tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post1990979965001188577..comments2024-03-29T08:40:04.337-06:00Comments on Growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church): Stake Growth: 1950-PresentMatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16030323360917985701noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-56271721092630483692016-12-17T11:01:22.314-07:002016-12-17T11:01:22.314-07:00In Midvale Utah there are some non-contiguous ward...In Midvale Utah there are some non-contiguous wards. Also, there were non-contiguous wards in the Provo Utah Sharon East Stake when I was in that stake back in 2005. It is a bit less complex now with less BYU owned married student housing to worry about aligning.<br /><br />John Pack Lamberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05086707132348039415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-17136183212406731822016-12-17T10:57:21.440-07:002016-12-17T10:57:21.440-07:00There are a few cases in the Wasatch front area wh...There are a few cases in the Wasatch front area where they form branches that cover apartment complexes. This is fairly rare. At one point in downtown Salt Lake in the Ensign stake they had a designated ward for families with children between about 8 and 18 because there were so few children of that age in the entire stake.<br /><br />I know trying to balance number of youths in a ward is sometimes done, as is sometimes the motivation behind stake boundary realignments. <br /><br />On the other hand here in Michigan being a renter does not mean someone is likely to leave the ward soon. It more often means they will move multiple times within the ward.John Pack Lamberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05086707132348039415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-64493610273626324822016-12-17T10:48:50.421-07:002016-12-17T10:48:50.421-07:00I meant one of 3 districts and 1 stake for the Pay...I meant one of 3 districts and 1 stake for the Paynesville Liberia District in the Monrovia metro area.John Pack Lamberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05086707132348039415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-44726684136889886152016-12-16T00:04:27.205-07:002016-12-16T00:04:27.205-07:00We have had a most happy and miraculous resolution...We have had a most happy and miraculous resolution to some of our struggles, I am happy to report. The nature of the miracle we received is almost overwhelming. You can read all the details in my latest comment on my most recent blog post. Thanks to all who offered prayers and expressions of sympathy and support.James G. Stokeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13331619300918542708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-60425127606325769822016-12-14T23:55:28.119-07:002016-12-14T23:55:28.119-07:00That is what TempleRick is forecasting. I have had...That is what TempleRick is forecasting. I have had many reasons to do several rapid-fire blog posts on a variety of topics within the last 48 hours alone. I would appreciate any continued views and feedback of those posts. One of them was an annual post I have done around Christmastime. Many of them have been temple-related. A couple of them have been about the struggles my wife and I are having on health and financial fronts. As a result of these struggles, I would very much appreciate any and all prayers on our behalf. I so very much appreciate Matt being willing to allow me to advertise these posts on my blog. I include the address for those who have not read any of my comments previously made to advertise my blog posts. Thanks.<br /><br />http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.comJames G. Stokeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13331619300918542708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-28059409847747198032016-12-14T07:17:28.299-07:002016-12-14T07:17:28.299-07:00I live in the boundaries of the Jordan River Templ...I live in the boundaries of the Jordan River Temple. I have heard from multiple people that the renovation is expected to take longer than first thought due to complications. Perhaps this would push the dedications out to early 2018.coachodeepshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08168822498180000486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-76164421273107823872016-12-14T04:10:18.402-07:002016-12-14T04:10:18.402-07:00Interesting thoughts to be sure. Thanks, Eduardo! ...Interesting thoughts to be sure. Thanks, Eduardo! I could definitely see a case for one or possibly several additional Chilean temples within the next little while. Antofagasta would make a lot of sense in terms of the distance issue. Vina del Mar is an excellent option for the reasons you outlined. I could also see the case for a temple in Osorno, Puerto Montt, or Punta Arenas. I have listed a possible temple for Neuquen for a variety of reasons. I appreciate the feedback, both on my blog and here. I will continue to consider my options. Eduardo, you are only the second person to comment on a possible additional temple or two for Chile. I am waiting to hear more about the growth in Chile and about other factors affecting where such a future temple might be located. I will keep your above comment in mind and do my level best to make the most informed choice possible about what I believe the best location for Chile's next temple should be. Since I just barely mentioned the option on my blog six hours ago or less, I want to give plenty of others the opportunity to give feedback about their thoughts on this issue before I attempt to reach any final decision of any kind. Thanks, as always, for the feedback.James G. Stokeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13331619300918542708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-73275507829376857992016-12-14T03:36:21.055-07:002016-12-14T03:36:21.055-07:00Antofogasta would be the best place for a new Chil...Antofogasta would be the best place for a new Chilean temple, in my opinion, in the spirit of helping membership go to a temple within two hundred miles. The northern regions of Chile are very far away from Santiago or further north Arequipa.