Thursday, August 23, 2018

New Stakes Created in the Philippines (2), Ghana, South Carolina, and Spain; District Reinstated in Argentina

Philippines
Two new stakes have been recently created in the Philippines.

The San Antonio Philippines Stake was organized from the San Antonio Philippines District on August 5th. The new stake includes the following four wards and two branches: the Cabangan, Castillejos, San Felipe, and San Marcelino Wards, and the San Antonio and San Narciso Zambales Branches. It is likely that the San Antonio and San Narciso Zambales Branches have also advanced into wards but that the official directory has not yet been updated this information. All six congregations in the new stakes are designated as Ilokano speaking. The original San Antonio Philippines District was organized as a district in 1993. There are now three stakes in the Philippines Olongapo Mission located in Balanga (organized in 1991), Olongapo (organized in 2017), and San Antonio (organized in 2018). Furthermore, local members indicate that the Dinalupihan Philippines District may become a stake in the near future.

The Tolosa Philippines Stake was organized from the Tolosa Philippines District on August 12th. Information on which branches have advanced into wards is currently unavailable. There were 10 branches in the district prior to its organization as a stake.

There are now 104 stakes and 71 districts in the Philippines.

Ghana
A new stake was organized on August 12th.

The Swedru Ghana Stake was organized from a division of the Winneba Ghana Stake. The new stake includes the following four wards and six branches: the Oboden 1st, Swedru 1st, Swedru 2nd, and Swedru 3rd Wards, and the Aboso, Asikuma, Breman Brakwa, Odoben 2nd, Swedru 4th, and Swedru 5th branches. It is likely that one or more of the branches in the new stake were upgraded to wards or will be upgraded into wards within the immediate future since there are only four wards in the new stake. Furthermore, the Winneba Ghana Stake currently has only four wards and one branch. It is likely that the Winneba Ghana Stake had the Ansaful 2nd Branch advanced into a ward, or that additional wards have been or will soon be organized.

There are now 24 stakes and 10 districts in Ghana.

South Carolina
A new stake was organized on August 19th. The Fort Mill South Carolina Stake was organized from stakes in the Charlotte metropolitan area. Information on which wards have been assigned to the new stake remains unavailable, but members report that the stake was organized from a division of the Charlotte North Carolina South Stake and the Gastonia North Carolina Stake. This marks the first time in 15 years since a new stake was organized in South Carolina when the Greenville South Carolina East Stake was organized.

There are now seven stakes in South Carolina.

Spain
A new stake was organized on August 12th.

The A Coruña Spain Stake was organized from the Santiago Spain District and the León Spain District. The new stake includes the following congregations: the El Ferrol, Gijón, La Coruña, Oviedo, Vigo 1st, and Vigo 2nd Wards, and the León, Lugo, Orense, Ponferrada, and Santiago de Compostela Branches. The new stake is the Church's first stake to ever be organized in Gacilia - an autonomous region in northwestern Spain that traditionally speaks the Galician language. Two branches were discontinued in the process of the new stake being organized - namely the Avilés and Benavente Branches in the former León Spain District.

There are now 15 stakes and 2 districts in Spain.

Argentina
A district was reinstated in Argentina on July 15th.

The Reconquista Argentina District was organized from a division of the Rio Parana Argentina District (renamed the Goya Argentina District). The reinstated district includes the following three branches: Reconquista 1st, Reconquista 2nd, and Vera Branches. The district was likely re-divided to reinstate the Reconquista Argentina District because there are no foreseeable prospects for the area to become a stake within the foreseeable future.

There are now 76 stakes and 29 districts in Argentina.

6 comments:

Eduardo said...

Very cool about all these places. Nice to see that growth in South Carolina--15 years is a long stretch.

John Pack Lambert said...

Here in Michigan we have not had a new stake organized since 1979.

Eduardo said...

Yeah, that's curious that a state of so many people has had so little stake growth. My home state of Indiana has done okay.
I don't know the exact dates off hand, but Muncie (Ball State U.) got one around 1996, then maybe Valparaiso in the late 90s (close to Chicago), then there have been two more Indianapolis stakes in the last 25 years, West being the more recently created.
It has been disappointibg to some Hoosiers that Terre Haute has not grown into a stake, with the disolution of branches in Brazil and Clinton. A little further south I think the Washington Branch retracted, which is more part of Evansville Stake.
Also Columbus has been the type of town to have stake expectations but has not happened to date. Cinncinnati, I think, has added a stake that covers a few Indiana units.
Thinking about Indiana U. and Purdue U., both being bases for stake centers, perhaps they attract more Intermountain West Latter-day Saints (paging President Nelson) than the U. of Michigan in Ann Arbor or other Michigan state schools that diminate their respective towns.
Also, Indianapolis has had consistent overall population growth back to the 1980s while Detroit seems to have hemorraghed a million or more residents?
The numbers of ethnic enclaves in and around Detroit have probably been tough to proselytize, while Indy suburbs have more traditional Latino and white growth. Like the rest if the state, which is more conducive to prospective members.
Large population centers in Indiana more like urban places of Michigan are Fort Wayne, Gary, and Hammond, which have not appreciably grown in the way of Church of Jesus Christ branches or wards, from what I know.

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

I served in the Evansville Stake, back in the day.

Unknown said...

Michigan was the only state that lost population between 2000 and 2010.

The Church has grown some over the last 40 years. In Detroit proper there have been inroads among the African-American population, but there is still a lot of growth potential there.

The Toledo Stake and the Green Bay Stake have taken areas from Michigan based stakes during thouse years. The University of Michigan has at times seen many members both on faculty and among students, but not compared to the overall population.

Detroit's loss has often been the suburbs gains, and Indianapolis partly avoided this by annexing most of the county, while Detroit has had the same boundaries since 1932.

Eric said...

Two/thirds through the year, and a combined stake/district growth of 39. That puts the church on pace for fewer than 60 for the whole year. 2017 had 104, and 2016 had 130. This year will be less than half that. If overall membership follows a similar trend, we’re looking at the lowest year of growth in the last 40 years.