I have updated the list of the countries and dependencies with the most
members
without a temple with year-end 2018 membership totals. Temples
that service stakes, districts, and mission branches in each country are
identified. Previous lists are also available for
October 2018,
April 2018,
2017,
2016,
2015,
2013,
mid-2011,
late 2008, and
late 2007. This is the first time since I started making these lists on my blog that there is a country with less than 10,000 members in the top ten for most members without a temple. I have put the country name in
bold if that country has typically experienced rapid growth (annual membership growth rate of approximately 8% or higher) within the past five years. Also, all of the countries on the list are located in Asia, Africa, or Oceania.
1. Papua New Guinea
- 28,249 members
- 2 stakes, 12 districts
- 80 congregations
- Sydney Australia Temple
2. Sierra Leone
- 21,286 members
- 5 stakes, 4 districts
- 70 congregations
- Accra Ghana Temple
3. Kiribati
- 20,390 members
- 2 stakes, 2 districts
- 36 congregations
- Suva Fiji Temple, Laie Hawaii Temple
4. Uganda
- 16,823 members
- 3 stakes, 2 districts
- 34 congregations
- Johannesburg South Africa Temple
5. Liberia
- 13,275 members
- 4 stakes, 1 district
- 52 congregations
- Accra Ghana Temple
6. Mozambique
- 12,274 members
- 3 stakes, 1 district
- 37 congregations
- Johannesburg South Africa Temple
7. Madagascar
- 12,257 members
- 2 stakes, 3 districts
- 40 congregations
- Johannesburg South Africa Temple
8. Mongolia
- 11,895 members
- 2 stakes, 1 district
- 24 congregations
- Hong Kong China Temple
9. Malaysia
- 10,504 members
- 0 stakes, 6 districts
- 33 congregations
- Hong Kong China Temple
10. Vanuatu
- 9,615 members
- 1 stake, 3 districts
- 36 congregations
- Suva Fiji Temple
19 comments:
Papua New Guinea is the only country that has remained on the list since 2007. Exciting to contemplate that most of these 10 countries could have temples within the next 10 years.
Lupta Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake
- Tshibiayi Ward renamed Tshibiayi 1st Ward
- Tshibiayi 2nd Ward created
Accra Ghana Kasoa Stake
- Kasoa 4th Branch upgraded to Ward
Matsudo Japan Stake
- Matsudo Ward renamed Matsudo 1st Ward
- Matsudo 2nd Ward created
Tuguegarao Philippines South Stake
- Gosi Branch upgraded to Ward
Itabuna Brazil Stake
- Ilhéus Centro Branch discontinued
Bermejillo México District
- Cuauhtémoc Branch discontinued
Cedar City Utah Stake
- Iron Mission Branch discontinued (Native American unit, per LDS Maps)
St George Utah Snow Canyon Stake
- Snow Canyon 12th Branch (Spanish) upgraded to Ward
Tremonton Utah Stake
- Bear River Branch (Care Center) discontinued
Logan Utah YSA 5th Stake
- Logan YSA 39th Ward discontinued
Thank you Gnesileah, I appreciate your work.
Thanks, Matt for these lists and data! So, I see the order of these countries having a temple announced to be: Sierra Leone, Uganda, Papua New Guinea, Liberia, Mozambique, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Malaysia and then Mongolia. Of course, I could see several of these having temples announced in groups over the next several years. How exciting to see temples reaching such diverse places and peoples!
I could see all of these announced within two years, the way President Nelson is going.
I just determined now with 19 countries with at least a 2nd temple that is more than the 18 temples when I was born. With 8 countries with at least 3 temples announced that leaves more than the 6 counteies that had temples.
With at least 51 counties having a temples announced that is more countries than the total number of temples that existed when President Hinckley announced the plan for smaller temples.
While if PNG could get a temple now I would expect that more if a few of the districts are made stakes this year.
Sierra Leone I expect to get a temple announced soon.
The only one on this list I dont expect to get a temple by 2030 is Malaysia. Although if we see stakes formed in East Malaysia a temple by 2030 is doable. A temple in West Malaysia seems unlikely. I expect stakes there to buttress a temple in Singapore.
I expect Mongolia before Malaysia. I also think Liberia might beat out Uganda. Mozambique is a high chance before some others if travel to South Africa is difficult. Sierra Leone has as many stakes as Kenya and Uganda.
One thing that is hard to predict is new stakes or stake splits. Either could change things quickly.
Stake age seems to factor heavily. Which is why I think the San Luis Valley in Colorado is a shew in for fall.
I put Farmington New Mexico as a strong contender for the same reasons.
Benin City and Cape Coast both strong contender status since those are were the 2 oldest templeless stakes in West Africa. Similar factors make me expect a temple for Cape Town. Cape Coast though seems less likely because Kumasi is high priority.
Benin City with 7 stakes and constant new units is a very strong contender.
There are factors that go into about 90 percent or more of announcements that we don't see or have access to, and we may have to hunt down anecdotal evidence regarding those to be able to make even a reasonable guess as to how soon they will announce for a given area. Those factors are (incomplete list):
Temple attendance by members of a given area.
