Click here to access the May 2026 newsletter for cumorah.com. This month's newsletter features an in-depth analysis of newly released 2025 state-by-state Church statistics for the United States, including historical trends in membership, congregations, wards, branches, and stakes spanning nearly four decades. The analysis highlights a year of essentially flat membership growth but continued organizational expansion through the creation of additional congregations and stakes, together with new insights into long-term changes in Church organization. Also included are updates on the first branch organized in São Tomé and Príncipe, the assignment of Seychelles to a mission for the first time, the announcement of the Otavalo Ecuador Temple, and the completion of The Cumorah Foundation's comprehensive historical database of U.S. Church statistics.
245 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 245 of 245#Anonymous, With regard to your question about Rick's Temple Districts that you showed above minor changes. I also checked and my totals for each reflect the same final results you posted. I did personally email Rick directly asking him if he has been doing "house cleaning" on his site reconciling each of the individual pages with the full totals page for all current operating temple districts. So far, no response, he did let me know previously the major changes for the Manila and Alabang temple districts that i reposted here.
And again, I don't have direct access to the CDOL lists or maps. Above i suggested in the comments for you or another to request to the powers that be on the "Suggest an edit" on each mission page. I too do not want to burn my bridges with my internal contact and lose all day to day changes with regard to Mission and Temple Districts for new or merged Stakes / Districts. If i push them to make the change on meetinghouse. They too could lose all access.
Anonymous, thank you for your list. When I have time, I'll check this out so I could clarify on Wikipedia, if needed.
One thing to clarify, temple districts do not necessarily match mission or even area boundaries. For example, the Shreveport Louisiana and Valparaiso Indiana stakes are assigned to a temple outside their area boundaries.
The Thailand Bangkok East Mission just organized a new branch that covers all of the central Chaiyaphum province, the new Chaiyaphum Branch (2330601).
292 Jul 14, 2026 Chaiyaphum Branch
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/missions/2246112
Murray Utah YSA Stake : Taylorsville Utah T.D. -> Jordan River Utah T.D.
Orem Utah YSA Stake : Lindon Utah T.D. - > Orem Utah T.D.
Lehi Utah 3rd Stake (Tongan) : Mount Timpanogos Utah T.D. - > Saratoga Springs Utah T.D.
Reconquista Argentina District : Asunción Paraguay T.D. -> Buenos Aires Argentina T.D.
Roque Saenz Peña Argentina District : Asunción Paraguay T.D. - > Salta Argentina T.D.
Foz do Iguaçu Brazil Stake : Curitiba Brazil T.D. - > Asunción Paraguay T.D.
Coffs Harbor Australia District : (2 weeks ago was transferred from the Australia Sydney Mission to new Australia Brisbane South Mission), and in turn from Sydney Australia T.D. to Brisbane Australia T.D., possibly in prep for the newly announced or under construction Brisbane South Australia Temple in future.
Maseru Lesotho District : Durban T.D. - > Johannesburg T.D.
Mesa Arizona Stake : Gilbert Arizona T.D. - Mesa Arizona T.D.
Puerto Peñasco Mexico District : Hermosillo Sonora Mexico T.D. - > Tijuana T.D.
Tarapoto Perú Stake : Trujillo Peru T.D. -> Lima Peru Los Olivos T.D.
Juchitán México Stake : Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico T.D. - > Oaxaxa Mexico T.D.
Juchitán México Las Flores Stake : Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico T.D. - > Oaxaxa Mexico T.D.
Matías Romero México District : Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico T.D. - > Oaxaxa Mexico T.D.
With all of these, I believe it completes the July Temple District reassignments also.
@Anonymous and @David M., After closer review of your list. Here is the known Temple District Transfers in these first 2 weeks of July from your above list.
1) Murray Utah YSA Stake : Taylorsville Utah T.D. -> Jordan River Utah T.D.
2) Orem Utah YSA Stake : Lindon Utah T.D. - > Orem Utah T.D.
