As part of a new case study I am writing for cumorah.com, I have created a map that provides the location for LDS and Community of Christ (RLDS) congregations in French Polynesia. The population of all inhabited islands in French Polynesia is also provided. The case study will likely not be posted on cumorah.com until early 2014 but I thought that many readers would appreciate me posting this map now. The LDS Church and the Community of Christ are among the largest Christian denominations in French Polynesia and some islands are predominantly LDS and Community of Christ. The first full-time missionaries assigned to serve a foreign language and foreign culture mission began serving in French Polynesia in 1844.
Click here to view the map.
St George Utah Boulder Ridge Stake
ReplyDelete15 Dec 2013
The St George Utah Boulder Ridge Stake was created on 15 December. There are 7 wards in the stake:
ReplyDeleteCrimson Cliffs Ward
Foothills Ward
Quail Valley Ward
Sage Hollow Ward
Stone Cliff Ward
Stonehedge Ward
Treasure Valley Ward
Kumasi Ghana Dichemso Stake????
ReplyDeleteThe Chequén Branch, Guadalupe Perú La Libertad District, Perú Chiclayo Mission, was created on 15 December. There are now 6 branches in the district:
ReplyDeleteChepén Branch
Chequén Branch
Guadalupe Branch
Pacasmayo Branch
Pueblo Nuevo Branch
San Pedro de Lloc Branch
The Kumasi Ghana Dichemso Stake is showing up in CDOL, but is not populated yet with congregations nor with a create date.
ReplyDeleteThe Kumasi Ghana Dichemso Stake was created on 15 December. There are 5 wards and 5 branches in the stake:
ReplyDeleteAsokwa Ward
Buokrom Ward
Dichemso Ward
Kwamo Ward
University Ward
Atonsu Branch
Daban Branch
Domeabra Branch
Konongo 1st Branch
Konongo 2nd Branch
The Apia Samoa Central Stake was created on 8 December. There are 6 wards in the stake:
Alafua Ward
Alamagoto Ward
Motootua Ward
Pesega 2nd Ward
Vailima Ward
Vaimoso Ward
The Visakhapatnam 3rd Branch, Visakhapatnam India District, India Bangalore Mission, was created on 1 December. There are now 4 branches in the district:
Gajuwaka Branch
Visakhapatnam 1st Branch
Visakhapatnam 2nd Branch
Visakhapatnam 3rd Branch
Will there be any effects on the recent Federal ruling in Utah allowing same-sex marriage? Is there any effect on Church growth where such marriage is legal?
ReplyDeleteIt is always great to see the Church grow and millions of God's Children receive the gospel despite government/political opposition.
The Morada dos Pássaros Branch, Vitória da Conquista Brazil Stake, was created on 15 December. There are now 7 wards and 2 branches in the stake:
ReplyDeleteBrasil Ward
Brumado Ward
Candeias Ward
Itapetinga Ward
Morada Real Ward
Sumaré Ward
Vitória da Conquista Aeroporto Ward
Morada dos Pássaros Branch
Poções Branch
I finally found the wards of the stake in Togo. There are 8 wards and 4 branches.
ReplyDeleteLomé Togo Stake
Ablogame Ward
Anfame Ward
Attiegou Ward
Be-Kpota Ward
Doumassesse Ward
Hédzranawoé Ward
Souzanetime Ward
Tokoin Ward
Adidogome Branch
Akodessewa Branch
Baguida Branch
Wuiti Branch
Togo has been on my mind lately. I'm glad to see it all being formed into one Stake, but I wonder if you (or anyone more familiar with the situation) is also thinking that this stake would have to split off a district rather soon, for the follwoing situation is likely to occur:
ReplyDelete- Further, very rapid growth in Lome
- More branches being created (2 or more a year)
- Very high activity rates
- There being more than a reasonable number of units before national membership reaches 3800 so a second stake could be created
- There being too little building infrastructure for larger wards
- There being no opportunity to overlook some 20 wards in a single stake.
Does that scenario make sense or would you think that it is not reasonable to (rather soon) create another district in Lome that could also mature into a stake when the time has come. Have there been similar situations elsewhere?
Also, I wonder if there have been any reports/plans/projects to reach the population of Togo outside of Lome. With increasing saturation, high receptivity and more Missionaries, maybe some Church planting in another city or two would be an idea worth trying, don't you think?
The Church News did a big story on the Togo stake last week, and they have some pictures of the meetinghouse they met in to create the stake, and it was large. Not as large as some Utah stake centers, but larger than some ward meetinghouses here. They can run the full Church program for Sunday School, priesthood, and Relief Society in the one shown, and multiple wards can be using the building much the way they do here too.
ReplyDeleteYou'll see two images in the article showing the interior of the stake center, it was packed to the rafters, so to speak.
