Hamburg Germany Temple
The Hamburg Germany Temple is the Church's third temple in Germany following the Freiberg Germany Temple (dedicated in 1985) and the Frankfurt Germany Temple (dedicated in 1987). The new temple will likely service only two stakes located in northern Germany. A third stake (Neumünster Germany Stake) used to operate in northern Germany, but the stake was closed in 2018 and consolidated with the Hamburg Germany Stake. The two stakes in northern Germany are now quite large in terms of the number of units and the geographical areas they cover (9 wards and 6 branches in the Hamburg Germany Stake, 7 wards and 5 branches in the Hannover Germany Stake). Moreover, one branch in the Hamburg Germany Stake recently became a ward. The Church has maintained a presence in Hamburg since 1852, and the Hamburg Germany Stake was organized in 1961. Stagnant growth has occurred for the Church in northern Germany for many decades. The Hamburg area is currently assigned to the Frankfurt Germany Temple which is an approximately 4-5 hour drive one way. There are approximately 40,000 Latter-day Saints in Germany. I added Hamburg to the less likely locations for a temple announcement in February 2023.
Lethbridge Alberta Temple
The Lethbridge Alberta Temple is the Church's fourth temple in Alberta following the Cardston Alberta Temple (dedicated in 1923), the Edmonton Alberta Temple (dedicated in 1999), and the Calgary Alberta Temple (dedicated in 2012). The new temple will likely service 8-9 stakes in southern Alberta, thereby greatly decreasing the size of the Cardston Alberta Temple district to perhaps as few as two stakes. The decision to announce a temple in Lethbridge was likely heavily influenced by improving accessibility to members who live in the four Lethbridge stakes. Lethbridge is a one-hour drive from Cardston. The new temple will also reduce the drive time to the temple for members other stakes nearby Lethbridge such as in Raymond, Taber, and Medicine Hat. The Church most recently organized a stake in Lethbridge in 2017 (a young single adult stake). The first stake was created in Lethbridge in 1951. Slow growth has occurred in southern Alberta for many decades. Lethbridge and nearby areas are assigned to the Cardston Alberta Temple district. There are nearly 200,000 Latter-day Saints in Canada. I added Lethbridge to the less likely locations for a temple announcement in February 2023.
San Jose California Temple
The San Jose California Temple is the Church's 11th temple to be built in California following the Los Angeles California Temple (dedicated in 1956), the Oakland
California Temple (dedicated in 1964), the San Diego California Temple
(dedicated in 1993), the Fresno California Temple (dedicated in 2000),
the Redlands California Temple (dedicated in 2003), the Newport Beach
California Temple (dedicated in 2005), the Sacramento California Temple
(dedicated in 2006), the Feather River California Temple (announced in
2018 and scheduled for dedicate in late 2023), the Yorba Linda California Temple (announced in 2021), and the Modesto California Temple (announced in April 2022). The new temple will likely include nine stakes located in the San Jose area and south to Monterey. The first stake in the San Jose area was organized in 1946. The California San Jose Mission was organized in 1978. Steady decline has occurred in the San Jose area as several stakes have been discontinued within the past few decades. San Jose was one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the United States without a temple prior to the announcement. San Jose is approximately one hour away (in good traffic) from the Oakland California Temple where stakes in the San Jose area are currently assigned to attend. There were nearly 730,000 Latter-day Saints in California as of year-end 2022.
Bakersfield California Temple
The Bakersfield California Temple will be the Church's 12th temple in California. I have included Bakersfield on my more likely list of temple announcements for many years due to its distance from the Los Angeles California Temple (usually a 1.5-2.5 hour drive one way) which is the temple assigned for stakes in the Bakersfield area. The new temple will probably include six stakes - three of which are based in Bakersfield. The Church's first stake in Bakersfield was organized in 1951. The Church in Bakersfield has experienced very slow growth in the past two decades, and there have been only 1-2 congregations that have closed in the area within the past 15 years. The Church organized the California Bakersfield Mission in 2013.
Springfield Missouri Temple
The Springfield Missouri Temple is the Church's third temple in Missouri following the St. Louis Missouri Temple (dedicated in 1997) and the Kansas City Missouri Temple (dedicated in 2012). The new temple will likely service six stakes in southwestern Missouri. There are two stakes in Springfield (organized in 1973 and 1995) which appear likely to divide to create a third stake in the near future. Significant growth has occurred in this area of Missouri in the past 1-2 decades, and two of the six stakes in the area were organized in 2013 and 2014. Stakes in the area are currently assigned to the Kansas City Missouri Temple (an approximately three hour drive one way), although these stakes will likely be reassigned to the Bentonville Arkansas Temple when it is dedicated in September 2023 (a two hour drive one way). More than 75,000 Latter-day Saints live in Missouri. I added Springfield to the less likely locations for a temple announcement in February 2023.
Winchester Virginia Temple
The Winchester Virginia Temple is the Church's second temple in Virginia following the Richmond Virginia Temple (announced in 2018 and scheduled for dedication in May 2023). The announcement of a temple in Winchester came as a total shock to me given there are only two stakes in the area, and it is only approximately 1.5-2.0 hours by car from Winchester to the Washington DC Temple in Maryland. The one stake in Winchester was organized in 1977. The second stake likely to be assigned to the new temple is the Martinsburg West Virginia Stake which was organized in 2014. More than 97,000 Latter-day Saints live in Virginia.
Charlotte North Carolina Temple
The Charlotte North Carolina Temple is the Church's second temple in North Carolina following the Raleigh North Carolina Temple (dedicated in 1999). The new temple will likely include nine stakes - five of which are based in the Charlotte metropolitan area. Charlotte has numbered among the most likely locations to have a temple announced given a sizable number of stakes in the area that are 1.5-3.0 hours from temples in Raleigh and Columbia, South Carolina. The Church has experienced significant growth in the Charlotte area. The first stake in the city was organized in 1972 followed by additional stakes in 1986, 2006, 2018, and 2022. There were more than 94,000 Latter-day Saints in North Carolina as of year-end 2022.
Harrisburg Pennsylvania Temple
The Harrisburg Pennsylvania Temple is the Church's third temple in Pennsylvania followed by temples in Philadelphia (dedicated in 2016) and Pittsburgh (announced in 2020 and under construction). The new temple will likely service six stakes in central Pennsylvania. The oldest stake in the area was organized in 1979, whereas the newest stake was created in Gettysburg in 2021. Slow growth has occurred in the Harrisburg area where a mission used to operate until 2009. Stakes in the Harrisburg area pertain to the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple which is an approximately 2.0-2.5 hours one way by car. I added Harrisburg to the less likely locations for temple announcements in February 2023. There are approximately 52,000 Latter-day Saints in Pennsylvania.
132 comments:
I believe that the Berlin Stake will (whether officially or unofficially) gravitate towards the Hamburg Temple, as opposed to the Freiberg Temple. Freiberg is quite a pain to get to, whereas Berlin and Hamburg have the kind of road and train connections you would expect to exist between the two largest cities in Germany.
Where would the Hamburg temple likely (or possibly) be? On the grounds of the Wartenau building (stake center)? Where Gemeinde Altona used to be (donated land from a wealthy elderly sister)? Somewhere else?
Pascal, like minds think alike. My thoughts exactly. For my list I included the Berlin Germany Stake as a 3rd option to include in Hamburg. even though unofficially. Although I think the Warsaw Poland district may gravitate more to Freiberg still.
If anyone here is curious, like me. Sometime since last August 2022, the "Las Vegas Nevada Highland Hills Stake (382892)" has been renamed the "Las Vegas Nevada Aliante Stake (382892)"
It has already been updated on Rick's Temple Districts site.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/382892
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/las-vegas-nevada-temple/district/
San Diego Temple will close in July, 2023 for extensive renovation.
Sometime since last August 2022, the "Melbourne Australia Braeside Stake (506079)" has been renamed "Melbourne Australia Bayside Stake (506079)". Or it's a misspelling in the new Map site.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/506079
Do you how long the San Diego Temple will be closed?
Kimberley, my guess is that the San Diego California Temple will be closed for approximately 2-3 years, and I've got a personal general completion estimate of late 2025-early 2026.
Details on the renovation are scant, but I'd not be shocked if electrical, mechanical, seismic, and systemic upgrades were part of that. I also think some of the ordinance rooms might be reconfigured for greater efficiency. Hope that helps.
According to the analysis that they are delivering, it is seen that the church grows little, or very little in these places where temples are announced.