3) Lehi Utah 3rd Stake (Tongan) : Mount Timpanogos Utah T.D. - > Saratoga Springs Utah T.D.
4) Reconquista Argentina District : Asunción Paraguay T.D. -> Buenos Aires Argentina T.D.
5) Roque Saenz Peña Argentina District : Asunción Paraguay T.D. - > Salta Argentina T.D.
6) Foz do Iguaçu Brazil Stake : Curitiba Brazil T.D. - > Asunción Paraguay T.D.
7) Coffs Harbor Australia District : (2 weeks ago was transferred from the Australia Sydney Mission to new Australia Brisbane South Mission), and in turn from Sydney Australia T.D. to Brisbane Australia T.D., possibly in prep for the newly announced or under construction Brisbane South Australia Temple in future.
8) Maseru Lesotho District : Durban T.D. - > Johannesburg T.D.
9) Mesa Arizona Alma Stake : Gilbert Arizona T.D. - Mesa Arizona T.D.
10) Puerto Peñasco Mexico District : Hermosillo Sonora Mexico T.D. - > Tijuana T.D.
11) Tarapoto Perú Stake : Trujillo Peru T.D. -> Lima Peru Los Olivos T.D.
12) Juchitán México Stake : Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico T.D. - > Oaxaxa Mexico T.D.
13) Juchitán México Las Flores Stake : Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico T.D. - > Oaxaxa Mexico T.D.
14) Matías Romero México District : Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico T.D. - > Oaxaxa Mexico T.D.
With all of these, I believe it completes the July Temple District reassignments also.
FYI, Major updates were made on Rick's Temple District page for the Bangkok Thailand Temple.
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/bangkok-thailand-temple/district/
I'm not going to detail what changes. But Thailand has seemed overall neutral in global conflicts.
Chris D. thanks for looking into the temple district changes!
Other Noah here.
Thank you, Johnathan! We hope the church grows a bit before the temple is dedicated. Just this sunday we had ten people baptized in a neighboring ward.
God bless you
Other Noah Here.
Apostle Gary E. Stevenson will visit the members of both Cartagena, Colombia Stakes on Sunday, August 23rd. Currently, the Cartagena, Colombia stakes are organized as follows:
Cartagena Colombia Stake
Lemaitre Ward
Canapote Ward
Torices Ward
Pie de la Popa Ward
Esperanza Ward
Buenos Aires Ward
Alto Bosque Ward
Cartagena, Colombia, Los Alpes Stake
Nuevo Bosque Ward
Los Alpes Ward
Castellana Ward
Villa Grande Ward
Alameda Ward
La Florida Ward
Turbaco Ward
Arjona Ward
San Juan Branch
Elder Stevenson's visit could very well be a sign of a possible split and creation of a third stake in Cartagena. I was a missionary there during the 2020-2022 period, and members where strong and pretty active, even during those times
FYI, both the Berbice Guyana and Georgetown Guyana Districts, in the Georgetown Guyana Mission, in the Caribbean Area. Have also been transferred from the Manaus Brazil Temple in the Brazil Area, to the Panama City Panama Temple in the Caribbean Area.
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/panama-city-panama-temple/district/
Also, minor changes from the Kyiv Ukraine T.D. to the above mentioned Bangkok Thailand T.D.
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/kyiv-ukraine-temple/district/
And 3 Districts transferred from the Kyiv Ukraine T.D. to the Rome Italy T.D. (1 of them is *Sensitive* and not shown on the Meetinghouse map yet publicly, but is shown on Ricks assigned Temple in Rome).
The other 2 transferred were the 1) Sofia Bulgaria District, and 2) Nicosia Cyprus District.
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/rome-italy-temple/district/
The 2 Stakes and 4 Districts of the Russian Federation have all been reassigned to the Bangkok Thailand Temple. As i posted earlier on this site, when asked why the stake totals didn't match. I had said at that time they weren't officially assigned to any temple in Europe or Africa. That has since been corrected here.
