Friday, September 6, 2013

The 10 Countries and Dependencies with the Most Members without a Temple Announced, Under Construction, or Operating

In preparation for General Conference next month, I have provided an updated list of the countries and dependencies with the most members without a temple.  The Church has announced new temples at every October General Conference since 2008.  Membership data is as of year-end 2012 whereas stake, district, and congregational data is current.  Temples that service stakes, districts, and mission branches in each country are identified.  Old lists are also available for mid-2011, late 2008, and late 2007.

1. Nicaragua
  • 80,605 members
  • 9 stakes, 6 districts
  • 101 congregations
  • Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple
2. Zimbabwe
  • 23,117 members
  • 5 stakes, 2 districts
  • 60 congregations
  • Johannesburg South Africa Temple
3. Russia
  • 21,709 members
  • 2 stakes, 3 districts
  • 98 congregations
  • Kyiv Ukraine Temple, Helsinki Finland Temple, Seoul Korea Temple
4. Papua New Guinea
  • 21,265 members
  • 2 stakes, 12 districts
  • 76 congregations
  • Sydney Australia Temple
5. Puerto Rico
  • 21,174 members
  • 5 stakes, 0 districts
  • 41 congregations
  • Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple
6. Cote d'Ivoire
  • 18,602 members
  • 5 stakes, 1 district
  • 62 congregations
  • Accra Ghana Temple
7. Haiti
  • 18,165 members
  • 4 stakes, 3 districts
  • 43 congregations
  • Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple
8. Thailand
  • 17,424 members
  • 1 stake, 5 districts
  • 38 congregations
  • Hong Kong China Temple
9. Kiribati
  • 16,279 members
  • 2 stakes, 0 districts
  • 26 congregations
  • Suva Fiji Temple
10. American Samoa
  • 15,629 members
  • 5 stakes
  • 38 congregations
  • Apia Samoa Temple

18 comments:

Christopher Nicholson said...

I was told by a returned missionary that the Church is waiting until three stakes function in Bangkok before they build a temple there. However I think prospects are very good for a temple in Singapore to service the entire vast region of Southeast Asia.

Michael Worley said...

I would think we could get 1 temple in africa and 1-2 in Utah every year (on average) for the next 3-4 years. The new temple film was made (as I understand) with the African Saints in mind, so Cote d'Ivoire, Zimbabwe and possibly a second one in DR Congo in 3 years; by then the surge may raise posibility for more

As for Utah, Timp is going to get more crowded due to growth and Jordan River and Timp are both operating with less endownment sessions to accommodate the new Film. Lehi/Alpine/Saratoga Springs, Utah and the 5th SL Valley Temple will probably be the next 2, and then by 2015 we'll see if any other temples are needed. Should the MTC be busy long-term, it is conceivable a Heber or South Orem temple would make Provo solely an MTC and BYU temple, but that won't happen until the brethren see how two temples in Provo interact.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

For Utah I think the potential temple districts would be:
Layton Clearfield: 38 stakes
West Valley area: 25 Stakes, (36 If built before Tooele)
Saratoga/Lehi: 18 Stakes
Tooele: 11 Stakes
Price: 8 stakes
Heber City: 7 Stakes

The last three seem like kind of unlikely, but Brigham City has only 13 Stakes. Several stakes in Tooele are nearly large enough to split.
The Last time we discussed temples, I made the case that the 5th SL Valley Temple is on the the Northwest side, not the Southwest as everybody is reporting: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2786908254617003646&postID=6766805686684787797

Unknown said...

My unorganized thoughts on this are as follows:

I think that Temples will be announced in Nicaragua (Managua), Cape Verde (Praia) and Virginia (Richmond). Nicaragua feels a little overdue and it`s been a while since the last Temple was announced in Central America. Cape Verde is isolated and growing at a tremendous rate in both nominal membership and leadership. In about 3 to 4 years, when a the Temple would be completed, there could easily be 14,000 to 16,000 members in Cape Verde, as well as six or seven stakes. Finally, Richmond could serve the growing LDS population in the southern DC area, as well as SVU. Abidjan might be in there or not (yet), although I can hardly imagine that the Saints in Ivory Coast will need to wait another full year for a Temple announcement. If not this Conference, it`s probably going to happen in April.

