Monday, August 5, 2013

New District Created in Ghana

Yesterday the Church created a new district in the Ghana Cape Coast Mission.  The Twifu Praso Ghana District was organized from the Assin Foso Ghana Stake and appears to include the following six branches: The Kenkuase, Nuamakrom, Nyenasi, Twifu Hemang, Twifu Praso 1st, and Twifu Praso 2nd Branches.  The Church has experienced rapid growth in this area of the Ghana Cape Coast Mission within the past few years as the Assin Foso Ghana Stake was organized in 2011 and had nine wards and four branches just prior to the creation of the Twifo Praso Ghana District.  Of the six branches that appear to pertain to the new district, two previously functioned as wards (Nuamakrom and Twifu Praso 1st).  The Ghana Cape Coast Mission President reported approximately 500 people attended the conference to organize the district - a number comparable to many stake conferences held outside of the United States.   It is likely that the new district may mature into a stake within the next five to ten years if steady growth in the number of active members continues.

There are now 10 stakes and eight districts in Ghana.  Click here for a map of missions, stakes, and districts in Ghana.

10 comments:

Downtownchrisbrown said...

I like the move of splitting off the district from the stake. It allows both the stake and the district to extend outreach and to grow. Plus it cuts down on distance for stake/district activities and meetings. With two branches already at ward size, I don't think it will be too long before it matures into a stake.

Mike Johnson said...

Branches in a mission have a lower threshold than branches in a stake. This move could allow additional branches in the district.

The minimum membership requirement for 2 wards and 4 branches in a stake s 380 (2 x 150 + 4 x 20) outside the US and Canada. I am not saying they were at minimum membership, only to caution that they might still be a long way from the 1900 membership threshold for a stake. Similarly, in AFTPMPHs, each ward had a minimum requirement of 15 and each branch a minimum requirement of 4-6. So, the wards and branches had at least 46-54 AFTPMPHs, but they are going to need at least 5 x 15 + 24 = 99 for a stake of 5 wards. With 6 wards, they will need 6 x 15 + 24 = 114 minimum. They could be close, but they also could be a long way from becoming a stake.

Mike Johnson said...

The Los Altos Ward, Albuquerque New Mexico East Stake, was created on 4 August. There are now 8 wards and 2 branches in the stake:

Canyon Heights Ward
Cedar Crest Ward
Edgewood Ward
Eldorado Ward
Eubank YSA Ward
Indian School Ward
Los Altos Ward
Sandia Ward
Estancia Branch
Valle Vista Branch (Spanish)


The Plum Creek Ward and Lockhart Branch, Kyle Texas Stake, were created on 4 August. There are now 8 wards and 4 branches in the stake:

Bastrop Ward
Buda Ward
Kyle Ward
Memorial Ward
New Braunfels Ward
Plum Creek Ward
San Marcos Ward
Seguin Ward
De Zavala Branch (Spanish)
Lockhart Branch
San Marcos YSA Branch
Yorktown Branch


The Smithfield 23rd and 24th wards, Smithfield Utah South Stake, were created on 4 August. There are 10 wards in the stake:

Smithfield 2nd Ward
Smithfield 5th Ward
Smithfield 6th Ward
Smithfield 10th Ward
Smithfield 14th Ward
Smithfield 15th Ward
Smithfield 16th Ward
Smithfield 18th Ward
Smithfield 23rd Ward
Smithfield 24th Ward


The Twifu Praso Ghana District, Ghana Cape Coast Mission, was created on 4 August. There are 5 branches in the district:

Kenkuase Branch
Nuamakrom Branch
Nyenasi Branch
Twifu Hemang Branch
Twifu Praso 1st Branch


The Assin Foso Ghana Stake retains 7 wards and 1 branch:

Akonfudi Ward
Assin Achiasi Ward
Assin Foso 1st Ward
Assin Foso 2nd Ward
Habitat Ward
Paramu Ward
Telecom Hill Ward
Twifu Praso 2nd Branch

(I am confused about the Twifu Praso 2nd Branch--perhaps it hasn't been transferred in CDOL to the new district)


The Aibatin Branch, Cotonou Benin District, Benin Cotonou Mission, was created on 4 August. There are now 9 branches in the district:

Aibatin Branch
Akpakpa Branch
Cococodji Branch
Fidjrosse Branch
Finagnon Branch
Gbedjromede Branch
Gbegame Branch
Jericho Branch
Menontin Branch


The Paulicéia Branch, São Paulo Brazil Parque Bristol Stake, was created on 4 August. There are now 5 wards and 1 branch in the stake:

Caraguatá Ward
Jardim Clímax Ward
Parque Bristol Ward
Vila Esther Ward
Vila Liviero Ward
Paulicéia Branch

Jenna said...

The San Tomas Branch (Spanish), Saratoga California Stake, was created on 4 August. There are now 6 wards and 2 branches in the stake:

Campbell Ward
Los Gatos Ward
Monta Vista YSA Ward
Moorpark Ward
Saratoga Ward
Stevens Creek Ward
San Tomas Branch (Spanish)
Seven Springs Branch (Chinese)

Mike Johnson said...

sorry, for some reason my daughter was logged in with an account not her own name.

Ray said...

Mike, you recently mentioned a ward created in one of the Bellevue, Wa stakes but I haven't seen any changes in the Washington unit totals on the CDOL.

I wonder if there was an offsetting ward closure the same day so that the total has remained unchanged, or do you think it just hasn't shown up yet in CDOL?

The Cape Verde second stake was created over 2 months ago and the ward and branch totals for that country are basically unchanged, except for the one or two new branches created independent of the new stake.

Mike Johnson said...

Ray, I am reporting what is in CDOL. I don't know what might have been offset.

Matt said...

Actually, it looks for Bellevue WA Stake, the number of wards and branches have remained the same, the just moved one ward to another building, shuffled ward boundaries, and renamed all the wards with "neighborhood" names...

Mike Johnson said...

Given that one ward shows up as having been created, another ward in the stake must then have been discontinued. Perhaps with the reshuffle and renaming it was easier to discontinue a ward and create a new one at the same time then to simply continue all wards and rename them.

Unknown said...

Coming from the Assin Foso Stake but residing in the United States, I am happy for the progress of the church in the area. I do hope that Twifo Praso becomes a stake soon.

Peter Baako