<br />Vina del Mar would be better for access than a second Santiago Temple as well. Even though the new Concepcion Temple will be great for the south, a temple in Osorno or Puerto Montt or even further down towards Punta Arenas would be needed for member access. Neuquen would be a decent option for the Chilean side.<br />I hope the Concepcion Temple boosts activity across the south.<br />It needs it.Eduardohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05019747288076783700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-85467867446387497462016-12-14T00:00:14.122-07:002016-12-14T00:00:14.122-07:00I have, upon recommendation from a comment on my b...I have, upon recommendation from a comment on my blog, added three possible future temple sites in Chile (in either Antofagasta, Valparaiso, or Santiago (which would be a a 2nd temple for that city, and which I feel cannot be ruled out or overlooked, given the recent precedent set by the announcement of another temple for Lima Peru)) I would welcome continued feedback on any or all of these points. Thanks.James G. Stokeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13331619300918542708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-58452229455627143272016-12-13T23:30:08.378-07:002016-12-13T23:30:08.378-07:00Encourage people to help index for family search. ...Encourage people to help index for family search. It does not take a huge time commitment. Even a few minutes here and there will help tremendously. This is important to making records searchable in preparing names for the temple. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-1421239163698198542016-12-13T21:36:37.208-07:002016-12-13T21:36:37.208-07:00For what it's worth, I have also done one addi...For what it's worth, I have also done one additional blog post just barely regarding my best-guess estimate for when future site announcements and groundbreakings may take place within the next year. I would appreciate any and all feedback on this post as well. Thanks.<br /><br />http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2016/12/my-best-guess-estimation-for-when.htmlJames G. Stokeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13331619300918542708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-44800899916331004612016-12-13T21:08:07.454-07:002016-12-13T21:08:07.454-07:00Mike Johnson, for some reason, in my comment above...Mike Johnson, for some reason, in my comment above, I completely spaced the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple rededication. Thanks for that reminder.James G. Stokeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13331619300918542708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-8480529873288071802016-12-13T21:04:48.532-07:002016-12-13T21:04:48.532-07:00Paris is set for dedication on 21 May 2017.
Merid...Paris is set for dedication on 21 May 2017.<br /><br />Meridian, Cedar City, and Tucson are likely to be dedicated in 2017.<br /><br />Under renovation now, Idaho Falls is set for rededication on 4 June 2017. Jordan River likely will be dedicated in 2017.<br /><br />Mike Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10025612146815804945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-68212205745416406842016-12-13T21:03:37.259-07:002016-12-13T21:03:37.259-07:00The following four temples are projected to be com...The following four temples are projected to be completed in 2017: Paris France (scheduled to be dedicated on May 20), Meridian Idaho, Cedar City Utah, and Tucson Arizona. Additionally, one rededication is anticipated to take place in 2017 for the Jordan River Utah Temple. Among my many temple-related blog post that I have recently done is one estimating the timetable in which temple events may be announced and take place within 2017 and 2018. I would welcome any feedback on those posts. Given the new information from Rick Satterfield about the imminence of a site announcement and a subsequent groundbreaking taking place for the Harare Zimbabwe temple within the early months of 2017, another such update will likely be needed as soon as more information is available. Hope that answers your question. Let me know if you need more information. In the meantime, if it helps, I am including once again a link to the post I did regarding the timetable of such future events being announced and scheduled. As I said, with the information about the Harare Zimbabwe Temple that has recently been made available, it will likely be necessary for me to revisit this as a topic for yet another new blog post. For the moment, the link to the latest version I did of it is posted below. Again, I hope you will enjoy it and that this information proves to be helpful to you. Thanks.