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.