Below is an updated list of the countries with the most Latter-day
Saints without a stake. Membership totals are as of 2022 and
congregational and district totals are current. Estimated membership for mainland
China and Pakistan is provided as official statistics are unavailable. The
number of branches in mainland China is not provided due
to the sensitive nature of the
Church in that country. Previous lists of the countries with the most
members without a stake can be found here.
- China - 12,500 members? - 12 districts
- Malaysia - 10,829 members - 25 branches - 5 districts
- Guyana - 6,645 members - 12 branches - 2 districts
- Belize - 5,534 members - 12 branches - 2 districts
- Pakistan - 5,500 members? - 15 branches - 3 districts
- Malawi - 3,872 members - 12 branches - 2 districts
- Armenia - 3,546 members - 5 branches - 1 district
- Romania - 3,082 members - 15 branches - 1 district
- Tanzania - 2,999 members - 22 branches - 3 districts
- Cameroon - 2,721 members - 15 branches - 2 districts
- Bulgaria - 2,398 members - 7 branches - 0 districts
- Eswatini - 2,198 members - 6 branches - 1 district
- Poland - 2,184 members - 11 branches - 1 district
- Ethiopia - 2,075 members - 8 branches - 1 district
- Cook Islands - 1,862 members - 5 branches - 1 district
- Suriname - 1,797 members - 6 branches - 1 district
- Sri Lanka - 1,662 members - 5 branches - 1 district
- Lesotho - 1,474 members - 6 branches - 1 district
- Macau - 1,456 members - 2 branches - 1 district
- Solomon Islands - 1,375 members - 5 branches, 1 district
48 comments:
Matt, do you think there are any other reasons other than the normal standards for a stake that would prevent the creation of a stake in sensitive countries such as China? Would it ever be possible that the numerical and priesthood requirements could be met but a stake wouldn't be created due to the "unsanctioned" nature of the church in China? I'm not sure if things like that are considered, though we already do have districts there so there is a strong, established organization in the country already
I am just wondering, do they ever create stakes across country lines? For example, if at some day and time there is a ward in Ljubljana, Belgrade, Sarajevo, and 2 in Zagreb, would they ever consider creating a stake comprising Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, and Montenegro (because why not).
The Luxembourg 1st Ward and Luxembourg 2nd Branch are both part of the Nancy France Stake, so that is one multi-national stake. Many of the small Caribbean nations also belong to multi-national districts, so there is additional precedent there
All stakes in Switzerland cross country lines. But normaly they want that the wards in the stakes to have the same language. I know a multi country language stake was considered for the Baltic countries. But today i just notices that another country spanning stake has been adjusted.
The Rotterdam Netherlands stake and the Andwerp Belgium stake have been realinged acording to Coutnry borders. (with the exception of an millitry ward). The wards in the Netherlands form the Antwerp stake were moved to the Rotterdam stake. The stakes were renamed Breda Netherlands and Brussels North Belgium.
"Learn about the 56 new temple presidents and matrons called for 2023"
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2023/6/2/23729158/56-new-temple-presidents-and-matrons-class-of-2023
I wonder why none of them have stakes?
Can someone with the access to CDOL please tell me when the Iquitos Perú San Juan Stake was organized? Thank you.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2227312
I know of at least one stake that was in a sensitive area - the Arabian Peninsula Stake. It covered the entire peninsula, including Yemen at one point. Most of it is now covered by the Manama Bahrain and Abu Dhabi stakes.
It was stake #1411, but whoever at the Church News called the Caliche Chile Stake #1500 missed it, hence the correction later listing a stake in Mexico #1500 and Caliche #1501. (It was shown as "Unlisted" in the Church Almanac.)
Chris, it was May 21. The stake includes the Avianca, Los Delfines, San Juan, Santa Clara, and Secada Wards and the Nauta Branch (which may be upgraded to a ward in the near term).