Togo had 1,861 members a year ago. It takes 1900 to make a stake outside of the US and Canada.
ReplyDeleteSo, they probably needed all 12 congregations to have enough members and active full-tithe-paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders to make a stake.
On LDS Maps, the stake covers a pretty small area, probably about 20 square miles. Each congregation covers a pretty small area. The vast majority of Togo is not in the stake.
Perhaps one reason why they haven't done any church planting outside of Lome is that turning Lome into a stake would have been a priority. Now that it is a stake, the Mission can focus on outside of Lome which is entirely in the Benin Cotonou Mission Branch (with who knows how many groups are under the umbrella of the mission branch).
In time, with 8 wards and 4 branches currently, when they grow and they will, one can see in a few years a second stake. It took what 4 years to go from small district with a few branches to a stake. It probably won't take that long for a second stake. Just need to double the number of members. Depending on whether the mission branch is maturing some groups, we might see branches and even districts in the near future as well
ReplyDeleteThe Obuasi Ghana District, Ghana Kumasi Mission , was created on 22 December. There are 3 branches in the district:
ReplyDeleteObuasi 1st Branch
Obuasi 2nd Branch
Obuasi 3rd Branch
The Bundu and LoLo-Ama branches, Port Harcourt Nigeria Stake, were created on 22 December. There are 6 wards and 4 branches in the stake:
Amadi Ward
Borokiri Ward
Ogbunabali 2nd Ward
Ogbunabali 1st Ward
Rumuomasi Ward
Township Ward
Abo-Ama Branch
Alase-Ama Branch
Bundu Branch
LoLo-Ama Branch
The Maxixe Branch, Mozambique Maputo Mission, was created on 8 December. There are now 7 independent branches in the mission:
Beira Mozambique District
Maputo Mozambique District
Chimoio Branch
Marromeu Branch
Maxixe Branch
Mozambique Maputo Mission Branch
Nampula Branch
Quelimane Branch
Tete Branch
I don't see a district being split from the Lomé Togo Stake. None of the four branches are contiguous. Two are on the extreme east and west of the stake and the other two are entirely surrounded by wards. It is possible the branches will grow into wards.
ReplyDeleteSo I realized that the Church owns over 18 acres at 14852 S JUNIPER CREST RD in Herriman, UT and there was an announcement a few years back that there would be another temple in the southwest corner of the Salt Lake Valley. Does that spot make sense for a future temple? It would probably only serve seven current stakes in the Salt Lake Valley, but it could potentially serve stakes in northern Utah County around Lehi and possible Eagle Mountain/Saratoga Springs. If those are included it could serve around 17 stakes in Northern Utah County and 7 stakes in Southern Salt Lake County.
ReplyDeleteSecond question, Elder Perry will be speaking at the stake conference in February for the stake in which the parcel of land pertains to. Would this be an appropriate venue to make the announcement or would it be announced in General Conference first?
Thank you
About 30 of the 405 Missions (or 7.4%) around the word have now gone digital: http://www.debbieinbrazil.com/2013/12/pre-christmas-calm-in-loomis-ca-ipad.html
ReplyDeleteI forgot to include this in my earlier comment. There is currently an LDS meetinghouse to one side of the parcel of land that probably takes up 3 acres of the 18. Additionally this spot would fit the typical Utah temple M.O. being up on a hill overlooking the valley and in a primarily residential neighborhood area.
ReplyDeleteIn both Freetown, Sierra Leone and in Ulan Baton, Mongolia, the first stake organized only took in part of the city.
ReplyDelete@BYULAW
ReplyDeleteWe debated this topic last April:
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2786908254617003646&postID=6766805686684787797
Thanks for pointing out where that land is. It does seem like an ideal location for a temple. Logistically it doesn't make sense for the church to build another temple fairly close to two other temples that aren't particularly crowded. A temple in northwest Utah County and Northwest Salt Lake county makes more sense if I decided where to place temples. The Mount Timp is probably the most crowded temple in Utah right now based on it's size and the number of Stakes. If a temple were built on this site,Eagle Mountain/Saratoga Springs are about the same driving distance as the Mount timp temple already is.
I think he church has a lot of property in Utah that it can consider for a temple. I also heard that there is a large parcel On the west side of the valley near I-215 that is in between the Salt Lake and Draper Temples. I don't think the church is that concerned in making the temples in Utah exactly equally spaced from each other (ie: O.M and River Jordan, Provo and Provo City Center) since nearly anywhere in northern Utah is within a 10 to 20 minute drive of a temple.
That being said, I don't think there will be any announcements till at least 2016 when all the current temple construction is finished. It's possible the church could sit on the land for 10 years and then sell it off. Also, revelation is always a factor.