Their Growing Footprint
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is expanding. Sierra Leone now has the 3rd highest number of members in Africa per capita.
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A Mormon temple is being built in Kossah Town on 2.9 acres of land.
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The First Lady of Sierra Leone is chairing a Mormon conference at the Bintumani conference center on 26th and 27th June, 2025.
A History Worth Knowing
Mormonism is not even 200 years old. Most other religions in Sierra Leone are over 2000 years old.
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Mormonism is practiced by less than 1% of the world.
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The religion began in New York after a farmer said an angel showed him some golden plates.
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The founding father of the religion was a womanizer who practiced polygamy. These roots still shape the church today.
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Until 1978, the LDS church didn’t allow Black men to be priests.
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Early Mormon leaders taught that Black people were cursed.
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Mormonism has struggled to be accepted by its fellow Americans since its inception.
Hidden Beliefs, Real Risks
The LDS church encourages having as many children as possible. This puts women’s health at risk, especially in a country like Sierra Leone with high maternal mortality rates.
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The church says it is Christian, but its beliefs are very different from most Christian churches, including belief in multiple gods and rejecting the Holy Trinity.
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The church has had to pay millions of dollars in compensation to people who have been sexually abused by its members.
Political Access & Soft Power
LDS leadership have met with President Julius Maada Bio and hosted the First Lady in the U.S in 2024.
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The church builds strong relationships with top government officials to gain support and trust.
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In other West African countries, these church-led “family” events have been followed by attacks on human rights and women’s rights.
Humanitarian Aid or Strategic Marketing?
The LDS church gives aid: wheelchairs, boreholes, disaster relief and genealogy help to Sierra Leoneans. But this “kindness” is calculated.
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Each of these projects helps promote the church and its message to new communities.
Questions Sierra Leoneans Deserve to Ask:
Why are political leaders endorsing a
foreign church with this history?
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Why is the LDS Church investing so
heavily in Sierra Leone?
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How does such a resourced church have such
few members? What do others know that we don’t?
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