Monday, December 8, 2014

Stakes Likely to Split Outside the United States and Canada

Below is an updated list of stakes likely to split within the near future. Previous lists are available for December 2012 and January 2014.

AFRICA
  • Aba Nigeria (13 wards, 2 branches)
  • Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Toit Rouge (11 wards)
  • Abuja Nigeria (10 wards, 3 branches)
  • Benin City Nigeria New Benin (10 wards)
  • Benin City Nigeria Ugbowo (10 wards, 1 branch) 
  • Calabar Nigeria (13 wards, 2 branches)
  • Cape Coast Ghana (11 wards, 2 branches)
  • Cocody Cote d'Ivoire (10 wards, 1 branch) 
  • East London South Africa (11 wards, 1 branch)
  • Eket Nigeria (11 wards, 2 branches)
  • Kananga Democratic Republic of Congo (12 wards)
  • Kinshasa Democratic Republic of Congo Binza (10 wards)
  • Lubumbashi Democratic Republic of Congo (10 wards)
  • Nairobi Kenya (12 wards, 3 branches)
  • Nsit Ubium Nigeria (9 wards, 4 branches)
  • Owerri Nigeria (5 wards, 10 branches) - likely to split to form a new district
  • Port-Bouet Cote d'Ivoire (11 wards, 1 branch)
  • Praia Cape Verde (12 wards, 4 branches)
  • Takoradi Ghana (11 wards, 5 branches)
ASIA
  • Angeles Philippines (11 wards, 2 branches)
  • Butuan Philippines (10 wards, 1 branch)
  • Lipa Philippines (10 wards, 2 branches)
  • Mandaue Philippines (9 wards)
  • Singapore (10 wards)
EUROPE
  • Verona Italy (8 wards, 5 branches)
CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
  • Amatitlán Guatemala (9 wards)
  • Guatemala City Stake (9 wards, 2 branches)
  • La Ceiba Honduras (10 wards)
  • Managua Nicaragua (10 wards, 1 branch)
  • San José Costa Rica Los Yoses (10 wards, 2 branches)
  • San Miguel El Salvador (9 wards, 3 branches)
  • San Salvador El Salvador La Libertad (10 wards, 3 branches)
  • Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Ozama (10 wards)
MEXICO
  • Amecameca Mexico (11 wards)
  • Celaya Mexico (11 wards)
  • Chalco Mexico (10 wards)
  • Chilpancingo Mexico (10 wards, 5 branches)
  • Ciudad Victoria Mexico (10 wards, 4 branches)
  • Coatzacoalcos Mexico Puerto (13 wards)
  • Culiacan Mexico (10 wards, 1 branch)
  • Juchitan Mexico (10 wards, 3 branches) 
  • Mexico City Anahuac (11 wards)
  • Mexico City Chapultepec (10 wards)
  • Mexico City Cuautitlan (11 wards)
  • Mexico City Culturas (11 wards)
  • Mexico City Iztapalapa (10 wards)
  • Mexico City La Perla (10 wards, 2 branches)
  • Mexico City Tecamac (11 wards)
  • Mexico City Tepalcapa (11 wards)
  • Oaxaca Mexico Monte Alban (10 wards, 3 branches)
  • Puebla México La Libertad (10 wards)
  • Veracruz Mexico Villa Rica (10 wards, 1 branch)
  • Villahermosa Mexico Gaviotas (10 wards, 1 branch)
  • Xalapa Mexico (10 wards)
OCEANIA
  • Ha'apai Tonga (9 wards, 5 branches) 
  • Newcastle Australia (10 wards, 2 branches)
SOUTH AMERICA
  • Brasilia Brazil Alvorada (11 wards)
  • Buenos Aires Argentina Castelar (10 wards)
  • Cochabamba Bolivia Jaihuayco (10 wards)
  • Joao Pessoa Brazil Rangel (10 wards)
  • Juiz de Fora Brazil (11 wards)
  • Jujuy Argentina (10 wards, 3 branches)
  • Lima Peru Canto Grande (10 wards)
  • Luque Paraguay (10 wards, 1 branch) 
  • Maceió Brazil  (11 wards)
  • Machala Ecuador (10 wards, 1 branch)
  • Maipu de Cuyo Argentina (10 wards, 1 branch)
  • Maracanaú Brazil (9 wards, 1 branch)
  • Rio Branco Brazil (10 wards, 1 branch)
  • Santa Maria Brazil (10 wards, 1 branch)
  • São José dos Campos Brazil (10 wards)
  • São Luis Brazil (10 wards) 
  • São Paulo Brazil Casa Grande (9 wards)
  • São Paulo Brazil Guarapiranga (9 wards)
  • São Paulo Brazil Penha (10 wards)
  • Tarija Bolivia Stake (10 wards)

25 comments:

Unknown said...