<br /><br />http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2016/12/altered-predictions-for-when-most.htmlJames G. Stokeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13331619300918542708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-1142357247148200962016-12-13T20:33:43.658-07:002016-12-13T20:33:43.658-07:00What are the temples projected to be dedicated in ...What are the temples projected to be dedicated in 2017?Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15437446356877845822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-83088560457257995012016-12-13T19:34:00.520-07:002016-12-13T19:34:00.520-07:00For a variety of reasons (primarily additional res...For a variety of reasons (primarily additional research and study I have done and the many, many wonderful comments on my work), I have felt a need to revise, revisit, and post anew my updated list of locations that I feel are most imminent to have a temple soon announced. My previous post on the subject generated by far the most views and the most comments from any other posts I have done during the entirety of the time I have been blogging. I would very much appreciate any feedback on this updated and revised list. I would prefer, as I have always said, if that feedback was given directly at the location of that new blog posts, but, as I've also repeatedly said, I have no objection whatsoever, as long as Matt doesn't have a problem with it, if that feedback comes on any or all of Matt's most recent posts. Thanks to all who will so comment. Your feedback is the reason why I can do what I have been able to do, to whatever degree of success I have achieved. However that feedback comes, I hope that no one will hesitate at all to let me know their thoughts on my work. Such feedback helps me in my efforts to continue to fine-tune my predictions to be the very best they can be. Thanks for visiting!<br /><br />http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2016/12/revised-list-of-cities-for-which-i-feel.htmlJames G. Stokeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13331619300918542708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-17782854975305147492016-12-12T21:54:20.453-07:002016-12-12T21:54:20.453-07:00The apartment complex idea is a valid point. In La...The apartment complex idea is a valid point. In Layton there are a few large complexes that were divided among the various wards due to turnover, inactivity rates, lower percentages of AFTPMPHs and welfare concerns. This gave balance to what could have been several very well to do economically and much fewer concerns of the issues listed above while others the Bishop would have been greatly challenged to keep up wits the demand rise things bring.<br /><br />I have been involved with a stake creating a few new wards in the Layton area along with two stakes shrinking the number of wards. Each are unique in situation. When speaking to the stake president about how they came to the conclusion to split the wards he said it was based on several factors including AFTPMPHs, number of youth per ward and making the boundaries contiguous and somewhat following the boundaries of other governmenthings areas or school boundaries.<br /><br />This was similar to when I discussed the shrinking of the wards in a stake. This also included the idea of how many active members were in the boundaries and the potential of move outs (apartment complexes and age of members-to factor in death), along with home teaching numbers. coachodeepshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08168822498180000486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-11978206312961527842016-12-12T17:53:15.975-07:002016-12-12T17:53:15.975-07:00As expected, this conversation continues to be mos...As expected, this conversation continues to be most enlightening and inspiring. I would like to personally thank all who have been contributing. I have learned more in the last week about the nuances of Church growth than I've ever known during the entirety of my now almost 30 years of life. Thanks for contributing so much to my knowledge and understand on the subject.James G. Stokeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13331619300918542708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-3909810631724035532016-12-12T17:09:58.030-07:002016-12-12T17:09:58.030-07:00Handbook 1 only has the active full tithe paying M...Handbook 1 only has the active full tithe paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders and total number of members.<br /><br />That said, I think local leaders care about other factors as well. Our ward split after having built to the point where we could not fit everybody attending in the chapel, cultural hall, and font room. But, we only had about 500 members in the ward with about 90% active and 65% average Sacrament Meeting attendance. A member of the stake presidency told me that our ward was the stake's biggest problem (I remember responding that that is a good problem to have). I suspect if we had had 600 or more members, more than 30 AFTPMPHs, and 200 attending there would have been no incentive for the stake to put in the application to split the ward. <br /><br />I remember that in my brother's ward in Cottonwood Creek, the ward had a portion of a big apartment complex. My brother told me that most of the wards in the stake had a piece of the