Wednesday, May 10, 2017

New Stakes Created in Arizona, Brazil, Canada, Ghana, Guatemala, Liberia, Mozambique, Texas, and Washington; New Districts Created in Cote d'Ivoire, Fiji, Guyana, and Mexico; Districts Discontinued in Cambodia, Chile, and Peru

NEW STAKES

Arizona
Last Sunday, the Church organized a new stake in northern Arizona. The Flagstaff Arizona East Stake was organized from a division of the Flagstaff Arizona Stake (renamed the Flagstaff Arizona West Stake). The new stake includes the following six wards and one branch: the Doney Park, Flagstaff YSA 1st, Linda Vista, Mount Elden, Switzer Canyon, and Walnut Canyon Wards, and the Sawmill Branch (Correctional Facility).

There are now 113 stakes in Arizona

Brazil
The Church organized its first stake in Roraima State last Sunday. All five branches in the former Boa Vista Brazil District appear to have become wards in the newly organized Boa Vista Brazil Stake. Roraima was the last Brazilian state to not have a stake.

There are now 266 stakes and 40 districts in Brazil.

Canada
The Church organized a new stake in the Edmonton area in Alberta, Canada on April 9th. The Sherwood Park Alberta Stake was organized from a division of the Edmonton Alberta Bonnie Doon Stake and the Edmonton Alberta North Stake. The new stake includes the following six wards and four branches: the Cherry Grove, Clarkdale, Fort Saskatchewan, Glen Allan, Nottingham, and Wood Buffalo Wards, and the Lloydminster, St Paul, Tofield, and Vermilion Branches.

There are now 24 stakes in Alberta, and 49 stakes and three districts in Canada.

Ghana
The Church organized a new stake in the Accra metropolitan area on April 23rd. The Teshie Ghana Stake was organized from a division of the Accra Ghana Christiansborg Stake and the Tema Ghana Stake. The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Adjorman, Nungua 1st, Nungua 2nd, Nungua 3rd, Teshie 1st, Teshie 2nd, and Teshie 3rd Wards. There are now 10 stakes in the Accra metropolitan area.

There are now 19 stakes and 12 districts in Ghana.

Guatemala
The Church organized a new stake in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala on March 19th. The  Quetzaltenango Guatemala Santa Fé was organized from a division of the Quetzaltenango Guatemala West Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Bougambilias, La Esperanza, Las Américas, San Mateo, and Villa Hermosa Wards, and the San Juan Ostuncalco Branch. The new stake is the Church's fourth stake in the Quetzaltenango metropolitan area.

There are now 46 stakes and 16 districts in Guatemala.

Liberia
The Church organized its second stake in Liberia on April 30th. The Monrovia Liberia Stake was organized from the Monrovia Liberia District. The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Central Monrovia, Congo Town 2nd, Doe Community, Matadi, and Sinkor Wards, and the Congo Town 1st Branch. The Church initially organized the Monrovia Liberia District in 1989 and the district previously operated as a stake between 2000 and 2007.

There are now two stakes and two districts in Liberia.

Mozambique
The Church organized a new stake in Beira, Mozambique on March 19th. The Beira Mozambique Manga Stake was organized from the Beira Mozambique Manga District and the Beira Mozambique Stake. The new stake includes the following two wards and three branches: the Chingussura and
Mascarenha Wards, and the Chamba, Inhamízua, and Vila Massane Branches. It is likely that all three branches have been advanced into wards but that the official directly has not made these updates yet.

There are now three stakes and zero districts in Mozambique.

Texas
The Church organized a new stake in the Houston area on April 30th. The Conroe Texas Stake was organized from a division of the College Station Texas Stake, Spring Texas Stake, and The Woodlands Texas Stake. The new stake includes the follow five wards and four branches: the Conroe 1st, Conroe 2nd, Crighton, Huntsville 1st, and Montgomery Wards, and the Crockett, Heritage YSA, Huntsville 2nd (Correctional Facility), and Madisonville Branches. There are now 17 stakes in the Houston metropolitan area.

There are now 73 stakes and three districts in Texas.

Washington
The Church organized a new stake in the Seattle area on April 23rd. The Oak Harbor Washington Stake was organized from a division of the Everett Washington and Mount Vernon Washington Stakes. The new stake includes the following seven wards and three branches: the Anacortes, Mount Erie, Mount Vernon YSA, Oak Harbor 1st, Oak Harbor 2nd, Penn Cove, and South Whidbey Island Wards, and the Eastsound, Friday Harbor, and Lopez Branches.

There are now 62 stakes in Washington.