Many times in these decades I have wondered if the apostles, the prophet or the seventy, or the area presidencies, or the stake presidents or the bishops have thought that it makes people walk away from the church, I wonder if they feel that as leaders they must serve and not benefit.
It is sad to see that despite having 17 million baptized, the assets are much, much less, and that has to do with CONVERSION, with the attitude of leaders, it has to do with how the baptized are.
These announcements of temples make me happy and give me hope, the temples are getting a little closer to the faithful, they are still very far away in many countries.
Springfield Missouri is in the Brntonville Arkansas Mission, correct? So this will put 2 temples in that mission.
How many missions have multiple temples? St. George, Reno, Provo, Orem, Layton, Ogden, I am not sure about the 3 Salt Lake missions, Boise, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, and Boston missions all do.
The other list is missions lacking a temple. Cincinatti Ohio, Charleston, West Virginia, Manchester New Hampshire, Morisstown, New Jersey and Milwaukie, Wisconsin all are on that list. There are some others.
The dedication date for the Okinawa Temple was announced. It will be dedicated by Elder Stevenson.
For those interested, the Newsroom announced a November 12 dedication for the Okinawa Japan Temple and, as Kimberley mentioned above, renovations are coming to the Los Angeles California Temple. Since the links to those announcements have not yet been shared, you can find them below:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/news-for-temples-in-japan-and-california
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2023/4/17/23686103/dedication-open-house-dates-okinawa-temple
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2023/4/17/23681828/san-diego-california-temple-to-close-in-july-2023-for-extensive-renovations
I provided two new posts covering these updates:
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2023/04/breaking-temple-news.html
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2023/04/breaking-temple-news-renovations-coming.html
If I could make a suggestion, my recommendation would be that anyone commenting on such updates in the future s
should also take responsibility for finding and sharing the Newsroom and Church News links so the rest of us know where the information is coming from. That way, the rest of us don't have to provide the links after someone else shared the information. I'm always happy to provide the links if no one else takes the initiative to do so, but if any of you mentions such updates first, it shouldn't be too much to ask you to also share where that information can be found. I mean no offense by this comment and I hope none is taken.
Why do we have to provide links at all? We all know where this information comes from and how to obtain it. BTW, it's the San Diego temple not the Los Angeles temple.
There may be some here who, like me, prefer to know where the information is coming from, which was why I suggested that. That comment was not directed to anyone in particular, just a general note to all that there may be some (myself included) who would appreciate being able to know where to find the information. I certainly meant no offense and hope none was taken by anyone. I appreciate the correction on San Diego. Not sure why I wrote Los Angeles. I've been periodically under the weather, which may have had something to do with that particular error in this case. Thanks for catching that.
One thing I may not have mentioned previously is that the Harrisburg Pennsylvania Temple could potentially be built near the Priesthood Restoration site. And since we know the priesthood was restored on the banks of the Susquehanna River, it wouldn't shock me if the Harrisburg temple is named after that river. Unless I am misremembering things here, the articles the Church shared a few years ago to cover the Priesthood Restoration site dedication may have mentioned Church-owned land in the area where the temple could potentially be built.
Um, the priesthood restoration site is 172 miles from Harrisburg by road.
John, thank you for clarifying that. But insofar as I am aware, the Church has never definitively stated that the location of the Priesthood Restoration site is indeed the location on the banks of the Susquehanna River where that restoration occurred. It may be more of an approximation based on what was known about the site at that time.In any case, I looked it up and as it happens, regions around Harrisburg and Carlisle are part of the same greater metropolitan statistical area:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrisburg%E2%80%93Carlisle_metropolitan_statistical_area
I quote from that article: "The Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area, officially the Harrisburg–Carlisle, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and also referred to as the Susquehanna Valley, is defined by the Office of Management and Budget as an area consisting of three counties in South Central Pennsylvania, anchored by the cities of Harrisburg and Carlisle."
And from the subsection on geography and climate comes the following text: "Harrisburg–Carlisle is located in the Susquehanna River's valley, which makes the terrain rolling, with occasional flat land and tall hills. The metropolitan area is underlain with limestone, which makes the land ideal for farming. Much of the region is within the piedmont region of the United States." (emphasis added).
So even if my assessment that the temple could be built near the Priesthood Restoration site is incorrect due to the distances you mentioned, since the greater metropolitan statistical area encompasses the Susquehanna River Valley, I stand by my assessment that the temple could be named for either the river or the valley. Even with the Church's historical site not being near Harrisburg, I have a feeling that the Priesthood Restoration site will likely be factored into determining where the temple will be built in the greater metropolitan statistical area. Hope that clarifies where I'm coming from.
No, it's not the same metropolitan area at all. What was then Harmony is much closer to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Take a look at a map of Pennsylvania if you don't believe me.
I didn't say "same metropolitan area." My exact phrasing was "the same metropolitan statistical area". There's a distinct difference. And statistical division were never the key point. The key point was that with the path of the Susquehanna River running through Harrisburg, the Church is still likely to give the temple the Susquehanna River name. The rest is just semantics.
@ John pack Lambert. It's becoming the norm for missions in the western united states to have multiple temples.
Missions with multiple temples east of the Rockies (US & Canada):
-Arkansas Bentonville (2nd temple just announced this conference)
-Canada Winnipeg
-Canada Montreal
-Florida Jacksonville (2nd temple just announced recently)
-Massachusetts Boston
-Pennsylvania Pittsburgh (2nd temple just announced this conference)
with each having 2 (including announced temples)
Missions without temples within the US/Canada and not sharing metro(s) with other temple(s):
-Wisconsin Milwaukee
-Ohio Cincinnati
-West Virginia Charleston
-New Hampshire Manchester
The article talks about the Hamburg stake.
Could anyone update this Wikipedia article with the current state structure? It does not list a Hamburg stake.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints_in_Germany
Moreover, footnote 23 refers to the LDS intranet which can only be accessed with an LDS account, which is not a good Wikipedia source. Are there any public sources?
The Church's official site calls it the Harrisburg Pennsylvania Temple. I could eventually see a Susquehanna River Pennsylvania Temple built much closer to the Priesthood Restoration Site. (And maybe sooner rather than later, the way things are going.)
The Susquehannah River is a long river. The priesthood was restored close to the home of Joseph and Emma Smith. We may not know the exact site, but it was a few miles from the New York state line, and the Melchizedek priesthood may have been restored in New York over the line. This is not even remotely close to Harrisburg. The temple may be a little outside of Harrisburg, but the priesthood restoration site is a long drive the other way from Scranton. I think the closest significant city to the site is Binghampton, New York.
I would point out that Montreal mission has 2 temples only because the Halifax mission was recently discontinued. This particular situation is strange to me because Halifax is a long way from Montreal, and also because I served in Montreal while my parents were living inside the boundaries of the Halifax mission. (At least I wasn't serving at the time the missions were combined, that would have been bizarre.) I am sure this decision was made to conserve resources, and I would be interested to find out how it is impacting the Maritime provinces. But the Montreal mission was already, reportedly, one of the largest missions in the church, or at least in North America, and the addition of the Maritimes has definitely increased that. Quebec and the Maritime provinces seem like distinct areas whose only boundary (apart from very low-population Labrador, the part of Newfoundland that is not an island) is in a remote area of both Quebec and New Brunswick, because of the geography, with Maine sticking way up between those two provinces. And apart from the northern tier of New Brunswick, which borders Quebec and has mostly French-speaking peoples, the rest of the Maritime provinces (including most of New Brunswick) are English-speaking, so the culture is considerably different also. I guess bridging those divides is part of what the church is trying to do, in this as in other situations worldwide.
I apologize if I bored anyone with that geography lesson- it's kind of one of my hobbies- or maybe I should call it an obsession.
There also used to be a mission in Hartford Connecticut, the information I have found suggests that it was discontinued a few months after the temple there was announced (for the 2nd time; the church also announced a temple there in the early 90s and then changed their plans).
I am assuming the Regina temple is within the boundaries of the Winnipeg mission, though I couldn't find confirmation of that. (For some reason I thought there was a mission in Saskatchewan.)
I suppose you could say it is "becoming the norm" for missions in the western US to have temples, but Colorado Springs mission does not yet have one, and I believe there are 1 or 2 missions in California that do not also.
I agree with John and JPL, I think that Susquehanna River as a a temple name is likely to be reserved for something close to the Priesthood Restoration site- I could see either Binghamton or Scranton getting that honor. (I think Scranton is about a 1-hour drive from Harmony/the Priesthood Restoration site.)
Binghamton is closer, as JPL said. If a temple were built there it could also be named after the Colesville branch that was established near there in 1830, with many of the members part of the Knight family.
