New Stake in Brazil; New District in Nigeria

Brazil
On September 21st, a new stake was created in Brazil. The Goiânia Brazil South Stake was organized from a division of the Goiânia Brazil Stake and the Goiânia Brazil North Stake, and includes the following five wards: the Aparecida, Garavelo, Hidrolândia, Independência, and Vila Brasília Wards. There are now three stakes in the Goiânia metropolitan area, and four stakes and one districts in Goiás State.

The Church in Brazil currently reports 252 stakes and 40 districts.

Nigeria
On September 14th, the Church organized a new district in Nigeria. The Abakaliki Nigeria District was organized from mission branches located in the Nigeria Enugu Mission and includes the following four branches: the Abakaliki, Afikpo 1st, Afikpo 2nd, and Okposi Branches. The new district becomes the Church's first district to ever operate in Ebonyi State, Nigeria - home to approximately 2.5 million people.

There are now 25 stakes and 21 districts in Nigeria.

3,100 Stakes

In September, the Church reached the milestone of 3,100 stakes. The Church reached 3,000 stakes in December 2012, indicating that it has taken less than two years for the number of stakes to increase by 100. For the past four years (2011-2014) the Church has had a net increase of 45 or more stakes a year. This is the longest streak of larger numbers of stakes being created within a four-year time period since the four-year period including the years 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998. As stakes have the most rigorous standards for member activity rates, this recent development suggests some real, measurable progress in rectifying some inactivity and convert attrition problems.

With three more months remaining in 2014, this year is shaping out to be the largest net increase in the number of stakes since 1998. Currently 50 stakes have been organized in 2014, with many more to be created in the coming month or two. I predict that we may experience a net increase of 70 stakes in 2014 as new stake creations generally pick up in November in December based on recent trends over the past few years.

New Stakes Created in Arizona, Brazil, Guatemala, Pennsylvania, Philippines, and Texas; New Districts Created in Ghana and Venezuela

I have gotten a bit behind with making posts on new stakes and districts created. Hopefully this includes all of them.

NEW STAKES

Arizona
On September 21st, the Church created a new stake in Arizona. The Queen Creek Arizona West Stake was created from the Queen Creek Arizona, Queen Creek Arizona Chandler Heights, and the Queen Creek Arizona North Stakes and includes the following eight wards: the Cortina 1st, Cortina 2nd, Cortina 3rd, Cortina 4th, Hawes, Ocotillo, Remington Heights, and Sossaman Estates Wards.

There are now 97 stakes in Arizona.

Brazil
On August 31st, the Church created the a new stake in Minas Gerais State. The Ipatinga Brazil Stake from the Ipatinga Brazil District. The new stake includes the following five wards and two branches: the Bethânia, Esperança, Governador Valadares, Ipatinga, and João Monlevade Wards, and the Caratinga and Coronel Fabriciano Branches.

There are now 11 stakes and six districts in Minas Gerais, and 251 stakes and 40 districts in Brazil.

Guatemala
On July 6th, the Church created a new stake in western Guatemala. The Huehuetenango Guatemala Central Stake was organized from a division of the Huehuetenango Guatemala Calvario and Huehuetenango Guatemala Zaculeu Stakes and includes the following five wards and two branches: the Cerrito del Maíz, El Centro, El Prado, La Viña, and Las Flores Wards, and the Malacatancito and Tojocas Branches.

There are now 43 stakes and 17 districts in Guatemala.

Pennsylvania
On September 7th, the Church organized its third stake in the Pittsburgh area. The Pittsburgh Pennsylvania West Stake was organized from the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Stake and includes the following six wards: the Pittsburgh 2nd, Pittsburgh 5th, Pittsburgh 6th, Washington, Wheeling, and Wintersville Wards. The last new stake to be created in Pittsburgh was in 1978.

There are now 12 stakes in Pennsylvania.

Philippines
On September 14th, the Church created two new stakes in the Philippines.