No new Utah Temple for at least another six months in my opinion. Eastern Davis County could hold a Temple, although Clearfield/Sunset/maybe even Layton might end up in the Ogden Temple District (again), even with a Temple in, say, Farmington, Syracuse or Kaysville. From places like Syracuse, it`s easier to get to the Ogden Temple than to the Bountiful one, at least in tendency. Murray might be an option for another SL Valley Temple. Tooele is, in my opinion, going to come sooner than West Valley because it is more distant from the other Temples further east. It could have a district that reaches as far west as Elko, NV. Price and Heber are hard to assess with precision and will be considered upsets for a long time. I give Heber the edge over Price though.

Other potentials (without claim to be complete): Pocatello, ID. Des Moines, IA. Nairobi, Kenya. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Ulan Bator, Mongolia. Mexico City (2nd Temple), Mexico. Singapore. Maputo, Mozambique. Lubumbashi, Congo. Belem, Brazil. Moscow, Russia (might as well build it before we get kicked out altogether...).

Mike Johnson said...

I would guess Pocatello Idaho and Richmond Virginia. Virginia remains the state with by far the most members without a temple (90,000 members, 3 missions headquartered in the state and a majority of another mission in the state, 20 stakes, 160 wards and 37 branches). But, I do know that there would be an impact on the Washington DC Temple.

I think Singapore is possible, to serve the stake in Singapore and the several districts in Malaysia.

I think Brazil and Mexico could get another temple, given the large numbers of new missions each just received.

I think we should see what the impact of temples 3 and 4 (Payson and Provo City Center) before announcing a 5th temple in Utah valley. I would think Salt Lake valley would get a 5th temple before Utah valley.

Michael Worley said...

Provo temple would be full from 10-5 every day with just missionaries. I'm at BYU--I know. There are ambitious growth plans in the Saratoga area, The two Utah Valley temples are full. We'll see what the new 2 do.

Ryan Searcy said...

I have mapped which stakes and districts are within 200 miles of a temple, and have calculated remote temples that have large numbers of stakes and districts within 200 miles of that city (inside parentheses). Totals in parenthesis do not include stakes and districts currently within 200 miles of an existing temple.

Out of a list of over 200, the more likely ones would be, with likely district size:
1. Salvador Brazil (11,1) 13,2
2. Culiacan Mexico (9,3) 9,3 (7,3 if Torreon announced first)
3. Osaka Japan (6,2) 10,3
4. Pensacola Florida (5,0) 6,0
5. Davao Philippines (4,9) 11,17
6. Harare Zimbabwe (3,2) 8,8
7. McAllen Texas/Reynosa Mexico (3,0) 8,2
8. Praia Cape Verde (2,1) 2,1
9. Torreon Mexico (2,1) 7,3
10. Hobart Australia (2,0) 2,0
11. Prince George British Columbia (2,0) 2,1
12. Bairiki Kiribati (2,0) 4,5
13. Queretaro Mexico (2,0) 15,2
14. Rogers Arkansas (2,0) 6,0
15. Toole Utah (2,0) 11,1
16. Port Moresby Papua New Guinea (1,6) 2,13
17. Nairobi Kenya (1,2) 2,5
18. Ulaanbatar Mongolia (1,2) 1,2
19. Bangkok Thailand (1,1) 5,27
20. Yerevan Armenia (1,0) 2,5 (not sure how Middle East would work)
21. Noumea New Caledonia (1,0) 1,3
22. Moscow Russia (1,0) 1,3
23. Ednithburgh Scotland (1,0) 5,0
24. Fairbanks Alaska (1,0) 2,0 might include Juneau Stake
25. Wichita Kansas (1,0) 4,0
26. Augusta Maine (1,0) 2,0

Hopefully this all makes sense. It would be nice to see some regional temples in central Africa, Thailand, and mid-Pacific areas.

John Pack Lambert said...

I figured this might be a good place to mention this. In the recent Church news it mentioned that back in 2005 when the Church withdrew all foreign missionaries from Venezuela the initial plan was to consolidate the 4 missions down to 2.

However the local leadership asked to have a chance to increase the number of missionaries to avoid consolidations. They were given this chance, and they were able to increase the number of missionaries serving in response, leading to all 4 missions remaining intact.

