Younger LDS Members Become Ordained as Missionaries

The LDS Church is allowing younger members to serve as full time missionaries

On Saturday, October 6, 2012, President Thomas Monson, the leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormons, announced that effective immediately church policy regarding the age of missionaries had changed. Men can now become ordained missionaries at the age of 18, rather than 19, and women can be 19, rather than 21. Currently, the church has over 58,000 missionaries worldwide, and this surprising move will greatly increase those called upon to serve.

While this age change isn’t mandatory, it does open the door for those of a younger age to receive consideration from local authorities for ordination that wasn’t available to them before. Like the Universal Life Church, the Mormons encourage their members to take an active role in sharing their faith and ministering to others.

Since 1830, when the church was first organized, the Mormons have had a strong presence in Canada. In fact, converts to the church as early as October of 1830 began introducing the church’s teachings to their families and friends in Canadian cities even without being ordained missionaries. During the winter of 1829, Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery visited Canada while attempting to secure financial backing for the publication of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith, Sr. and his son, Don Carlos Smith, were the first official missionaries to preach outside the United States. They were the father and brother of the church’s founder, Joseph Smith, Jr. They arrived in Canada in September of 1830 and visited the villages that lay north of the St. Lawrence River, but Joseph Smith, Jr. also visited and preached in the upper Canadian area with Sidney Rigdon in October of 1833.

Missionary efforts were rewarded, and by 1850, about 2,500 Canada residents had joined the LDS Church. Most of them came from the Ontario area. Although a majority migrated to the United States, in 1887, the current LDS President, John Taylor, sent Charles Card to the northwest territories of Canada. The result was the organization of the Alberta Stake on June 9, 1895, the first stake established outside of the U.S.

Mormon pioneers continued to move into Canada and by 1913, there were so many Mormon Canadian residents that the church began construction of a temple in Cardston. The Cardston temple was dedicated in 1924 and became the first temple to be located outside of the U.S.

Today, the Mormon church has over 182,415 members in Canada, with several belonging to the Universal Life Church as well. This major change will affect those members’ lives in a variety of ways. While the change will prove less disruptive to the educational pursuits of men and encourage more young men to become ordained missionaries, the larger impact comes for women.

Young women will now find themselves on an even footing and given the opportunity to become knowledgeable and stronger in their faith before entering marriage and motherhood. In addition, the stigma attached to unmarried women pursuing an education will dissolve.