Current status

Utah Valley Ward (Sign Language) - Out-of-Unit Membership

Brief history

Deaf Latter-day Saints have met together in Utah County since the late 1960s; the first Provo Deaf Branch met in the old seminary building on 100 South and 300 West and was formally organized in 1967 with Joe Brandenburg, Jr. as its first group leader. In 1980, the Provo 45th Deaf Branch was announced and moved to the newly created Provo South Stake. On 4 August 1996, Provo South Stake President Julian Raulston announced the conversion of the Utah Valley Deaf Branch to the Utah Valley Deaf Ward, and Lee Shepherd (1926–2012) was called as its first bishop.

The UVW moved from its old building near the Provo Towne Center mall on 1200 South to 835 South 500 West in 2002.

First announced in 2008, the Lehi 44th (Deaf) Branch was formed when the Utah Valley Deaf Ward was split on 19 July 2009. Today, The Lehi 44th Ward (Sign Language) serves Deaf members in the northern half of Utah County, from Bluffdale to American Fork.

On 5 June 2011, the Provo South Stake (stake history) realigned its ward boundaries and meeting schedules and the Utah Valley Ward moved to 888 S Freedom Blvd, three blocks east of its old meetingplace. Because of large and rapid growth in southwest Provo, the Ward was relocated to the Provo South Stake center on 610 West 300 South in November 2022. The UVW serves Deaf members in the southern half of Utah County and northern half of Sanpete County, from Pleasant Grove to Nephi and east to Heber City.

The Utah Valley Ward was the host site of the 2004 and co-host (with the Lehi 44th Branch) of the 2016 LDS Deaf Symposium and will be the host of the 2025 LDS Deaf Symposium.