Name submission/family history workm often this leads to more temple attendance
Tithe paying faithfulness
Sacrament meeting attendance
Are there enough members close to the target location to staff the temple and rotate innew workers as needed or have those who previously served be brought back in at a future date after a time previously as a temple worker at the same temple (old one as well as the proposed one)?
The Church News just published longer versions of bios of the new general authorities. Still not clear where some of them grew up.
The bio of Elder Gimenez is interesting, linking his call to the announcement of a temple in his native city of Antofagasta. However Elder Gimenez has lived much of his life in Santiago, and most recently has lived in Ely, Nevada where he was a counselor in the stake presidency. Elder Alliaud from Argentina first read the Book of Mormon while residinging with his member uncle in Houston, Texas.
Still most intriguing to me was the article on Elder Peter M. Johnson that linked his becoming a member of the Church to the spirtual preparation of his time as part of the Nation of Islam starting at age 12. His parents had divorced when he was 11, and that is when his mom moved to Hawaii, although he didnt follow her there until he was 14. With parents married until he was 11, he had a more stable family situation than 85% or more of the children I had while a pre-K teacher. Married parents were rare, and in some of the few cases where the parents were married when the child was born the parents had since divorced. Although there was always the truly confusing case of the child whose parents had married since his birth. That was not what made it crazy making. His last name matched neither of his parents because they gave him his step grandfathers last name because his Dad wanted to change last names to that, but hadnt yet.
They do say that Elder McCune who was born in Santa Cruz, California mainly grew up in Nyssa, Oregon. This may mean that Elder Budge who was born in Pittsburgh, California and for whom they say nothing of where he was raised was raised there, but maybe I should not imply from silence. Elder James R. Ransband was born in Seattle but raised in Pebble Beach, California. This makes me even more think Elder Budge was raised in California.
Lastly Elder Benjamin Ming Zhe Tai is the son of Kwok Yuen Tai, who was previously a general authority. I am a little surprised I had not at least considered that possible before.
The younger Elder Tai has a wife who is a native of Japan. This is all the more amazing because his Dad's father was executed by the Japanese during the occupation of Hong Kong. Benjamin Tai met his wife at BYU. They married in the Salt Lake Temple. In fact he was Elder's Quorum President in the ward and his future wife was relief society president.
Elder Tai was born in Hong Kong, but raised in multiple (not fully explained) locations. He lived in "Southern California" much of his teenaged years and served his mission in Australia. His bachelor's is from BYU while his MBA is from UCLA. Elder Tai has worked in both Hong Kong and Japan.
Elder Alan R. walker has bounced multiple times from Argentina to Mexico to the USA in his life. His wife clearly seems Argentine. Despite his Anglo name, a close read of the bio makes me think he is Argentine. I am not sure though.
On the other hand in the case of Mark L. Pace why he was born in Argentina is 100% clear. His father Lorin Nelson Pace was president of the Argentine Mission. Brother Pace mainly grew up in Salt Lake City. He has an undergrad from the University of Utah, a place that none of the new general authorities were polluted by. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School (Elder James Rasband is a Harvard Law grad), and worked two years in NYC before coming back to Salt Lake City.
Brother Camargo's parents joined the Church while his mom was pregnant with him. His father was a Methodist Minister before joining the Church. If the General Conference of the United Methodist Church this year had approved the so-called "One Church" plan for LGBTQ issues, basically letting leftists in the US ordain whoever they wanted, we might well have seen more former Methosidst ministers converting to the Church in Latin America and Africa.
Brother Camargo served a mission in Portugal and met his wife due to being in Rio de Jainero while his parents presided over the mission there. He is currently vice president for curriculum of BYU-Pathway Worldwide.
New Church Historian and Recorder and Church Comissioner of Education have been announced.
The Church Comissioner of Education will be Paul V. Johnson, who held that position before Elder Clark who he is replacing. Before being a general authority Elder Johnson was an administrator with the CES system.
I have to admit that I was hoping when I saw they called a new CES comissioner it would be Elder Dube, considering he ran CES for Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi for many years, or a little bit Elder De Hoyos who did the same in Mexico. Still, with Elder Dube he just got put in one of the Africa Area Presidencies last year, so bringing him back to Salt Lake City would have been a surprise.
The new Church Historian and Recorder is LeGrand R. Curtis. Elder Curtis currently serves as Assistant Executive Director of the Church History Department as well as counselor in the Utah Area Presidency. So his call as Church Historian and Recorder is not surprising.
In some ways these are the least change changes imaginable. One we have a previous holder of the office coming back, the other we have the person who is basically the top raning assitant being moved into that office.