This is a true example of the local church picking up the pace when called on to do so when they cannot rely on foreign missionaries any more.

Brooks M. Wilson said...

Did the increase in the number of missionaries called have a lasting impact on activity in the Church in Venezuela?

Mike Johnson said...

The Juárez 2nd Ward, Monterrey México Andalucía Stake, was created on 8 September. There are now 7 wards and 1 branch in the stake:

Andalucía Ward
Arboledas Ward
Cadereyta Ward
Juárez 1st Ward
Juárez 2nd Ward
Las Espigas Ward
Tamaulipas Ward
China Branch


The Revolución Branch, México City Los Reyes Stake, was created on 8 September. There are now 7 wards and 1 branch in the stake:

Atlicpac Ward
Chapingo Ward
Chicoloapan Ward
La Paz Ward
Los Olivos Ward
Los Reyes Ward
Texcoco Ward
Revolución Branch


The Motherwell Branch, Port Elizabeth South Africa Stake, was created on 8 September. There are now 6 wards and 2 branches in the stake:

Kwa Magxaki Ward
Kwa Nobuhle 2nd Ward
Kwa Nobuhle 1st Ward
Lorraine Ward
Port Elizabeth Ward
Uitenhage Ward
Cleary Estate Branch
Motherwell Branch

Rafael H. Rojas G. said...

Sice 2005 when the Church withdrew all foreign missionaries from Venezuela,not only here in Venezuela avoid consolidations,but from that time we have eleven more stakes

Brooks M. Wilson said...

Thank you Rafael. If I have done the numbers correctly, Venezuela experienced a 41.7% increase in stakes compared to a 28.0% increase in Brazil, and a 21.0% increase in Peru. I have also measured activity rates for seminary and institute and Venezuela ranks second and first across South America.

I served a mission in Argentina, enjoying the work and contributing to Church growth. We had few missionaries from Argentina at that time and they were generally a little more successful than foreign missionaries like me.

Mike Johnson said...

Local missionaries may be more successful (and there are good reasons to believe that), but I think another part of that is the experience those missionaries received on the missions and the impact that would have on their home congregations for years or decades after their missions.

Mike Johnson said...

The Crystal Springs Ward, Filer Idaho Stake, was created on 8 September. There are now 6 wards and 3 branches in the stake:

Cedar Draw Ward
Clear Lakes Ward
Crystal Springs Ward
Deep Creek Ward
Rock Creek Ward
Thousand Springs Ward
Filer YSA Branch
Hollister Branch
Jackpot Nevada Branch

Mike Johnson said...

The Cebu Philippines Consolacion Stake was created on 8 September. There are 5 wards and 1 branch in the stake:

Canduman Ward
Consolacion 1st Ward
Consolacion 2nd Ward
Consolacion 3rd Ward
Mandaue 3rd Ward
Camotes Branch

Eduardo said...

We are coming up on Fall General Conference when there should be some new temples announced. Recent years have brought a few ones that have been significant for personal reasons and for global ones.

As I have usually had to work those weekends, a few times I have received the new temple news by cell phone verbally. Two personal ones were Indianapolis, where I grew up an hour from, and Concepcion, Chile, where I served in the very ward it will be built.

Kansas City and Rome were very interesting for overall church development.

Out of the 10 countries in this list, how many will get a temple announced in 3 weeks?

How many more will be announced stateside? I guess Richmond, VA, is more likely than entire states like West Virginia and Arkansas, but maybe all three.

It would be great if Haiti got one; it is already so hard for the poor to travel to other islands. It seems they have the numbers. Also, islands in the Pacific like Papua New Guinea or Vanuatu would seem appropriate for such temples due to both growth and distance and difficulty of travel due to major expenses.

As much as we as a church help the poor through noble projects and charitable donations, it is difficult to understand how desperately poor most of our membership is worldwide. But our bishops keep plugging away.

My last bishop in Chile (Angol, 2005), was so humble of circumstances and health, but he kept going. Hopefully solid strength continues through these modest leaders worldwide.

Keep paying tithing and making generous contributions!

John Pack Lambert said...

For what it is worth, in Haiti they have a temple on that island. I am not sure about the travel time and distance to the temple, but it is on their island.