Two Sundays ago, the Church created a new stake in Utah. The Highland Utah Central Stake appeared to be created from at least two stakes in the Highland area, including the Highland Utah West Stake. I will post which units are assigned to the new stake as a comment once this information becomes available.
There are now 565 stakes and one district in Utah.
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Highland Utah Central Stake was created on 3 November and has 8 wards:
Highland 5th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, and 28th
Wards for the new Highland Utah Central Stake came from both the Highland and Highland West Stakes.
So in my stake there are three wards that probably need to be split soon due to a huge increase in the number of new homes being built and families moving in. My ward fills up the stake center chapel and almost to the half court line of the gym with new families moving in every month. There are also 2 wards in the stake that are bigger than ours. However, each meeting house in the stake already has 3 wards. There also aren't enough classrooms for the primary, and classes are held in any room possible, kitchen included. I've heard there may be some reluctance to split the wards since there isn't a new meetinghouse under construction to put the new wards in, and it people might not want to have church at 3:00. What is the church's approach to building a new meetinghouse? Do the three wards have to split before the church will build one, or do wards typically wait until new buildings are built before they split?
Thanks
October and Year-to-date congregational growth:
October: +32 (+45 W - 13 br) + 3 stakes
US: + 15 (+19 W - 4 br) + 0 stakes
Outside US: + 17 (+26 W - 9 br) + 3 stakes - 1 dist.
YTD + 228 (+246 to Nov 16)
+ 244 W - 16 br + 3 stakes - 1 dist (-2 + 1 dist)
US: + 104 (+ 115 W - 11 br) + 8 stakes
Outside US: + 124 (+129 W - 5 br) + 26 stakes - 17 districts (most discontinued districts becoming stakes)
[2012 congregational growth through Oct.: +173]
It is great to read about LDS growth, whether in the heartland or outside the "Zion curtain" ( I don't think that term is very accurate nor do I agree with it, but thought provoking.)
They don't need to have church at 3 PM. Just have Church at 8,10 12 and 2. I Saw it down that way on my mission in several of the buildings.
BYULAW,
You sound like you live in the Red Rock Stake in Las Vegas, Nevada. I have friends in the stake and they describe their wards (three of them) exactly the way you have described them. And there is no new meetinghouse under construction.
Meanwhile the Northeast Area leadership is assessing what buildings (about 2000 in the area) are being over- or under-utilized, and trying to determine where their centers of strength really are.
There are 1276 wards and branches in the North America Northeast Area.
There are 909 buildings with wards or branches meeting in them in the North America Northeast Area:
635 with 1 congregation
195 with 2
70 with 3
7 with 4
1 with 5
1 with 6 (at Southern Virginia University)
This includes at least one military chapel, one Methodist Church, and one shopping center store. Others probably aren't owned by the Church as well.
Hey Mike I am trying to find a new ward that was recently created in Benin City, Nigeria. Any idea on what the name is and what stake it is in? Thanks!