How often does a Stake split in half versus making three stakes from two?

Aaron and Kamyra said...

You could add the Brisbane Centenary (8 wards, 2 branches) and Ipswich Australia (8 wards, 2 branches) stakes to this list for the next year or two. It will probably be a two stakes into three deal involving those two in the greater Brisbane area.

BYULAW said...

Correction: Maiput de Cuyo in Argentina has 6 wards now since San Martin district split off

BYULAW said...

Another correction: Jujuy Argentina only has 9 wards and 3 branches now, not 10. And I meant Maipu not Maiput on my previous post

Unknown said...

On a sidenote: Another ward was just created in the Wasilla Alaska Stake. To my knowledge, this stake is now the single largest in the world at 15 wards (there`s a few stakes with 14). I would assume that a split is imminent.

Mike Johnson said...

By units, there is a stake in Nebraska with 17 units. But, a large number of them are branches, so just counting wards, I would expect you are correct. LDSChurchTemples.com has the following 15 wards in the Wasilla Alaska Stake

Big Lake Ward
Colony Ward
Cottonwood Ward
Fishhook Ward
Knik-Fairview Ward
Lazy Mountain Ward
Matanuska Ward
Memory Lake Ward
Palmer Ward
Pioneer Peak Ward
Settlers Bay Ward
Susitna YSA Ward
Valdez Ward
Wasilla Ward
Willow Ward

Mike Johnson said...

From ldschurchtemples.com:

Maipú de Cuyo Argentina Stake:

Colonia Bombal Ward
Gutiérrez Ward
La Gloria Ward
Maipú Ward
Rodeo del Medio Ward
Unimev Ward

San Martin Argentina District (created September 28, 2014):

Palmira Branch
Rivadavia Branch
San Martín 1st Branch
San Martín 2nd Branch
Tres Porteñas Branch

Gnesileah said...

There are currently 14 stakes that contain a total of 15 units, but only the Wasilla Alaska Stake has 15 wards; the others have a mixture of wards and branches. Three stakes have 16 units, with the Praia Cape Verde Stake having the most wards (12) in that group. And as Mike Johnson said, only one stake has 17 units, the Kearney Nebraska Stake, consisting of 8 wards and 9 branches. So the Wasilla Stake truly is the stake with the largest number of wards in operation right now. It is prime to be split. Interestingly, the Juneau Stake also has 15 units, but only five of them are wards.

There is one stake with 15 total wards; five stakes with 14 total wards; nine stakes with 13 total wards; 57 stakes with 12 total wards; 96 stakes with 11 total wards; 162 stakes with 10 total wards; 335 stakes with nine total wards; 462 stakes with eight total wards; 665 stakes with seven total wards; 684 stakes with six total wards; 596 stakes with five total wards; 48 stakes with four total wards; one stake with three total wards (Sioux City Iowa Stake); and one stake with one total non-sensitive ward (Manama Bahrain Stake).

Ryan Searcy said...

The growth in the Mat-Su Valley is impressive. With 5 new wards and a new chapel within a couple of years, the creation of a stake in Palmer has been anticipated for quite a while. The new Lazy Mountain Ward would put 4 wards at the Palmer Chapel. I speculate there will be a new chapel in Butte to service the Lazy Mountain and Pioneer Peak Wards. The number of members, according to ARDA, in the Wasilla Stake, even if you include the Cordova Branch, it is not quite at 6,000, so I estimate the new stake will be created mid-2015.