As well as the Yerevan Armenia District now assigned to the Bangkok Temple.
As well as the Istanbul Turkiye District of the Europe Central Area Turkic and Persian Speaking Mission, has been reassigned to the Bangkok Thailand Temple.
Those were the 6 more Districts and 2 Stakes in Bangkok's list than my previous list.
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/bangkok-thailand-temple/district/
Today, July 15th, a 3rd new stake was reported organized.
The Kpong Ghana District (1838377) was just reported as the new Kpong Ghana Stake (1838377) appeared today, on the Unit Tracker, after the District Conference this weekend 07/11-7/12/2026.
12 Jul 15, 2026 Kpong Ghana Stake
https://www.fullerconsideration.com/DeseretDemographer/units.php
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/1838377
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/accra-ghana-temple/district/
So, the Accra Temple District will be +1 Stake, -1 District after Rick updates.
According to Facebook, the new stake is 5 wards and 4 branches. The creation of the Kpong Ghana Stake brings together nine vibrant congregations under one inspired stake organization:
* Kpong Ward 1
* Kpong Ward 2
* Senchi Ward
* Odumase Branch
* Somanya Branch
* Asutuare Ward
* Akuse Ward
* Adjina Branch
* Juapong Branch
If correct, this means the Adjina Branch was created recently, it doesn't show on the meetinghouse locator.
FYI, Five of the branches in the new Gingoog Philippines Stake have become Wards this week.
143 Jul 16, 2026 Gingoog Ward Gingoog City, Philippines
144 Jul 16, 2026 Medina Ward Medina, Philippines
145 Jul 16, 2026 Cabuyo-an Ward Gingoog City, Philippines
146 Jul 16, 2026 Pangasihan Ward Gingoog City, Philippines
147 Jul 16, 2026 Lunao Ward Gingoog City, Philippines
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/611263
It could be a third stake as only 5 wards are needed for a stake. However, I'm not sure if the church would want all stakes in a metro area be minimally-sized stakes. I also don't know the size of these wards, leadership, and existing growth rate.
This could also very well be Elder Stevenson visiting one stake without the other feeling left out. 7-8 wards seems to be the ideal size of a stake as it could survive both future loss or gain of members and units. Leadership is not strained by it being too small (lack of leaders to go around) or too big (too many units/members for stake leaders to easily cover) at this size.
In 2022, the church discontinued "Classic LDS Maps". This showed not just meetinghouses, but all branch/ward/district/stake/mission/area boundaries, as well as facility locations (ie. Distribution Centers, LDS Family Services, LDS Campgrounds, Church Historical Sites... etc) which could be toggled on and off. I don't really understand why the church removed this, as this allowed members to view what church services were available nearby on one page, including services the member may not be aware of.
It would be nice if these features would be able to be added back onto the meetinghouse locator for those who sign in. It really doesn't seem that confidential as many of these categories are able to be found individually on other parts of the church website. There maybe reasons the brethren decided to remove this information. However, I personally believe the consequences of having this info in one place that easy to get to would be more positive rather than negative, and reduce those going to third party sites to find that information.
CDOL on the other hand has personal contact information for nearly all of the many thousands of leaders in the church. Because of this, I do see why that access was reduced.
I wonder if the new Adjina Branch, is centered around a community called Ajena, on the west side of the Volta River somewhat north of Kpong. As of today there is no meetinghouse marker on the site there. As a new branch maybe they are meeting in a members house. Or rented building.
The new building in Centerton Arkansas finally got their occupancy permit and will house the centerton 2nd, centerton 3rd, and Cornerstone wards. Theres some minor shuffling of where wards will meet between the 4 other buildings in the greater bentonville area as well.
My thanks once again to you all for your attention to this matter.
I wonder if they're going to split any of the wards since the buildings could apparently house up to 5 wards or if they'll wait for the next building to be dedicated.
It's unclear to me if any other chapels are under construction. The church owns three other properties in the vicinity that could house a meetinghouse. In addition to these other properties, there's enough room by the temple for another meetinghouse.