NEW DISTRICTS

Cote d'Ivoire
A new district was organized in Cote d'Ivoire on April 23rd. The Akoupé Cote d'Ivoire District was organized from a division of the Adzope Cote d'Ivoire District. The new district appears to include the following four branches: the Affrey 1st, Affrey 2nd, Affrey 3rd, and Akoupé Branches. With the exception of the 1990s before stakes were organized in the country, the new district appears to be the first time in the Church's history of Cote d'Ivoire when a district was divided to organize a new district.

There are now 11 stakes and 12 districts in Cote d'Ivoire.

Fiji
The Church organized a new district in Fiji on the main island of Viti Levu. The Korovou Fiji District
was organized from a division of the Nausori Fiji Stake and Lautoka Fiji Stake. The new district includes the following four branches: the Korovou, Levuka, Nasautoka, and Saioko Branches. The decision to organize the new district was likely due to the large number of member groups that operate on the eastern side of Viti Levu Island. For example, the new district appears to include at least two member groups, Moturiki and Waimaula, whereas there are approximately five additional member groups that appear to operate in the Nausori Fiji Stake.

There are now four stakes and two districts in Fiji.

Guyana
The Church organized a new district in Guyana on April 23rd. The Berbice Guyana District was organized from five former mission branches in the New Amsterdam area, including the Corriverton, East Canje, New Amsterdam, Rose Hall, and Rosignol Branches. One former mission branch, the Bushlot Branch, was discontinued when the district was organized. The Church previously operated a district in the area between 2005 and 2010 called the Canje Guyana District. The decision to reestablish the district may indicate improvements in local leadership development after significant leadership challenges and convert retention problems during the brief period of rapid growth in the late 2000s prompted the closure of the district to strengthen individual branches.

There are now two districts in Guyana.

Mexico
The Church organized a new district in Puebla State, Mexico on April 16th. The Puebla México Citlaltépetl District was organized from the Puebla México Amalucan Stake, Puebla México Fuertes Stake, and the Tehuacán México Stake. The new district includes the following six branches: the Citlaltépetl, Grajales, Libres, Serdán, Tecamachalco, and Tlachichuca Branches. Two of the branches were organized at the same time that the district was creaetd.

There are now 230 stakes and 41 districts in Mexico.

DISCONTINUED DISTRICTS

Cambodia
The Church discontinued the Phnom Penh Cambodia Central (Vietnamese) District approximately a couple months ago. The district was originally organized in 2001 and included three Vietnamese-speaking branches that met in Phnom Penh. One of the branches was closed when the district was discontinued. The two remaining Vietnamese branches now report directly to the Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission. The Church has reported slow growth among the Vietnamese-speaking population in Phnom Penh during the past several years.

There are now two stakes and four districts in Cambodia.

Chile
The Church recently discontinued the Parral Chile District. The four branches that pertained to the former district have since been reassigned to the Linares Chile District. With seven branches, the Linares Chile District may be close to becoming a stake. The Linares Chile District used to operate as a stake between 1988 and 2002.

There are now 77 stakes and 16 districts in Chile.

Peru
The Church discontinued the Juli Perú District a couple months ago. The district was organized in 1995 and previously included three branches. The branches now pertain to the Puno Perú Central Stake.

There are now 101 stakes and 19 districts in Peru.

33 comments:

Bryansb1984 said...

I think in a few years a temple could be announced for Flagstaff, Arizona.

L. Chris Jones said...

I have looked at the possibility of a Temple in Flagstaff. It could pull stakes from Phoenix, Snowflake, and one stake from the St. George Temple.

Bryansb1984 said...

I'm the 3rd great grandson of William Jordan Flake who founded Snowflake with Erastus Snow. It would be nice to see growth in that area.

Jim Anderson said...

The Flagstaff-Prescott area though has only about 200k residents in it, with probably less than 75k from outlying areas, I don't see a temple for years, there would have to be some growth. Prescott and Prescott Valley is actually the larger city at 100k and Flagstaff being about half that with places like Cottonwood, Camp Verde, and Sedona rounding out that figure.

L. Chris Jones said...

There are other smaller Communities with temples a similar number of stakes in a potential Temple district. Star Valley WY Temple is a very recent example.

John Pack Lambert said...

There are 46 stakes and 2 temples in Guatenala. 24 and 3 temples just in Alberta.

John Pack Lambert said...

When Monrovia previously had a stake it covered what is now in both of the Monrovia stakes and I believe the area of an adjacent district.

Unknown said...

Dewey, Camp Verde and Prescott Valley are just over an hour away from the Phoenix temple. I think getting another Mission in the Valley has a higher probability of happening first

Eduardo said...