On the other hand Elder Curtis did serve as president of the Africa West Area. Hopefully he can help move incorporating that area into the coverage of Church History even more. Elder Curtis served his mission in Italy and was born in Utah. His father was a dentist in Salt Lake City for 40 years, so despite his father's earlier military connections it appears that Elder Curtis mainly grew up in Utah. His full name is Legrand Richards Curtis, and he is so named because his grandfather (LEgrand Sr.'s father) was a counselor to Legrand Richards in the Sugarhouse Ward bishopric when Legrand Sr. was born.
LeGrand R. Curtis's maternal grandfather was Earl J. Glade, who was head of BYU's business program apparently in the early 1920s. Then he went to Salt Lake City where he worked for the University of Utah and KSL. Glade was the producer for the first broadcast of Music and the Spoken word. He was later mayor of Salt Lake City. His wife was Sarah Elizabeth Rasband.
So this leads me to a question. Is James R. Rasband related to Ronald A Rasband. They are noth brothers but I cant rule out cousins. In turn is Elder Curtis related to one or both of them?
The Kinshasa Temple is being dedicated by Elder Renlund. This is at least his 40th trip to DR Congo, all since 2011 when he became a member of the Africa Southeast Area Presidency.
Elder Dube is in the Africa West Area Presidency. Elder Sitati is in the Africa Southest Area Presidency.
Elder Renlund is possibly the most junior member of the 12 to date to dedicate a temple. It is also a little surprising that he is the only member of the 12 present for the dedication. There are 5 general authority seventies there as well.
To date no current president of the Church has yet traveled to Francophone Africa. President Hinckley I beleive was the first current president of the Church to travel to Africa outside of South Africa. In the early 1950s David O. McKay became the first general authority to ever go to Africa as a general authority, and that was while president of the Church.
I was curious about Elder Tai's degree from UCLA. I got my Latin American Studies Masters the same year he got his MBA. Those of us members living in graduate housing had the option of attending the UCLA Ward (half married/half single) by the LA Temple or going to the closer Santa Monica ward in the stake center nearby, on Sawtelle near the 405/10 exchange. I figure he attended a Santa Monica ward because I do not remember him, and I think I would had he been in my ward by the temple. I met a few of them (Sawtelle attendees) but perhaps only a handfull. We would all usually attend general conference together, but not stake conference, which for us was held at USC or the stake center in Korea Town.
Elder Renlund appears to be the most junior* apostle ever to dedicate or rededicate a temple in its entirety, as the 3rd most junior member of the Quorum of the Twelve. The previous record holder was Elder Bednar, who was the 7th most junior apostle when he dedicated the Star Valley Temple in 2016. (Then-Elder Nelson rededicated the addition to the Sydney Temple in 1991, when he was the 5th most junior apostle. Then-Elder Faust rededicated the addition to the Boise Temple in 1987, when he was the 6th most junior apostle. Then-Elder Woodruff partially dedicated the St George Temple in 1877, when the Quorum of the Twelve only had 7 members, he was the 6th most junior; Elder Erastus Snow also partially dedicated the St George Temple at the same time, he was the 2nd most junior apostle.)
Temples Dedicated by an Apostle:
- Kinshasa (Renlund, 3rd most junior)
- Star Valley (Bednar, 7th most junior)
- Sapporo (Nelson, 12th most junior)
- Provo City Center (Oaks, 11th most junior)
- Brigham City (Packer, 12th most junior)
- Regina (Packer, 12th most junior)
- Manti, private (Woodruff, 12th most junior - apostolic interregnum)
- Manti, general (L. Snow, 11th most junior - apostolic interregnum)
- St George, private, baptistry only (Woodruff, 6th most junior & 2nd most senior)**
- St George, private, main floor only (E. Snow, 2nd most junior & 6th most senior)**
Temples Rededicated by an Apostle:
- Memphis (Holland, 11th most junior)
- Houston (Ballard, 12th most junior)
- Nuku'alofa (Nelson, 10th most junior)
- Papeete (Perry, 11th most junior)
- Boise, addition only (Faust, 6th most junior)
- Sydney, addition only (Nelson, 5th most junior)
I wondered if the dedication of the Kinshasa Temple is the first instance where a temple dedication was presided over by a more junior General Authority than that who presided at the groundbreaking, in this instance Elder Andersen (who at the time was the 4th most junior apostle). While it is rare, there have been other occurrences.
The Hartford, San Diego, Papeete, Santiago, Nuku’alofa, Apia, Atlanta, Jordan River, Manti, and St George Temples were dedicated by a more junior General Authority than that who presided at the groundbreaking.
*In this instance, I view members of the First Presidency as more senior than members of the Twelve, even if their actual seniority as an apostle is more junior to other Quorum members.
** At the time, the Quorum of the Twelve only had 7 members.
However, the Kinshasa Temple is the first temple to have had a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles preside at the groundbreaking, and dedicated by a more junior member of the Quorum.
Elder Rendlund gave the dedicatory prayer in French at Kinshasa. This is believed to be only the second time such a prayer was not given in English. The other was 2016 when Elder Uchtdorf rededicated the Freiberg Temple. Evidently no dedicatory prayer has yet been given in Spanish. I would livd to see Elder Soares give the prayer at Forteleza.
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