: The Shangani Congregation was organised.

1935: President Dalton stopped sending missionaries to Rhodesia because of the shortage of missionaries and Rhodesia's distance from mission headquarters in Cape Town, South Africa.

1950: Missionary efforts began with Hugh Hodgkiss as the first baptism.

1950: Monroe G. McKay formally dedicated Southern Rhodesia for preaching the gospel.

1951: The Salisbury Branch was organized.

1967:  Elder Mark E. Peterson of the Quorum of the Twelve dedicated the Salisbury Meetinghouse.

1968:  Elder Marion G. Romney of the Quorum of the Twelve dedicated the Bulawayo meetinghouse.

1981:  Brothers Taganyika and Peter Chaya, father and son, of the Salisbury 4th Branch, were the first African men ordained as elders in Zimbabwe.

1981: Elder Peter Chaya was called as the first full-time black missionary in Zimbabwe.

1991:  Zimbabwe was dedicated for the preaching of the gospel by James E. Faust of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

1999:  Zimbabwe’s first stake was organized in Harare.

1999:  The Church published its first full edition of the Book of Mormon in Shona in 1999.

2001:  The Mutare District was organized.

2005:  Zimbabwe’s second stake was organized in Bulawayo.

2008:  Harare Marimba Park Stake organized.

2009:  Edward Dube became the first indigenous mission president to serve in Zimbabwe.

2011:  Gweru Bulawayo Stake organized.

2012:  Bindura District was organized.

2013:  Edward Dube, a native of Zimbabwe, was called to serve in the First Quorum of the Seventy.