The Ovwian Branch, Warri Nigeria Stake, was created on 17 November. There are now 5 wards and 4 branches in the stake:
Effurun Ward
Orhuwhorun Ward
Ugborikoko Ward
Ughelli Ward
Warri Ward
Ekete Branch
Ovwian Branch
Ubeji Branch
Ugboroke Branch
The Santa Clarita 2nd Branch (Spanish), Santa Clarita California Stake, was created on 17 November. There are now 7 wards and 1 branch in the stake:
Canyon Country 1st Ward
Canyon Country 2nd Ward
Mint Canyon Ward
Santa Clarita YSA Ward
Saugus 2nd Ward
Saugus 3rd Ward
Solemint Ward
Santa Clarita 2nd Branch (Spanish)
Matt, in addition to the Warri Nigeria Stake (and the new branch in it), the Nigeria Benin City Mission covers the following stakes:
Benin City Nigeria Ihogbe Stake
Evbuotubu Ward
Ihogbe 1st Ward
Ihogbe 2nd Ward
Oliha Ward
Uzebu 1st Ward
Uzebu 2nd Ward
West Circular Ward
Benin City Nigeria Ikpokpan Stake
Adesuwa 1st Ward
Adesuwa 2nd Ward
Evbuoriaria Ward
Ikpokpan Ward
Sokponba Ward
Ugbekun Ward
Ugbor Ward
Upper Sokponba Ward
Benin City Nigeria New Benin Stake
Aduwawa Ward
Eghosa 1st Ward
Eghosa 2nd Ward
Esigie Ward
Igun 1st Ward
Igun 2nd Ward
New Benin Ward
Ogbeson Ward
Ohovbe Ward
Oregbeni Ward
Benin City Nigeria Siluko Stake
Egor Ward
Ogida Ward
Orominyan Ward
Uwelu 1st Ward
Uwelu 2nd Ward
Uwelu 3rd Ward
Benin City Nigeria Ugbowo Stake
Adolor 1st Ward
Adolor 2nd Ward
Edaiken Ward
Evbareke Ward
Eweka Ward
Okhoro Ward
Oluku 1st Ward
Oluku 2nd Ward
Ugbowo 2nd Ward
Ugbowo 1st Ward
Evbuoneka Branch
I had previously reported the creation of the Igun 2nd Ward and the
Ogbeson Ward in October in the Benin City Nigeria New Benin Stake. All the rest of the wards/branch were in a full dump I made in June.
So, unless the new ward has yet to hit CDOL, I wonder if the Ovwian Branch, Warri Nigeria Stake isn't the congregation you are looking for.
Found it! The new ward is the Ugbekun Ward. Thanks Mike!
Either my stake president was off, or I heard him wrong. Anyway, it would be that 635 with one congregation that they are apparently a bit concerned about.
The Cedar City SA Ward, Cedar City Utah West Stake, was created on 17 November. There are now 8 wards in the stake:
Cedar 2nd Ward
Cedar 8th Ward
Cedar 9th Ward
Cedar 13th Ward
Cedar 17th Ward
Cedar 20th Ward
Cedar City SA Ward
Hamilton Fort Ward
The University Park Ward, Bradenton Florida Stake, was created on 17 November. There are now 7 wards and 5 branches in the stake:
Bradenton Ward
Palmetto Ward
Port Charlotte Ward
Sarasota Ward
Sarasota YSA Branch
Sebring Ward
University Park Ward
Venice Ward
Arcadia Branch
Beneva Branch (Spanish)
Cortez Branch (Spanish)
Peace River Branch (Spanish)
In Las Vegas they did go to having 4 wards in a building, partly by overlapping meeting times.
On the other hand, living here in Michigan where people have to travel upward of 40 minutes to get to church, I find it hard to have much sympathy for people in Utah having class in the kitchen. Especially since before the two new chapels were built in Detroit in 2006, branches were meeting in rented units that had all sorts of issues.
My stake underutilizes the stake center, with 1 ward and the YSA branch meeting in the building. I hate to say it, but the church could probably get away with selling the Southfield Building and relocating the Southfield Ward to the Bloomfield Hills building. I hate to say it because the part of Detroit I teach in is within the Southfiled Ward boundaries. If any of my public schools students were to join the church that would change their travel distance from 5 to 9 miles. Only the stake center is on a public transit line, but in theory the bus does not stop in Bloomfield Hills.
We have a messed up regional bus system, don't get me started on it.
The other option, which I like but doubt will happen, would be to split off the east end of the Southfield Ward as a branch. I am not sure Southfield Ward could go through that, but the people there clearly live closer to the stake center, often having travel times of significantly less than half of what it takes them to get to the Southfield Chapel.
On the other hand we have 3 wards meetings in one chapel, but they border a ward that has its own unsared chapel, or at least one of them does. In theory this is because of distance issues, but it is also because of pathological dislike of crossing 8 mile on the part of too many suburbanites. At least the unit with its own chapel crosses 8 mile (although with when they first did that change some people who were moved making comments to the effect "we were sent here because this branch needed fixing up", which at least in the context of Detroit came across as racial judgement, and lead to some African-American members of the branch being offended and going inactive, making those south of 8 mile have to deal with residents of Hazel "Tucky" at church is not an unmitigated good thing) still I have known members in that ward who refused to attend it because they just would not go south of 8 mile.