Okay, I have contributed enough for now, I'll let other people comment now.
San Jose up until this announcement was the city of the US with the most people without a temple in its metro area (this assumes that San Francisco/Oakland and San Jose are two separate metro areas, this is how the statistics are kept, but I am not sure if it quite makes sense on the ground). However the most populous metro area that lacks a temple was Baltimore, Maryland. It was Tampa Florida until that temple was announced.
The Susquehanna River is 444 miles long, and in 3 states, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Downtown Harrisburg is on the Susquehanna River, but the river begins at Cooperstown, New York. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and Binghamton, New York are also cities on the river.
I am not sure it really would make any more sense to have a Susquehannah River Temple than to have a Mississippi River Temple.
The Priesthood Restoration Site is just outside of Lanesboro, Pennsylvania. My distance calculator entry tells me that is 170 miles from Harrisburg, and the driver would take 2 hours and 45 minutes. Joseph and Emma lived in Harmony Township, Pennsylvania in Susquehanna County (there are 3 Harmony Townships in Pennsylvania, in Beaver and Forest Counties, there is also a borough of Harmony, Pennsylvania in Butler County, a little north of Pittsburgh, which since it is a borough is what comes up when you search for Harmony, Pennsylvania). The borough of Harmony is 351 miles from where Joseph Smith lived. The article in Wikipedia on Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania has a large section on Joseph Smith. This is odd because where Joseph Smith lived was the Priesthood Restoration Site which is now in Oakland Township. Oakland Township, Pennsylvania was formed in 1853, so 24 years or so after the Smiths moved away, and 9 years after Joseph Smith died, so when Joseph Smith was writing and having clerks write his history, the place he had lived was still part of Harmony.
Above the distance from the Priesthood Restoration Site to Harrisburg was referred to by road miles. This is a good point. Yes, they are both on the Susquehanna River, but the Priesthood Restoration Site is near a bend in the river, it bends back north, back into New York and then swings west, and then comes south, so going by river would be even longer.
Susquehanna County is on the border with New York. It is by area a large county. The three counties to its south are known as the Wyoming Valley or the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area is another 3 counties, further south and west, with at least one county dividing it from the Wyoming Valley counties, depending on how you go it takes between 1 and three counties to get between these sets of counties.
Actually Harrisburg is on the main Susquehanna River, Wilkes-Barre and the Priesthood Restoration Site are on the north branch, there is also a west branch, basically because somewhere up river from Harrisburg two rives combine to from the main branch of the Susquehanna, but there was not agreement on which one was the main source.
California Ventura Mission does not have a temple. I believe the same applies to the California Santa Rosa Mission. I am also thinking California Arcadia Mission has no temple.
Does the Arizona Scottsdale Mission or the Arizona Tempe Mission have a temple? Tucson, Mesa, Gilbert and Phoenix all have temples, I believe the named temples in their boundaries. Which missions have Gila River and Snowflake in their boundaries? So Arizona has the same number of missions as temples, although St. George, Las Vegas and Farmington Missions take in parts of Arizona as well.
Are the Netherlands and Belgium all in the same mission right now, so that mission has a 2nd planned temple? The Hawai'ian Mission used to have 2 temples, but now Lai'e is a separate mission. Is Tonga back to 1 mission, so 2 temples, or still 2 missions as well?
I believe Samoa and American Samoa are all one mission, so 2 temples for that mission.
How do missions and temples align in New Zealand?
Are Colonia Juarez and Ciudad Juarez in the same mission? I think they used to be, and maybe still are, but a Chihuahua Mission was formed from the Ciudad Juarez Mission so I am not sure which mission Colonia Juarez is in.
Canada Calgary Mission I think will be the fist outside the US with 3 temples.
On the Montreal Mission issues, they already did Chinese and Spanish at least beyond English and French teaching there, and there are enough English-speakers in Quebec, especially in Montreal Area that you need to do English speaking. Plus I think the mission may have had part of Ontario that was much more English-speaking. At least at one point some of Maine was in the Halifax Mission, but I am not sure what the boundaries there are like now.
Here is my prediction for the stakes to be assigned to the San Jose California Temple.
Los Altos California Stake
Menlo Park California Stake
Monterey California Stake
Morgan Hill California Stake
San Jose California South Stake
San Jose California Stake
Santa Cruz California Stake
Saratoga California Stake
The analysis hints at a total of 9 stakes that this temple would serve and I listed 8. My only guess would be that it's possible the Fremont Stake could be included, but it's northern most boundaries almost touch Oakland.
Of course it does. It's just been announced. Renaming a teme has been done at least 8 times already. Just because it hasn't changed doesn't mean it won't. We still have the Santiago West Chile and Sao Paulo East Brazil Temples listed as such. But those aren't final names, so things change. My point is that, given the length of the Susquehanna River, the temple in Harrisburg could be renamed in the river's honor. Not that it will be, just that it could. And that's more or less what I've indicated in every comment since my original one Sorry if you were confused on that point.
I hate to say it, but I'm not all that sure looking at the Bay Area stakes, as they exist today, is all that worthwhile since by the time the San Jose temple is dedicated, more stake consolidations are likely. I don't believe the Fremont stake boundaries come all that close to Oakland because the San Leandro stake buffers Fremont from Oakland, even with the discontinuation of the Hayward stake last year. But then again, San Leandro is down to 5 units, many of which are struggling now, so who knows how much longer San Leandro will be around. The San Mateo stake is another arguable contender for the San Jose temple, and that stake is down to 5 units as well.
For any of us who are interested in following the Apostles and General leadership worldwide Ministering Tours and cities they have visited on such travels on behalf of the First Presidency. I follow to get a random idea of what Cities are on the radar for the Leadership meetings. As to maybe future selections for Temple announcements in those far away cities around the world that may or may not be on our radar of possible sites. I know the assignment cities are not chosen at random. They are chosen for a purpose.
Here is my update from 3 leaders Ministry to Europe and Asia North Areas.
1st, Elder Rasband of the Quorum of the 12, recently is on a 3 European country ministry. First, he attended meetings in Paris France last week (which already has a dedicated Temple. Then he went on to Munich Germany (possible future site) with the Alpine German-Speaking mission. And now is on his way to a former Soviet Union Republic, Armenia. I know that Yerevan Armenia is a long shot for the next South Europe temple site for some of us. And the District there is struggling. But they may be divinely guided looking further into the future expansion of Armenian members of the Church to bring a temple closer to them than Kyiv Ukraine or Dubai UAE.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2023/4/18/23687700/elder-rasband-german-missionaries-service-project-turkey-syria-earthquake
"Elder Rasband is in Germany during a three-country European ministry tour that began in France on Friday, April 14. After a visit to Armenia, he will travel to South Africa. "
2nd, Primary General President Susan Porter, in March this year visited Tokyo Japan (already a dedicated Temple), and DAEJEON KOREA (a possible 3rd for the country in the future), and Busan Korea (an announced Temple previously). So, Daejeon is on someone's radar.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-porter-sister-yee-share-gods-love-with-saints-asia-north-area
"During the March 11-20 ministry in the Church’s Asia North Area, President Porter spoke at devotionals for Primary children in Tokyo, Japan, and Daejeon and Busan in South Korea."
3rd, Relief Society 2nd Counselor, Sister Kristin Lee, also visited the islands in Asia North. Specifically among them, Okinawa Japan (soon to be dedicated Temple), KAGOSHIMA JAPAN (not on my radar for future site yet), Guam (recently dedicated in Yigo) and Pohnpei and Chuuk in Micronesia.
"As Sister Yee ministered to Saints in Okinawa and Kagoshima in Japan, and Guam, Pohnpei, and Chuuk in Micronesia,"
I could see the church naming the temple after the Susquehanna river. It isn't like the actual site is known anyway. We have no documents suggesting anyone in the church even talked about, or heard about, Peter/James/John visiting until more than 5 years after the event allegedly took place. So why not?
I could see a site at the temple next to the river that says "some 100 miles upstream, on this river, Peter/James/John visited and restored..."
Correct Colorado Springs Mission doesn't have a temple and I missed it on my list.
I noticed the California Ventura, California Santa Rosa Mission, and the California not having one, as well as a number of other examples outside the state but didn't include these because of the proximity of their population base (within 50 miles) to its nearest temple.
There are plenty of examples outside the US that I have not begun listing - particularly outside of North America. I'm sure more of these will get temples in upcoming temple announcements. I know it was convenient to have a temple within my mission when I served.