Really cool to see this recent growth.
I have never been to Linares or Parral but a lot of my companions served there.
I can't help but think that with fourth and fifth generations of Chilean Saints, a second temple in the country and more on the distant horizon, this land will still be blessed as promised as prophets and apostles and others have prophesied.
For many years I have thought if I somehow had a large amount of money beyond my means, or even reasonably within them, I would go back to areas of Chile like Angol, Mulchen, Coihueco, querida Santa Juana, the city of Conce, Chillan, where I lived and I would take hundreds of them to the farther south to tourist parts that they have never been to. To show them their own country, to see more myself, but more importantly to share it together.
Many feel neglected and forgotten; this is how many justify their inactivity and distance from the faith. But many of us, with the accompaniment of the Lord and His Spirit, never have left them and hope to see thousands return in the days and years, even centuries to come.

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

You're not related to Jim Baird from Manti are you? He's my uncle.

Bryansb1984 said...

Not sure, according the LDS Family Tree app I use, I'm related to about 19 Jim Bairds
I even have a nephew named James Baird who was named after my 2nd great father James Madison Flake.

Fredrick said...

Not completely sold on the idea that a Flagstaff Temple will be announced soon, but I do believe that it will probably be the next temple announced in Arizona. It would probably serve 8 stakes if it were built today.

L. Chris Jones said...

Any body think WA, OR, CO, NV, MT, WY, VA, AR, FL, and PA will have other temples announced next few years? What about outside the US? not just the top list.

Jim Anderson said...

A General Authority Seventy said in Gilbert (by then Tucson was announced), that Arizona was 'well-stocked' with temples. The thing that would precipitate another is if all those built now were to be used to the hilt and Mesa is said to be rather quiet presently since Gilbert and Phoenix were opened. Mesa lost ten stakes to Tucson very recently too in the preparations for the Tucson dedication

Bryansb1984 said...

This is just my thoughts:
WA- Tacoma
CO- Colorado Springs
NV- Henderson
VA Richmond
FL Jacksonville
PA Pittsburgh

L. Chris Jones said...

Most of Arizona's temples are on the southern part of the state. I have been curious of the states to the north (Prescott and above) could support a Temple.

Alex said...

The most likely places of the ones you listed. L. Chris Jones, are Virginia (Richmond is my bet), Arkansas (Rogers/Bentonville area), and Colorado (Colorado Springs). Pittsburgh, Las Vegas #2, Tacoma, Jacksonville, and possibly Montana have all been areas I would call unlikely dark horses. I don't see a sensible route to another WY or OR temple this decade.
The only temples Pres Hinckley predicted that haven't been announced yet are the southwest Salt Lake valley; Singapore; and Maracaibo, Venezuela; I rank those up with Nicaragua and Virginia for upcoming temple announcements.

Bryansb1984 said...

Same with Idaho, it would be nice to see temples built near Idaho's panhandle

L. Chris Jones said...

The closest temple to the Idaho panhandle is Spokane WA. I think another temple in that current district could be in Missoula MT.

Bryansb1984 said...

3 Largest countries in West Africa
Nigeria 500 congregations end 2016
May 2017 538 est at least 380 by end 2017
Ghana 288 congregations est 300 by end 2017
Ivory Coast 200 congregations on April 27, 2017.

Bryansb1984 said...

3 Largest countries in West Africa
Nigeria 500 congregations end 2016
May 2017 538 est at least 380 by end 2017
Ghana 288 congregations est 300 by end 2017
Ivory Coast 200 congregations on April 27, 2017.

Unknown said...

The possibility of another temple in northern Arizona in flagstaff would happen after the temples in mesa and Phoenix are above capacity from more stake growth in the valley. Probably at least 15 or so new stakes beyond what exists now. The west valley is basically maxed out for stake creations right now from the four created last year.

Jim Anderson said...

I just watched a big rig driver yesterday cross the Idaho panhandle. The major population center is Spokane, and the metro area does go into Idaho at Post Falls, You are through Idaho in about another hour at normal travel speeds on I-90 unless there is bad winter weather

John Pack Lambert said...

That is the number served by the Detroit Temple and more than for most temples in Canada. Still Nigeria has 42 stakes and 1 temple.

John Pack Lambert said...

I see another temple in the Dallas Area of in Austin before another in Metro Las Vegas. Las Vegas has an 80,000 square foot temple essentially twice as big as Dallas but roughly equal number of stakes. Also I have plotted I t and no where in the Las Vegas Valley is more than a 40 minute drive from the temple. The stake number is below that in Lima and the temple is much larger.

L. Chris Jones said...

It seems that this is real growth. High baptism rate with high retention. Unlike the countries of Latin America have been with high baptism rates, but low retention.

Jim Anderson said...

From Railroad Pass to Skye Canyon exit takes 50 minutes in good traffic, maybe less if 215 by the Airport and 15 by the Strip is not congested, not used but 515 is. May take another ten minutes from the freeway as it turns south before even coming close to Nellis which is a couple of majors west of it.

OC Surfer said...