The Davao Philippines West Stake was organized from the Davao Philippines Stake and includes the following five wards and two branches: the Calinan, Mintal 1st, Mintal 2nd, Toril 1st, and Toril 2nd Wards, and the Ladian and Tamugan Branches. The Church has experienced rapid congregational growth in western Davao within recent years, and Davao now appears as a likely candidate for a temple to service Mindanao.

The Escalante Philippines Stake was organized from the Escalante Philippines District. No information is currently available on which of the seven branches became wards. The Escalante Philippines District was originally organized in 1994.

There are now 92 stakes and 80 districts in the Philippines.

Texas
On September 14th, the Church created a new stake in the Texas Panhandle. The Lubbock Texas North Stake was organized from the Lubbock Texas and Roswell New Mexico Stake and includes the following five wards and three branches: the Clovis, Frenship Mesa, Heritage, Portales, and Shadow Hills Wards, and the El Llano (Spanish), Plainview, and Quaker Heights (Spanish) Branches. The new stakes becomes the first new stake in the Texas Panhandle since 1981.

There are now 62 stakes and three districts in Texas.

NEW DISTRICTS

Ghana
On September 14th, the Church created a new district in Ghana. The Ho Ghana District was organized from the Kpong Ghana District and includes three branches: the Ho 1st, Ho 2nd, and Tsito Branches. The Church has experienced rapid growth in the Volta Region of Ghana and the new Ho Ghana District becomes the first district in this administrative division of more than 2.1 million people. The Church has also recently opened to member groups in Kpando and Hohoe, which may also become integrated into the district when these member groups become branches.

There are now 12 stakes and nine districts in Ghana.

Venezuela
On September 28th, the Church created a new district in Venezuela. The La Fria Venezuela District was organized from the San Cristóbal Venezuela Pirineos Stake and includes the following three branches: the Coloncito, La Fría, and La Grita Branches. The Church once operated a district in La Fria from 1999 to 2012. The reestablishment of the district may indicate problems with stake leaders effectively administering these three branches, resulting in a need for mission leaders to undertake this task.

There are now 34 stakes and seven districts in Venezuela.

September 2014 Newsletter

We have just posted the September edition of our newsletter for cumorah.com detailing recent church growth developments and new resources posted on our website. The newsletter can be accessed here.

Clear and Convincing Progress in the Philippines Reversing Stagnant LDS Growth

There have been many recent LDS growth developments in the Philippines that indicate the Church has taken a significant turn in achieving "real growth." Some of these developments include:

• A net increase of 26 congregations (21 wards and 5 branches) so far in 2014. This is the largest increase in congregations in a single year for the Philippines since 2001.
• The creation of 12 new stakes since 2010. The last time as many new stakes were created in as short of a time period in the Philippines was from 1999 to 2001.
• The opening of member groups in dozens of lesser-reached or previously unreached locations within the past few years.
• The number of full-time missionaries assigned to the Philippines increases from 2,600 in early 2013 to 4,300 in early 2014. 
• The number of Filipino members serving full-time missions reaching 2,425 at year-end 2013. 
• Significant improvements in various activity measurements, such as sacrament meeting attendance and the number of temple recommend holders.

With membership recently surpassing 700,000 members and the total number of stakes nearing 100 (92 at present), the Church has significant opportunities for growth in the near future due to increasing numbers of missionaries serving, focus on higher baptismal standards and member-missionary participation, and the opening of member groups and branches in additional locations. All this recent progress has occurred despite no increase in the number of converts baptized between 2010 and 2013. Many districts appear likely to become stakes within the next year or two. Also, the Church may announced new temples in additional cities due to recent growth, such as Bacolod, Davao (instead of Cagayan de Oro), and Naga.

Click here to access a case study I wrote for cumorah.com on recent LDS growth developments in the Philippines. This case study article was written last April.

The cumorah.com LDS International Atlas page for the Philippines can be found here, and the statistical profile for the Philippines can be found here.