Finally confirmed on Maps site today. As was posted here Sunday. The Sandy Utah Crescent Park Stake has been merged into the Crescent North Stake. And the Sandy Utah Crescent North Stake has been renamed the Sandy Utah Dimple Dell Stake. With all wards realigned and renamed.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/512834
IMHO, missions with or without temple is kind of an irrelevant discussion since missions are fluid - they open and close, and come and go with surprising regularity these days, especially since the 2013 missionary surge, whereas temples have a more obvious sense of permanence about them. Seems very likely to me that the number of temples will surpass the number of missions at some point in the not too distant future.
Ohhappydane33 - Yes, that is an interesting observation. Sadly, the Church's missionary program has not been as successful as many have hoped overall even with efforts to make some reform since the late 1990s/early 2000s. The biggest challenges I see is with mobilizing missionary manpower to areas with the greatest potential for growth but also ensuring that the quality of converts and the leadership development are good so things are able to be self-sufficient and self-sustaining. We have seen this in Africa in many areas, but there is such a resistance by many area and mission presidencies to expand into unreached areas - a key component to achieve greater growth.
It will be interesting to see if the surge in new temples has an impact on growth. In the past, it really hasn't seemed to make a difference with affecting membership and congregational growth rates. However, a big change has been that essentially all temple work is now done by names submitted by the members themselves, as well as good utilization of the baptistries by youth. We should have a good idea in 5-10 years on the impact of the new temples on growth rates.
Looks like Brother James D. Lash of the Leesburg Florida Stake has been called as the new President of the California Oakland/San Francisco Mission beginning April 2023. To replace President Darrin J. Kasteler (2021-2023).
https://www.thechurchnews.com/2023/4/20/23688462/learn-about-the-new-california-oakland-san-francisco-mission-leaders
President and Sister Lash were serving as a senior missionary couple in the California Oakland/San Francisco Mission. I wonder if they will only serve until 2024, or if they will serve all the way to 2026, or maybe if they are staring now instead of in July they will serve until 2025.
The Church News article explicitly states that the couple began serving this month:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/2023/4/20/23688462/learn-about-the-new-california-oakland-san-francisco-mission-leaders
My guess is they serve to either July 2025 or July 2026. Hope that helps.
According to my records, only 1 or 2 New Mission Presidents 2023-2026 biographies left to post on the Church News site. Last week there were a few that got switched around from the original assignments. The one that I can think of is the Albania Tirana Mission (until July 2023 called Adriatic South Mission) whose assigned new President was posted last Friday to the Bulgaria/Greece Mission (until July 2023 Bulgaria/Central Eurasian Mission). And the President that was called originally to Bulgaria/Central Eurasian Mission in January has not been reassigned as far as I can tell.
I just talked with the new President of the Albania Tirana Mission at the temple today. It is, in fact, Michael Auras, who was originally called to the Central Eurasian Mission. So it looks like this was just a switch.
In that case, the only discrepency I found was also last week, the President Abel Chaves, who was called to the Cape Verde Praia Mission in January 2023 announments, was replaced by President Scott R. Labrum.
I'm not sure if President Abel Chaves will get reassigned later to a different mission or released from his calling.
"Scott R. Labrum, 56, and Mindi Labrum, four children, Castle Dale 3rd Ward, Castle Dale Utah Stake: Cape Verde Praia Mission, succeeding President David J. Wunderli and Sister Diane Wunderli."
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2023/4/14/23679037/new-leaders-of-5-missions-called-to-serve-from-california-to-cape-verde
"Europe North
Mission President Companion
Cape Verde Praia Abel Chaves Paula Chaves"
https://www.thechurchnews.com/mission-presidents/2023
Matt,
Many thanks for your efforts here.
Pls post or comment on any possible metric for measuring or estimating resignations.
Matt, I produce a podcast, and we'd be interested in speaking with you. We are fervently pro-LDS. Would you be interested?
I think that podcast by Unknown would be better served if the podcaster actually identified himself or herself. I do not follow many podcasts in the first place, but my two cents...
It is good to be fervent about good things. Best wishes to your productions.
With some family serving in Germany I will be interested to see and analyze how growth is going there. Hopefully more Saints in central and eastern Deutschland will stand up and become more active in their respective temples, and spur more missionary growth in general.
I wonder how the Germans and the German Saints interact with Elder Uchtdorf, if that is helpful for them in motivation and inspiration.
To be honest, we like President Uchtdorf, but there are actually other larger and more influential families in the Church in Germany than the Uchtdorfs. Our home-grown leadership, for a country with 40,000 members, is exceptionally deep and mature, and Elder Uchtdorf is just the most internationally visible top of the iceberg.
I have voiced similar things before, but generally I think that in terms of faithfulness in attending the temple here, there has been sizable improvement since before Covid, and there is probably not much left to wish for at this time except for it to continue. As someone with a regular 9-5 job, I can't attend the temple at any time I want, but generally, I have found it difficult finding a seat in a session this year - even when scheduling a month or so in advance. After a period of cleaning over the next two weeks, all sessions at the Frankfurt temple will now officially be double sessions, with two times 40 seats at every starting time, plus potential overflow in the smaller ordinance rooms if more patrons show up (especially on Saturdays). Those sessions will be full. I can almost promise you that, unless something unforeseen happens. So, things are absolutely looking up! It's definitely an exciting time.
Plano TX organized the first Mandarin speaking branch today for the DFW Metroplex. Plano 5th Branch (Mandarin), Plano TX Stake.
I attended the San Diego temple on Thursday, and the worker at the front desk said he had been told the the temple closure in July would last about eight months, much better than the two to three years I was expecting. However at a meeting this morning, someone said they they can't possible do a remodel in eight months time. So, who knows? Better attend as much as possible between now and July
I have a bit of a question on how language branches work. Our stake has a Spanish branch, but it was always "partnered" (I guess) with the ward next to us. Today, the branch president was released and a man from our ward was called as the new branch president, which also means our ward is now "partnered" with them. Would it be fair to assume that if a branch president is called from another ward in the stake, his home ward becomes "partnered" with that specific branch?
There could be another way to look at this if the above is not the case. Our stake also has a Filipino group (don't know if it has a name or not), and they meet at the same building as the Spanish branch. I was told a few months ago that the group was preparing to become a branch, which might make sense to move the Spanish branch to a building that is a bit less crowded. All buildings in our stake have 2 wards each, except for one building that also had the Spanish branch (they will now be in our building), the Filipino group, and a new-ish YSA group (I don't know if this is where YSA meet, but it's the same lot as the Institute building). If the above isn't the case, then this is a case of shifting a branch location to prevent a building from being comparatively overcrowded (could also be both).
Unknown - Sure, just email me at matt.martinich@gmail.com.
@ Ryan Searcy
Language units usually need to partner with an English unit so the children can have their classes in English. Children tend to not develop proficiency in their parents' language, given that school and the media they consume are almost always only in English. Experience shows that they usually understand their parents' language but cannot express themselves in it.
If enough people in the language unit are proficient in English (kind of never the case but it can happen) then they won't need to partner with another unit. If every unit in the same building is a language unit, a combined class would be created for the children.
I wonder if this Newsroom article is considered today's Temple announcement. or if we will get another later in the day.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/open-house-underway-renovated-columbus-ohio-temple
Chris, I would say "no" on that. Articles about the open houses for Richmond Virginia and Saratoga Springs Utah were not the only temple announcements on those days.
We've got the Lima Peru Los Olivos and McAllen Texas Temples completed, and the St. George and Red Cliffs Utah Temples nearing completion.
The Church has not yet released a rendering for the Montpelier Idaho Temple, despite having set a groundbreaking for it.
The Church is also actively seeking conditional use permits for the Teton River Idaho and Modesto California Temples.
And I received a report indicating that the Church may be fast-tracking the Cody Wyoming Temple. It appears that modular components are already delivered to that site.
We additionally have a number of temples sitting in the queue that had sites confirmed and renderings released a while ago, and several others with sites announced and no renderings.
Additionally, as you have observed in other comments here, top general Church leaders have visited several locations where temples have been announced, so site confirmations, renderings and/or groundbreakings are always possible for those temples.
With all of that in mind, I'd be shocked if the Columbus Ohio Temple open house is the only development today. I believe that will be confirmed in the next 70-90 minutes. Hope these insights are helpful.
It's also worth noting that the Urdaneta Philippines and Puebla Mexico Temples technically also are in the "nearing completion" category, but that I suspect announcements on either or both temples are likely 3-4 weeks out still. Stay tuned to the Newsroom at around 2, and we'll know within an hour or less after that.