Thank you, James. Also, Can someone tell me when the West Haven Utah North Stake (2223236)
was organized also? I can't find it listed on my list.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2223236
Also created on May 21. It includes the Riverbend Ward, the Wilson 2nd-5th Wards, the Park (Care Center) Branch, and the Water Tower (Correctional Facility) Branch.
What are the criteria/requirements for a stake to be created?
Kimberley, while I will defer to someone else with more familiarity of those parameters to share them here, I wanted to let you know that a new update on the San Diego California Temple indicates that it will close for renovation on July 31:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples/details/san-diego-california-temple?lang=eng
Hope that's helpful information to you.
A new stake was organized in Peru from Iquitos Perú Nueve de Octubre Stake on May 21th. Iquitos Perú San Juan Stake including Aianca, Los Delfines, Nauta, San Juan, Santa Clara y Secada wards.
The Iquitos Perú Nueve de Octubre Stake retains Internacional, Las Colinas, Los Jardines, Nueve de Octubre and Secoya wards.
Thank you John, that's very interesting. My bishop's son attends a small branch in Saudi Arabia, I'd be curious to know what district/stake he's in and how things like district or stake conference would work in a sensitive country.
Avianca Ward*
Small correction.
This year Peru has created 3 stakes, all the stakes that could be divided were divided, probably due to realignment or some district becoming a stake. Since 2019, not so many stakes were created, so there is a good sign of growth in the country.
Last night my friends that are temple workers told me that early this week they were told that there would be an official announcement regarding the length of the San Diego Temple closure. Here is what the announcement was: "We don't know how long the temple will be closed for." Hm, I don't find that to be particularly informative. But we have seen have seen the blessing of the appointments filling up quickly as patrons rush to get a few last sessions before the closure. As Newport Beach temple is just 1 1/2 hour drive away, we are not facing any real hardship. When the San Diego temple opened in 1993, there were some indications that San Diego's temple attendance actually dropped overall. It may have been that members missed the comradery of commuting together to the LA temple.
Kimberley, I would be very surprised on my end if the San Diego California Temple was closed for longer than 4 years. Without knowing what's planned, I personally project 2-3 years, which has been typical for temples originally dedicated at around the same time as San Diego. Hope that helps.
I think Saudi Arabia is in the Manama Bahrain Stake these days - Saudi Arabia isn't as open to expatriate Christian worship as most of the Gulf States are. (That stake includes Bahrain and Kuwait for sure.) A family in my stake was there in the 1970s/1980s, that's how I first found out about the Arabian Peninsula Stake. The father actually flew to Yemen for high council assignments. At the time, they couldn't meet with more than 25 in a room, so their ward had to have seven sacrament meetings.
I think Saudi Arabia is missing in that list. Although there isn't oficial reports, it looks like there are a couple of wards and some branches in that country.
Membership in Saudi Arabia is primarily Westerners although there are many Filipino members too.
At our stake conference, it was announced that Fulda (part of the Hanau Ward in the Friedrichsdorf Germany Stake) has had an official group established and that sacrament meetings there have been happening for quite a while.
The Kigali Rwanda District includes Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. When Kigali becomes a stake, Goma will very likely be included as Goma is right on the DRC-Rwanda border and there is no other Church center of strength anywhere near
Cumorah.com estimates as many as ten units in Saudi Arabia in 2018. The church is not recognized in Saudi Arabia and will not release that info to the public as any that is operating would have to meet privately.
Manama Bahrain Stake has a ward in Bahrain and a Ward in Kuwait. This means there's a minimum of 3 other wards (probably more wards & branches) in neighboring Saudi Arabia. It is possible the Abu Dhabi UAE stake may also have units in Saudi Arabia.
Mongolia is visa-free for both Russian and Chinese citizens. It has 2 stakes, a district, and an LDS mission within the country. The church came under request of the government after the fall of the Soviet Union. Because of this, it seems ideal to build a temple in that area. In
However, this may be only relative and short lived as it's still landlocked between China and Russia, and their policies may ultimately dictate Mongolia. In addition, even though it has visa-free borders Russia and China, it's quite distant for members in both of those countries.
