Facts and Statistics

Click here for the Church's Brazil Newsroom site

When Roberto Lippelt and his wife, Augusta, arrived in Brazil from Germany in 1923, Augusta began asking Church headquarters for teaching materials to be sent to her. In response, South American Mission President Reinhold Stoff left Buenos Aires to visit Brazil. He returned in 1928, with missionary elders to teach the German-speaking people in that country. The first converts joined the Church in 1929.

The first Church-owned meetinghouse in South America was dedicated in Joinville on 25 October 1931. A Brazilian mission was created from the South American Mission in May 1935. Church teaching materials were translated into Portuguese in 1937, and missionaries began teaching in Portuguese a year later.

Missionary efforts continued in the 1950s, and by 1959, membership was about 3,700. Brazil's first stake (diocese) was organized in 1966 in São Paulo. Ten years later, Brazil had 10 stakes, and a temple was announced for São Paulo. That temple was dedicated on October 30, 1978 by President Spencer W. Kimball.

On February 2, 1986, Brazil became the third country outside the United States to have 50 stakes. That number doubled to 100 by 1993 with the organization of the São Leopoldo Stake.

In October of 1993, construction began on Brazil's new Missionary Training Center, the Church's second largest. And, with 23 missions in 1995, Brazil has the largest number of missions outside the United States.

The Church also has a substantial history of involvement in humanitarian efforts in Brazil. "Helping Hands," a service organization of the Church, was recognized in November 2002 as one of the most important volunteer organizations in Brazil.

For Journalist Use Only

Nei Garcia
Sao Paulo,
Brazil
Phone:  +55(11)37233335
E-mail