Sorry. 2:00 PM MDT, which may not apply to you.
And, James, on that note about Apostle Ministry visits and assignments around the globe. Just posted is an article about President Ballard's visit to the Toronto Mission and leadership meetings there this weekend. April 21st to 23rd. I personally can't see a 2nd temple announced for Toronto in the near future. But of lesser note is the mention in the article that he also presided over the Hamilton Ontario Stake conference. I believe Hamilton Ontario has been on our radar for some time now for future sites. Thoughts?
https://www.thechurchnews.com/2023/4/24/23695674/president-ballard-returns-ontario-heart-intertwined-toronto
Kimberley, your comment makes me wonder if the plans for San Diego's renovation are similar to what was done in 2018 to the Houston Texas Temple. That one was closed several months to address weather,-related damage. If the San Diego plans are similar, it's a sufficient enough renovation to close it short-term, which would then be followed by a one-session dedication (private or public, and with or without an open house). Just a thought.
Chris, while I think leaders' visits occurring in areas where temples have been announced may lead to announcements on those temples in the near term, I'm not as convinced that every leader visit anywhere in the world is also indicative of forthcoming new temple prospects. As that article states, President Ballard served as a mission president in the area. He's 94 and has lost vision completely in one of his eyes, so given his age and his health, it could just be him going back to that area one last time. He could be around another few years, but I'd not be shocked if this was simply his last visit to that place to which he is connected.
Also of note, is the recent 4 day visit by Elder and Sister Uchtdorf to Cairo Egypt. As you said, not all assignments are Temple scouting assignments. Time will tell. I know one of us here a conference or 2 ago had listed a desire as a Longshot choice of Cairo Egypt.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/in-egypt-elder-uchtdorf-fonds-gospel-connections-commonalties-among-religions
I'm not convinced a Cairo temple is imminent, but would be elated if one is announced sooner than I expected. As we are nearing the end of the 2:00 PM hour here in Utah, and nothing has been announced aside from the Port Moresby groundbreaking and the open house for Columbus, so I assume that's it for today.
Elder Ballard visits here every couple years. He led an area training with Elder Anderson on Saturday. President Monson used to come out here quite often as well.
If they were to put a second temple out here (highly unlikely) I would predict Kitchener as it is more central
Today's announcement seems to be a rendering for Montpellier, Idaho Temple and the site and size announcement for Macieo, Brazil. I love they put in that this is the first temple in that city. I did not see that yet at the Church News but I did see it at the Church newsroom.
Elder Cook was recently in the Detroit area. Evidently while here he visited a congregation of The Church of God in Christ in Detroit. My stake president I think said "the congregation of 7 mile". 7 mile runs about 17 miles through the city of Detroit and probably there are at least that many congregations of The Church of God in Christ on that road. The Church of God in Christ is a mainly African-American Pentecostal Denomination.
Ideally you call a branch president from the ranks of a branch. That is not always doable. However you do not have to partner a branch in any way with the unit the branch president comes from.
I have known some people who thought joint primary and youth were a horrible idea, in part because it would exclude many branch members from those callings. However having been in a branch, I can see how at times having more children and especially youth can be a blessing.
Groups are under a ward of branch, so temple recommends are issued by the bishop or branch president, not the group leader, and some other issues are handled by such a leader. In districts and missions sometimes they have administrative branches that exist only to handle groups or isolated people. My understanding is that in a stake you always put them under a ward or branch, most likely a ward.
Language ones woyluld most often meet in a building with their parent ward, but there could be times where logistically it made sense to have them meet in a different place. There are groups in stakes that exist not because of language or YSA or such issues, but because of distance. Those would meet in separate places. There may also be nursing home. Prison and other such groups where the people involved cannot or find it hard to meet with the main ward.
Slight clarification: though the rendering is new for today, the groundbreaking for Montpelier and the site for Maceio were originally announced early last month. The Church News report specifies that:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2023/4/24/23694033/montpelier-idaho-temple-artistic-rendering
Either way, now we have a rendering too.
I really like the design of the Montpelier temple, it's very clean and beautiful, even under the more mass-designed temple era. I'm intrigued by it, I believe it is the only temple in the United States of its floor plan. I think Tijuana is close to the floor plan; it should also be similar to Arequipa, Peru.
I keep waiting for the Teton River Idaho temple plans to hit Rexburg's file storage website. Nothing yet, but James is correct that the CUP is in process for that building.
I should probably add that the rendering was added to the early March announcement, without a new news release published under today's date. And there's nothing in the heading of the March 6 release that references the rendering being added today. Hope those clarifications are helpful.
Can someone who has knowledge tell me, please, what date the Eagle Mountain Utah Porter's Crossing Stake (2221489) get organized?
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2221489
I came across it by chance while reviewing Rick's Saratoga Springs Utah Temple District website this evening.
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/saratoga-springs-utah-temple/district/
@Chris
16. April 2023
Thank you, @miro.
It looks like a new stake was recently organized in Idaho, the "Caldwell Idaho Snake River Stake."
Source: https://boisedev.com/news/2023/04/26/lds-stake-caldwell/
Thank you for the update, JTB.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2221748
Glad to see what may be a bit of acceleration in the stake creation department. Given the tendency to create more stakes in the second half of the year, maybe we will get to 50.
Callings
Meet the new president and matron of the Okinawa Japan Temple
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2023/4/27/23697784/new-okinawa-japan-temple-president-and-matron
The map on meetinghouse locator appears to have been updated where I can't see all the locations anymore. Does anybody else notice this?
It looks like we have about 10 new net stakes so far throughout the year. It would be quite the acceleration in announcements (not unheard of, though) to get to 50 new stakes.
I looked at the past 5 years excluding 2020 for COVID, and it looks like between 23-33% of stakes for the year have normally been announced by April 28th each year. That puts net new stakes this year on the trajectory of between 30 and 43 net stakes. Still a lot more than the last few years, but nowhere near pre-COVID levels.
One should probably also consider that the timing of stake closures also tends to be heavily skewed towards the end of the year. Even more heavily skewed than stake creation. In 2018, all 10/11 stakes closed were after June 1st. In 2019, 5/5 stakes closed were after June 1st. In 2020, 2/3. In 2021, 8/9. In 2022, 9/10 after May 1st.
So far this year, already 3 stakes closed. That's more than any prior year since 2018 at least to this point in the year. Could be an anomaly or a sign that there are lots of closures ahead in the latter half of 2023. But in any case, if you generally take the ratio of stakes created to stakes closed in the first half of the year, it's larger than the ratio calculated for the latter half of the year.
The Kinjos are the 3 of about 40 temple leaders called this year not resident in the temple district for which they were called. However President Kinjo was born in Naha on Okinawa. So he does have some connections. They currently lead the Supporo mission in the far north of Japan. They lived just a little north east of Tokyo before that.
Actually, there are 4 known closures this year at least. Matt has not updated the list with the most recent closure/merger of the previously reported Sandy Utah Crescent Park Stake that was merged into the neighboring Sandy Utah Crescent North Stake and combined Stake renamed the Sandy Utah Dimple Dell Stake.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/512834
Also not added yet to the New Stakes list was the new Caldwell Idaho Snake River Stake, organized in March 2023. And the Eagle Mountain Utah Porter's Crossing Stake on April 16th.
What strikes me about the discontinuation of stakes is just how regular they are done nowadays. Up until the 1980s they were practically unheard of, the 1990s and 2000s, they happened but were still relatively rare, but in the last 10-15 years, they have become much more commonplace, almost a given that several will take place every single year.
I think over time, stake creations and closures have become more fluid and able to react more to the immediate needs of an area. This is a good thing. And while it may be disappointing to see stakes discontinued, it is often done to provide a better experience for the members and leaders within that stake, just as stake splittings are.
Stake continuations tend to be the result of members moving out these days; I can think of maybe a handful exceptions in the last few years where issues with leadership development, inactivity, etc. were the primary drivers of discontinuing stakes, at least based on what I have heard. Some 80% of discontinued stakes seem to fall in the following locations: California, Washington, Japan, and the northern Salt Lake Valley. Three of these are well-known subjects to outward migration of member families; Japan is simply subject to a catastrophic demographic change that started probably 30 years ago and is now catching up to the Church. None of this is truly worrying on a global scale.
I also remember the major realignment that happened in northern Germany a few years ago. I did not even notice this looking from the outside in, but that realignment (that discontinued the Neumuenster Stake and the Oldenburg District and the Neubrandenburg District) did well at strengthening the remaining units. There has been a decent amount of growth in those areas since, even though they tend to be sparsely populated and mostly ethnically German.