apartment complex. I asked why they didn't carve wards out of the apartment complex and his answer was that it had too much turnover.Mike Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10025612146815804945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-37661679962809572672016-12-12T15:55:24.552-07:002016-12-12T15:55:24.552-07:00On a side note, I did live in a ward outside of Ut...On a side note, I did live in a ward outside of Utah where many of the members were students from out of state pursuing graduate degrees. The ward was fairly large, at least compared to other wards in the area, but there was no desire to split the ward. At the time I suspected that this was due to the constant turnover of the members and the unreliability of whether enough new families would move into the ward each school year to replace the number of families that moved away. Are these factors considered when the church decides whether to split a ward? I have never been involved with splitting a ward to know what factors are considered apart from the number of full tithe paying melchizedek priesthood holder requirements and total number of members. BYULAWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04198559151818993348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-4746808137030584752016-12-12T15:51:09.678-07:002016-12-12T15:51:09.678-07:00Interesting theory BYULAW. I would be looking at ...Interesting theory BYULAW. I would be looking at presumably your current city of Provo to study that theory because Provo arguably has the highest concentration of membership living in apartments than probably anywhere else in the world. Students at BYU can and do change apartments every semester. But it's not just BYU. Lots of other young adult members that are not required to attend church live in Provo/Orem (i.e, UVU). Thus, there are many, many wards that are almost entirely (if not completely) rental housing with many of their leaders living outside ward boundaries.Ohhappydane33https://www.blogger.com/profile/07783098797978517423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-56487487968432194612016-12-12T15:40:58.694-07:002016-12-12T15:40:58.694-07:00No scientific data to back this up, but I have obs...No scientific data to back this up, but I have observed that a lot of the recent housing developments, at least in Salt Lake County, take the form of apartment complexes, townhouses, retirement communities, and other non-single-family homes. I read a news article in the Salt Lake Tribune a couple months ago that there was a high demand for renting in the Salt Lake Valley. Perhaps housing developers are putting more resources toward building townhouses and apartments instead of single family homes because of this high demand? If this is the case, does the church treat such housing developments the same way they treat single family residences with respect to ward splitting? I'm not aware of any policy, but my observation, at least in Utah, is that there is a hesitancy to create wards where the majority of the members live in housing units other than single-family residencies. I suspect this has to do with leadership and stability. If there is a lot of turnover with members moving in and out frequently, there may not be much confidence that a new ward will be able to function long term. I've also been in church meetings where leadership has discussed the difficulty in motivating members to invest time and resources to fellowshipping a less active member who is renting and likely to move out of the ward in six months. So, perhaps activity rates are lower in wards with non-traditional housing? If so, this could also be a factor in why fewer new units are being created in Utah.BYULAWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04198559151818993348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-4647266709092046412016-12-12T14:53:06.183-07:002016-12-12T14:53:06.183-07:00I see how the Gainesville Stake has only 6 wards; ...I see how the Gainesville Stake has only 6 wards; I predict that the Tall Cedars Ward, at least, is looking to split relatively soon. With an average of 500 members each, they probably have over 3,000 members, but based on residential growth they should grow faster than the wards closer to DC.<br />Loudoun County is probably left with 80 percent of its population within the Ashburn Stake. Only 3 buildings. I know Oakton Stake has a plot purchased near Hunter Mill Road. Maybe Ashburn Stake is looking for a new place, too.Eduardohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05019747288076783700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-63667638216670989662016-12-12T14:04:02.200-07:002016-12-12T14:04:02.200-07:00No, the stakes in Layton/Kaysville are not that la...No, the stakes in Layton/Kaysville are not that large. The only two that comes close to 14 wards are Syracuse West and Farmington West with 12 wards. The biggest stakes in both Layton and Kaysville each have 10 wards. One could argue that 10 is larger than average, but not extraordinarily so, as there are hundreds of stakes in the world with 10 wards.Ohhappydane33https://www.blogger.com/profile/07783098797978517423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-22057410427445778342016-12-12T13:59:53.942-07:002016-12-12T13:59:53.942-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Ohhappydane33https://www.blogger.com/profile/07783098797978517423noreply@blogger.com