Our stake president told us our stake (Chugach) is just over 3,200 members, but he also said they requested boundary changes (probably a 6th ward in Eagle River, since the wards out there are pretty large), and land (a rather large piece of land) has been bought for a chapel near Mirror Lake, which woild be built when it is needed. He said the Church is no longer building large stake centers, and before a new chapel is built, all chapels within 30 miles must be at or over capacity.

Ryan Searcy said...

With Anchorage not having much land to develop anymore, the Mat-Su Valley has become the surge of population growth in Alaska. Anchorage used to have more than 50% of Alaska's population, but it is now around 40%. If you include the Mat-Su, that makes about 55% of the state's people.

TempleRick said...

Awesome stats and info, everyone! Here is what I'm showing for large stakes based on number of wards.

STAKES WITH 15 WARDS:
Wasilla Alaska Stake (15,0)

STAKES WITH 14 WARDS:
Colorado Springs North Stake (14,0)
Lehi Utah Gateway Stake (14,0)
North Las Vegas Nevada Stake (14,0)
San Antonio Texas West Stake (14,0)
St George Utah YSA 1st Stake (14,0)

STAKES WITH 13 WARDS:
Aba Nigeria Stake (13,2)
Calabar Nigeria Stake (13,2)
Coatzacoalcos México Puerto Stake (13,1)
Cypress Texas Stake (13,0)
Fredericksburg Virginia Stake (13,2)
Las Vegas Nevada South Stake (13,0)
Mount Vernon Virginia Stake (13,0)
New York New York Stake (13,2)
Salt Lake Bonneville YSA Stake (13,0)

TempleRick said...

And total units...

STAKES WITH 17 UNITS:
Kearney Nebraska Stake (8,9)

STAKES WITH 16 UNITS:
Longueuil Québec Stake (8,8)
Praia Cape Verde Stake (12,4)
Takoradi Ghana Stake (11,5)

STAKES WITH 15 UNITS:
Aba Nigeria Stake (13,2)
Billings Montana Stake (11,4)
Calabar Nigeria Stake (13,2)
Cambridge Massachusetts Stake (12,3)
Cherry Hill New Jersey Stake (9,6)
College Station Texas Stake (7,8)
Fairbanks Alaska Stake (9,6)
Fredericksburg Virginia Stake (13,2)
Juneau Alaska Stake (5,10)
Madison Wisconsin Stake (8,7)
Meeker Colorado Stake (12,3)
Nairobi Kenya Stake (12,3)
New York New York Stake (13,2)
Owerri Nigeria Stake (5,10)
Providence Rhode Island Stake (10,5)
Reading Pennsylvania Stake (11,4)
Uyo Nigeria Stake (7,8)
Wasilla Alaska Stake (15,0)
Yuma Arizona Stake (9,6)

Michael Worley said...

I would expect the Lehi UT Gateway stake to be split very soon. It would also be great to see the two Vegas stakes split (another stake in the Vegas area was dissolved, so a split would represent a population shift rather than a decline in active members).

Unknown said...

I think Pahrump, NV, with its insane population growth, location entirely within the large LV South Stake, and currently (at least) four wards operating is ripening for a stake of its own.

Generally, the potential is tremendous. I feel like we will see a lot more new stakes created these coming years than we have in the years prior.

Mike Johnson said...

LDS maps shows 4 wards in 2 buildings in Pahrump. There are nearby branches that may be able to be stolen from other stakes.

Fredrick said...

If another ward is created in Pahrump, Nevada I believe a Pahrump stake will be created from the Las Vegas South Stake, by adding the Tonopah Ward and Beatty Branch. There will be six wards and one ward, all of which will be located in Nye County.

Fredrick said...

Sorry, six wards and one branch -- if a Pahrump Nevada stake is created.

James Anderson said...

On Lehi Gateway:

I had to go through that on the way to a recording session in January, before the 14th ward was created, and if it is those apartments just north of Timpanogos Highway (U-92) and just south of Point of the Mountain, I have a little news as to why so many wards.

If it is where I think it is, those apartments are basically where a lot of young married couples go first before they go out and buy a home. So they spend a few years there, and have children, and I understand the numbers of children in any and all of those units are quite significant in any one of the wards. So the problem is, where are they going to find all the leadership to fill all the callings in a second stake based on the Handbook 1 standards for creating new stakes?

Mike Johnson said...