Mexico and Peru also have had major bouts of stake consolidation over the years. And a lot of stakes across Latin America seem to have what I would describe as a bare minimum number of units.
And Chile as well about 20 years ago.
Yes, I am mostly talking about the last five years or so. Those discontinuations have more or less stopped it seems.
Here's an article I wrote about 12 years ago about this topic of discontinued stakes:
https://www.cumorah.com/articles/caseStudies/8/362/analysis-of-discontinued-stakes-worldwide
Stakes are often discontinued for two main reasons: 1 - a broad trend of members moving away or low inactivity with lackluster progress with ameliorating the problem for years or decades and 2 - changes in area policies and goals with the size of stakes and units. The latter one is often the main reason why we see sudden bursts of stake consolidations (like Mexico in the late 2010s, Chile and the Philippines in the early 2000s). It is curious that we almost never heard of stakes being discontinued prior to the early 1990s. I wonder if this may be more a function of there just not being enough members to have stakes in so many areas to where a stake was never discontinued because there were never enough members to have a stake. The greatest challenge is replacing members who move away or become inactive, and this usually has never gone very well in terms of stabilizing the situation in areas where members are moving away in droves (like California, northern Salt Lake County, and more recently, the Seattle area).
Things can change quite quickly with how stable stakes and wards are. In my previous ward, we had about 175-200 active members (60% sacrament meeting attendance), and about 2 years later, the ward was discontinued because nearly all the families moved away to neighbors elsewhere in Colorado Springs or to Utah. So things can change quite quickly nowadays from a congregation or stake being a pillar of strength to being so weak or small that there is no other option than to discontinue it.
It is true that statistics alone do not always provide a complete picture of the growth and development of a ward or a community. Factors such as human error in counting, transportation issues, and access to technology can all influence attendance and participation.
In addition, measuring repentance, obedience, and spiritual development is not always a straightforward task. These are internal and personal experiences that are difficult to quantify or measure objectively. However, leaders and members of a ward can strive to foster an environment where individuals feel supported in their spiritual growth and encouraged to live the commandments. For example in my ward the secretary was living out all the little children whose heads he couldn't see and many do not come every Sunday because they have to chose between eating or paying for two busses each way to go to church on Sunday, also they do not have internet or anything llke that to help them with Zoom meetings, these group numbers about 35 to 40 people that are very active but can never be at church every Sunday to"increase the numbers". When the bishop asked the secretary, he said, it does not matter, becasue he thought it was an approximation and not an exact number)
Ultimately, the goal of the gospel is not about competition or growth numbers, but about helping individuals come to a deeper understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and striving to live a life that reflects His teachings. If there are individuals or groups who are actively striving to do so, regardless of the challenges they may face, that is a positive sign of progress.
Thanks for the insights, Matt!
Given how fluid the creation and reduction of stakes in any given area can be, it makes me wonder why temples are being built where there are only ~2 stakes to support the temple district, such as the latest temple announced in Virginia or temples like Sapporo or Winnipeg.
That's quite a risk the church is taking if within a couple of years, one stake can transition from a pillar of strength to nonexistence. Not a lot of slack for that kind of fluidity.
I served in Mexico and while inactivity was the primary driver of the stake consolidations, there was also some migration going on. Seems a lot of members were moving to areas like San Luis Potosi.
Similarly, in Seattle/California/Salt Lake county, I don't see stake creations in places like Utah replacing the majority of the closures that occur. But for sure migration is a part of the equation. Maybe the migration from those areas is stabilizing wards in Utah that would otherwise have closed due to inactivity.
Today 3 sisters from my branch all received their own endowment.
I also learned that one ward in my stake which has average attendance of about 80 had 50 extra people present on Easter Sunday.
The Church News finally published the article on Elder Corbitt. From it I learned a few things I had not realized. I knew he was involved with the organizing of the "Be One" Celebration. I also learned he was a key figure in bringing about the June 2018 meeting of the First Presidency and key leaders of the NAACP.
The other thing I learned is that Sister Corbitt joined the Church as an adult. Although she was raised in New Jersey she left on her mission from California, which makes her serving in Washington DC seem less irregular.
After her mission she came back to New Jersey to live with her mother. She had been living in California with a sister.
The first sealing Elder Corbitt will officiate over will be of Jayne Joslin Corbitt, her older sister, and her deceased sister whose temple work was done after her death to their parents. Her mother did join the Church at some point, the article is silent on her father.
I have to admit before I had assumed Jayne Joslin was a lifelong member of the Church. This article causes me to reflect if I at times allow race to fill in too many details on people.
I also have to admit I was hoping that the article would give us more details about Elder Corbitt's background that it did not. His most recent job was area mission advisor. No where have I learned what area he was mission advisor to.
His listed callings are full time missionary in Puerto Rico, high councilor, counselor in a stake presidency, twice, stake president, president of the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo East Mission, counselor in the General Young Men's Presidency. The list includes no ward level callings at all. I find this a bit hard to believe as literally true. Even if he was called as a high councilor just after he was married in 1985, and even if his time as a counselor in a stake presidency took him all the way to his call as a stake president in I believe 2007, part of me says, did he actually have no calling as a recently baptized 18 year old in a Rick's College Ward? OK there the answer might be yes. I am more skeptical about no calling at all for the year he worked in New Jersey before he went on his mission. What about the year from his return from his mission to his marriage?
At some level these lists of callings tend not to be comprehensive. If you take down those listed from mission leaders and then find the bios of new temple leaders you will find many callings from the first missing in the second list. Rarely is it listed where the new temple president and matron served as missionaries when they were youth. The temple presidents and matrons often also have callings missing from when they were called to be mission leaders, I normally assume because there were years of service between, but that may be so.
I can see why we do not list all callings. I amnot sure I have ever seen callings listed like Deacons Quorum Prezident. All callings seem to be listed from when the person was an adult. I was a ward christen for maybe two months at one point, have held callings like YSA ward elders quorum sacrament preparation coordinator, and then had my elders quorum presidency forget I even had the calling. I would probably say I have been a counselor in an elders quorum presidency, a fulltime missionary, a Sunday school president and counselor in a Sunday School presidency, a ward family history consultant, a primary teacher, a ward historian and an assistant ward clerk for finance, totally forgetting being a ward chorister, family home evening group co-leader, and a few other callings. I suspect someone else writing up my calling history might abridge it more than I did. Even I have totally neglected any callings I had as a youth.
Thanks Chris D. - I have made these updates. I appreciate you making sure I don't miss any!
Recently there was a Stake Temple Day at the Washington, D.C Temple. At a meeting in the Visitors Center to which members were invited by the Stake President where he discussed a few particulars, he knew about the new Winchester Virginia Temple = (1) it will be a smaller temple and (2) it will most likely be patterned after the Moses Lake Washington Temple. That temple is a beautiful temple of about 20,000 sq.ft. Apple Blossoms are a motif used throughout the temple and jewellike stained-glass windows. The latter would be most appropriate for this area since Winchester has been considered for many years the Apple Blossom Capital of the East with an annual Apple Blossom Festival which is huge. When I was a kid you couldn't fall down in Frederick County where Winchester is located without landing in an apple orchard. Those days sadly are long past.
Heard from one of our former youth who are now on a mission that the Brazil Porto Alegre North Mission had 215 baptisms in April. That's a pretty good number that may be interesting for people here. Violating all rules of statistics, this would equate to 215*12*36=92,880 convert baptisms for the whole country per year if it was sustained throughout the year and the whole country. Definitely interesting to think about.
Talking of which, the Church is taking a while to update country-level membership statistics. I remember it usually being two to three weeks after Conference for these numbers to get published.
I always think "patterned after" means you are using the same floor plan, not necessarily the same design motifs. We shall see.
Three temple announcements today. The Toronto Temple will close for about 9 months for renovation. It will close in October. The Toronto Temple is where we in the Detroit area went when I was a youth. The Detroit Temple was dedicated the weekend closest to my 19th birthday, by then I was at BYU. I may have done baptisms more at Provo Temple than Toronto, since I only went to Toronto Temple for baptisms at most 14 times, twice a year, and my freshman year at BYU I think I went to the Provo Temple to do baptisms almost every Friday.
The site of Oslo Temple was announced. It will be 10,800 Square feet, which is essentially the same size at Detroit Temple.
The Kumasi Ghana Temple will be 22,0000 and a bit square feet. It looks like both will have accomdation facilities for those from far away.
Both those temples were announced in April 2021.
