- 2007 - 2,790 +45
- 2006 - 2,745 +44
- 2005 - 2,701 +36
- 2004 - 2,665 +41
- 2003 - 2,624 +22
- 2002 - 2,602 -5
- 2001 - 2,607 +26
- 2000 - 2,581 +39
- 1999 - 2,542 +37
- 1998 - 2,505 +81
- 1997 - 2,424 +128
- 1996 - 2,296 +146
- 1995 - 2,150 +142
- 1994 - 2,008 +40
- 1993 - 1,968 +49
- 1992 - 1,919 +82
- 1991 - 1,837 +53
- 1990 - 1,784 +45
- 1989 - 1,739 +32
- 1988 - 1,707 +41
- 1987 - 1,666 +44
- 1986 - 1,622 +40
- 1985 - 1,582 +75
- 1984 - 1,507 +49
- 1983 - 1,458 +66
- 1982 - 1,392 +71
- 1981 - 1,321 +103
- 1980 - 1,288 +126
- 1979 - 1,092 +102
- 1978 - 990 +105
- 1977 - 885 +87
- 1976 - 798 +61
- 1975 - 737
As for this year thus far, there have not been many stakes created. On the Church's official website lds.org, the temple district lists have been updated slower than usual for the international temples (which may be a reason why for the lack of new stakes this year). However this month we have seen a larger number of new stakes created from what I know. The overall trend over the past five years has been a positive one, with 45 new stakes added last year (actually 50 were created, but five were dissolved).
From the above information, it is clear that around 40 new stakes a created a year and then every so often 100 stakes a created a year for a few years. The average number of new stakes created a year since 1975 is 66 and the average number of congregations created a year is 635. Something that I have noticed is that a good rule of thumb to know if healthy growth is occurring is when there are 10 congregations created for every stake created. This 10 to 1 ratio has held fairly true over the past five years and is a good predictor of how many new congregations are created in a year (if you know the number of stakes organized).
Lastly, I wanted to comment on the noticeable drop in 2002 of five stakes. Around 20 or so stakes were created this year, but the number of dissolved stakes exceeded this number. Please refer to my post I made back on March 2nd for more information.
3 comments:
Question, were the standards for creating a stake, say 20 years ago, less stringent than they are now? It seemed in the Philippines they split a lot of stakes really fast back in the day even though they may not have been as ready as the require today.
Yes, standards for creating stakes are much higher today than they were even 15 years ago. I do not know what the standards were back then or earlier, but I believe all stakes had to have at least 100 active, tithe-paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders to operate. Stakes also require a certain number of Melchizedek Priesthood holders in each ward as well. Today most stakes must have at least 120 active Melchizedek Priesthood holders to create a buffer in case some members move away or go inactive. It appears that many districts which become stakes are much more functional than their counterparts even ten years ago as I have received reports of some districts having over 1,000 attending a conference to organize a stake from a district. Standards for creating stakes in the United States has also recently increased, require 50% more members than in stakes outside the United States/Canada.
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