There is a chapel under construction in Pea Ridge that had a ground breaking in April. The church also has property and intent to build in cave springs. I would think the church will hold off splitting wards until the pea ridge building is complete (est summer 2027)
My thanks once again to you for your attention to this matter.
Here's the following properties the church owns on public record in Benton County that does not have a meetinghouse:
10.00 Acres at 13407 Noah Rd, Centerton.
4.16 Acres at 2900 SW 28th St Bentonville (it appears to be the new Centerton Chapel as it appears under construction in Jan 2025 streetview)
11.90 acres at 5036 S Bellview Rd, Rogers, AR 72758 (Is this what you're referring to as Cave Springs?)
10.02 acres on Hazelton Rd in Pea Ridge
4.24 acres at SW I ST BENTONVILLE AR, (Coord: 36.3293, -94.2210)
Existing chapels in Benton County:
4.71 acres at 1105 MCCOLLUM RD, BENTONVILLE, AR (Bentonville Temple, Meetinghouse, and distribution center)
2.50 acres at 2300 S ELM ST SILOAM SPRINGS
6.98 acres at 950 SEBA RD RD, CENTERTON, AR
3.79 acres at 2805 N DIXIELAND, LITTLE FLOCK, AR (Rogers Chapel)
7.18 acres at 1 LAMBETH RD, BELLA VISTA, AR
This list may not be all inclusive.
5036 S Bellview Rd, Rogers, AR 72758
Yes this is the address for Cave Springs area
As long as we're focused on NW Arkansas (which I'm fine with), my question for those who attend church in the area is whether some/most of the wards feel ready for a split? I know the growth has been fast but I don't know how fast.
I have a relative who lives in the area and he says about 4 wards in the area have 250+ attending. Welcome to hear others who live in the area for more details.
Elder Sam Wong of the 70 was at my new ward today and made a few remarks off the cuff during Sunday School regarding current missionary baptisms per convert. He wasn't reading anything and was just pulling from memory, so things may be a bit off, but from what he said, missionaries are baptizing around 20 converts per missionary in Africa, 6 converts per missionary in the Philippines, 3-3.5 converts per missionary in the US, and that baptisms per missionary were lowest in Hong Kong (did not provide a number). He also mentioned seeing a report that stated in the near future (he could not remember the date) 1/3 of all YSAs in the church would be in Africa.
Again, this wasn't a prepared remark and so it's likely the numbers could be off (ie only parts of Africa have 20 baptisms per missionary rather than the continent as a whole), but figured this would be interesting given the recent news about record missionary service.
It's about 40 days until I update my biannual predictions for temple announcements. 2 temples have so far been announced since my last prediction (I think there's a decent likeliness that another will be announced in August so that number may change). Because temples are now announced by area leadership, there will be some spreading out predictions by area. Under the spread out nature with Nelson's announcements, I have already spread out my predictions by continent. Announcements by areas were already considered to some degree and may hold a little more weight this time. With the resumption of the Bengaluru Temple, it's possible I may upgrade the India prediction (all predictions in India are currently downgraded one level due to the pause in construction).
My Wasatch Front prediction is unique as explained on the icon. It makes one prediction for an entire urban area, rather than a prediction in-between temples. And due to the nature of this urban area, automatically puts the Wasatch front in my "Top 20". I've reduced my prediction area of "Wasatch Front" to Provo to N. Ogden. Every six months I consider removing the Wasatch Front prediction altogether (stating my prediction list is only for temples announced outside the Wasatch Front) and redistributing that "Top 20" icon elsewhere.
Our ward in the Mount Saratoga Saratoga Springs Stake split yesterday. The Mount Saratoga 2nd ward split to create the new Ridgehorne ward. There are still several more lots in our development to fill so I expect a few more wards to be created in our stake over the next few years.
None are vertical yet, but ground work is being done both at Cave Springs and Pea Ridge. With the new opening the Bella Vista building will only have 4 units for the first time in years. Bye bye 2:30 time slot!