I have to admit I was hoping we would get dedication announcements for McAllen Texas, Red Cliffs Utah or Lima Peru Los Olivos, but hopefully they will come at some point.
Today's temple updates: site location and rendering for Oslo Norway Temple, site confirmation for Kumasi Ghana (with a rendering presented to the king of the Ashante in December 2021), and a nine-month closure of the Toronto Ontario Temple:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/locations-of-temples-in-africa-and-europe-released
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2023/5/1/23706448/locations-2-new-temples-oslo-norway-kumasi-ghana
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2023/5/1/23692461/toronto-ontario-temple-canada-close-2023-renovations
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2023/05/breaking-temple-news-locations.html
Also, changes are coming to "Come Follow Me" next year:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2023/4/30/23702968/changes-coming-to-come-follow-me-in-2024
My thanks once again to you all.
My understanding is that open house and dedication committees have been established for both the Red Cliffs and St. George Utah Temples. Although they are working separately, there is some degree of coordination between the two committees. The open houses for both temples may run at the same time and are each expected to last several months. Even if dedications for one or both are announced in the near term, the dedications are not expected any sooner than spring of next year. There will likely be multiple sessions over multiple days for both temples, and I'd imagine Elder Holland will play a key role for both temples, given his personal connections to Southern Utah.
So if I had to venture a guess, I'd say that the McAllen and Los Olivos dedications will likely take place on the last Sunday in November or the second or third Sunday in December. Any other new temples completed by the end of this year would then be queued up for dedication in the first quarter of 2024. At a glance, that will include Red Cliffs Utah, Urdaneta Philippines, Puebla Mexico, Salta Argentina, Coban Guatemala, Layton Utah, Orem Utah, Taylorsville Utah, Casper Wyoming, Tallahassee Florida, Abidjan Ivory Coast, and Mendoza Argentina at minimum.
Based on that, I think we can expect a substantial uptick in temple opening announcements beginning in either May or June and continuing through at least the end of the year. Hope these insights, such as they are, are helpful.
I realize that all could be completely different. Just wishful thinking on the Apple Blossom motif.
I realize the completed temple could be completely different. I was just wishful thinking about the Apple Blossom motif.
When viewing the map of temples in my Brazil, I had an interesting insight. The temples of Vitória, Belo Horizonte, Ribeirão Preto and Londrina form a large arc around the megalopolis Rio-São Paulo, distant between 300 and 500 km from one of these cities (except Ribeirão, which is a little closer to São Paulo). The straight-line distance between each of these temples is approximately 420 km. If we continue this arc for another 420 km, we will be on the Triple Frontier BR/AR/PY. Therefore, from a geographical point of view, this region would still have a temple.
If we play this game one more time, we can go from the southern border to the center of the Brazilian coast. The last location in the 400 km arc is close to the Uruguaiana stake, in Rio Grande do Sul.
Global
Ghana Latter-day Saints open stake center to more than 1,000 Muslims celebrating end of Ramadan
The Takoradi Ghana Stake Center hosts this year’s Eid Mubarak Festival as other Church members around the world also gather with their Muslim neighbors
By Mary Richards 2 May 2023, 3:41 PM MDT
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2023/5/2/23707378/ghana-stake-center-1000-muslims-celebrating-end-of-ramadan
Tried to submit this comment earlier, but for whatever reason, it wasn't approved. Hopefully this one will be. I received an update recently on the St. George and Red Cliffs utah Temples. Apparently, open house committees are functioning separately for both temples, but there is apparently some degree of coordination between the two committees. Based on what I've been able to gather, given the historic nature of two Southern Utah temples opening at around the same time, the open houses may run concurrently or share significant chunks of time. Both open houses may run for several months, and the dedications of both temples may only occur in the spring of 2024.
Based on that report, I think that only the McAllen Texas and Lima Peru Los Olivos Temples may be a definite lock for dedication by the end of the year. Given that the November 12 dedication for the Okinawa Japan Temple was more than 2 weeks ago, there may only be one more temple dedication in November and one (or potentially 2) in December. Any others would then be deferred until early next year So while it's possible that the Church could dedicate the McAllen Texas, Lima Peru Los Olivos, Urdaneta Philippines and Puebla Mexico Temples might all be dedicated by the end of the year,it's likely that any others will be deferred until next year.
Right now, at a glance, that would include the rededication of the St. George Utah Temple, and the dedications of the Red Cliffs Utah, Salta Argentina, Coban Guatemala, Layton, Orem, and Taylorsville Utah, Casper Wyoming, and Tallahassee Florida, each of which might be dedicated by the end of the first quarter of 2024. With that in mind, I think the scheduling of temple dedications will increase dramatically in the next couple of months, and that 2024 may be the first of several years running for the foreseeable future wherein 10 new temples will be dedicated every 4-6 months, which would work out to one every two or three weeks. And that number could increase if the Church opts to dedicate 2 or more temples in a single week. We haven't seen those types of numbers since the late 1990s-early 2000s temple-building boom under President Hinckley.
And if, as expected, most of the temples announced by President Nelson within the last couple of years are on the smaller side, that number could easily increase at an accelerated rate we didn't even see under President Hinckley. Even though less temples may be dedicated this year than some of us (myself included) may have been anticipating, that's still exciting to think about. Hope these insights, such as they are, are helpful to all who read them, Thanks again, everyone!
I just returned home from the dedication (1st session) of the Richmond Virginia Temple.
McAllen Temple was just inspected by an unable -to-be-named visitor, so that's a hopeful sign. Special stake conference for McAllen West stake on June 4th (stake president is moving) so I would be surprised to hear anything before then.
When President Nelson mentioned the Winchester Virginia Temple, I turned to my wife and asked: "Did he just say Winchester?" That caught me off guard.
To lay out the Church in Virginia, we have:
1. 9 stakes covered by the Washington DC South Mission (including the Washington DC South YSA Stake, which like the mission, is entirely in Virginia).
2. 9 stakes covered by the Virginia Richmond Mission (includes 4 wards and branches in North Carolina and 1 ward in West Virginia).
3. 4 stakes in the upper Shenandoah that are part of the West Virginia Charleston Mission.
4. 1 stake (Winchester) in the Maryland Baltimore Mission.
Winchester is therefore off on its own when it comes to Virginia. And it sometimes seems odd that Winchester is in the Baltimore mission.
I think three stakes would be in a Winchester Temple district, namely Winchester Virginia; Martinsburg West Virginia; and Hagarstown Maryland all of which would be closer to Winchester than to the Washington DC Temple. Although I wouldn't expect them to be in a Winchester Temple district, many members in the Frederick Maryland; and Ashburn and Gainsville Virginia stakes would find it easier to get to Winchester.
Sooner than I expected, we have an announcement on the opening dates for the St. George Utah Temple:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/rededication-date-set-for-historic-st-george-utah-temple
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2023/5/8/23713290/st-george-utah-temple-open-house-rededication-dates-renovation
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2023/05/breaking-temple-news-next-major-temple.html
No word on who will preside, but unless Elder Holland is still on leave by then, it will likely be him.
Christie, I don't believe the announcement on McAllen's dedication would be delayed another month. If inspections are being done now, that's one of the last things (if not the very last) before an announcement of opening arrangements. I'd be shocked if the McAllen dedication is not announced within the next two weeks.
Two new stakes created in Oklahoma
Gore Oklahoma Stake created 05/07/2023
Owasso Oklahoma Stake created 05/07/2023
Elder Holland was going to dedicate the Richmond Virginia Temple. Instead, President Oaks did so.
We pray that Elder Holland will soon be able to return to his duties and that Sister Holland will as well. I remember with some fondness the "Pat and Jeff Show" devotionals at BYU in the late 1980s.
Nephi, great news about Oklahoma! I know where Owasso is. Gore I had to google to be completely honest. It looks tiny, in fact, it is somewhat surprising that there is even a ward there.
Another temple that surprised me was the Lethbridge Alberta Temple.
My grandmother was born and raised in Raymond. She died 20 years ago just shy of her 102nd birthday. I recall in the 1970s her telling me that a ring of Latter-day Saint farming communities grew up about 20 miles away from Lethbridge because Mormons were not allowed to live there.
Things have changed a lot. I note that there are three YSA stakes in Alberta, in Edmonton, in Calgary, and in Lethbridge. This is perhaps remarkable given that Edmonton and Calgary are metropolitan areas of about 1.4 million each--perhaps a little larger than the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Statistical Area. Edmonton and Calgary have a lot of universities and colleges each.
The University of Alberta (in Edmonton) and the University of Calgary are large research universities about the size of the University of Utah (about 35,000 to 40,000 students).