If I have analyzed right for the 4 stakes in the mission I live in (Michigan Detroit), we have 15 buildings with 1 unit, 9 with 2 units and 1 with 3 units. We also have an institute building that is not used for Sunday meetings at all, with the YSA ward meeting in a chapel that is located on the other side of the University of Michigan campus. Since 2010 we have had I think 3 buildings let go (I am not sure the church owned any of those, they were all for dissolved branches), and 4 wards disovled or consolidated so that one building that used to have 3 now only has 2 units, and 2 buildings that used to have 2 units now only have one.
The thing is those 635 are often either in rural areas where the next congregation is far away, or in urban areas, where many people do not have easy access to good transportation, and expecting them to travel even further to church, and missionaries to ask investigators to do so, just does not make sense.
Southfield might not look like either of those, but the part of it south of the ward south of 8 mile does. Plus although the city of Southfield is a nice, upstanding city, it is also over 70% African-American, and investigators will feel way better going there than going to Bloomfield Hills. I mean once me and my brother got pulled over just after leaving the stake center merely for the crime of driving a junky looking truck that made us suspected as robbers.
Too many people have been pulled over for the crime of DWB (Driving while Black) in places like Bloomfield Hills for us to have any missionary outreach chance if we give up chapels.
Anyway, with Elder Perry in the Mission President's training emphasizing the importance of touring the chapel as part of the investigator process, shouldn't we keep onto the chapel we do have?
The Thanksgiving Meadows 2nd Ward, Lehi Utah Gateway Stake, was created on 17 November. There are now 13 wards in the stake:
Cranberry Farms 1st Ward
Cranberry Farms 2nd Ward
Lehi 18th Ward
Lehi 21st Ward
Pilgrims Landing 1st Ward
Pilgrims Landing 2nd Ward
Pilgrims Landing 3rd Ward
Pilgrims Landing 4th Ward
Pointe Meadows 1st Ward
Pointe Meadows 2nd Ward
Thanksgiving Meadows 1st Ward
Thanksgiving Meadows 2nd Ward
Thanksgiving Village Ward
Was Poking around on Lds.org, Arizona, Glendale North, Stetson Valley Ward created.
I don't think it's the 635 one-unit buildings per se that the area leadership is that concerned about. My stake, for instance, has one, but it's very over-utilized. (They are in the process of doubling its size.) They do have an issue with under-utilized meetinghouses.
Right now they're trying to evaluate where things stand as a whole in the area in terms of where the members are, and where the buildings are. Some buildings may close, but other places that have long drives to church may get their own, even if it means forming a new unit. I don't know all the details of course.
I know there is an area in the western Detroit suburbs where there are two buildings that are fairly close, that both have two wards, with the second wards being both significantly further west, and more development in process even further west. The problem there is that one building is in one stake and the other in another. If they could build a centrally located building fro the two further west wards it might well help things.
If the easiest way to facilitate doing this is changing the stake boundaries, it would not be a bad thing.
In fact, one of the places the area leadership is looking to plant something in my area is right now shared between three stakes. I think the whole point is to look at things more at a macro level, rather than each stake trying to make things work within its own boundaries and then getting approval for it.
New update for the Ashburn, VA Stake: we will have a new ward building for the Tall Cedars Ward. The new model (apparently first of its kind on the East Coast) will have room in the back for stake offices.
Currently, the Tall Cedars Ward, Ashburn Virginia Stake; Centreville 1st Ward, Centreville Virginia Stake; and Fair Oaks Ward, Oakton Virginia Stake share the same building.
Three wards in different stakes sharing the same building is a bit of an anomaly.
Building a meetinghouse in the area that can be a stake center, might be a precursor to a new stake.
Ashburn has 12 wards.
Oakton has 9 wards.
Centreville has 9 wards and 2 branches.
The Brighton Colorado Stake was created on 10 November. There are 6 wards and 1 branch in the stake:
Brighton Ward
Fort Lupton Ward
Henderson Ward
Monte Vista Ward (Spanish)
Reunion Ward
Riverdale Ward
Northridge YSA Branch
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