Malaysia enjoys visa-free relationships (both ways) with Singapore. Singapore is located almost central to Malaysia so the Singapore temple probably came as very good news for those in Malaysia.
Clarification: Mongolia now requires evisa for most Chinese citizens. Still visa-free for Russia as well as most western allied nations. Relations between them and the US is still very good, and still exercises nearly full religious freedom, even though they're landlocked between two nations that aren't so friendly to the west.
The question was asked earlier what the requirements are for creating a stake. Here's what the handbook says.
Stakes are created from districts or by dividing existing stakes. A stake or mission president may propose creating a new stake. He first ensures that it will meet the minimum requirements:
In the U.S. and Canada
Number of members (active and less active): 3,000
Number of active, full-tithe-paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders capable of serving in leadership positions: 180
Number of wards: 5
All other countries
Number of members (active and less active): 1,900
Number of active, full-tithe-paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders capable of serving in leadership positions: 120
Number of wards: 5
Districts are created from branches in a mission or an existing stake. There is not a minimum number of members or branches needed to create a district.
A district must have the level of strength needed for a stake for at least six months before a mission president can propose making it a stake.
Boundaries of a stake or district follow the boundaries of the units that are within it. To propose changing stake or district boundaries or transferring a unit to a neighboring stake or district, the stake or mission presidents involved plan and coordinate the recommendation.
I wonder how likely we are to get a new announcement today. Like Site locations, or groundbreaking dates or open house dates.
Chris, such an announcement is usually made on Monday during the 2:00 PM hour in Utah. They shifted the weekly announcement to Tuesday last week (Memorial Day was Monday). In absence of such an announcement between 2-4 PM today, I think they have opted to shift the weekly day for that to Tuesday, which prevents it from clashing with Memorial Day in May, Labor Day in September, and the observances of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years'. They did something similar with the temple reopening announcements, so I'm not shocked it's happened again.
For tomorrow, I'd anticipate opening arrangements for the Orem Utah Temple, 1-5 possible temple groundbreakings, 1-2 additional exterior renderings, or 1 or more site location confirmations with initial details.
It's even possible a combination of those elements will be announced.
Considering the time frame for the Salt Lake Temple closure has been adjusted to be 50% longer than originally announced, I can see why there is hesitancy to announce time frames.
The stake in the Arabian peninsula and Persian Gulf are expatriate stakes. I think in China thry would want to create a stake for nationals. China's desire to have say over who is a Catholic bishop may create situations where the Church is hesitant.
Also, generally no non-nationals are allowed to be at meetings. If there are no Area Seventies who are Chinese nationals that would be problematic. Area seventies can organize a stakealthoughnormally general authorities are involved as well.
There are also dome unwritten rules for stake creation. One is you need someone of sufficient spiritual maturity to be a patriarch.
My understanding is that at least some wards in the UAE are primarily Filipino. At least I had a friend who was bishop of a ward in UAE that was primarily Filipino.
There is a general authority who lived in Oman. He is a native of Argentina. Does that make him a "Westerner"? Elder Kiron grew up partly in Arabia, but was not a member yet. He is British.
Mongolia has a new meetinghouse but their government has not given permission for occupancy. See the problem?
Just got word that this week or last at the Beira Mozamvique stake conference, they sustained 145 men to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. Also saw the picture of all of them, the area executive secretary posted this to social media today.
The last time I heard of something like this it was in Manaus Brazil during the high growth period there, 153 men were sustained in one stake conference there in the early 90s
Forgot to post the story he used, that has the photo I mentioned.
https://africasouth.churchofjesuschrist.org/almost-150-sustained-as-elders-at-stake-conference-in-beira-mozambique?fbclid=IwAR0VeZBcgwrsxm-4wBI2UJuA18unqmy3JegVQnXEkHR1na_1n3AsoI6kHaA
Official update on Elder Holland's health:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-holland-health-update
And we are about 75-90 minutes out from an anticipated major temple construction update. My thanks once again to you all.