MacEwan University (in Edmonton) and Mount Royal University (in Calgary) are mid-size undergraduate universities of about 10 to 15,000 students each.
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (in Edmonton) and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (in Calgary) are large institutions with about 30,000 students, conducting internships and vocational training in support of the business community (filling a role and of a size about the same as Salt Lake Community College).
Each has a mid-size community college (10,000 to 15,000 students) in NorQuest College (in Edmonton) and Bow Valley College (in Calgary).
Calgary also has a public master's degree arts university in the Alberta University of the Arts (about 1,000 students)
Each has two religious-based master's universities (Concordia University of Edmonton and The King's University in Edmonton and Ambrose University and St. Mary's University in Calgary).
Edmonton and Calgary have a lot of students. And there is a YSA stake in each. The Edmonton YSA Stake has five YSA wards. The Calgary YSA Stake has six YSA wards and one YSA branch.
Now, compare this with Lethbridge. The University of Lethbridge has about 8000 students. Lethbridge College has about 5000. Together, they are about the size of either Southern Utah University or Utah Tech University. Lethbridge is smaller than St. George, larger than Cedar City, and about the size of Logan. And Lethbridge has a YSA stake with seven people YSA wards and one YSA branch. With far fewer students, Lethbridge has a larger YSA stake. I have LDS student activities advertised on the University of Lethbridge website. LDS students seem to be a significant fraction of the student body.
When I looked up the temple districts, the Edmonton and Calgary temple districts each has eight stakes. The Cardston Temple District has 14 stakes. Just looking at the distance, 10 of the 14 stakes likely will be in the Lethbridge temple district.
Just heard from my sister who is in the Coral Springs Florida Stake that the Fort Lauderdale Florida Stake will be dissolved and merged with the Miami Lakes and Coral Springs stakes on May 21. The Tamarac Ward will be discontinued and the Fort Lauderdale Ward and Nova YSA branch will move to the Coral Springs Stake.
Many, many years ago there was a Muskogee Oklahoma Stake that was discontinued. I wonder if the Gore Stakes is more or less a reinstatement of the Muskogee Stake.
Nephi, I'm just wondering if you or members of your family live in Oklahoma. If not, how did you get the news of the new stakes? It's hard to learn about new or consolidated units since the CDOL website is no longer available to us.
Gore Oklahoma Stake (2221594)
Active Date
7 May 2023
Gore Ward (39683)
Henryetta Ward (40940)
McAlester Ward (41505)
Muskogee Ward (41831)
Sallisaw Ward (259446)
Eufaula Branch (1720171)
Poteau Branch (158097)
Talihina Branch (148350)
Owasso Oklahoma Stake (2221608)
Active Date
7 May 2023
Claremore Ward (129062)
Elm Creek Ward (167851)
Lake Valley Ward (2032376)
Pryor Ward (104418)
Ranch Creek Ward (245976)
Skiatook Branch (499471)
My dear wife and I are moving permanently to Arizona and will be very close to the Tucson Temple. We will miss our Winchester, Va home and will have to follow the temple's progress from afar. However, we rejoice for our longtime friends and family who will be blessed by the new temple.
Thanks Ohhappydane33 - Interesting it is only now that we are seeing stakes getting discontinued in the UK since we have seen steady decline in the number of units for more than two decades. I am surprised it is Watford (5 wards) closing since the smallest stake in England is nearby in Romford (4 wards, 1 branch). The units in the Watford stake had a pretty average number of active members per unit about 5-7 years ago. I wonder if there was a significant change after COVID in the area. The area in the UK that seems most likely to have some stake consolidations is in Scotland. I have generally heard positive reports about increasing church attendance and higher numbers of convert baptisms in many areas in England in the past year or so.
@Matt
It is likly that the stake requriements: 1900 members on the records and 120 active MP holders, have more weight than number of active members, in the decision witch stake to discontinue.
There are many stakes in the UK with attendance lower than 500. But many of them still fullfill the minimum requriemtens for a stake.
Ray the New Stake in OK Are wildly known , it ws even posted on facebook
Here are comments I have heard over the last three weeks about how long the San Diego temple is going to be closed:
Guy at recommend desk: We were told the temple will be closed for 8 months, and then we can return to our callings.
CES employee: The church has announced the Open House and rededication will be in 2 years.
Missionary: It will be about three years.
My husband: The issue is repairing damage from water leaking in the roof, so it will be much quicker than a remodel. Me: Who told you that? Husband: I can't remember, but it was a reliable source.
Ordinance Worker: Nobody knows how long the temple will be closed. If somebody says they do, they are probably just making it up.
Hm, I wonder what all this means? I guess we will just have to wait and see.
I just wanted to comment that a new stake was organized in Peru from Trujillo Perú La Esperanza Stake on April 30th. Trujillo Perú Jerusalén Stake including Arévalo, El Milagro, Los Robles, Nuevo Trujillo and Jerusalén wards
Kimberley, I'm not surprised there are a variety of reports regarding the closure lengths for San Diego. More often than not, the Church specifies general estimates for renovation completion. That didn't happen for San Diego. When a temple undergoes renovation for the first time, what might be found as the renovation progresses could delay those offered time-frames. Since the Church did not opt to give an estimate, I believe it would be wiser to assume that it will be a longer closure. How long? That may be hard to know until whatever is planned is fully underway. But based on information I gathered on my end from several sources over the last little while, my assumption is a minimum closure of 2-3 years, give or take several months either way. Once the process starts, I'm sure any estimated will be offered and subsequently adjustment as needed.
The Wilmington 3rd Branch (Spanish) became a ward Sunday. The Wilmington Delaware Stake now has a total of six wards, plus a YSA branch.
Last Sunday a new Branch was created in the Los Alpes Cartagena stake. In the town of San Juan Nepomuseno. This is significant because this town is 2.5 hours from Cartagena. There is the potential of creating other branches in nearby towns. People are and have been asking for missionaries in those areas for quite a while. There are other groups of members that are trying to increase their attendance to Cartagena to open their own groups and branches in those areas. The potential for growth in the Caribbean Colombian coast is spectacular since there are dozens of towns with 50,000 plus population that are asking for the gospel to be preached there due to their interest and economic difficulty to attend church in Cartagena. plus the potential of many new converts. People that live in the city wanting to take the gospel back to their families and many Venezuelan members moving to these areas with the difficulty of attending church in the city due to economic hardships. People are learning the gospel on many areas but very hard for them to attend.
Last Sunday a new Branch was created in the Los Alpes Cartagena stake. In the town of San Juan Nepomuseno. This is significant because this town is 2.5 hours from Cartagena. There is the potential of creating other branches in nearby towns. People are and have been asking for missionaries in those areas for quite a while. There are other groups of members that are trying to increase their attendance to Cartagena to open their own groups and branches in those areas. The potential for growth in the Caribbean Colombian coast is spectacular since there are dozens of towns with 50,000 plus population that are asking for the gospel to be preached there due to their interest and economic difficulty to attend church in Cartagena. plus the potential of many new converts. People that live in the city wanting to take the gospel back to their families and many Venezuelan members moving to these areas with the difficulty of attending church in the city due to economic hardships. People are learning the gospel on many areas but very hard for them to attend. The stka now has 8 wards and 1 branch.
Last Sunday a new Branch was created in the Los Alpes Cartagena stake. In the town of San Juan Nepomuseno. This is significant because this town is 2.5 hours from Cartagena. There is the potential of creating other branches in nearby towns. People are and have been asking for missionaries in those areas for quite a while. There are other groups of members that are trying to increase their attendance to Cartagena to open their own groups and branches in those areas. The potential for growth in the Caribbean Colombian coast is spectacular since there are dozens of towns with 50,000 plus population that are asking for the gospel to be preached there due to their interest and economic difficulty to attend church in Cartagena. plus the potential of many new converts. People that live in the city wanting to take the gospel back to their families and many Venezuelan members moving to these areas with the difficulty of attending church in the city due to economic hardships. People are learning the gospel on many areas but very hard for them to attend. The stake now has 8 wards and 1 branch
It looks like country-by-country statistics have been updated on the Church Newsroom. I'm sure Matt is working on an analysis, but some interesting points I think are pretty cool include the continued growth in Iceland (up to 382 members), continued strong momentum among countries that had the highest percentage membership increase over the past two years (with the DRC at 102k, Tanzania at 2,999, Republic of the Congo at 11,481, etc.), and an increase of over 7,000 in my soon to be home state of Texas. Hopefully we will see accompanying congregational growth in the next few years
Post a Comment