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

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Colorado
The Denver Colorado Temple
Area	NA Central
Members	148,708 (2022)[1]
Stakes	35
Wards	275
Branches	35
Total Congregations	310
Missions	4
Temples	2 Operating 1 Under Construction 1 Announced 4 Total
Family History Centers	64[2]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Colorado refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its members in Colorado. The first congregation of the Church in Colorado was organized in 1897.^[1] It has since grown to 148,708 members in 310 congregations.

Official church membership as a percentage of general population was 2.82% in 2014. According to the 2014 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey 2% of Coloradans self-identify themselves most closely with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[3] The LDS Church is the 2nd largest denomination in Colorado behind the Roman Catholic Church.^[4] Colorado has the 10th most members of the LDS Church in the United States.^[5]

On August 7, 1846, a settlement of 61 recent converts of the church traveling from Mississippi made camp on the Arkansas River, just east of present-day Pueblo in the southern part of the state. They had come along the main Overland trail to Fort Laramie but discovered the first groups of Mormon Pioneers from Nauvoo had stopped for the winter at Council Bluffs. Rather than turn back to join them; a trapper named John Renshaw led them down to a small adobe trading fort called El Pueblo which was thought to be a more suitable place to spend the winter. They made their camp about a half-mile south of El Pueblo.

While encamped in Pueblo the settlement was also joined by 3 different groups of the Mormon Battalion arriving between September 1846 and January 27, 1847. With the arrival in January, the population of the colony reached 289 people. This temporary colony was the first branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Colorado. The settlement is also widely believed to be the first Anglo settlement in what is now the state of Colorado. The settlement also was the home of the first Anglo born child in Colorado; Sarah Emma Kartchner.

In April 1847, the first members of the settlement began their trek north to Fort Laramie where they were waiting when Brigham Young arrives in June 1847. By the fall of 1848, all the members of the church had left the Pueblo settlement.^[6]

The first mission was established in the area in 1896 and the first congregation of the LDS Church in Colorado was organized in January 1897.^[7]

The Denver Colorado Temple in Centennial was completed in 1986.^[8]

The Fort Collins Colorado Temple was formally dedicated by Dieter F. Uchtdorf on October 16, 2016.^[9][10]

List of LDS Church adherents in each county as of 2010 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives:^[11] 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.

As of August 2023, Colorado had the following stakes:

The Colorado Mission was opened on December 15, 1896, with John W. Taylor as president.^[12] This mission was renamed the Western States Mission on April 1, 1907, then the Colorado-New Mexico Mission on June 10, 1970, then the Colorado Mission on October 10, 1972, and the Colorado Denver Mission on June 20, 1974. It was finally renamed the Colorado Denver South Mission on July 1, 1993, upon creation of the Colorado Denver North Mission.

Colorado now contains four missions.

The southwestern portion of the state is located in the New Mexico Farmington Mission.

Colorado Springs Denver Fort Collins Grand Junction Temples in Colorado (edit) = Operating = Under construction = Announced = Temporarily Closed

On October 24, 1986, the Denver Colorado Temple was dedicated by President Ezra Taft Benson. On April 2, 2011, the Fort Collins Colorado Temple was announced. Western portions of Colorado are in the Vernal Utah Temple and Monticello Utah Temple districts. Southern portions of Colorado are in the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple district.

	40. Denver Colorado Temple Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Dedicated: Size: Style:	Centennial, Colorado, United States March 31, 1982 by Spencer W. Kimball May 19, 1984 by Gordon B. Hinckley October 24, 1986 by Ezra Taft Benson 29,177 sq ft (2,710.6 m2) on a 7.5-acre (3.0 ha) site Modern, single-spire design - designed by Church A&E Services and Bobby R. Thomas
	153. Fort Collins Colorado Temple Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Dedicated: Size:	Fort Collins, Colorado, United States April 2, 2011 by Thomas S. Monson[13][14] August 24, 2013 by Ronald A. Rasband[15] October 16, 2016 by Dieter F. Uchtdorf 42,000 sq ft (3,900 m2) on a 15.69-acre (6.35 ha) site
	218. Grand Junction Colorado Temple (Under construction) Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Size:	Grand Junction, Colorado, United States 4 April 2021 by Russell M. Nelson[16] 16 April 2022 by Chi Hong (Sam) Wong[17] 29,000 sq ft (2,700 m2) on a 6.94-acre (2.81 ha) site
	332. Colorado Springs Colorado Temple (Site announced) Official website News & images		edit
	Location: Announced: Size:	Colorado Springs, Colorado 1 October 2023 by Russell M. Nelson[18][19] 45,000 sq ft (4,200 m2) on a 18.6-acre (7.5 ha) site

Latter-day Saints have had a significant role in establishing and settling communities within the "Mormon Corridor", including the following located in Colorado:

• La Jara
• Manassa
• Sanford

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership statistics (United States)
• Conejos County, Colorado: Religious history
• Pueblo, Colorado, where the sick detachments of the Mormon Battalion wintered in 1846-1847

• Newsroom (Colorado)
• ComeUntoChrist.org Latter-day Saints Visitor site
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Official site