Mormons in New Zealand 1854-1958

Recently appointed adjunct professor at Victoria University’s Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies Dr Selwyn Katene will be discussing the first one-hundred years of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in New Zealand. Recently published Build for Eternity: A History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New Zealand (Huia Publishers, 2023) provides an account of the history of Mormonism in New Zealand from 1854 to the present day. However, this seminar will focus on its growth and development from 1854 to the late 1950s when the arrival of the first missionaries, the establishment of a New Zealand Mission, European converts ‘gathering to Utah’, reconciling Māori cultural traditions with church teachings, a national church building programme, new executive-style administrative leadership, and the impact of socio-cultural societal changes that lay the foundation of a mainstream religion into the 21st Century.