New Temple Prediction Map

As part of my biannual tradition to discuss likely predictions for new temples that may be announced in General Conference, I have included my most recent map of locations which I think are most likely to have temples announced within the foreseeable future. I have not added any new locations to this map within the past six months as there have not appeared to have been any major developments during this period that would warrant additional locations to be added to the map. However, the formation of new stakes in Southeast Asia and Cape Verde during this period suggest that both of these locations appear more probable for future temples in the coming years.

Based on President Monson's statements last conference about the Church concentrating on completing temples that have already been announced or that are under construction, I do not predict that any temples will be announced this coming October General Conference. However, if any temples are announced, I would predict the following five as the most likely based on recent church growth developments:

1. Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
2. Praia, Cape Verde
3. Puebla, Mexico
4. Pocatello, Idaho
5. Bangkok, Thailand or Phnom Penh, Cambodia

View Potential New Temples in a larger map

General Conference Talks in Other Languages

Several news media outlets such as the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune report that beginning this October General Conference, the Church will permit speakers to give their talks in their native language. Cited as an example of the internationalization of the LDS Church, this change in policy has been long overdue and may improve the perception of the compatibility of the Church with other cultures and societies. Additionally, this development may indicate that additional progress will be made with the calling of General Authorities who do not speak English at all in the coming months and years ahead.

The Church has made some significant progress translating its General Conference proceedings to a wider audience. In 1988, General Conference was translated into only 12 languages (see article). Currently the Church reports that proceedings are translated into 94 languages, although only 70 of these languages can be accessed via the Church's website.

Utilizing English as the Church's language for administration has significantly simplified its operations, but has also conveyed a sense that it is Ameri-centric and reinforces centralization. I am curious what steps the Church will take to translate General Conference talks given in the speaker's native language into languages other than English. I imagine that these talks will likely be translated first into English, and then into other languages. The Church has utilized Spanish translations for many years to translate talks into Amerindian languages such as Aymara, Q'eqchi', and Quichua, and this pattern would likely be easiest and most efficient for translation. However, like a game of telephone, nuances and deeper meanings may be lost through this process, which creates challenges for maintaining doctrinal purity and ensuring translations are accurate.

On a topic related to translation work, the Church recently updated its statistical page on mormonnewsroom.org and now reports 189 published languages. This new total is 13 higher than the total provided in 2011. Unfortunately, the Church has not published a comprehensive list of all languages into which it has translated at least one church material. If anyone has information on what languages have recently had materials translated, please comment. See here for my missiology encyclopedia entry on "Languages with LDS Materials."

First New Stake Created in Chile Since 1998

Last Sunday, the Church organized a new stake in Chile. The Coquimbo Chile Stake was organized from the Coquimbo Chile District and most of the six branches became wards. This marks a significant development for the Church in Chile as no new stakes have been organized in the country since the massive consolidation of 42 stakes between 2000 and 2005. The creation of the Coquimbo Chile Stake may signal at least some tangible improvements in member activity rates in some locations. However, the Church in Chile has experienced a net decline in the number of wards and branches thus far in 2014, indicating ongoing problems with rectifying some of the most problematic member activity and convert retention problems ever experienced in the worldwide Church.

There are now 75 stakes and 21 districts in Chile.

Second Stake Created in the Republic of the Congo

Last Sunday, a new stake was created in the Republic of the Congo. The second stake to ever operate in the country, the Makelekele Republic of Congo Stake was organized from a division of the Brazzaville Republic of Congo Stake and includes the following five wards: the BaCongo, Guynemer, Kinsoundi, Makelekele, and Mfilou Wards. The Church originally organized the Brazzaville Republic of Congo Stake in 2003.

First LDS Member Group Opens in the Northern DR Congo

Mission leaders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Kinshasa Mission report that a member group now assembles in Kisangani and that 32 converts were recently baptized into the group. The operation of the Kisangani Group constitutes the first time that the Church has operated in the northern half of the DR Congo and has occurred shortly after the Church organized its first member group in Bukavu located near the Burundi/Rwanda border.

See below for a map of known LDS congregations in the DR Congo outside of Kinshasa and Lubumbashi.



View Wards and Branches outside of Kinshasa and Lubumbashi (DR Congo) in a larger map