Upcoming Stake conference dates:
Rogers - Aug 30
Centerton - Sep 13
Bentonville - Oct 18
The Church has announced the groundbreaking for the Maceio Brazil Temple:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/groundbreaking-date-maceio-brazil-temple
Weekly Stake update 7/20/2026 :
Porto Alegre Brazil Partenon Stake renamed the Porto Alegre Brazil East Stake
Likasi / Kikula – Possible New Stake This Weekend (Jul 26)
Just a quick reminder for those tracking upcoming units:
Both the Kikula DR Congo Stake and Likasi DR Congo Stake are holding their conferences this weekend, July 25–26. This is the only synchronized conference window for these two stakes this year.
Structurally, both stakes currently list ~10 wards each, plus several branches. This puts them in the typical range for a 3‑stake configuration in the Likasi–Kikula corridor. Matt previously noted a possible “Likasi 3rd Stake” in the pipeline, though no date was attached.
Worth watching this Sunday.
The fall conferences (Kikula Nov 29, Likasi Dec 6) are staggered, so a November/December reorganization is unlikely. If a new stake is created, it will almost certainly be during the shared July conference.
I’ll update once confirmation appears in CDOL or the unit directory.
Likasi DRC
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/416061
Kikula DRC
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2175045
For Matt's post, see 2026 New Stakes sidebar.
https://www.facebook.com/events/2416604895502311
I agree here. One of these stakes could easily spilt by itself, and the other has a good number of wards. A 2-->3 split this weekend makes all sorts of sense.
Weekend Administrative Watch — Top 3 Most Likely (July 25–26, 2026)
1. Likasi, DR Congo — Strong Public Indicators
A multi‑stake conference is being held in the Kikula–Likasi area with full leadership participation. Public information suggests significant administrative activity may occur, but no official announcement has been made.
As mentioned in detail above.
2. Monkayo, Philippines — High Signal Profile
Monkayo District shows the strongest pattern this weekend: a formal conference poster, Elder Deyro presiding, scheduled leadership meetings, and a 7‑branch footprint. These elements align with past pre‑stake weekends, though nothing is confirmed.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/613959
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02X4uZeYrd7q1TQEk47u6whj7XtsqcvyHWEzUuxD4APJ1v1Zoz82LPcEpsDFkBbBspl&id=61565618183524
3. Balayan, Philippines — Moderate Signal Profile
Balayan has also published a formal poster, with Elder Costales presiding and leadership meetings planned. The district has 6 branches—on the lower end structurally—but the social signals are stronger than a typical rotation.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/614637
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=122326787600240257&set=pcb.122326609694240257
Mwanza Tanzania also seems likely to become a stake, given a conference last month and another this weekend.
Yeah, Caleb, the branch count is definitely notable.
Curious to see how things develop there.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2236230
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61580688505936
I hate bursting bubbles, but do we know of any stakes that have been organized by area seventies? It seems one of the "General Authority Seventies" always comes, given the Church News writeups of new stakes. So this would make me put Likasi and Mwanza as higher than Monkayo and Balayan on odds, since the last two have an area 70 visiting authority and the former two haven't made that information public that I know of.
Comparison of temples page has been split and updated in Wikipedia with Temple milestones being the page that was created. Below are lists comparing temples in Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_temples_(LDS_Church)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_milestones_(LDS_Church)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_temples_by_geographic_region_(LDS_Church)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_temples_in_the_United_States_(LDS_Church)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_temples_(LDS_Church)
Some other lists in Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membership_statistics_(LDS_Church)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_membership_statistics_(LDS_Church)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membership_history_of_the_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_(LDS_Church)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints_in_[Type country, nonadjacent territory, or US State in place of these brackets]
Chris D.
Weekly Stake update 7/20/2026 :
Porto Alegre Brazil Partenon Stake renamed the Porto Alegre Brazil East Stake
July 20, 2026 at 5:24 PM
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/520527
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