The Lehi Utah Gateway Stake lies on the west side of I-15 on a stretch of about 5 miles, the northern end opposite where U-92 hits I-15 and extending well to the south. Looking at the wards on LDS maps, I see plenty of wards entirely composed of single family homes and others with a lot of duplexes.

I am not sure what the Handbook 1 issue is. Meaning each stake would need 24 Active Full Tithe Paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders, plus those required for the wards. Each ward needs 15 and should have 1 for every 20 members. Bottom line, this would require no more than 24 more than the 24 +14x15 or 234 which is probably the floor of a stake with 14 wards. There are probably more than that. If there are 6000 members in the stake (the requirement for two stakes, then the stake should have 324.

We often look at the leadership of a stake and look at experience. But, the handbook doesn't talk about experience as a criteria and each active young family could have 1 AFTPMPH, even those they might not be experienced. But as the stake is not in the area suggested, I don't think this is an issue.

Michael said...

Updated Unit Creations for 7 December 2014:

1. Apedokoe Branch, Lomé Togo Stake (8 wards, 5 branches)
2. Hunucma Ward, Merida Mexico Centro Stake (8 wards)
3. Kowloon City Ward, Hong Kong China Kowloon Stake (7 wards, 1 branch)
4. Lazy Mountain Ward, Wasilla Alaska Stake (15 wards)
5. Lilburn 2nd Ward, Lilburn Georgia Stake (6 wards, 3 branches)
6. Milton Freewater 2nd Branch (Spanish), Walla Walla Washington Stake (9 wards, 5 branches)
7. Pasco 11th Ward, Pasco Washington North Stake (8 wards, 4 branches)

Unknown said...

I agree with Mike. I have seen plenty of people in their 20s and 30s who are capable of leading congregations and even stakes. I`ve noticed that often, those individuals make up their lack in life/leadership experience with great excitement for the Gospel (and, most specifically, Missionary work). They also tend to have more time to spend in their callings because their families are still small.

Eduardo said...

Reviewing the Central American stakes made me remember something: a friend of mine in Northern Virginia believes that private LDS Church members could turn Central America around if we pooled our resources by helping their youth with educational sponsorship. He supports either 2 or three Guatemalan youth with their financial and educational needs. He calls them regularly and they ask for stuff, like clothes and books, etc.

I am amazed. He thinks more LDS people could do this, and he lacks the right networking to make it happen. Initiatives and responses like his make me think our faith and social network could be the greatest strength to mankind ever. Anyway, I do not have the resources to do this outside of tithing and fast offerings, but it would be interesting to see how many could or would. And of course you wouldn't have be Mormon...

We pray the Lamanites blossom as a rose. Whether they have genetic links to Lehi or not. We all are adopted into the House of Israel.

John Pack Lambert said...

I think when I was on my mission in Las Vegas 13 years ago there were 4 wards in Pahrump, so I see little evidence of membership growth in that area. The same is true of Boulder City, Nevada, the other outlying area I have heard talk of a stake being organized.

With the North Las Vegas Stake, despite its having a large number of units, it has losts wards in the past, and I am not sure there is an easy way to split it. It covers high-crime urban areas and very suburban areas. Part of me almost wonders if growth might be best helped for a time by creating an urban district as was done in Detroit, DC, Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia and possible some other urban centers in the 1990s. Having seen many African-American converts inLas Vegas alienated by a total lack of trying to understand them by long-time members, I can see a plus to this. The thing is that Las Vegas is not residentially segregated the way Detroit and some other north-east metro areas are, so forming a culturally specific district might be very hard. The first step would probably be forming geographic brahches to serve the needs of people in the urban cores, instead of groupiuping them inwards in much more suburban areas.

John Pack Lambert said...

The 30-miles rule worries me. I know in Detroit there has been major problems with many investagators and new converts not having cars. You need to consider the needs of the people. For about 8 months my girlfriend did not have a car, and she did ride her bike to Church. However she has been a member 20 years, and only lives 1.5 miles, if that from the chapel. Expecting people without cars to travel even 10 miles to the chapel is unreasonable.

John Pack Lambert said...

Is there a ward or branch in Sandy Valley, Nevada. I know that was an area it seemed like several Church members were moving to when I was in Las Vegas.