Beira Mozambique Munhava Stake (2227452)
Active Date
14 May 2023
Mananga Ward (2103974)
Manga Loforte Ward (2227746)
Maraza 1st Ward (2024748)
Mascarenha Ward (2024713)
Munhava Ward (461350)
Pioneiros Ward (2227711)
Maraza 2nd Branch (2227738)
Religious freedom is not exactly a yes/no prospect. It is a complex set of interrelated policies both official and societal.
The country in the world with the highest level of religious freedom is Sierra Leone, which is also estimated to be 85% Muslim.
Sierra Leone is either the first majority Muslim country to get a temple, or if Nigeria is majority Muslim, Sierra Leone is the first country that is majority Muslim with a temple in a majority Muslim area.
In many countries there are multiple levels of recognized religious organizations. Some from western Europe look on the mission leaders of the mid-20th century as not having recognized this and having been too content with very low level recognition.
On the other hand a key factor in Elder Nelson, Elder Ringger and their associates getting Church recognition in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s was not trying to get aid from US diplomats.
This leads me to wonder if we will get an announcement on the Budapest Hungary Temple soon. Also Russia, but with the ongoing issues in Russia that might be a while.
Also if anyone is interested, Elder Suarez recently met with the President of Uruguay during his stay in Montevideo.
"Elder Soares and Uruguayan president meet to ‘do something to bless the people’"
https://www.thechurchnews.com/2023/6/7/23752962/elder-ulisses-soares-uruguay-president-lacalle-meet-bless-the-people
The biography of the newly called President and Matron of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple was posted earlier today.
"Meet the new president and matron of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple"
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2023/6/8/23752441/new-president-and-matron-of-the-port-au-prince-haiti-temple
Digging further on Preisident and Sister Bien Aime. They were both missionaries in Haiti. I wonder if they served under the Josephs. He was born in roughly 1967, so he was 25 in 1992, and I believe President Joseph took leadership of the mission in 1993, so probably not.
Brother Bien-Aime was one of the released area seventy this year. I believe he was the first Ha8tian to be an area seventy.
Now I believe Finland is the only of the 56 published new temple presidents we do not have a bio of.
I also wonder if any new bios for new mission presidents will be published late in 2023, or if they will hold off until 2024.
I noticed my distant relative A. Legrand Richards was released from being president of the Provo City Center Temple far ahead of schedule.
JPL, of those 56 mentioned, Finland is the only one left. Interestingly enough, 5 of the 56 technically considered as part of this year's "class" of new temple leaders actually began serving and had their biographies featured last year. It's also worth noting that there are an additional 5 new temples anticipated to be completed in the next 6-15 months (if not sooner) for which the first leaders are likely to be named in the near term.
I am guessing the 5 who begin service last year but were included on this year's lust were placed do because they were not covered by last years list.
Elder Soares participated in an inter faith meeting in Argentina. He also met with a Mr. Rubin, who wrote a biography of Pope Francis and interviewed President Nelson. Robin said there was a rumor of a second temple in Buenos aaires and Elder Soares confirmed it is true.
Bishop Causse just dedicated a new central distribution facility. Hopefully this means I will get Saints Vol. 4 quicker when I order it. OK, I half hope Saints Vol. 3 is so super saturated ordered it will not come quickly.
BYU-Oathway international has now expanded to Ethiopia.
Also tomorrow the Church adult dance my wife has been trying yo get to happen for over a year will finally occur. Hopefully it is well attended. It is the first we have had in over a decade in my stake though.
My guess is that there might be quite a few members in the areas but not enough Melchizedek Priesthood holders. That or politics.
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