I could see a Yuma Temple at some point if their stake split, which temple district could include Lake Havasu AZ Stake, El Centro CA Stake, and the Mexicali and Sun Luis Mexico Stakes. So 6 or 7 stakes near the Colorado River.

Eduardo said...

Would a Mexicali temple make more sense with issues if the border? Like Ciudad Juarez?

James G. Stokes said...

Chris, I am glad you started the conversation again about where new temples might potentially be announced, particularly in the United States. I have recently on my blog published my thoughts about what, if any, new temples we might see announced in the near future, whether during next conference or in a subsequent one. With the report of stagnated growth of the Church in the US, it is unclear when or even if any new temples will subsequently be announced. So I include a link to that blog post that discusses those possibilities.

http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2017/05/initial-predictions-for-october-2017.html

Now, regarding your suggestion of a possible temple for Flagstaff Arizona, I agree that that city will likely be the site of the next Arizona temple, but I will say that, for myself, I agree fully with the statement of leaders who have said that Arizona has the temples they need for the immediate future. Arizona is a "Mormon stronghold", so it might happen, but it doesn't seem likely for the near future, especially in light of the fact that the Snowflake Temple district, under which that city falls, currently only has 13 stakes. If and when that changes, I have every confidence that Flagstaff will get a temple.

James G. Stokes said...

In the meantime, from the states of which you particularly made mention, these are my thoughts:
Washington: From what I've heard and studied, when Washington gets its next temple, it will be in the city of Tacoma. But apparently the temples already in Washington have not been busy enough to warrant that in the near future. I wouldn't rule it out in the long run, but I don't think it will happen anytime soon.
Oregon: I have heard from many that Oregon's next temple will likely be built in Salem. I haven't confirmed that by my own study as of yet, but that's going around.
Colorado: If and when Colorado gets another temple, Colorado Springs does feel like the best bet. Again, unless Church growth takes off again in the US, it is anyone's guess how soon any other US temples might be announced.
Montana: I have heard from many people that land has been purchased for a temple in Missoula, and it seems very likely that there will be an official announcement within the next 2-3 years, if not before. Aside from any temples that might be announced within the "Mormon corridor", Missoula Montana, and, as noted below, Bentonville Arkansas, will most likely be the next US temples to be announced
Nevada: I have heard Henderson floated around as the most likely city for Nevada's next temple. It remains to be seen how much sense that makes.
Wyoming: The Church may be waiting to see how busy the Star Valley Wyoming temple will be before another temple is announced there. However, I have heard Evanston and Cheyenne as being among the most likely candidates for Wyoming's second temple, if and when that city is ready for another.
Virginia: When I first began to post on my blog about a possible location for the first temple in Virginia, I heard three main cities mentioned as prime candidates for that honor: Richmond, Buena Vista, and one other whose name I cannot recall. My own study has led me to conclude that Richmond is the most likely candidate, and I'm sure it will happen if and when that is warranted.
Arkansas: I heard a report from several good Church members familiar with the state who follow Church developments there that land has been purchased for a temple in Bentonville. I know some, Matt included, have suggested Rogers, and that is their right. As for me, I am convinced of the truth of the reports I have received, so once it is warranted, that will be the site of Arkansas's first temple. In fact, unless any other are announced in the "Mormon corridor" before then, Bentonville Arkansas and Missoula Montana are the next most likely US temples.
Florida: On my blog, there was much discussion of which city would be home to Florida's third temple. The general concurrence by all, especially those I trust to know about these things, was that Jacksonville would have that honor. The only question is how soon that might happen.
Pennsylvania: That state is another where its first temple (In Philadelphia) was just dedicated last year. It may be 3-5 years before we know if that temple is being kept busy enough to warrant having a second one built. Perhaps longer, if this stagnation in growth continues nationwide. If and when another temple is announced, I could see it being for either Pittsburgh or Harrisburg.

The blog post to which I included a link above discusses the most likely temples I feel will be announced in the near future. It may need some work in light of additional research I have been able to do. I also recently posted an updated version of my estimated timeline for future temple-related events. I include a link to that. Enjoy! I look forward to the ongoing discussion on this matter, both on this blog and on my own, among other places. Thanks again.

http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2017/05/following-through-on-posting-latest.html

Unknown said...

According to my rough figures.. you are correct in saying we could use a Temple in Vienna, Austria or Budapest, Hungary soon. The growth in Austria has been slow, but steady for aprox. 100 years. Few stakes/ temples serve our new LDS members in Eastern Europe. thx. (I expect no announcement in that area this year though... maybe in 3-5 years ?)

Apache1 said...

I think that's a possibility, but not for at least 10 years at the earliest. The church is not growing very fast in Flagstaff. I think Arizona won't have another new temple announced for several more years.