Poland
2,033
Total Church Membership
Population vs. Church Members
12
Congregations
4
Family History Centers
1
Missions |
History
Click here for the Church's Poland Newsroom site
In 1892, missionaries preached in the Poland and Prussia area. Among the several congregations established in the area, one in Wroclaw saw rapid growth. The congregation, established in 1909, grew to become three congregations by 1921. In 1928, Selbongen (renamed Zelwagi after the Second World War) became the home of a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse and congregation. Selbongen was ceded to Poland from Germany after World War II. Elder Ezra Taft Benson, then a Church apostle and later United States secretary of agriculture, visited Zelwagi soon after the war. More than 100 members and friends gathered to sing, share testimonies, pray and listen to his counsel. In 1947, authorities ordered Zelwagi meetings discontinued because Polish was the only language the government allowed to be spoken at public meetings. (As former citizens of Germany, the members conducted their meetings in German). After two years, members started meetings anew in the Polish language. The Church was registered officially in 1961. Because of emigration of members the only branch of the Church in the country was discontinued in 1971, and the former meetinghouse serves now as a Catholic chapel. In the mid-70s a number of members in western Poland, baptized in neighboring Germany, re-established the Church in the country. Official registration took place in May 1977, and Church President Spencer W. Kimball visited in August of that year.
The first Polish missionary, Sister Urszula Adamska, was called in 1989.
In June 1989, ground was broken for a meetinghouse in Warsaw, with more than 200 people in attendance. A Church apostle, Elder Russell M. Nelson, spoke at the event and met with Poland's minister of internal affairs, who shared copies of a new law guaranteeing freedom of conscience and belief. In June 1991, the Warsaw meetinghouse was dedicated, with more than 400 people in attendance. Subsequently, branches in other cities were established, and the number of members gradually grew to 1,100 by the end of 2003.
Currently there are operating branches in Warsaw, Lodz, Bialystok, Lublin, Gdansk, Bydgoszcz, Poznan, Wroclaw, Katowice and Krakow.
For Journalist Use Only
National Director of Public Affairs and Communications
Violetta Romanska-Skwirus
Telephone : +48 501 176736
Africa
Total Church Membership
621,448
Members
2,150
Congregations
Missions
34Missions
Family History Centers
Temples
3Temples
Asia
Total Church Membership
1,206,148
Members
2,139
Congregations
Missions
45Missions
Family History Centers
Temples
8Temples
Europe
Total Church Membership
493,970
Members
1,382
Congregations
Missions
34Missions
Family History Centers
Temples
12Temples
North America
Total Church Membership
9,336,465
Members
18,071
Congregations
Missions
182Missions
Family History Centers
Temples
109Temples
Oceania (Pacific)
Total Church Membership
562,341
Members
1,253
Congregations
Missions
17Missions
Family History Centers
Temples
10Temples
South America
Total Church Membership
4,093,363
Members
5,541
Congregations